Determinants of soft drink customer satisfaction and purchase intentions: comparison between Tanzania’s and South Korea’s customers

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of quality, social value, price, and attitude towards soft drinks on customer satisfaction and purchase intention by comparing Tanzanian and South Korean customers to reflect different business contexts. Data were collected using self-administered structured questionnaire directed to university students in the two countries. The data was subjected to Structured Equation Modeling using SmartPLS3 with multi-group analysis performed to decipher country differences in the hypothesized relationships. In the overall, attitude, price, and quality had a significant direct effect on satisfaction and indirect effect on purchase intention. Comparatively, attitude, price, and quality had significant direct effects on purchase intention in the South Korean group unlike in the Tanzanian group. In order to influence repurchase intention, marketers need to ensure their beverage customers are satisfied. Moreover, marketers for the two countries should use different marketing strategies to entice and satisfy customers. For the South Korean market, price offers higher leverage compared to the Tanzanian market in enhancing satisfaction and repurchase intentions. Reflecting convenience type of product, social value lacks significant effect on beverage purchase. The study offers unique comparative perspective on the determinants of beverage consumer buying behavior, thus complementing the previous studies taking a country perspective.