ASSURANCE AND CUSTOMER PATRONAGE OF MICROFINANCE BANKS IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the influence of assurance on Customer patronage of Microfinance banks in Akwa Ibom State. To achieve this objective, the main source of data was through primary sources with the use of a questionnaire. The researcher adopted the survey research design approach and data were collected from 323 respondents drawn from the banks customers’ base. A total number of 295 copies of the questionnaire were retrieved in useable form representing 91.3 percent of data analyzed using the Simple Regression Model (SRM). Data generated from the study were processed using descriptive and inferential statistics and hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that assurance had significant influence on customer patronage of Microfinance banks in Akwa Ibom State. Thus, the study recommended that the managers of Microfinance banks should employ employees who have the knowledge, courtesy and ability to convey trust and confidence in their customers, making their customers feel safe in their transactions so that their perceived service will exceed their expected service in order to enhance good customer patronage.