The$Nigeria$Hospitality*Industry*Experience*on*Customer* Relationship,Management,and,Marketing,Effectiveness)

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1 Advances)in)Social)Sciences)Research)Journal) )Vol.,)No.2) Publication)Date:Feb.25,2 DoI:.478/assrj..7. Opara,' B.' C.,' &' Nwulu,' S.' C.' (2).The' Nigeria' Hospitality' Industry' Experience' on' Customer' Relationship' Management' and' Marketing'Effectiveness.)Advances)in)Social)Sciences)Research)Journal,)(2))B8.' The$Nigeria$Hospitality*Industry*Experience*on*Customer* Relationship,Management,and,Marketing,Effectiveness) Bright)C.)Opara,)PhD) DepartmentofMarketing RiversStateUniversityofScienceandTechnology,PMB58 PortHarcourt,Nigeria. Stella)C.)Nwulu) DepartmentofMarketing RiversStateUniversityofScienceandTechnology,PMB58 PortHarcourt,Nigeria. Abstract) )This)study)investigated)the)relationship)between)Customer)Relationship)Management) (CRM))and)Marketing)Effectiveness)(ME))in)the)Nigeria)Hospitality)industry.)Structured) questionnaire) was) employed) as) the) instrument) for) data) collection.) The) Cronbach s) Alpha)Coefficient)with)a)threshold)of).7)was)used)to)test)the)reliability)of)the)research) instrument,)which)showed)crm)as)a)reliability)coefficient)of).7,)while)the)marketing) Effectiveness)is).88.)The)Spearman)Rank)order)Correlation)tool)was)employed)to)test) the)study)hypotheses,)in)the)spss)package)version)5.)the)major)findings)of)this)study) showed) that) there) is) positive) relationship) between) CRM) and) ME.) The) study) also) revealed) that) customer) relationship) management,) and) marketing) effectiveness) significantly) impacted) on) Nigeria) hospitality) industry) performance.) Similarly,) service) automation)significantly)influenced)me)in)nigeria)hospitality)industry.)since)crm,)me) and) service) automation) positively) impact) on) industry) performance;) to) achieve) the) desired)me)in)the)nigeria)hospitality)industry,)marketing)managers)need)to)attract)and) retain) customers) through) deliberate) and) consistent) CRM) policies) and) strategies.) All) staff) therefore,) should) be) given) adequate) marketing) management) orientation) and) training)that)would)help)to)identify)and)treat)customers)as)kings.)) )) Key:)Customer,Relationship,Management,Marketing,Effectiveness. Concept)of)Customer)Relationship)Management) Customerrelationshipmanagement(CRM)canbeappreciatedfrommarketingtask;whichis toproviderealvaluetotargetcustomers,motivatepurchase,andsatisfyconsumerneeds.itis importanttonotethatcustomersareattracted,retainedorsuccessfullymanagedwhentheir needsaremet.customerrelationshipmanagementconsistsoftheprocessesacompanyusesto trackandorganizeitscontactswithitscurrentandprospectivecustomers.darrelletal,(22) argued that, CRM software is used to support these processes. The software system can be accessed,andinformationaboutcustomersandcustomerinteractionscanbeentered,stored andalsoaccessedbyemployeesindifferentcompanydepartments.typicalcrmgoalsareto improveservicesprovidedtocustomers,andtousecustomercontactinformationfortargeted marketing(nwokah&opara,24;opara,etal,2;wali&opara,22). Swift,(2)assert that CRM are businessactivitiesthatidentify,quantify,acquire,develop and retain increasingly loyal and profitable customers by delivering the right product or service,totherightcustomer,throughtherightchannel,attherighttimeandtherightcost.it Copyright SocietyforScienceandEducation,UnitedKingdom

2 Opara,'B.'C.,'&'Nwulu,'S.'C.'(2).The'Nigeria'Hospitality'Industry'Experience'on'Customer'Relationship'Management'and'Marketing'Effectiveness.) Advances)in)Social)Sciences)Research)Journal,)(2))B8.' integratessales,marketingservice,resourceplanningandsupplypchainmanagementfunctions through business process automation, technology solutions, and information resources to maximize each customer contact. According, to Swift (2); Adiele & Opara, (24), perspective of CRM is an enterprise approach to understanding and influencing customer behaviour through meaningful communications in order to improve customer acquisition, customerretention,customerloyalty,andcustomerprofitability. Concept)of)Marketing)Effectiveness) Marketing effectiveness can be described as the function