Research Purpose. With fierce competition and saturated marketing in Nigeria, telecom operators must work hard to reduce cost, win new customers, and most importantly, retain the existing ones. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between product branding and consumer loyalty in the Nigerian telecommunication industry.
Design / Methodology / Approach. This research employed survey research design. Primary data was adopted with the aid of a questionnaire administered to the customers of three major telecommunication companies in Nigeria (MTN, AIRTEL and GLOBACOM) residing in Lagos State. The population of the study was 172, the sample size was 120, which were determined using the simple computation method. The study made use of statistical tools that include: analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation efficient and Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 17.0.
Findings. The results of this study confirm with the existing literature that product branding as a feature has a significant effect on product. The study found out that there exists a significant relationship between product branding and consumer loyalty in the Nigerian telecommunication industry. Consequently, from the practical perspective, telecommunication firms should expand their network coverage, improve the quality of service and provide better access to other networks within and outside Nigeria.
Originality / Value / Practical implications. The study seeks to contribute to existing literature on product branding and customer loyalty. The paper contributes in clarifying that telecom providers in Nigeria must make product branding as a very important aspect of its marketing strategy and it must be given a serious approach, because it goes a long way to determine the success or failure of the product offer to the market, the firm in question and its ability to achieve consumer loyalty
