Housing is a basic need and necessity for the existence of human beings. The need for owning private accommodation cannot be over-emphasized. Any nation’s labour force is strengthened and further developed when there is the availability of safe, decent, and affordable house property. It is also a known fact that housing properties positively affect the social well-being of individuals [1]. Housing properties represent a huge portion of household expenditure and encapsulate a substantial part of a lifetime income [2]. Most emerging economies have failed to systematically provide enough housing for their populace. The lack of commitment to raising needed funds, and the lack of rationalization of various housing programs in the sector are some of the causes of the failure [3].

Notably, the private sector through the effort of real estate developers is the leading provider of housing production in Ghana. The inclusion of real estate markets in the provision of housing is deserving of praise, however, there is exist a shortage of housing properties in Ghana, particularly in the urban areas. Besides, most of the houses offered by private real estate markets are still beyond the reach of most ordinary Ghanaians [4].

Most of the houses in Ghana are provided by individuals. These individuals face several challenges in the acquisition of land and land litigation process, purchasing land unattractive to many Ghanaian [5,6]. Land litigation has become rampant which causes trouble among almost all groups in Ghana. Land litigation may occur due to too many reasons like ethnic conflict, chieftaincy problems, lack of customary lands secretariat for traditional council, or even improper documentation [7].

Marketing literature has identified the experiences of customers as a key determinant of customer purchasing behviour for many industries and products. However, in the housing industry, studies have rarely looked at land acquisition and litigation challenges and their effect on the land purchasing behaviour of customers. This study, therefore, sought to investigate the challenges confronting landlords in the land acquisition and litigation process and their effect on purchasing behviour of landlords in the Kumasi Metropolis; as a base for informed policy for housing development in Ghana as a whole.

Customer Behavior

Customer behavior refers to the actions taken by consumers when they look for, use, evaluate, and dispose the goods or services they anticipate will suit their needs [8]. Experienced customers also frequently exhibit greater decision-making confidence [9]. Customer behavior is the study of how people choose, pay for, use, and then discard goods and services to fulfill their needs and preferences [10]. Customers are valuable assets for any business. A customer is a person or a group of people who select, pay for, utilize, or dispose goods, services, concepts, or experiences to satisfy their needs and preferences. Customers are therefore the ultimate goal of any goods or services [11].

Understanding the intricacies of people and the reasons behind their actions in a market includes understanding customer behavior. The research of consumer behavior has revealed that although customer decisions concerning differences in personality traits and attitudes are made internally, exposure to external cultural and social influences has some similarities [10]. Research on customer behavior aids in forecasting and better understanding not just the subject of purchases but also the reasons why people make purchases and how frequently they make purchases [8]. The majority of real estate purchase and lease decisions are regarded as high involvement services that call for complex decision-making. Customers look for knowledge to help them decide how to best meet a need [12].

It is assumed that a series of mental information processing steps come before making a purchase. This involves a cognitive process in the development of beliefs, an emotional process in the construction of favorable or unfavorable attitudes, and a response by being driven to choose and buy [12]. Customers' decisions to buy things may be significantly influenced by both internal and external factors that affect customer behavior. When a unique combination of emotional traits is present in every customer, this is when those traits operate as internal predictors of behavior. It places emphasis on a number of widely accepted categorizations of internal characteristics that influence customer behavior, such as self-concept, motivation, trust, attitudes, and perception [13].External determinants of customer behavior occur when consumers do not live or make decisions in a vacuum but rather depend on external elements that may influence their choice with regard to real estate marketing [13].

Land Litigation

The adequate provision of housing in meeting the various needs of its population and growth in any country remains a focal challenge in achieving socio-economic stability that promotes national development [14]. The challenges of housing have been a daunting aspect not specifically to the undersupply but also to the rapidly increasing urban population globally with the worst affected countries is the developing and Sub-Saharan continent [15]. Ghana’s real estate market is rising as generations appreciate that capital gains generated from the property in times of inflation are a quick route to wealth accumulation, however, faced with increasing housing demand, there is restricted access to land resulting in high property prices. [3][16]. Acquiring undeveloped land, particularly in the sector of customary land, makes up the majority of the land market in Ghana [17]. The land market in Ghana is incredibly disorganized, and none of the institutional organizations process and report of it. Due to poor data administration, storage, and security, the informal system for tracking land transfers and ownership is feeble and unreliable.

