ROLE OF MECHANIC CLUES IN HEALTHCARE CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN NIGERIA 

Taiye T. Borishade¹*, Rowland E. K. Worlu² Oladele O. J. Kehinde³ Olaleke O. Ogunnaike⁴

 ¹(Dr.) Covenant University, Nigeria, taiye.borishade@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

²(Dr.) Covenant University, Nigeria, rowland.worlu@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

³(Dr.) Covenant University, Nigeria, oladele.kehinde@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

     ⁴(Dr.) Covenant University, Nigeria, olaleke.ogunnaike@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

*Corresponding Author

 

Abstract

Mechanic clues create first impressions that have a great impact on the expectations of the customer about the kind of service being offered by the organization. It is on this premise, that this study examined the roles of mechanic clues in healthcare customer loyalty. The specific objectives of this study were to investigate whether mechanic clues of health care service influence customer loyalty. A survey of 365 healthcare customers of the selected four private hospitals in Nigeria provides support for the study. The study employed Multi-stage sampling techniques. The data collected from the respondents were subjected to descriptive statistics in order to determine the sum, mean, standard deviation and the relative importance index of the variables investigated. The categorical regression analysis with optimal scaling technique otherwise regarded as CATREG in SPSS was used to investigate the influence of mechanic clues on customer loyalty among the respondents. The finding of the study revealed that mechanic clues play significant role in influencing customer loyalty. Going by the finding, it was recommended that the healthcare managers must ensure that the environment of the healthcare organization is conducive for the customers (patients) always so as to create a positive impression in the mind of the customer (patient).

Keyword: Mechanic clues, customer loyalty, healthcare