IBANGA Ifeoma Blessing1 , NADUBE Paul M.
2 ADIELE Kenneth C. 3
1, 2, 3 Department of Marketing, Faculty of Administration and Management
Rivers, State University Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between customer sensitivity and competitiveness of oil and gas firms in Rivers State. This study adopted a survey research design with a correlational method of investigation and obtained quantitative data from respondents in a non-contrived setting. The population of the study comprised 9 registered and functional oil and gas firms in Rivers State. The study adopted a census and purposively drew 5 managers (Marketing, Procurement, Logistics, Business development and Research and Development) from each of 29 firms. In all, 145 managers constituted provided data for the study. Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to test 3 hypotheses, relying on the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. The results showed that customer sensitivity has positive significant correlation with competitiveness of oil and gas companies in Rivers State. The study concludes that customer sensitivity leads to competitiveness of oil and gas companies in Rivers State; and recommends that management of oil and gas companies should prioritize the develop their customer sensing capabilities to boost their capacity to capture, analyse and respond to customer feedback and preferences in real-time in other to increase their level of competitiveness.
Keywords: Accessibility, competitiveness, customer sensitivity, delivery speed, product flexibility