Motivational drivers, spending habits, and penetration of pay-to-fetch water kiosks in rural Ghana

Safe water enterprises across the developing world are attempting to meet demand for a higher level of water service. Previously existing, frequently free, water sources can make it difficult for these businesses to convince consumers to use a better-quality source or capture sufficient revenue for cost recovery. For this reason, it is imperative to develop a realistic understanding of penetration for small-scale water utilities. A cross-sectional assessment of sixty rural communities was used to evaluate the market share of a private service provider in Ghana. Household survey results for motivations, willingness-to-pay, and actual spending were used to develop a customer profile. Distance, taste, appearance, and affordability were found to be the most common motivational drivers. Using this information, a Huff gravity model was developed to assess the actual and potential market share for the company in each community. While the model and actual results agreed that about 38% of respondents would be regular customers at the given price, the attractiveness of other sources would make it difficult to capture more than 58% of the sampled households, even if water was free. This illustrates the complexity of the water service ecosystem in a developing, rural context.