Untrustworthy members of the land holding sector could readily gain access to and distort data about land transactions and ownership, especially during times of conflict. Concerning [16], information about who owns which piece of land is not readily available, and the legal and administrative processes for the transfer of titles are highly complicated. Assert that the confusion surrounding the usage of land, development, and title to land has contributed to significant instability on the market for the urban land market. Inadequate data on the number of transactions, the quantity of land exchanged, the distribution of land transactions, and land prices also dominate the Ghanaian real estate market. Land prices are among the various components of costs, land prices are the most expensive with some even quoted in foreign currencies [18]. Land transactions are conducted in secrecy [19]. In addition to the problem of land, then a high cost of materials for building [20]. This has led to increased building costs in the last decade, making it difficult for the average Ghanaian to purchase a house before retirement [21][3]. Ghana's urban real estate market is incredibly unregulated and unstable. It is primarily tainted by disputed ownership, murky land titles, and legal disputes. In areas where there is a rising demand for land, the chaos and insecurity in the Ghanaian real estate market are more pronounced. As more people try to profit from or gain control over land as a result of rising land demand as a result of expanding economic prosperity in metropolitan centers, the chaos in the real estate market grows.

Building and development permits are prerequisites for housing development in Ghana. Delays, high cost of application, inadequate inspections, and selective review of designs are issues plagued by the acquisition of permits. Improper placement of building projects, the use of unapproved plans, construction on wetlands, flooding, and demolition of illegal buildings are the consequences of the issue [22]. The procedures on the Ghanaian real estate market are unclear. The Ghanaian urban land market is inefficient and distorted as a result of the difficulty in determining the genuine owner of a specific piece of land, dishonest land sales, the slow construction of infrastructure, undisciplined land agents, and corruption. The main issues facing the urban land market include multiple land allocations, title conflicts between customary landowners and the government, a lack of registered documents, and the absence of a trustworthy database of landowners [23]. Land buyers in Ghanaian urban areas face a significant risk of protracted litigation or financial loss because the sellers may be unable to transfer the correct legal title to their individual clients. Due to underlying issues in the customary land sector, state bureaucracies, and the adoption of a colonial land tenure system, this challenge has become more difficult. This situation is largely due to land disputes between neighboring customary landowners, unauthorised land sales by some members of the landholding community, such as families, clans, and communities, and multiple land sales by dishonest customary landowners [24].

Based on these constraints, people purchase land and build without recourse to the existing process of obtaining the requisite development approvals for fear of encroachment. Consequently, a large number of established properties, therefore, have no permits and this brings about the issue of land litigation [25]. From the review of literature, it can be hypothesized that land litigation may affect customer behavior is twofold: Land litigation may encourage prospective customers to engage in real estate marketing to avoid land disputes, additionally, land litigation may discourage prospective customers to have a negative perception when it entails deciding to engage in real estate markets. Therefore, this study seeks to delve more into land litigation and its effect on customers’ behavior towards real estate marketing in Ghana.

Study Setting

The study was conducted in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana's second-largest metropolis. With a total area of 214.3 square kilometers, Kumasi serves as the regional capital of the Ashanti region.

 Over two-thirds of the working population in Kumasi are employed in the informal sector, making it the city's largest economic sector [26]. Houses in Kumasi are mostly found in peri-urban settings like cities and suburbs. In Kumasi, self-building for personal or professional reasons is the primary reason to own a home [27]. Housing is a substantial part of household wealth, especially for low-income households, and there is little doubt that the Ghanaian economy is benefiting more from housing wealth [28]. As a result, owning a home is one of the most coveted possessions for many families and the larger Ghanaian community to acquire because it is highly prized in terms of social and cultural symbolism, as a way to save money and achieve stability, and as a guarantee of an old-age home [29].

