Assessing the Effects of Marketing Strategies and Product Innovations on Performance of Dairy Co-Operative Societies in Meru County Kenya.

Abstract

Dairy cooperative society‘s role cannot be downplayed especially in the milk industry value chain. From the production to the marketing stages they have focussed on not only availing feeds but also distribution of processed products. They have also all along played the stakeholder role of representing the farmers view in the political segment both at the local and national level. Although, SACCOs are meant to ensure that their members‘ objectives are met and needs taken care of, performance in dairy cooperative societies in Kenya has been deteriorating for quite some time. Despite there being good Dairy SACCOs guidelines, there has been continuous poor performance of these SACCOs. To establish the factors leading to the indicated poor performance of Dairy Cooperative Societies a study was conducted. The studies objective included the following; to establish the effect of marketing strategies on the performance of Dairy SACCOs, and to investigate the effect of product innovations on the performance of dairy cooperative societies in Meru County. The study made use of descriptive research design to enable the description of the variables under study. The target population for this study comprised of the 288 management staff of the Dairy Cooperative societies in Meru County. The number of respondents to be involved in the study was established through stratified random sampling methodology. The sample size of the study was 87 respondents who comprised senior managers involved in management of the Dairy Cooperative Societies in Meru County. Data was collected by use of structured questionnaire that was self-administered. The collected and edited data was analysed using an analytical computer programme - Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 22.0). Descriptive statistics such as measures of central tendencies and dispersion which include; mean, percentages, and standard deviation were applied to describe the collected data while correlation, chi-square and regression analysis represented inferential statistics. Statistical tests were carried out to establish the significance of the study models more so by application of the p-value. The response rate of the administered questionnaires stood at 82.7%. The study established a positive and significant relationship between the independent variables (marketing strategies and product innovation) and the dependent variable performance of Dairy Cooperative Societies. The coefficient of determination was at 83%, an indicator that the two variables explained more than eighty percent of variance in the performance of Dairy Cooperative Societies. The p-value and regression coefficients generated after running the regression model were as follows; for marketing strategies (β= 0.128, p= 0.006) and for the product innovation was (β= 0.213, p=0.031). The study concluded that marketing strategies and product innovations are vital in improving the performance of the Dairy Cooperative Societies within Meru County. The study recommends that additional marketing strategies like relationship marketing and digital marketing strategies should be applied in light of the dynamic and changing market environment. The study also recommends the need to develop new products and systems innovations sections or departments focusing on innovations within the societies. This will help in harnessing the employee‘s ideas and those gathered through various marketing strategies and eventually transforming them to marketable products.