of improving marketing goal by optimizing their marketing activities to achieve better results for the short and longpterm objectives. To increase marketing effectiveness you need to increase business performance withthesameorlessmarketingspendingovertime.itisimportanttonotethatthereisnoone universal way of measuring marketing effectiveness, however some perspectives are stated below.thefourbasicdimensionsofmarketingeffectivenessaccordingtonwokah,(2)are: Corporate,Competitive,CustomersandExogenousfactors.WhileRichie,(22)identifiedfive essentialstrategiesformeasuringmarketingeffectivenesstoinclude:planaheadanddesigna responsepattributioninfrastructuretosupportallchannels,createcontrolgroupsforamorep accurate measurement of campaign lift, define relevant measurement metrics, define specific attributionrulesbycampaign,thenautomateandusevisualreportingandanalytictools. The key for measuring marketing effectiveness is to build a tracking mechanism into each marketing tactic before it is employed. By assigning a unique tracking mechanism to each marketing tactics, you can identify which marketing efforts deliver a positive Return on Investment(ROI)andwhichonesdonot.Herearetentrackingmechanismsthatcanalsobe used to measure the effectiveness of marketing:() campaign codes,(2) telephone numbers, ()SMSkeywords(textmessageresponses),(4) addresses(unique addresses),(5) websitelandingpages(uniqueurls),()mailpinresponsecards,(7)socialmediainteractions (number of comments, likes, shares, connections, follows), (8) online form submissions (unique forms), () coupons/certificates/rebates (presented at point of purchase) and () marketinsightsurveys(kotorov,2;ndubisi,24;andsolcansky,&simberova,2). Thechallengemarketershaveinmeasuringmarketingeffectivenessisthatthedatatosupport theseactivitiesspansacrossdisparatesystems.otherchallengesincludedifferentdefinitions orbusinessrulesforkeymetrics,likeresponse,acrossmarketingchannels(nwokah,&opara, 2;Opara&Opara,2).Externalconditionslikecompetitive,weather,interestrates,gas prices,andotherscanposechallengingimpactsonmarketingeffectiveness(nwokah,2). Nature)of)Hospitality)Industry) The hospitality industry is one of the world s major industries, and it is the second largest employerinusa(richie,22).thisisnotthescenarioinnigeria.peopletravelforavariety of reasons, including for vacations, business, and visits to friends and relatives. For many of thesetravelers,hotelsandotheraccommodationsmaybemorethanjustaplace,tostay,but destinations in themselves. The industry includes all types of lodging, from luxurious 5Pstar hotelstoyouthhostelsandrvparks.whilemanyprovidesimplyaplacetospendthenight, others provide food service, recreational activities, retail shops such as gift boutiques, newsstands, drug and cosmetics counters, laundry services, swimming pools, beauty salons, andfitnessorhealthcenters,andmeetingrooms/halls. In hospitality industry it is easy to set high expectations because guests will not be able to judgetheproductuntilaftertheyhaveconsumedit(solcansky&simberova,2;andwali,& URL:) 2

3 AdvancesinSocialSciencesResearchJournal(ASSRJ) Vol.,Issue2FeburaryP2 Opara, 22). Customer expectations are based on past experiences, the opinions of friends, andmarketinformation;andifwemeetcustomers expectationstheywillbesatisfied. RESEARCH)METHODOLOGY) Weselectedfromthepopulationoftenhospitalityindustryasampleoffortyseniormanagerial personnelrandomlydrawnfromlistedfunctionaloperatingfirmsinportharcourtmetropolis as a case study for Nigeria hospitality industry. The Primary data was generated from structured questionnaire designed to elicit responses relevant to the study. The Cronbach s AlphaCoefficientwithathresholdof.7(Nunnally,78)wasusedtotestthereliabilityofthe research instrument, which showed CRM as a reliability coefficient of.7, while the MarketingEffectivenessis.88.TheSpearmanRankorderCorrelationtoolwasemployedto testthestudyhypotheses,inthespsspackageversion5. Data)Presentation)and)Analysis) The study presents and analysed the raw data obtained from the field through research questionnaire.outof4administeredresearchquestionnaire,(%)wereretrievedforthe