According to the 2021 Population Census, 50% of Kumasi's female population and 49% of its male population resided in homes owned by members of their household [26]. Only about 58 percent (57.3%) of households in Ghana live in compound houses with 28 percent living in separate houses [26]. In both rural and urban areas of the country, the majority of households reside in compound houses. This is followed by those who reside in separate houses. However, the proportion of rural households who live in separate houses is higher than urban and more so in rural forest areas (47.8%). However, in Ghana, the land sector has continuously faced major problems and constraints which involve the current spate of land encroachments, multiple sales of residential parcels, high cost of land, and a complex tenure system eventually leading to land acquisition challenges, land disputes, conflicts and consistent land litigation [30].

To understand land litigation and real estate marketing in Ghana specifically in the Kumasi Metropolis, this study utilized a qualitative approach via exploratory research design. A thorough and comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon is enhanced by the qualitative research design's goal to describe the phenomena [31]. Imperatively, the qualitative methodology enables a researcher to investigate the respondent's reality as a means of learning about and interpreting an area of interest [23]. This provides a novel framework for encounters that are distinctive, instructive, and knowledge-rich to explain the respondents' social experiences [22].

The study is situated in the framework of Grounded Theory. Grounded Theory uses the systematic procedure to conduct qualitative research to help in the development of theory. Through the application of Grounded Theory, an emerging concept is developed to lay the foundation for future quantitative research.

Sample and Data Collection

The study purposively focused on landlords in Kumasi Metropolis. The study focused on this group of individuals because of their expertise in land acquisition processes. The study through the snowball sampling technique interviewed 30 landlords with land litigation cases from Bantama, Subin, Mahyia, Oforikrom, Asokwa, and Asewase Sub-metros in the Kumasi Metropolis. Data collection was done with a semi-structured interview guide. The study with the consent of the respondents used a digital voice-recording device to record all the interview proceedings to aid the transcription after the data collection exercise. The interviews were done in the houses of the respondents. The average length of each interview was 20 to 30 minutes. With a few interviews conducted in Ghanaian Twi, which were afterwards translated and transcribed into English, the remainder of the interviews were conducted in English.

The interview questions focused on two main themes, namely consumer behavior (whether the respondent is willing to buy another land if he/she has money for building and whether the respondent is willing to recommend a piece of land to a friend or family member to buy for a building and the challenges encountered in land acquisition and litigation by them.

Data Analysis

The data collected were transcribed and coded by the researcher manually, using the descriptive coding method. Two analytical approaches were followed and these were thematic analysis and narrative analysis. For the thematic analysis, themes were generated out of the codes for synthesis. Based on the themes, the researcher through Grounded Theory developed linkages or conceptual frameworks to explain the linkages between land acquisition and litigation challenges and customer behaviour. For the narrative analysis, the direct quotations approach was employed to explain customer behaviour and the land acquisition and litigation challenges. The findings were discussed based on previous studies and theories.

Respondent Characteristics

The socio-demographic characteristics of 30 landlords are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Socio-demographic Characteristics.

Source: Filed Data (2022)

From Table 1, males dominated (80%) over the females (20.0%). Majority of the respondents were adults (41-60; 83.3) with only 16.7% in their youthful age. The distribution of the educational level of respondents are is as follows; PhD representing (3.3%), Master’s degree (33.3%), Bachelor’s degree (20.0%), Professional certificate (26.7%), HND/Diploma (10%) and SHS/secondary school certificate (6.7%).

Purchasing Behaviour of Consumer

The study asked the respondents two questions concerning consumer purchasing behaviour of land in the study area. The questions involve whether a participant is willing to buy another piece of land for building if he or she has money and whether the participant would recommend a piece of land to a colleague or family member to buy for building purposes.  The responses to the two questions are summarized in Figure 1.  

Source: Filed Data (2022)

Figure 1: The respondents indicated their willingness to buy another piece of land for building and recommend a piece of land to colleagues and family members to buy for building respectively. These respondents who indicated they would buy land and/or would recommend a piece of land to colleagues or family members to buy for building.

