Determinants of Quality of Service Delivered by Agribusinesses in Southwest Nigeria

The study investigated the determinants of the quality of service delivered to customers by agribusinesses in Southwest Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 265 agribusinesses’ staff. Structured questionnaires were administered to elicit information on the profile of agribusiness staff and the quality of service delivered. Data were analysed using linear regression. Many of the agribusinesses (>45.6%) had been in operation for over five years and they had between 4 to 23 members of staff in the sales category. The quality of service delivered by the agribusinesses was high across all dimensions as rated by staff - tangible (58.5%), reliability (56.0%), responsiveness (62.9%), and empathy (56.0%), with the assurance index standing out (84.5%). Quality of service was highest for FMD firms (75.0%). Overall, the quality of service delivered was high, as rated by more than half of the agribusinesses’ staff (58.1%). Quality of service was mostly influenced by the level of education (β=0.21), the number of years of existence of agribusiness firms (β=-0.01) and the cadre of decision makers in the agribusinesses (β=0.12). Therefore, agribusinesses should be more intentional about employing certified professionals in order to sustain the quality of services being rendered to their customers.