Can Brand Awareness Influence Cooperative Performance? Evidence From Mwalimu National Sacco, Kenya

Cooperatives are present in all SDG goals and can be seen as an inherently sustainable business model, with their "triple bottom line" of social, economic and environmental sustainability. Savings and Credit Co-Operatives (SACCO) promote thrift permitting achievement of SDG 17: partnerships for goals. Kenya's SACCO Supervision Annual Report shows a drop in the number of deposits taking SACCOs from 175 in 2015 to 168 in 2021 with decrease in membership from 3,145,565 in 2015 to 2,842,684 in 2021. These changes are attributed to the need for more efficient and cheap services. To effectively sustain and perform well, SACCOs need more members to purchase their products and remain loyal. Mwalimu National SACCO is not exceptional as it has to comply with the market demands. However, Mwalimu National SACCO has consistently gained poor reputation and therefore declined in terms of performance, something that is attributed to marketing and branding practices. Between the year 2019 and 2021 there were withdrawal of approximately 1,321 members and a decline in profit by 3.6 percent. Studies on brand awareness and performance have not considered financial institutions such as SACCO's. This study aimed at establishing influence of brand awareness on SACCO performance. The study was guided by resource based view theory implemented using correlational research design on a population of 5,300 members and 12 staff located in Kisumu County. A total of 360 members and 12 staff summing to 372 constituted the sample. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and revealed that brand awareness (β=.271, p<.05) had a statistically positive significant effect on SACCO. The findings may inform managerial decision making at Mwalimu National SACCO and other related cooperatives. This can increase partnerships as members become more aware of the SACCOs offering. Key Words: Brand Awareness, SACCO, Performance, Kenya, Mwalimu National SACCO, SASRA, SDG, Partnerships for Goals, Cooperatives CITATION: Muma, P., Aila, F., Mise, J. K., & Oloo, C. (2024). Can brand awareness influence cooperative performance? Evidence from Mwalimu National Sacco, Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 11 (1), 529 – 538. http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v11i1.2869