An Assessment of the Influence of Strategic Stakeholder Communication on Customer Satisfaction: A Study of Fly 540 Airline in Kenya

Abstract

Strategic communication and stakeholder communication strategies aligns the general communications of the organization with the business strategy of the company for purposes of enhancing customer satisfaction. The airlines in Kenya have not effectively identified the stakeholder communication strategies hence affecting their customer satisfaction. Using the case of FLY540, this study sought to establish how customer satisfaction is influenced by strategic stakeholder communication, assess the influence of management communicaton strategy framework, and determine the influence of strategic communication culture on customer satisfaction at FLY 540. The study targeted customers and 164 management staff who included senior management, middle-level management and supervisory level staff in Nairobi while an in-depth interview was administered to four managers. The study employed stratified random sampling method and collected data through a questionnaire and an interview guide. The data gathered was analysed using SPSS v.21.0 and presented in the form of charts, tables and frequency distributions. The qualitative data was analyzed through content analysis and presented in prose form. The findings showed that current communication strategy framework determined the quality of information communicated to the customers and in turn customer satisfaction. The study recommended that every organization should have a communication strategy framework that is audience specific and at the same time ensure that the stakeholders are involved in the issues affecting them. In addition every organization should have a management communicaton strategy framework that provides relevant information to the stakeholders in a timely manner and must embrace embraces cultural diversity among the employees. Further studies could focus on the role of strategic stakeholder communication service delivery in the public sector.