Customer satisfaction with unprocessed agricultural products: an empirical analysis in Maryland County, Liberia

Customer satisfaction plays a critical role in the consumption of unprocessed agricultural produce in the open market. However, little is known in policy and practices about integrating customer satisfaction in urban food system in southeastern Liberia. The study aims to analyze the factors that influence customer satisfaction with unprocessed agricultural produce in Maryland County in terms of cost, produce quality and service delivery dynamics. The study contributes to the customer satisfaction debate. The study used a quantitative approach—personal interviews from 364 households using structured questionnaire built on Google form. These households were sampled randomly. The respondents were individual customers of unprocessed agricultural produce in the open market. The analysis was done using descriptive statistics and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression from R-Software. The unprocessed agricultural produce included vegetables, fruits, roots, and tubers. Customer satisfaction in terms of price, product quality and service delivery was determined by customers’ socio-economic factors—age, occupation and household size while gender and income play no role. In balancing customers’ satisfaction with unprocessed agricultural produce and marketers’ expectations of the produce, it calls for the formation of market associations and supporting them to collect customer feedback on prices, produce quality and service delivery in the open market by national governments in West Africa.