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Faculty of Management Sciences

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    The implication of social media marketing on the sustainability of SMEs in Accra Ghana
    (2023) Hayford, Amegbe; Zungu, Nkululeko PraiseGod; Asamoah, Emmanuel Selase
    Social media is a nascent technological tool that impacts organizations today. The impact varies from large to small organizations and developed and developing country contexts. The present study advances insight by investigating the implication of social media marketing on small and medium enterprise (SME) sustainability in Accra, using an exploratory, sequential, mixed methods strategy. The study commenced with the qualitative phase, interviewing 16 SMEs in Accra from different industries, as classified by the Ghana Investment and Promotion Council. The findings from the qualitative phase formed the basis for the quantitative phase, which surveyed 234 SMEs to participate in the study. The qualitative data were analysed with NVivo, while SmartPLS was employed for the quantitative data. Findings from the qualitative and quantitative phases reveal support for organisational and entrepreneurial factors influencing the adoption decision of SMEs in Accra. However, the study did not find support for two qualitative phase technological factors (complexity and perceived cost) and one environmental factor (institutional pressure). Furthermore, support for social media adoption and financial marketing performance were revealed as non-financial marketing performance in both study phases, while financial marketing performance was found to also support environmental and social sustainability. This study's originality lies in the use of a sequential mixed methods approach, to extend Technology, Organization and Environment theory in examining marketing performance outcomes and sustainability. Moreover, the inclusion of an additional factor to test social media adoption among SMEs and developing a conceptual framework to explore and test these relationships, differentiates this study. Theoretically, the study contributes to the existing knowledge, demonstrating the factors influencing SMEs' social media adoption, how this translates into non-financial marketing performance of SMEs and would lead to their sustainable performance. Based on the overall findings, the study also develops a conceptual framework that can serve as a foundation upon which future studies could be conducted. Practically, the findings would also benefit SME owners/managers on advantages of social media use in their organizations and to develop a proper implementation strategy. For policymakers who oversee SME activities, this study would provide the avenue for policy formulation on how SMEs can take advantage of social media in their organization to enable them to become competitive and remain sustainable.
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    The use of Instagram as a communication tool in the Durban fashion industry
    (2023) Ngcobo, Thandeka; Madondo, Elvis
    Over the years, social media has become an imperative platform in the fashion industry for testing new marketing strategies and monitoring trends. There are thousands of luxury and high street fashion brands around the world that are present online. Despite the fact that fashion brands have unilaterally set their polished brand images through traditional media such as television channels and magazines, social media serves as a very powerful tool for promoting and sharing fashion information to both industry and people (Ha, Kwon, Cha and Joo 2017:418). Undeniably, Instagram is not only used as any other social media platform, but also as a marketing tool for local fashion brands. There are numerous phenomena of Instagram marketing. However, there is still a lack of clarification as to why these phenomena occurred. The aim of this study was to determine the use of Instagram as a communication tool in the Durban Fashion industry. The primary objective of the research was to examine the influence of Instagram as a communication tool in the Durban Fashion industry. The study followed a quantitative research method in order to accomplish the set objectives. Non-probability sampling was used in recruiting participants. Purposive sampling technique was utilised to generate the sample population. Fashion brand owners in Durban who use Instagram as a communication tool were the population targeted by this study. The researcher was able to get a 91.5% response rate as 119 questionnaires out of 130 were collected. The study used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0 for Windows to analyse the data. The study revealed that Instagram is an effective communication tool that fashion business owners can benefit from, if used strategically. Furthermore, the findings revealed that Instagram is giving fashion business owners a platform to showcase their best offerings; communicate with their target audience; and increase brand awareness. One of the recommendations was that fashion businesses who are not using Instagram as a communication tool to start using this social media platform. Communication through the use of pictures and videos seems to be a new strategy for marketing. The study also recommended that it is important for fashion owners to prioritise engagement with their target audience on Instagram in order to build friendly relationships and increase the number of followers.
