BRAND QUALITY POSITIONING STRATEGY AND SALES PERFORMANCE OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE MANUFACTURING ENTREPRENEURS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES SECTOR IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated the relationship between brand quality positioning strategy and sales performance of food and beverage manufacturing entrepreneurs in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector in Rivers State, Nigeria. The descriptive and quantitative survey research gathered data from 490 entrepreneurs and customers who patronise SMEs in Port Harcourt. A well-structured questionnaire containing 16 items, with five demographic items was used to elicit data from the respondents. After data editing and reliability analysis of the instrument, inferential statistics were conducted to determine the relationship between brand quality positioning strategy and sales performance with the help of SPSS. The result of the inferential statistical analysis revealed a moderate and positive relationship between brand quality positioning strategy and sales performance. The empirical study concluded that brand quality has a significant predictive capability on sales performance. The study, therefore, recommended that food and beverage manufacturing companies should focus on the improvement of the quality of their products to enable them to attract more patronage.