analysis. TheresultofTablerevealedinrowonethat(%),(4%)and(4%)stronglyagree, agreedandundecidedrespectively,withrespecttocreatinganenablingenvironmentandtake advantageofcustomers consumptiondecision;with.8mean. Row two question two showed that (5%) respondents strongly agreed, while (%) agreed, () undecided, 2(7) Strongly and () respectively with mean score of 4. to confirmed that brand value for customers is through available information build.onwhethercustomersaretreatedaskingwithaddedvalue,therecordshowed2(2%) strongly,7(22%)agreedand5(%)wereindifferent.thispercentageofacceptancecoupled withthemeanscoreof4.5isrespondents affirmationtothequestion. The fourth row, on whether quality services helps to build long term relationships with customers,shows8(5%)stronglyagreed,(%)agreed,while(%)wereundecided and(%)stronglydisagreedwithameanscoreof4.4. Table):)The)Impact)of)CRM)on)Firms)Performance) S/N Items Strongly (5) Q Q2 Q Q4 Create an enabling environment and take advantage of customers consumption decision. Brand value for customers is through available information Customers are treated as king with added value Quality services helps to build lasting relationship with customers (4) Undecided () Survey)Data)24) Strongly (2) 7 2 () Total(s) Copyright SocietyforScienceandEducation,UnitedKingdom

4 Opara,'B.'C.,'&'Nwulu,'S.'C.'(2).The'Nigeria'Hospitality'Industry'Experience'on'Customer'Relationship'Management'and'Marketing'Effectiveness.) Advances)in)Social)Sciences)Research)Journal,)(2))B8.' Table2istheresultofCRMimpactonME,whichrevealedthatrowonehas5(%)strongly agreed,(%)agreed,(%)undecided,(8%)stronglydisagreedand5(%)disagreed withmeanscoreof..inrowtwo,whichindicatethat,managementjobiseffectivewiththe marketing resources show (5%) strongly agreed and (%) agreed, 8(25%) undecided, and4(2%)stronglydisagreedwithameanvalueof.8. Table)2:)CRM)Impact)on)ME) S/N Items Strongly (5) Q Q2 Q Customer Relationship Management impact on Marketing Efficiency Management job is effective with the marketing resources Marketing at the top communicated and implemented down the line 5 5 (4) 25 8 Undecided () 25 8 Strongly (2) () Total(s) Survey)Data)24)) The last row recorded a mean score of., (%) strongly agreed, 8(25%) agreed, (%) undecided, (%) strongly disagreed and 8(25%) disagreed to marketing at the top communicatingandimplementingdowntheline. Table):)Integrated)Marketing)Efforts)Impact)on)CRM) S/N Items Strongly (5) Q5 Marketing 4 integration Efforts do not impact on CRM Q2 Marking Research 44 does not impact on 4 CRM Q. New product 4 development does not impact on CRM (4) Undecided () 4 Strongly (2) () Total(s) Survey)Data)24) InrowoneofTable,thequestiononmarketingintegrationeffortsanditsimpactonCRM,the responsesshowedthat(4%)stronglyagreedand(8%)agreed,(4%)undecided,and a mean score of 4.. While the second row recorded 4(44%) for strongly agreed, (4%) agreed,4(2%)stronglydisagreedand(%)disagreedwithmeanof4..similarly,themean valueforthelastrowrevealed4.,stronglyagreed(4%),7(5%)agreed,and2(%)to new product development impact on CRM. In view of the above results, it is observed that thereisasignificantrelationshipbetweencrmandmevariables. In table 4, four questions were raised to elicit answers on sales force automation as a dimensionofcrminfluenceonme.thefirstrowshowedahighpercentageofoccurrenceas URL:) 4

5 AdvancesinSocialSciencesResearchJournal(ASSRJ) Vol.,Issue2FeburaryP2 4(44%)stronglyagreed,(%)agreedandCundecided,and(2%)stronglydisagreed,for buildmechanismtoattendtofeedbackfromcustomers. Table)4:)Sales)Force)and)CRM)Impact)on)ME) S/N Items Strongly (5) Q Build mechanism to 44 attend to feedback 4 from customers. Q2 Efficiently manage 5 leads, customers, selling and other activities Q. Sales are well 5 improved through 8 sales force automation Q4. Effective integration of sales, marketing and services makes the customer the centre of our hotel 2 enterprise. (4) Undecided () Strongly (2) 2 2 () Total(s) Survey)Data)24)) Thiswasfurtherconfirmedwithameanvalueof4.2.Inrowtwo,thequestionitemrecorded (5%)stronglyagreed,(%)agreed,5(%)undecided,and2(%)stronglydisagreed, withameanscoreof4.2.similarly,rowthreeshowedthat8(5%)stronglyagreed,and4 (44%)agreedwithameanvalueof4.,onwhethersalesprocessesareimprovedassalesforce automation(sfa)ispracticed. Finally,rowfourshowedresponsestothequestionitemoninfluenceofeffectiveintegrationof sales,marketingandcustomerservicestome,as2(%)stronglyagreed,8(25%)agreedand (%) Undecided with 4. mean. It can be said that sales force automation has shown to be verysignificantinthemcr. HYPOTHESES)TESTING) In this section, the study hypotheses are statistically tested and analysed using the SPSS window output version 5., with a view of proffering answer to the study problem. We thereforestatedecisionrulethat:(a)±.p.