The Effect of Logistics Management Practice on Customer Satisfaction of Pharmaceutical Firms South-East, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study examined logistics management practice and customer satisfaction of pharmaceutical Firms in South-East, Nigeria. There had been growing dissatisfaction with the delay in the supply of essential pharmaceutical products in the South- East, Nigeria. The main objective of the study was to examine effect of logistics management practice on customer satisfaction of pharmaceutical firms located in South-East, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: Determine the effect of packaging on repeat purchase, ascertain the effect of delivery speed on customer loyalty, determine the effect of order completeness on customer referrals, examine the effect of on-time delivery on customer retention, and ascertain the effect of real-time update on customer response rate of pharmaceutical firms in South East, Nigeria. The population of the study was 43, 905 staff of logistics departments in 25 selected firms. The Freund & Williams formula was adopted to arrive at the sample size of 384. A stratified sampling technique was employed. The study utilized a survey design. The data were presented in tables and analysed using simple percentages, mean and standard deviation. The hypotheses were tested using the Z-test statistic. The results showed that packaging had significant positive effect on repeat purchase (Z =11.180, p <0.05); delivery speed had significant positive effect on customer loyalty (Z =10.483, p <0.05); order completeness had significant positive effect on customer referrals (Z =2.674, p <0.05); on-time had significant positive effect on customer retention (Z =2.685, p <0.05); and real-time had significant positive effect on customer response rate of pharmaceutical firms in South-East, Nigeria(Z =15.110, p <0.05). It was concluded that logistics management practice had significant positive effect on customer satisfaction of pharmaceutical firms in South-East, Nigeria. It was recommended among others that logistics managers in pharmaceutical firms should strive to satisfy customers by improving on maintenance, design and packaging of products.