Figure 1 shows that 13 (43.3%) and 9 (30.0%) of the respondents indicated their willingness to buy another piece of land for building and recommend a piece of land to colleagues and family members to buy for building respectively. These respondents who indicated they would buy land and/or would recommend a piece of land to colleagues or family members to buy for building purposes have these to say:

"I am aware that in some places, buying land is not easy but not all the places in the metropolis. Is a matter of having money, I like to live in the city and I will buy land from the city if I have the money. Many people are still buying land from Kumasi Metropolis, I do not think it is not safe for them to do so. As for me, give me money today and you will see me buying land from Kumasi the same day”

"Yes, I will buy it, why not? it is always good to live in the center of the city and I will do everything possible to own land in Kumasi Metropolis if I have the money"

"I know some of my family members or friends who already have land in Kumasi Metropolis, oh no, they just acquired the plot a few years ago. So why not, I will tell others to follow their suit if they can afford" 

I have even recommended to a friend a plot from Kumasi Metropolis, I think I was in 2017. The owner had a structure on the land but needed huge sums of money. I was closer to the owner, so when I got the information, I told a friend I knew he could afford it and he bought it but it was not easy, more money was involved .

The following represents some of the explanations given by the respondents who noted they would never buy another piece of land and/ or would never recommend a piece of land to a colleague or family member to buy from Kumasi Metropolis. 

"I think I will risk my lifetime investment to buy a piece of land in the Kumasi Metropolis when I certain know that many people are facing challenges with the land, they bought in some of the areas”

“Oh, here that is what they do, the same land can be sold to two or three people and nothing can be done about it. I am not sure will buy land from this place. This is not the only place where people can live and are so many places where I can buy a piece of land without any problem. Even if those places are in the bush, I prefer to live there rather than suffer future land litigation problems".

"I am not sure I will recommend land in Kumasi to a friend to buy when I know that he is likely to face problems on the land. I cannot do that. I cannot put my friends in an avoidable problem”

"Though I will not do so the choice is his" 

The respondents were aware of land acquisition and litigation procedures. However, the respondents expressed many concerns or challenges with these processes. Several themes emerged and the views expressed are grouped under each theme as follows;  

“Building involves a lot, buying of a land, the litigations involved, I mean supposing there is a land issue that you are facing by the time you have finally gone through all the long unnecessary steps just to settle the case you may eventually lose interest in building altogether”. 

“Not only had the chiefs but even the bureaucracies involved! That is just too frustrating especially here in our motherland. So, to avoid all this I prefer buying”.

“Government institutions responsible for land registration and given of building permits should be resourced and strengthened to shorten the long process people go through”.

“Hm, the issue regarding land acquisition in Ghana, yes ooo. I don’t want to think about it! It is quite a lengthy process and even when faced with adverse issues relating to land, the time frame is usually long for settlement”.

“The issue of land acquisition serves as a deterrent to me, I mean, the long processes involved er, oh no!”

“Land litigation is a very hectic and long process here in Ghana. That is a reason why I would rather not think of buying another land in this area”.

That is the more reason why I don’t want to acquire another land in Kumasi. Chiefs of today in Ghana are not truthful. They can sell land to you today and sell it to about three people later. When it happens like that one can’t build. The chief might not be alive or you might not have money to take a lawyer and go to court. It happened to me and I don’t want to experience the same next time”.

“Oh yes, we all live in Ghana and we know how chiefs sell one land to many people which ends up in court. Land guards are used to killing and destroying properties. To avoid all these, I prefer to buy a house.”

“Yes. Land litigation in Ghana is becoming a problem. Chiefs sell the same land to two or more people creating a whole lot of problems. Not only the chiefs but even the bureaucracies involved! That is just too frustrating especially here in our motherland.”

“Oh yes, my senior brother is the chief of where I live so getting land to build is not a problem. That is the more reason why I want to build.”

“Yes, Lands are expensive but because I know chiefs, I can get them at a reasonable price. Been guaranteed by one chief to come for one at a reasonable price already.”