(veryweak),(b)±.2p(weak),(c)+.4p.5 (moderate),(d)±.p.7(strong)and(e)±.8p.(verystrong);lastly,()±.(perfect). Key: (a)**=correlationsignificantatthe.level(2tailed) (b)*=correlationsignificantatthe.5level(2tailed) (c)rho=spearmanrankordercorrelationcoefficient. Ho:MEdoesnotsignificantlyimpactonhospitalityindustryPerformance. Ho2:ThereisnosignificantrelationshipbetweenCRMandhospitalityindustryPerformance Copyright SocietyforScienceandEducation,UnitedKingdom 5

6 Opara,'B.'C.,'&'Nwulu,'S.'C.'(2).The'Nigeria'Hospitality'Industry'Experience'on'Customer'Relationship'Management'and'Marketing'Effectiveness.) Advances)in)Social)Sciences)Research)Journal,)(2))B8.' Table)5:)Impact)of)CRM)and)ME)on)Firms)Performance) PREDICTOR Statistical Marketing Firms Performance Variable index Effectiveness Customer services Rho.8**.7* Survey)Data)24) The results of the hypothesis Ho in Table 5, showed Rho of.8 and a significant level of., implying that Marketing Effectiveness significantly impact on Firms Performance, thereforethenullhypothesisisrejected. In the case of Ho2, the Rho value is.7 at a significant level of.5 which implies it significantly influenced Marketing Effectiveness, but the correlation is weak. It therefore means that Ho2 is rejected; there exist a significant relationship between customer relationshipmanagementandnigeriahospitalityindustryperformance.itisobservedthatthe relationshipsbetweenthecrmvariablesandmeasureofmeareallpositivelysignificant,and thecorrelationbetweencrmandmeisstrong,asshownbycoefficientof.7atsignificant levelof.. Ho:ServiceautomationdoesnotsignificantlyinfluenceMEinNigerianhospitalityindustry. Ho4:ThereisnosignificancerelationshipbetweenserviceautomationandCRM. Table):)Result)of)Sales)Force)Automation)and)CRM)Impact)on)ME) PREDICTOR Variable Sales force automation Statistical Marketing Service Automation index Effectiveness Rho.**.4** Survey)Data)24) TheresultsintableshowsRhoof.forHoandsignificantat.level(P<.),assuch hypothesis three is rejected. This means that, Service Automation significantly influenced MarketingEffectivenessinthehospitalityindustry,butthecorrelationisweak. InthecaseofHo4,whichanalyzedtherelationshipbetweenServiceAutomationandCRM,the resultshowedrhoof.4whichindicatesapositiverelationshipthatissignificantatp<.5 level.inviewofthis,ho4,isrejected,thatis,thereisasignificantrelationshipbetweenservice automationandcrm. DISCUSSION)OF)FINDINGS) This study was set out to examine the impact of CRM and ME in the Nigerian hospitality industry.ourfindingsrevealedthat,crmandmesignificantlyimpactedonnigeriahospitality industry performance. Similarly, service automation significantly influenced marketing effectivenessinnigeriahospitalityindustry. ThefindingisconsistentwiththatofLawetal,(2)andOlutoetal,(2).Theyfoundthat CRMisacombinationofpolicies,processes,andstrategiesimplementedbyanorganizationto unify its customer s interactions and provide a means to track customer s information Operational. TheconceptofbuildingrelationshipisemphasizedthroughCRMasnotedinNwokah,(2). However,Lawetal(2)relevantlyremarkedthatthegoalistobuildaprofileofloyaland profitable customers with the right philosophy. Hoots, (24) conclusively opined that URL:)

