Judging the Blazes of Satisfaction: An Analytical Study about Domestic LPG Consumers in Kerala, India

Abstract

The present study evaluates the degree of satisfaction of consumers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by focusing on service-related factors like easiness in booking, promptness in delivery, safety precautions, customer care services, and overall satisfaction, as well as demographic factors like gender, age, educational attainment, and monthly income. An organised questionnaire was applied to gather first-hand data from 210 home LPG customers, and chi-square tests, cross-tabulation, and descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the responses. The findings show that while customer care service was the least satisfactory aspect, consumers were very satisfied with the easiness in booking and safety precautions, and moderately satisfied with the promptness in delivery and overall services. Education and monthly income have a considerable impact on satisfaction levels, but gender and age group have lower relationships, according to cross-tabulation and chi-square analysis. The study also found that the overall satisfaction level is comparatively higher among consumers with higher education status than that of lower education status. The study also observed that the consumers with low monthly income are comparatively highly satisfied than those with higher monthly income. Moreover, the study concluded that the overall satisfaction level of consumers of Indane gas distributor is comparatively higher than that of Bharath gas and HP gas distributors. A consumer satisfaction survey serves as a diagnostic tool for supply chain of LPG. By identifying inefficiencies in booking, delivery, safety, and service, it assists distributors and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in streamlining logistics, boosting consumer confidence, and improving service dependability. All of these contribute to a more robust and customer-focused supply chain.