IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rnd/arjebs/v7y2015i5p37-42.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Exploration of the Impact of Digital Marketing on SMEs Growth and Brand Popularity in Rural South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Lawrence Mpele LEKHANYA

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to establish understand of digital marketing and its use by SMEs in rural South Africa, the extent of its use, examining contributing factors to its use and their implications. Primary data was collected using a quantitative research technique with the use of a structured questionnaire as the survey instrument. A total of 134 SMEs operating in rural KwaZulu –Natal were selected. Questionnaires were distributed to the business owners/ mangers between august and December 2014. SPSS (22.0) version was employed to for data analysis. The findings of this study revealed that some rural places in South Africa still experiencing ICT problems for being not available make it difficult for SMEs growth through the use of digital marketing. The reliability analysis, reflected coefficient values from 0.70 to 0.833. The analysis of factors limiting use of digital marketing among the rural SMEs, are presented with recommended strategies and implications on how to approach the challenges. Digital marketing of rural SMEs may be strengthened through awareness and providing adequate information about ICT and through diverse of internet marketing programmes.

Suggested Citation

  • Lawrence Mpele LEKHANYA, 2015. "An Exploration of the Impact of Digital Marketing on SMEs Growth and Brand Popularity in Rural South Africa," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 7(5), pages 37-42.
    • Handle: RePEc:rnd:arjebs:v:7:y:2015:i:5:p:37-42
    DOI: 10.22610/jebs.v7i5(J).604
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs/article/view/604/604
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs/article/view/604
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22610/jebs.v7i5(J).604?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David North & David Smallbone, 2000. "The Innovativeness and Growth of Rural SMEs During the 1990s," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 145-157.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Akgun, A.A. & Baycan, T. & Nijkamp, P., 2011. "Creative capacity for sustainable development: A comparative analysis of European and Turkish rural regions," Serie Research Memoranda 0020, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    2. Nur Hazelen Mat Rusok Author_Email: hazelen@kelantan.uitm.edu.my & Mohamed Husny Basir & PM Dr. Zainudin Awang & Farahiyah Akmal Mat Nawi, 2011. "The Influence Of Constructive Thought Pattern Strategies On Entrepreneur Innovative Behavior," Annual Summit on Business and Entrepreneurial Studies (ASBES 2011) Proceeding 2011-034-087, Conference Master Resources.
    3. Aliye Ahu Gülümser & Tüzın Baycan-Levent & Peter Nijkamp, 2009. "Measuring Regional Creative Capacity: A Literature Review for Rural-Specific Approaches," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 545-563, October.
    4. Jakob Eder & Michaela Trippl, 2019. "Innovation in the periphery: compensation and exploitation strategies," PEGIS geo-disc-2019_07, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    5. Atilla Öner, M. & Kunday, Özlem, 2016. "A study on Schumpeterian and Kirznerian entrepreneurship in Turkey: 2006–2013," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 62-71.
    6. Marian Rizov & Patrick Paul Walsh, 2011. "Is There a Rural-Urban Divide? Location and Productivity of UK Manufacturing," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(5), pages 641-656.
    7. Jeremy Phillipson & Matthew Gorton & Roger Turner & Mark Shucksmith & Katie Aitken-McDermott & Francisco Areal & Paul Cowie & Carmen Hubbard & Sara Maioli & Ruth McAreavey & Diogo Souza-Monteiro & Rob, 2020. "The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Implications for Rural Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-9, May.
    8. James Simmie, 2002. "Knowledge Spillovers and Reasons for the Concentration of Innovative SMEs," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(5-6), pages 885-902, May.
    9. Neil Lee & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2013. "Original Innovation, Learnt Innovation and Cities: Evidence from UK SMEs," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(9), pages 1742-1759, July.
    10. Mahmutaj Lura Rexhepi & Krasniqi Besnik, 2020. "Innovation Types and Sales Growth in Small Firms: Evidence from Kosovo," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 15(1), pages 27-43, June.
    11. Macpherson, Allan & Holt, Robin, 2007. "Knowledge, learning and small firm growth: A systematic review of the evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 172-192, March.
    12. Yannis Caloghirou & Ioannis Giotopoulos & Alexandra Kontolaimou & Aggelos Tsakanikas, 2022. "Inside the black box of high-growth firms in a crisis-hit economy: corporate strategy, employee human capital and R&D capabilities," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 1319-1345, September.
    13. François Deltour & Sébastien Le Gall & Virginie Lethiais, 2017. "Innovating not Only in Cities: Evidence from SMEs," Post-Print hal-01758281, HAL.
    14. Pham, Tho & Talavera, Oleksandr & Zhang, Mao, 2018. "Self-employment, financial development, and well-being: Evidence from China, Russia, and Ukraine," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 754-769.
    15. repec:mgs:ijoied:v:1:y:2015:i:1:p:17-26 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Fenghua Pan & Bofei Yang, 2019. "Financial development and the geographies of startup cities: evidence from China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 743-758, March.
    17. Musolino Dario & Silvetti Alessia, 2020. "Are Mountain Areas Attractive for Investments? The Case of the Alpine Provinces in Italy," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 12(4), pages 469-493, December.
    18. James Foreman-Peck, 2013. "Effectiveness and efficiency of SME innovation policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 55-70, June.
    19. Wojan, Tim & Parker, Timothy, 2017. "Innovation in the Rural Nonfarm Economy: Its Effect on Job and Earnings Growth, 2010-2014," Economic Research Report 264596, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    20. Deligianni, Ioanna & Voudouris, Irini & Lioukas, Spyros, 2015. "Growth paths of small technology firms: The effects of different knowledge types over time," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 491-504.
    21. Jinping Lin & Jun Lei & Zhen Yang & Jiangang Li, 2019. "Differentiation of Rural Development Driven by Natural Environment and Urbanization: A Case Study of Kashgar Region, Northwest China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-21, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rnd:arjebs:v:7:y:2015:i:5:p:37-42. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Muhammad Tayyab (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.