A firm in the market economy survives by producing goods and services that persons are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm’s future viability and even existence as a going concern. Many companies today have a customer focus. This implies that the company focuses its activities and productions on consumer demands. The researcher in this work tried to determine how United Parcel Service (UPS) satisfies the needs and wants of customers in Enugu metropolis, the obstacles faced by UPS in delivery of goods and services in the metropolis and how those obstacles can be managed or solved. The major instrument used by the researcher was questionnaires and interviews. The research questions were designed to cover every question asked in the questionnaire and also provided answers which the respondents were required to pick. The simple percentage method was used in the analysis of the data collected. The researcher also had a face to face interaction with the respondents and information provided by them made the work easy. The researcher found out that the extent to which UPS satisfies its customers in Enugu state is great, the findings also revealed that the obstacle faced by UPS in the delivery of goods and services are competition, centralized method of advertisement, transportation problems and inadequate growth environment and that the obstacles however, can be solved by standard tariff system, decentralized advertisement of the services, efficient and effective transport system and creation of enabling environment. The researcher recommends that the study should be carried out to cover the rural areas or L.G.As, efforts should be made to remove the obstacles in order to position UPS for the effective delivery of the responsibility. Also, effort should be made to curtail excess funding of research in order to satisfy customers’ needs.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE…………………………………………………………………………………

CERTIFICATION……………………………………………………………………………

DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………………………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………………………………………

ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………

TABLE OF CONTENT…………………………………………………………………………

LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………………

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY---------------------------------------------------

1.2 DEFINITION OF PROBLEMS------------------------------------------------

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY-----------------------------------------------

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS-----------------------------------------------------

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY--------------------------------------------

1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY-------------------------------

1.7 DEFINITION OF MAJOR TERMS--------------------------------------------

REFERENCES-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELEVANT/RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 BRIEF COMPANY HISTORY-------------------------------------------------

2.2 THE MARKETING CONCEPT-------------------------------------------------

2.3 MARKETING--------------------------------------------------------------------

2.4 ORGANIZATIONAL ORIENTATION------------------------------------------

2.5 MARKETING RESEARCH-------------------------------------------------------

2.6 TYPE OF MARKET RESEARCH------------------------------------------------

2.7 SOCIETAL MARKETING CONCEPT-------------------------------------------

2.8 HALO EFFECT IN MARKETING/MARKET CANNIBALIZATION

REFERENCES---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 SOURCES OF DATA-------------------------------------------------------------

3.2 POPULATION OF STUDY-------------------------------------------------------

3.3 DETERMINATION OF SAMPLE SIZE------------------------------------------

3.4 SAMPLING PROCEDURE-------------------------------------------------------

3.5 SELECTION AND CONSTRUCTION OF RESEARCH INSTRUMENT ------

3.6 ADMINISTRATION OF RESEARCH INSTRUMENT (QUESTIONNAIRE)--

3.7 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS------------------------------------------------

REFERENCES---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

4.1 PRESENTATION OF DATA-----------------------------------------------------

4.2 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS----------------------------------------------

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION

5.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS------------------------------------------------------

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS----------------------------------------------------------

5.3 CONCLUSION--------------------------------------------------------------------

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………

APPENDICES

I. LETTEROF INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………

II. QUESTIONNAIRE………………………………………………………………………

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.2(a) Selected zones in Enugu metropolis and the population distribution.

Table 4.2(a) Marital status of respondents

Table 4.2(b) Educational qualification

Table 4.2(c) Place of respondent residence in Enugu metropolis

Table 4.2(d) Duration of respondents in the metropolis

Table 4.2(e) Meaning of UPS

Table 4.2(f) Services rendered by UPS

Table 4.3(a) The extent UPS satisfy the needs and wants of customers

Table 4.3(b) Obstacles faced by UPS in the delivery of goods and services in the metropolis

Table 4.3(c) How to solve the obstacles faced by UPS in the metropolis

Table 4.3(d) The extent research into the market economy affect the practice of marketing concept in UPS.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The marketing concept is the philosophy that firms should analyze the needs of their customers and then make decisions to satisfy those needs better than the competition. Today, most firms have adopted the marketing concept but this has not always been the case Katler and Keller, (2012:14).

After World War II, the variety of products increased and hard selling no longer could be relied upon to generate sales. With increased discretionary income, customers could afford to be selective and buy only those products that precisely met their changing needs, those needs which are not immediately obvious. The key questions became what do customers want? Can we develop it while they wait? How can we meet our customers’ satisfaction? Damachi, (1985:20). In response to these discerning customers, firms began to adopt the marketing concepts which involves focusing on customers’ needs before embarking on products development, aligning all functions of the company to focus on these needs and realizing a profit by successfully satisfying customers’ needs.