Author(s): Akpabio Imaobong and Oladele Kehinde
Positioning is essentially related to the mind of the consumers. Positioning is an effort made by the firms to influence the consumer’s perception of a product relative to the perception of the competing product. The positioning decision is a crucial strategic decision for a firm. A firm's positioning strategy focuses on how it will compete in the market. An effective positioning strategy considers resources of the firm, the needs of the customers and the position of competitors. The purpose of a positioning strategy is that it allows a firm to focus on specific areas where they can outperform their competition. The Fast Food industry in Nigeria today is a beehive of activities and is gaining a lot of attention both within and outside the country. There has been continuous urbanization growth in Nigeria, as more people choose to settle in Nigeria's crowded cities. Due to this, international fast food firms have been looking to establish their brands in this part of Africa, using franchise and adopting certain positioning strategies to gain competitive advantage in the market. The objective of this study is to establish the effect of Product Quality Positioning on customer satisfaction. An aggregate of 351 questionnaires were distributed and 326 were retrieved. Only 315 questionnaires were filled properly. The descriptive method of analysing the study was adopted. The hypothesis was tested using simple linear regression. From data retrieved through the use of questionnaire research instrument, results were drawn and data analysed using SPSS. The results showed that, all of the variables were significant with a Sig.=.000. Based on the findings, the study recommends that indigenous fast food companies need to clearly give more attention to positioning strategies in the development process of marketing strategies. Fast food firms need to communicate their brand and offers using the right channels and in an appealing way so customers are encouraged to purchase more. International Fast foods are also advised to be more affordable to match the socio-economic realities of the country.