7 AdvancesinSocialSciencesResearchJournal(ASSRJ) Vol.,Issue2FeburaryP2 effective implementation and management of the existing relationships with consumers and customerswilleventuallyleadtomarketingeffectiveness. Similarly, Swift(2) posits that generally, customers services, campaign management and serviceautomationformthecoreofthecrm.whilehenotedthatoperationalcrmprovides supporttofacilitateofficebusinessprocess. Kotorov, (2) discovered that Service Automation (SFA) is positively and significantly related with ME. Richie (22), and Opara et al, (2), argued that CRM integrates sales, marketing, services, enterprise resource planning and supplypchain management functions through business process automation; just as technology solution and information resources domaximizemarketingeffectiveness.theseattributesofserviceautomationarenecessaryifa longptermcustomerrelationshipistobeenjoyedtheyopined(opara&nwulu,2). CONCLUSION)AND)RECOMMENDATION) The findings of this study showed a positive relationship between CRM and ME in Nigeria hospitality industry; and that service automation significantly influenced ME. We conclude that, since CRM, ME and service automation significantly impact on firms performance in Nigeria hospitality industry; to achieve the desired ME in the Nigeria hospitality industry, marketing managers need to attract and retain customers through deliberate and consistent CRMpoliciesandstrategies.ItisimperativeforhospitalityfirmstoimproveonthepresentME astoachievethedesiredcrmandindustryperformance.thenigeriahospitalityindustrycan achievethisbyformulatingpolicies/strategiesthatwillhelpinacquiring,keepingandgrowing profitablecustomerrelationshipsthatwoulddeliversuperiorcustomervalueandsatisfaction. Werecommendamongotherthings,thatallstaffbegivenadequatemarketingorientationand trainingthatwouldidentifyandtreatcustomersas Kings. References) Adiele,C.K.andOpara,B.C.(24)PhysicalarchitectureandcustomerpatronageofbanksinNigeria:An empiricalstudy.africanjournalofmarketingmanagement,(8),p. Adiele,C.K.andOpara,B.C.(24)AnalysisofcorporateidentityoncustomerpatronageofbanksinNigeria. InternationalReviewofManagementandBusinessResearch,(4),8P88. Darvell,R.K;Reichheld,F.F.andSchefter,P.(22)AvoidtheFourPerilsofCRM,HarvardBusinessReview8(2), P. Hoots,M.(24)CustomerRelationshipManagementforFacilityManagers:JournalofFacilitiesManagement, (4),4P. Kotorov,R.(2)CustomerRelationshipManagement:StrategicLessonsandFutureDirections,Business ProcessManagementJournal.(5),5P57. Ndubisi,N.O.(24)RelationshipMarketingandCustomerLoyalty,MarketingIntelligenceandPlanning25(), 8P. Nwokah,G.N.andOpara,B.C.(24)Evaluationoftherelationshipbetweenmarketorientationandinnovation performance.journalofbusinessstudies,ii(),5p25. Nwokah,N.G.andOpara,B.C.(2)Totalqualitymarketingandimpressionmanagementforeffectiveinsurance marketing.oxmosaicjournalofbusinessstrategy,(),57p7. Nwokah,N.G.(2)Marketing,effectivenessandbusinessperformance,NigeriaJournalofBusinessandSociety, (2),5P2. Nunnally,J.(78)PsychometricTheory.NewYork,McGrawPHill. Oluto,A.O.;Maclayton,D.W.andOpara,B.C.,(2)AnEmpiricalstudyofrelationshipmarketingorientation andbankperformance.researchjournalofinternationalstudies,issue,47p57. Copyright SocietyforScienceandEducation,UnitedKingdom 7

8 Opara,'B.'C.,'&'Nwulu,'S.'C.'(2).The'Nigeria'Hospitality'Industry'Experience'on'Customer'Relationship'Management'and'Marketing'Effectiveness.) Advances)in)Social)Sciences)Research)Journal,)(2))B8.' Opara,B.C.andAdiele,C.K.(2).Thechangingdimensionsofrelations:ACasestudyofrelationshipbrand managementandpublicrelations.journalsofknowledgemanagement,(),5p. Opara,B.C.,Olotu,A.O.andMaclayton,D.W.(2)Analysisofimpactoftechnologyonrelationshipmarketing orientationandbankperformance.europeanjournalofscientificresearch,45(2),2p. Opara,B.C.andNwulu,S.C.(2)ImpactofrelationshipmarketingonthecorporateperformanceofGSM networkservicecompanies.theuniversityadvanceresearchjournal,issue,4p54. Opara,B.C.(2)Strategicoptionsforfirmsmarketingacrossnationalfrontiers.AmericanJournalofScientific Research,Issue,5P25. Opara,B.C.andOpara,D.N.C.(2).AnalysesofgovernmentpoliciesandNigerianfirms exportmarketing strategies.internationalbulletinofbusinessadministration,issue8,p7. Richie,S.(22)HowtoIncreaseMarketingEffectivenesswithMeasurement.Accessedfrom: Solcansky,M.andSimberova,I.(2)MeasurementofMarketingEffectiveness,EconomicsandManagement, Issue5,755P75. Swift,R.S.(2)AcceleratingCustomerRelationships:UsingCRMandRelationshipTechnologies,NewJersey, PrenticePHall. Wali,A.FandOpara,B.C.(22)EPServicequalityexperienceandcustomerloyalty:AnEmphasisoftheNigeria airlineoperators.europeanjournalofbusinessandsocialsciences.(),8p25. URL:) 8