MARKETING STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE OF DAIRY FIRMS IN KIAMBU COUNTY, KENYA
MARKETING STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE OF DAIRY FIRMS IN KIAMBU COUNTY, KENYA
Maureen Ngima Mbichi - Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Samuel Maina (PhD) - Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
A constant decline in the consumption of processed milk products, a failure to create and carry out sustainable marketing strategies, and poor service delivery had accelerated the poor performance of milk processing firms in Kiambu. The dairy industry's performance in 2019 reportedly declined by 6.7%. Despite the fact that production costs were growing, market prices were relatively modest and stable, which reduced profit margins. Farmers' milk supplies and market trends had also resulted in unequal profitability trends, posing financial issues for dairy companies. This had resulted in financial distress for a number of dairy operations for many dairy farmers in terms of milk prices, credit payment periods, and also returns at the end of the year. The general objective of this study was to investigate the effect of marketing strategies on the performance of dairy firms in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study objectives assessed the effect of product strategy, promotion strategy, position strategy, and price strategy on the performance of dairy firms in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study was guided by Resource Based View Theory, Innovation Diffusion Theory, and Balanced Scorecard Theory. The investigation adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study population was 26 dairy firms in Kiambu County. The study targeted managers, assistant managers, and marketing managers of the dairy firms, forming 78 respondents. The study employed a census method for sampling. Questionnaires were used to gather the data. The validity was accessed using the construct validity method. The Cronbach's alpha with a coefficient of 0.7 was used for reliability. A total of 10% of the population targeted was purposefully chosen for the pilot study. Version 26 of the Statistical Package for Social Science was used to conduct both descriptive and inferential analyses of the data that had been collected. While inferential statistics utilized regression models, correlations, and analysis of variance, descriptive statistics used the mean, standard deviation, and frequency. In order to present the studied data, bar graphs, pie charts, and frequency tables were used. The correlation coefficient (R) of 0.765 indicates a strong positive relationship between these marketing strategies and firm performance. This suggests that as dairy firms enhance their marketing strategies, their overall performance tends to improve significantly. The R Square value of 0.585 means that approximately 58.5% of the variance in the performance of dairy firms can be explained by the combined effect of the marketing strategies under study. The regression analysis show that there exists relationship between various marketing strategies specifically product strategy, promotion strategy, position strategy, and price strategy and their impact on the performance of dairy firms since the P-value was 0.001. The study concludes that marketing strategies significantly impact the performance of dairy firms. The dairy firms that prioritize product innovation, quality enhancement, and diversification are better positioned to succeed in a competitive market. Through offering products that meet consumer needs and preferences, these firms build stronger brand loyalty and achieve sustainable growth. The study recommends that managers of dairy firms, especially the marketing manager should conduct regular market research to understand consumer preferences, investing in digital marketing channels to reach a wider audience, and adopting innovative techniques to differentiate the brand from competitors. The county and national government through the ministry of agriculture should support the dairy firms by creating policies that promote effective marketing strategies that have long-lasting benefits. Providing resources for training programs on marketing skills, facilitating partnerships between dairy firms and research institutions for market analysis, and offering incentives for sustainable marketing practices which strengthen the sector.
