An Assessment of the Relationship Between the Price Tariffs of a Christian-Affiliated Guesthouse and Customer Choice Behavior in Nairobi County

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the relationship between the price tariffs of a Christian-affiliated guesthouse and customer choice behavior in Nairobi County.

Methodology: Descriptive survey research design was used on a target population of the study comprising 13 Christian Affiliated Guest houses registered with the Christian Guest Houses Association of Kenya (CGHAK) in Nairobi County. The total number of respondents was 723, including all guesthouse general managers (13), two supervisors (Front Office and Food and Beverage Supervisors) from each guesthouse (26), and all customers based on the average occupancy (684). A census sampling method was used to select guesthouse managers (13) and supervisors (26). Further, the random sampling method was used to obtain the 252 customer respondents. Closed and open-ended questionnaires were used to obtain data from 252 CAG guests while an interview schedule was used to obtain data from 26 CAG supervisors and 13 CAG general managers. For piloting, this study used one randomly selected CAG (10%) in Kiambu and obtained 1 manager, 2 supervisors, and 25 guests (10%) as respondents. Cronbach alpha was used to measure reliability. For validity, the instrument was piloted before the actual data collection process. Quantitative data such as mean and standard deviation was analyzed using SPSS whereas thematic method was used to analyze qualitative data. Data was presented using tables and figures.

Results: The highest mean score was observed on the dimension of mode of payment which had an average score of 4.22. This observation implied that one of the reasons that could be attracting guests to remain loyal to a particular guesthouse is a mode of payment of bills the guesthouse has adopted. The least mean rating was observed on fair price tariffs, with an average score of 4.22. This is an indication that fairness in the price tariffs, as a dimension of Price Tariff, is not such an important factor when it comes to choosing a guesthouse. Again, this rolls back to service provisions. That is, an individual would be more willing to pay more as long as the service will meet his/her expectations. Nonetheless, the fact that the fairness of price tariffs was not such an important factor, the overall mean response of 3.9.

Conclusions and Recommendations: The study concluded that price tariffs had a positive influence on customer choice behavior. This was based on the fact that versatility of modes of paying bills ensured that there was efficiency and convenience in payments. The study recommends that more attention should be paid by the management to payment modes such as mobile money since it promotes security and convenience to the guests.