“Taxes on building materials should be reduced and government should liaise with chiefs to solve litigation issues on lands.”

Technical Challenges 

“Not even that but you know Ghana and litigation, we do not keep proper records of relevant information which at the long run goes against us, sometimes there may be improper surveying and the likes.”

“There is also the incorrect measurement which may lead to boundary disputes with neighbouring properties and constructions problems may occur because of inaccurate figures.”

“You see, usually here in Ghana, there are old or inaccurate surveys when left uncorrected can cause havoc and headaches. So why sign up for that time of headache!”

It can be stipulated that respondents whose decisions were to buy from real estate companies attributed their reasons to the improper documentation and surveying of land. Hence, their decision to buy to avoid all the complications.

Stress and Psychological Challenges 

“Yes! The stress involved in building. Hm, don’t go there! Especially, when it involves legal issues, the time you will spend, you should do something worthwhile. Psychologically speaking, buying a house relieves you from all this and gives you a piece of mind.”

“Um yeah, yeah. When there is a misunderstanding in the possession of land, it takes a considerably longer period before it is resolved. It’s a mental process. You have to be extra prepared to be involved in such land litigation.”

Fraudulent Activities 

“Some agents are frauds ooo, they give false promises raising your hopes and expectations and even lure you to buy the house, and so if you don’t have someone with the expertise and knowledge, you will lose absolutely everything!”

This is just fraud! Some are not even registered. They give you the impression that they are the world’s best and once you transact with them, you will end up regretting and wishing you had never met them”.

“If you engage with a new business here in Ghana and you are naïve, you will bear the consequences of losing it all”.

“If you don’t take care you will be deceived into buying a house property you never wished you did, so to avoid all this fraud by these real estate businesses it’s better to get a representative”.

From the findings on consumer behaviour and perceived land acquisition and litigation challenges, a key concept emerges as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Emerging Concept.

From Figure 2, two main consumer behaviour is identified with regards to land acquisition and they are “Will buy another land for building and make recommendations" and "Will not buy another land for building and make recommendations". These two behaviours emerged based on experiences the respondents have had with land acquisition and litigation processes as shown in Figure 2. 

Marketing researchers have not fully analyzed the backdrop of real estate marketing, land acquisition, and litigation in emerging economies. This study looked at the difficulties in land acquisition and litigation, as well as customer behavior in real estate marketing in Ghana's Kumasi Metropolis. As opposed to emerging economies like Ghana, which necessitate a significant financial commitment, housing acquisition and land litigation are very simple in established countries. The majority of Ghanaians build their own homes or build slowly depending on their financial situation.

In order to explore the issues of land acquisition and litigation concerns as well as customer purchasing behavior, various themes emerged during the respondents' interviews. It was revealed that many landlords are not willing to buy another land for building and make recommendations for the purchase of land for building. They rather prefer to buy a complete house rather than buy land and building from a scratch. This behaviour offers business opportunities for real estate companies in the study area. 

The respondents’ unwillingness to buy another land for building but buy a competing house from real estate companies was based on their previous challenges with land acquisition and litigation. The challenges include prolonged land disputes, poor administration of lands, technical problems, psychological and land litigation stress, and fraudulent activities that emerged from the interrogation with the respondents. Respondents attributed the occurrences of land litigation and its influence on engaging in real estate marketing or not. This supports the hypothesis that land litigation may encourage prospective customers to engage in real estate marketing to avoid land disputes or land litigation may discourage prospective customers to have a negative perception when it entails deciding to engage in real estate markets.

From the analysis, respondents expressed their views on land litigation and real estate markets in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana depending on their experience. The study confirms that land litigation may occur due to so many factors [7]. Respondents expressed their negative opinion toward the long dispute processes on land. This is congruence with which posits that the uncertainty in the declaration of a true owner of a piece of land may prolong due to unscrupulous land sales, delayed delivery of infrastructure, undisciplined land agents and corruption leads to frustration and discouragement in dealing with land disputes [32]. From the interrogation with the respondents, the long processes involved influenced the respondents’ decision to purchase a house from real estate markets to avoid all the accompanying setbacks associated with building a house from scratch.

