The Influence of People on Customer Satisfaction in Mobile Money Services in Mbeya City, Tanzania

Author

Lydia Alfred Mng’ong’o

Abstract

 This study assessed the influence of People on customer satisfaction in mobile money services in Mbeya City, Tanzania. The study adopted a quantitative research approach and examined People as an element of the extended service marketing mix. The People dimension was assessed through staff competence, friendliness and approachability, responsiveness to customer enquiries and complaints, clarity of staff explanations and courtesy and professionalism. Data were collected from 384 mobile money users using structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. The findings showed generally favourable perceptions of the People dimension, with a composite mean score of 3.621 (SD = 0.757). However, responsiveness to customer enquiries and complaints received the lowest mean rating among the People indicators, suggesting an area requiring further improvement. The findings further established a strong positive relationship between People and customer satisfaction (r = 0.717, p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis also showed that People had a positive and statistically significant influence on customer satisfaction (B = 0.482, β = 0.494, t = 10.800, p < 0.001). The findings indicate that the competence, friendliness, responsiveness, communication and professionalism of mobile money personnel contribute significantly to customers’ satisfaction with mobile money services. The study concludes that the human element of service delivery is an important determinant of customer satisfaction in Mbeya City. It therefore recommends that mobile money service providers strengthen staff training in customer care, communication, responsiveness and problem-solving, while improving complaint-handling mechanisms to enhance the quality and consistency of customer staff interactions.

Keywords

People, Customer Satisfaction, Mobile Money Services, Service Quality, Staff Competence, Mbeya City.

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References

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