Influence of People as a Marketing Mix on the Performance of Private Universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

A comprehensive plan specifically created for attaining a firm's objectives is known as a marketing mix strategy. It offers a strategy for achieving marketing goals. Private Universities are facing competition from public universities and tertiary institutions, which include National and Local polytechnics, under government sponsorship. This competition has resulted in low enrolment and decreased graduates in some Private Universities. Private universities, being purely in the service industry, apply extended marketing mix elements such as processes, people, and physical evidence to increase student enrollment. The general objective of the study was to investigate the effect of extended marketing mix elements on the performance of private universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The specific objective of the study was to determine the effect of people on the performance of private universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study was anchored on Resource-based theory. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population of the study was 1867 respondents comprising academic and administrative staff from 9 chartered private Universities in Nairobi City County, out of which a sample of 330 was selected. A questionnaire was the main instrument of data collection. Simple and Multiple Linear Regression analysis was done with the aid of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 to assess the relationship between variables. F-statistics and  were used to test the hypothesis. Results are presented using descriptive and inferential statistics. F-value for academic staff was found to be (33.128), and a p-value (0.000) shows that the model used was statistically significant since p = 0.000 > 0.05). The findings of this research show that the people element is a good predictor of private university performance, according to academic staff. The F-value for the people element for administrative staff was (274.917) and a p-value of .000 shows that the model used is statistically significant since p = 0.000 < 0.05). The findings of this research show that the people element is a good predictor of private university performance according to administrative staff performance in private universities. The study concluded that people had a significant effect on the performance of private universities in Kenya. The study recommends that private universities should develop and implement extended marketing mix elements that enhance people who are qualified to ensure increased performance. The findings are useful to universities in helping them design effective extended marketing mix strategies that boost performance. The study findings also contribute to the theory of extended marketing mix and performance in private universities.