ADOPTION OF PREPAID ELECTRICITY METERING TECHNOLOGY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN SELECTED ESTATES IN IBADAN, OYO STATE

Abstract

This study assessed the factors influencing the adoption of prepaid electricity metering technology and its effect on customer satisfaction in selected estates in Ibadan, Oyo state. Also, it evaluated the effect of quality attributes on customer satisfaction in the adoption of prepaid electricity metering technology in the study area. These were done with a view to improving the IBEDC’s customer satisfaction in the study area. The study adopted a survey research design and collected data through a structured questionnaire from 258 household representatives in selected estates in Ibadan, Oyo state, Oyo State, Nigeria. The respondents were selected using random sampling techniques without replacement. The first objective used descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) while the second and third objectives were assessed using the approach of Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results of the mean ranking reveal that Effort Expectancy (bEE) with mean 5.5790 and standard deviation 1.4456 has the highest influence on customers’ adoption of prepaid electricity meter in the study area while Facilitating Condition (bFC) with mean 5.2563 and standard deviation 1.5215 has the least influence on customers’ adoption of prepaid electricity meter in the study area. Secondly, the results of the structural model revealed the exogenous constructs : Social Influence and Effort Expectancy (bSEE); Performance Expectancy (bPE); Facilitating Condition (bFC); and Habit- Hedonic Motivation (bHHM) on the endogenous construct, customer satisfaction (cSat) showed the path coefficients as follows bSEE (β = 0.306, t = 2.899); bPE (β = 0.013, t = 0.193 ); bFC (β = 0.084, t = 0.935) and bHHM (β = 0.329, t = 3.181). The results established Social Influence, Effort Expectancy (bSEE) and Habit-Hedonic Motivation (bHHM) as good predictors of Customer Satisfaction (cSat) in the adoption of prepaid electricity metering technology in the study area. Finally, the effect of quality attributes of the prepaid metering technology (Performance (dPerf), Features (dFea), Serviceability (dSer), Perceived Quality (dPQ), Aesthetics (dAes) and Quality Design (dQD)) was examined of the customer’s satisfaction. The results revealed that dPerf (β = 0.294, t = 2.887), dFea(β = 0.218, t = 2.523), and dPQ (β = 0.186, t = 2.282) have positive and significant effects of customer satisfaction in the study area. The study concluded that estate developers in this area would thrive more in their business if they adopt the Prepaid Electricity Metering Technology in their apartments.