A Comparison of Consumerism Activity amongst Urban Household Consumers in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Consumerism has been defined as a social movement seeking to augment the rights and powers of consumers in relation to sellers (Kotler, 2000). It has spread to developing countries in Africa including Kenya. However, despite the efforts to revamp consumerism in Kenya, majority of consumers have been observed to be relatively passive in their participation in the movement. The objective of the study was to compare the level of consumerism activity across gender, age, education attainment and income level of urban household consumers in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design involving a mixed method approach. A sample size of 400 respondents was drawn from 10 administrative sub-locations in Nakuru East and Nakuru West sub counties of Nakuru County. Multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used for selecting households for interview. A pre-designed self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Analysis of data was done through Descriptive statistics and ANOVA methods with the aid of Statistical Package for Social sciences (SPSS) version 19. Hypotheses tests were done using p-values approach at 95% confidence level. The study found that the level of consumerism was low among majority of urban household consumers in Nakuru County, Kenya. It established that the level of consumerism significantly differed across income level at 95% confidence level but there were no significant differences were found across age, education attainment and gender of household consumers. The study recommended for strengthening of Kenyan Consumer movement through country-wide consumer recruitment, establishment of consumer forums at County level, financial support for local consumer forums, consumer education and campaigns against consumer exploitation by the civil society.

Keywords: Consumer protection, Consumer movement, Consumerism