CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY: A STUDY OF INTERRELATIONSHIPS AND EFFECTS IN NIGERIAN DOMESTIC AIRLINE INDUSTRY

The debate concerning the interrelationships and effects between customer satisfaction and loyalty has been tossed back and forth, without a consensus opinion. This study examines the linkages between customer satisfaction and loyalty in Nigerian domestic airline industry. The study adopted correlation research design to elicit information via questionnaire from 600 domestic air passengers drawn through convenience sampling technique. The data obtained from the respondents were analysed with Pearson correlation analysis, linear regression, and One-way analysis of variance. Based on 383 completed data, the results provide support for the association and influence of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty. The study also found out that frequent air travelers displayed more loyalty tendency towards airline carriers compared to non-frequent air passengers. On the basis of aforementioned findings, the study concludes that customer satisfaction is extremely important in building and enhancing customer loyalty. Therefore, airline carriers should implement strategies that will guarantee long-term relationship with air travellers by offering service quality that will meet and exceeds their expectations and by extension customer satisfaction.