Influence of Customer Relationship Marketing on Customer Retention in the Telecommunication Industry in Tanzania. A case of Vodacom Company.

This thesis aimed at assessing the influence of customer relationship marketing on customer retention in the telecommunication industry in Tanzania. Specifically, the study intended to: assess the influence of customer trust on customer retention in the Tanzanian telecommunication industry, examine the effects of relationship commitment on customer retention in the telecommunication industry and determine the influence of service quality on customer retention in Tanzania telecommunication industry. The study used explanatory research design to search for a causal relationship between the selected variables in this study. Structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from a sample of 400 customers of Vodacom Tanzania Ltd, obtained through simple random sampling method. The collected data were used to test the study hypotheses and model development using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. AMOS software version 22 was used to run the statistical analysis. The study revealed that customer trust, relationship commitment and service quality have significant and positive relationship with customer retention. The study concludes by recommending that, since customer trust has positive influence on customer retention, companies need to invest enough in campaigning the brand image, future purchase plans, price offers and purchase process. Moreover; Vodacom can retain its customers by promoting relationship commitment across the business through sales promotions, resolving complaints, offering attractive prices packages and customer care. On the other hand, the company improve its customer retention campaigns by rendering improved service quality. In order to achieve that, the company should ensure the services can guarantee tangibility, assurance, responsiveness and reliability. Keywords: Relationship marketing, Customer trust, Relationship commitment, Customer retention