Application of Marketing Mix Elements to Improve Customer Satisfaction of Main Library, University of Colombo

Abstract

This research study focuses on the application of marketing mix elements mainly Product, Price, Place and Promotion to improve user satisfaction of a library. Libraries need to adopt marketing mix strategies in order to retain existing users and to attract more users to the library. The main objective of this study was to identify which element among product, price, place and promotion mostly affect library user satisfaction. This study involved 364 library users who were selected using Stratified Random Sampling technique. The sample size was determined by using Krejcie & Morgan's "table for determining sample size of a given population". Self-Administrated Questionnaires were used for data collection from the sample. Data analysis and presentation were done using SPSS and Microsoft Excel 2013 software packages. The major objective of this study was tested using stepwise multiple regression analysis and the specific objectives were tested using Pearson Correlation Coefficient. The result depicts that, there is a positive linear correlation between these four variables and library user satisfaction. There is a strong positive relationship between Product & Promotion elements with the library user satisfaction, when compared with other two elements. The result indicates that Promotion element had a significant impact on library user satisfaction. Library can focus more on promotion element and consider more on effective promotion methods in order to improve library user satisfaction. Survey results indicate that, 26% of the users prefer receiving emails regarding library services mostly as a promotional method. 41% of the respondents have stated that, library does not use effective promotion methods. Library can interact with their users through social networking, especially via Facebook. And most importantly a good word of mouth regarding the library may increase the positive image of the library and it would result in gaining more users. This research study is significant since the library administration can identify and develop favourable marketing strategies to improve user satisfaction by considering the marketing mix elements; product, price, place and especially promotion.

University Librarians’ Perception on the Marketing of Library Services in Sri Lanka: An Attitudinal Survey

“…The services offered by the library of the University of Colombo are reference services, lending services, Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), document supply service, laptop lending service, Wi-Fi service, learning commons, photocopying service, inter library loan service, the resource centre for the visually impaired, etc. These are some of the library products which can be marketed effectively (Johoran, 2019). As per the study conducted by Rifaudeen (2015) on the sustainability of library and information science services in Sri Lankan university libraries, he has emphasized that marketing is a vital part of a library and promotion of the services should be done continuously to achieve sustainability in library services.…”

Application of Marketing Techniques in Library Services and Challenges Faced by University Librarians in Sri Lanka

“…Librarians can apply marketing approaches such as the marketing mix in libraries and information centres as indicated at the identified five stages: determination of purpose and resources or product of the library; identification of competitors; identification of users; establishment of a marketing strategy for the library and use of the marketing mix method. (Ojiambo, 1994 as cited in Yi et al, 2013, p. 586) According to Johoran (2019), a university library can adapt the marketing mix elements, namely product, price, place, and promotion to increase consumer satisfaction. In the context of a university library, consumers are the library users, and the marketing mix elements can be utilized/applied to increase customer satisfaction.…”