Employees as customers - An internal marketing study of the Avis car rental group in South Africa

The purpose of the article is to investigate the mutually beneficial nature of establishing long-term relationships with employees as internal customers of the business. The target population for this study was 225 Avis car rental branch managers in South Africa. A total of 155 managers of Avis branches participated through structured, personal interviews in the completion of questionnaires. Data analysis was done by calculating averages and standard deviations, explorative factor analysis, Cronbach alpha-values and practical significance by means of effect sizes. The findings of the study stipulate that a more coherent attempt must be made to improve the level of internal communication between the managers of Avis car rental branches and their employees. This would create an environment within the Avis car rental group that can promote mutual respect, trust and concern between management and employees.