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    The influence of social media on organisational communication and organisational culture : a case study of the South African Social Security Agency in the Eastern Cape
    (2023-08) Dlelengana, Sabo; Adebayo, Rufus
    The rapid growth of social media has had a significant influence on how information is accessed. Social media platforms are highly accessible and scalable, making them ideal for connection and collaboration. The aim of this study was to provide the significance of the development of social media on communication in organisations, specifically the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA). The main objectives of the study were to determine the effectiveness of social media as a communication tool at SASSA, identify which social media platforms were most effective in organisational communication at SASSA, and examine the relationship between social media and organisational communication and organisational culture at SASSA. Thereafter, recommendations were offered to SASSA on the adoption of social media as a communication tool. The study adopted a quantitative research approach, which comprised of a structured questionnaire that was distributed to the research respondents. The sample size was 140, which was derived from a target population of 210 employees through a simple random sampling technique. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25.0 for Windows was used to analyse the data collected. The study also used descriptive statistics to analyse the responses collected from the questionnaires. The data was represented in the form of charts, graphs, and tables. The study found that organisational communication and organisational culture are considerably affected by the rapid expansion and implementation of social media for organisational-related services and activities at SASSA. The study recommends that organisations implement and standardise social media tools, which could lead to a strategy for improved and updated organisational cultures and communication. The study concluded with directions for future research on the role of social media on organisational communication and organisational culture.
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    The influence of social media marketing on Durban consumers' choice of brands
    (2018) Ntobaki, Paballo Patience; Moodley, Padhma
    Social media has eternally changed the purchasing cycle of consumers. Instead of merely making a purchase, today shoppers have added two vital rudiments that come prior and post purchase in the buying the process. By use of blog posts, review, forums and tweets, today consumers conduct online research on brands that they have an interest of purchasing and opinions posted by other consumers have an immense power to influence their decisions (Agresta, Bough and Miletsky 2010:32). This creates a measuring tool that can be utilised to direct efforts towards real time. Taking note of what users are saying in social media and engaging in their discussions is a great way of influencing these discussions. Social media is mostly if not wholly characterised by ratings, comments, reviews, and other features that are found on website that indicates what users think of the content being discussed (Evans and Bratton 2012:38). The aim of this study is to determine the influence of social media marketing on Durban consumers’ choice of brands, while the primary objective is to determine the degree to which social media marketing influences consumers’ decision making when selecting a brand. According to TNNG (2013) above 60% of traffic on the internet created by the African continent comes from South Africa. A method of study adopted by this research to achieve the set objectives was quantitative in nature. Convenience and purposive sampling were two non-probability sampling techniques employed to recruit participants in this study. All Durban consumers above the age of 18 who are active social media users were the population targeted by this study. 88% response rate was achieved as only 400 questionnaires out of 450 were collected. The study used a structured self-administered questionnaire which consisted of 45 items to gather primary data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilised in this study. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. The outcomes of this research advocate that social media is a very powerful communication tool that can be used to influence consumers’ decisions when selecting a brand. All users emphasised that they are active on computer generated platforms of which Facebook is the most used network among Durban consumers. Literature reviewed in this study indicates that social media plays a significant part in the way users learn, explore, and share brand information. Generally, reviews and product ratings produced by users are the most favoured information sources among consumers in social media (Nielsen 2011). Consumers point out that social media is very important to them as it creates brand awareness which they make use of when making a purchase decision. Consumers in this study indicated that the more aware they became of a brand via social media, the more they would want to buy the brand and vice versa. Conversations about certain brands on social media create awareness about those brands among consumers (Liu and Lopez 2016). The study recommended that brands should incorporate promotional activities, contests and competitions on its social media brand page posts to increase traffic and excitement among consumers. Another recommendation was that marketers should identify a personality that will represent a brand well in social media, giving it a vital feel that will entice the target audience. The study also recommended further research on the influence of opinion leaders on consumers’ choice of brands, the influence of specific social media channels and the influence of social media on specific age groups to give broader insight of social media marketing to marketers and brand managers.