EFFECTS OF INTERNAL MARKETING ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY (A STUDY OF WEMA BANK IN ILARO OGUN STATE).

ABSTRACT This study investigated the effect of internal marketing on customer loyalty in Nigerian banking industry using Wema Bank Plc. in Ilaro, Ogun State as a study area. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of internal communication, employees’ motivation, reward and recognition and employee empowerment on customer loyalty. The study adopted survey research design. The population is the entire customers of the company under review. Quota sampling techniques was used to select the respondents from the study targeting all customers of Wema Bank Plc. in Ilaro, Ogun State. The sample size of 314 was derived from the population using Hart (1942) formula while 309 were valid for analyses. Questionnaire was structured using 5-point likerts scale (strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree). The data were tested using percentage method while the hypotheses were tested using simple regression, anova and coefficient analysis with the aid of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) version 23. The findings revealed that among the variables tested; internal communication, employees’ motivation, reward and recognition are significant with p-value of .017, .018 and .000 respectively while information quality was insignificant with p-value of .057. The study concluded that internal marketing has significant effect on customer loyalty in Nigerian banking industry. The researcher therefore recommended that Nigerian companies should implement recognition programs by publicly recognizing employees who consistently deliver exceptional customer service through “Employee of the Month” awards or similar initiatives.