Abstract

Orientation: The continued proliferation of foreign-owned spaza shops in South African townships presents intense competition between local and foreign owners, with evidence that foreign spaza shop owners are more likely to use marketing communication tools than local spaza shop owners. Research purpose: The main purpose of this study was to compare the influence of selected demographic variables (education, age of business and owner’s experience) on the choice of marketing communication tools between foreigners and locals who own spaza shops in South Africa. Motivation for the study: This study was motivated by a lack of insight in comparing the use of marketing communication tools between foreigners and local spaza shop owners. Research design, approach and method: A descriptive, cross-sectional comparative research design was adopted, where a convenience non-random sample of 236 spaza shops owners, both foreign and local ones in the Free State Province, was analysed using four-way analysis of variance. Main findings: The results of the study revealed that foreign spaza shop owners are more influenced by selected demographic factors to use marketing communication tools than South African spaza shop owners. Practical/managerial implications: Given that foreign owners are more influenced by demographic factors to use marketing communication tools to outperform their counterparts, the study highlights the need to support local spaza shop owners for continued sustainability. Contribution/value-add: This study added knowledge by exploring untested comparison of demographic variables influencing the use of marketing communication tools in spaza shop businesses.

Highlights

  • Marketing communication is one of the important activities any business should consider to remain competitive (Bangura 2011:14)

  • There is scant literature highlighting the dominance of spaza shops in terms of nationality and its influence on adopting marketing communication tools, the use of print media, this study has shown that nationality plays a significant role in influencing the choice of marketing communication

  • This is consistent with Mgayi (2015:16), who posits that foreigners use marketing communication tools more than local spaza shop owners

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Summary

Introduction

Marketing communication is one of the important activities any business should consider to remain competitive (Bangura 2011:14). A collective term for all various types of planned messages used to build a brand. These include advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing, personal selling, packaging, events and sponsorships, customer service and product placement. Marketing communication helps business foster goodwill in the market (Bhasin 2018:1: Fill 2005:2). Given these points, it is evident that marketing communication is a vital part for any business (Mahyari 2010:10). There is evidence that consumers are moving away from big retail businesses to more http://www.actacommercii.co.za

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