There are three keys to completing a PhD successfully, namely hard work, commitment, and constant prayers. These keys will give you the energy to keep pushing, even when the motivation to continue seems to have disappeared, Patrick says.
Patrick comes from Gomoah Jukwa, a small village near Agona Swedru in the Central Region of Ghana. His academic journey started with qualifications in Accounting after which his managers at work suggested that he was more suited as a marketer.
After several qualifications and positions in marketing he obtained an MBA in Marketing at the Methodist University College and his Master's degree in Marketing at the University of Ghana.
Patrick wanted to be an effective leader, inspire those with whom he works, and lead by example, and believed that a PhD degree would be a key tool to this end. And so he joined Mandela University as a full-time international student in 2019.
Leaving his business, wife and three children in Ghana to come and study in South Africa on a full-time basis was not an easy task. He felt lonely and homesick at times and with the pandemic he could not access the library, socialise, or even travel back to Ghana to see his family.
Patrick praises his supervisors, Dr Amoah and Prof Marle van Eyk from Marketing Management. Working with them, he developed and improved his personal, academic, organisational, planning, and time management skills. He also indicated that meeting with his supervisors changed some of his perspectives about life and made him humbler.
The title of his PhD thesis is “Customer experience value, satisfaction and behavioural intentions within selected shopping malls in Ghana”.
The study investigated the factors that influence the value of experience for customers, as well as how this influences their satisfaction and behavioural intentions within shopping malls. The findings showed that the service they encountered, their experiences, whether their experience was pleasant, and the practicality, significantly influenced the customer experience value.
The study also indicated that the experience value significantly influenced customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions in shopping malls and recommended a model that could assist shopping mall managers to enhance their services towards customers.
Patrick said that by the time he had completed his thesis he consulted more than 5 000 books, articles, and online material, of which he cited over 1 000 sources in his final thesis. He worked swiftly on feedback from his supervisors and stuck to his timetable.
He also emphasised the importance of being motivated from within and to look for opportunities that will enhance one’s PhD programme and help to finish on time.