Abstract:
Five research questions were answered by the study while four null hypotheses were formulated and tested at p≤ 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted descriptive survey research design and was carried out in Edo State. The population for the study was 59 retail marketers of Total Service Stations in Edo State. Due to the manageable size of the population, the entire 59 retail marketers of Total Service Stations in Edo State were involved in the study. The instrument for data collection is a structured questionnaire titled ‘Assessment of Total (Nigeria Plc) Retail Marketers’ Perception of Adopted Franchising Practices Questionnaire (ATRMPAFPQ)’. The questionnaire was subjected to face validation by three experts. These include two Lecturers from Business Education Unit of the Department of Vocational Teacher Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State and one Lecturer from the Department of Business Administration, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State. To obtain the reliability of the research instrument, the instrument was trial tested by administering 15 copies of the questionnaire to dependent marketers (retail marketers) of Oando Nigeria Plc service stations operating in Ondo State. Cronbach Alpha Reliability coefficient of 0.772 was obtained for cluster two, 0.794 for cluster three, 0.826 for cluster four while 0.759 was obtained for cluster five. The data for the study were collected by the researcher with the help of one research assistant. All the 59 copies of the questionnaire administered were retrieved representing 100% return rate. The data collected were analyzed using frequency, percentage and mean for answering the research questions while Analysis of Variance ANOVA was used for testing hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Based on the data analyzed, the study found that majority of about 56% of the retail marketers of oil and gas products run the single unit franchise arrangement opportunity, the study also found that retail marketers of oil and gas products in Total Nigeria Plc to a little extent adopted the franchising practices in the business. The findings of the study on hypotheses tested showed that qualification and experience of the retail marketers are significant sources of difference while location and job positions of the dependent marketers are not significant sources of difference in the franchising practices adopted by the marketers. Based on the findings, the study among others recommended that there should be effective monitoring outfit by government to ensure check and balances between the franchisees and franchisors in the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy and that there should be specific franchising law, appropriately enforced to aid in the conduct of franchising practices in Nigeria as it exists in South Africa, USA, Spain and other developed countries.