Additionally, the poor administration in the allocation of lands, title disputes, absence of registered documents, and missing database of landowners is a discouragement to customers who may wish to purchase land. This is in line with the study which posits that purchasers of land in Ghana are mostly susceptible to a huge risk of litigation and loss of funds as a result of improper legal transfer of title to respective customers [33]. One major administrative cause for improper transfer of land title may be due to some customary grants which may not be registered. Customary grants are valid regardless of their non-registration and no documentation of the land in interest, however, this comes with so many misunderstandings as demonstrated by the respondents which in a way affects their behaviour and decision to either build or purchase a house.

It was also envisaged from findings that incomplete documentation with regards to the land register, and inaccurate and outmoded tools that do not meet modern standards influenced some respondents' understudy on their decision to buy new lands or not. For instance, a respondent stated that improper documentation of relevant information serves as a deterrent to customers in Ghana. It is supporting the findings from that a considerable number of housing properties do not have a permit and this brings about land litigation [25]. Also, some respondents shared their plight on the inaccurate surveying measurement which may eventually cause disputes with neighbouring properties and construction problems due to inaccurate figures. Congruence establishes that improper placement of building projects and utilization of unapproved plans of housing cause misunderstanding about land acquisition [34-38].

It is the dream of every meaningful and responsible individual to acquire land and build a house or house for residential and/or commercial purposes. However, land acquisition, most often results in many challenges, leading to land litigation. It is important to note that every individual goes through challenge(s) during land acquisition and land litigation and these challenges have grouped landlords into two distinct behaviours. Landlords with positive behaviour (willing to purchase new lands and recommend land for purchase for building) and landlords with negative behaviour (unwilling to purchase new lands or recommend new land for purchase for building). Landlords with negative behaviour have experienced almost all the challenges of land acquisition and litigation such as long and bureaucratic land litigation processes, challenges related to poor land administration process, fraudulent activities, and poor documentation from chiefs. However, stress related to normal land processes and technical challenges resulting from lack of due diligence from form customers are deemed as normal and do not necessarily lead to negative behaviour. 

The study based on the above conclusions, recommends that the Government of Ghana through the Land Commission should strengthen land administration processes to make land acquisition more attractive. Land Commission should ensure that all available land for sale or lease is well documented with the Land Commission. Sales of land should start and end with Land Commission to prevent the rising fraudulent activities associated with the purchase of land in Ghana. Land litigation cases, both in courts and in chief places should be handled with a sense of urgency to help reduce the stress and waist of productive time associated with land litigations. 

The study, however, did not focus on or include Real Estate Developers who are critical to housing development in Ghana. Future studies should consider the buying behaviour and mechanism adopted by Real Estate Developers, considering the challenges confronting land acquisition and litigation in Ghana. Moreover, future studies should focus on mitigation and adaptation strategies by landlords, given the land acquisition and litigation challenges.

The study provides an explanatory model for land acquisition and land litigation challenges and their effect on customer behaviour.This study contributes to the current body of knowledge by providing insight and understanding of land acquisition, the factors that contributes to land litigation in Kumasi metropolis Ghana. The Government, traditional authorities who have oversight responsibilities on lands and also custodians should ensure lands are registered and are not sold to more than two or more people. Again, families who are custodians of lands must ensure they settle land issues among themselves before selling it out.

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Alfred Owusu is an Associate Professor in Marketing Management. He  holds a PhD in Marketing from  Business University of Costa Rica, Costa; MBA in Business Administration in International Business and BBA in Business Administration (Marketing option) from University of East London, UK. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Marketing in Kumasi Technical University, Ghana. He is a Dean of the Business school and member of the Ghana Technical University Teachers Association. His research is focused on housing, marketing management, and Service marketing.

Gertrude Agyemang is a PhD student at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and currently a part-time Lecturer at the Marketing Department at Kumasi Technical University, Ghana. She Holds MPhil in Marketing and BSc in Marketing from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Business School.

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