| dc.description.abstract |
Micro Enterprises providing services for example haircutting, key making, M-pesa, hair dressing, child care,
cleaning, video selling, hawkers and shoe shining to mention but a few find it difficult to envision and understand
what aspect connote high quality to consumers, and the levels of the aspects that are required to deliver high
quality service. Only when these enterprises have a fairly definite knowledge on how the service they offer would
be perceived by customers, then they will be able to direct these assessments in the preferred direction. However
loyalty as an outcome of social responsibility practices as a key in explaining service quality is little known. This
study examined the influence of the shoe shine entrepreneurer’s social responsibility practices on customer loyalty
in Eldoret town, Kenya. The study was based on a survey of 230 customers of shoe shine enterprises selected
randomly. Questionnaires were the main instruments for collecting data. Data was analysed using descriptive and
inferential statistics. Frequencies, percentages, spearman’s rho correlation, phi and ordinal regression were the
specific methods of analysis in this study. The findings indicated that customers consider shoe shine entrepreneurs
social responsibility practices as a critical indicator of their perception of service quality. This study concludes
that shoe shine entrepreneurers social responsibility practices significantly influenced customer loyalty. Equally,
the findings show that shoe shine entrepreneurs need to improve on their social responsibility practices. Basing on
the conclusion of this study, firstly, it is recommended that shoe shine entrepreneurs embrace social responsibility
given that it could substantially enhance customer acceptance and by extension loyalty. Lastly, the study
recommends the integration of social responsibility practices into relevant training for shoe shine enterprises to
encourage customer loyalty |
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