Page 891 - MARSIUM'21 COMP OF PAPER

FYP PRESENTATION

AHIBS UTM SKUDAI JAN 2022

DETERMINE FACTORS THAT AFFECT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN
COMMUNITY PHARMACY: A CASE STUDY AT MUHIBBAH JAYA PHARMACY.

TAM WENG HONG, DR. ADAVIAH MAS’OD

Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru

*Corresponding author: tamwenghong@graduate.utm.my, adaviah@utm.my

Abstract
Pharmacy has acknowledged the point of view that customer satisfaction is important in the success of business activities. As a result, it has become critical
for the community pharmacy to attempt to manage consumer satisfaction. The aim of the paper was to investigate satisfaction level and examine which factors
have a positive and significant impact on customer satisfaction with pharmacy. The study investigated the significance of general dimensions and specific
elements of customer satisfaction in measuring satisfaction levels. This study used a quantitative sampling method with a minimum sample size of 140
respondents. The data was collected from the customers of Muhibbah Jaya Pharmacy through Google form and offline survey. The researchers successfully
collected 155 respondents for this study. SPSS software was used to analysis data. The research findings found that the 5 dimensions which include facilities,
reliability, process, value for money, and service quality have positive and significant impact on customer satisfaction. In contrast, dimensions of additional
services and product quality have no positive and significant impact on customer satisfaction. This study helps the existing literature and marketers understand
customer satisfaction, and provides pharmacies with recommendations and directions for improvement to improve customer satisfaction and thus customer
retention.

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, Community Pharmacy, Dimensions of Satisfaction, Satisfaction Levels, Sungai Siput

■ 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Companies have traditionally depended only on product and service differences to retain customers and satisfy them. However, customers
now have more options and are more price sensitive because of intense competition from new companies entering the market, duplication of
new features, and growth in the number of new products. As a result, marketers have been pushed to adopt distinctive and customer-focused
tactics in order to distinguish oneself from the competitors and gain a competitive edge. Consumer satisfaction in pharmacies is a predictor
of customer behaviour, making it a crucial problem in the competitive retail pharmacy market (Glaveli, et al, 2021). Increasing purchase
intent and pharmacy performance requires improving patient satisfaction (Yaseen et al., 2018).

Many scholars have emphasised the significance of consumers. According to Zairi (2000), customers are the reason we do what we do, and
rather than us depending on them, we depend greatly on them. Consumers are not the source of the problem, and no business should expect
consumers to leave because doing so puts the future and prospects of the business in jeopardy. If a company never cares about customer
satisfaction, they cannot expect customers to care about their product or service (Ali et al., 2021). That is the main reason why organisations
today are focusing on customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. Satisfaction is a general consumer attitude toward a service provider, or
an emotional reaction to the gap between what consumers expect and what they receive in terms of meeting a need, goal, or desire (Hansemark
and Albinsson, 2004). Oliver (1999) describes customer loyalty as a strong commitment to repurchase or re-patronize a favourite product or
service in the future, resulting in recurring same-brand or same-brand-set purchases, notwithstanding situational considerations and
marketing efforts that may encourage switching. According to Yooet al. (2015), higher customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty. If
customers are satisfied with a company's service, they will make repeat purchases as a result (Nyadzayo & Khajehzadeh, 2016). Edward and
Sahadev (2011) stated that "customer retention indicates customer's intention to repurchase a service from the service provider". They
examined customer retention statistics to see if customers planned to stick with the service provider. Customer satisfaction and service quality
are major determinants of customer retention.

This study is carried out by the pharmacy company - Muhibbah Jaya Pharmacy located in Sungai Siput (U), Perak. Their objective is to
determine how to develop the business in order to please consumers and increase customer loyalty and retention. The goal of this study is to
define and describe factors that influence pharmacy customer satisfaction.

1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

According to statistics from Retail Group Malaysia's Malaysia Retail Industry Report (July 2020), the pharmacy and personal care category’s
sales growth rate decreased 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2020, compared to an 11.8 percent rise in the previous equivalent period. This
category is expected to decline by 18.4 percent in the second quarter.

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