Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters/MBA)

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Browsing Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters/MBA) by Author "Anning, Thomas Dorson"

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    Effects of Digital Activism on Brand Awareness and Image
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Malambo, Nachanza; Anning, Thomas Dorson
    The purpose of this research paper is to explore the impact that digital activism has on brands in South Africa. Digital activism, commonly known by social media users as cancel culture, has gained momentum with social media audiences; using the network effects of popular platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram to discipline users, brands and celebrities that may have erred or offended users. As brands observe the increase of hours spent on social media, they are likely to increase their presence on the platforms of choice either for digital advertising and marketing communication purposes or to connect with potential audiences. They may be caught up in incidents of digital activism as has been seen with brands such as H&M, Dove, Tresemme and Clicks in recent years in South Africa. This paper begins by unearthing the roots of digital activism in political sciences disciplines and explores how the brand management theories of brand image and brand awareness are affected by this activity. The research problem explores the fact that traditional marketers have concentrated on the positive brand building elements of brand equity, with attention given to the awareness and image that brands are able to conjure in the minds of consumers; without much focus on the negative elements of brand avoidance, hate, and aversion, which can be outcome of digital activism. The research objectives were firstly to investigate the impact that social media activity has on brands as it has been shown that an increase of social media usage among individuals would increase the interaction that brands have with their intended target audience and members of the community. Secondly, the study sought to investigate the impact that digital activism has on brand awareness as one of the gaps to be studied is on the negative impact that digital activism or cancel culture may have on brand awareness. Thirdly, the researchers examined the impact of digital activism on brand avoidance, as a deliberate effort to avoid the brand either online or physically. Lastly, the study seeks to investigate the impact that digital activism has on a brands image, on whether this is reduced or increased in the light of increased mentions, trends, or appearances on popular social media platforms
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    The influence of perceived risk, trust and security on the online shopping behaviour: A South African perspective
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022-06) Hlatshwayo, Mthokozisi; Anning, Thomas Dorson
    The Online Retail in South Africa 2022 study conducted by World Wide Worx and MasterCard reveals a 30% growth in online retail in South Africa. This brings the total value of online retail in South Africa to R55 billion. It follows 40% growth in the previous year, which resulted in a total of R42,3 billion in 2021 (Worx, 2022). Based on this result, it can be concluded that the growth of online retail stems not from an increase in consumer demand, but from a shift in consumers' purchasing behaviour from physical shops to online stores and apps (Worx, 2022). As a result of this fact, it is evident that South African e-commerce has made significant progress. Several studies have found that, in addition to other factors, consumers' perceptions of risk and trust influence their online shopping behaviour (Aseri, 2021). Therefore, this study needed to investigate the extent to which perceived risk, trust and security risk shape online shopping behaviour from a South African perspective. After confirming the survey instrument's psychometric properties, a conceptual model was created and tested. The hypothesis was tested using IBM SPSS 27 software. Along with a quantitative approach, a descriptive research method has been used in the current study. A structured tool was initially used to collect 262 responses, but after carefully examining the data, only 242 reliable responses were used for the model's analysis and evaluation. The research employs descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and path analysis. According to the findings, perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) have a positive influence on online shopping attitudes (SA). Furthermore, the findings show that online shopping attitude (SA) has a positive influence on online shopping persistence (SC). In addition, the moderation results reveal that the moderating variables Trust in E-commerce (TE), Perceived Risk (PR), and Perceived Security Protection (PSP)/ cybersecurity risk (CR) were significant and indicated that they would moderate the relationship between online Shopping Attitude and online Shopping Continuance. The results of the researchyield helpful insights for retailers by giving them a comprehensive overview of the factors analysed in the study and explaining how they affect customers' online buying behaviour. In addition, this research includes an investigation of demographic characteristics and their impact on diverse factors. These findings will be beneficial to retailers as they discern the attitudes of different demographics concerning e-commerce