Internal Marketing: Key to Improving Customer Satisfaction in the Hospitality Industry in Nigeria

Abstract

Hospitality industry in Nigeria suffers from more economic functions compared to its peer industries. The concern of the service personnel to see internal marketing improved through a systematic application of management principles and techniques is not new in Nigeria, as manifested in poor service delivery as the de facto justification. Therefore, this study was an attempt to investigate internal customer motivation in
the hospitality industry in Nigeria, with the aim of identifying ways of improving customer satisfaction in the hospitality and tourism industry in Nigeria. The investigation focused on how the unified pay structure, compensation and prospect of promotion affect hospitality services in Nigeria. The study covered the twelve top hotels in Nigeria. The sample size of 300 personnel was determined using the confidence interval approach. Frequency counts and cross tabulation were used to analyze the
data. The findings indicate that fair and adequate compensation, prospect for more responsibilities and promotions are the needed internal marketing variables for staff to improve their work performance for customer satisfaction. Managers should, therefore, convince the service personnel that the rewards for better performance are worth the extra effort to improve customer services.