Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters/MBA)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37942

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Consumer Behaviour

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    The role of personalisation in digital advertising on consumer decision making in the South African context.
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Jansen, Bareile; Ndlela, Thubelihle
    The surge in digital advertising has redefined the consumer landscape, profoundly impacting decision-making processes related to brand and product choices, which has ultimately led to digital brand saturation (Agrawani, 2022). Digital brand saturation could potentially lead to consumer decision making frustration, unnecessary marketing to the wrong audience, costly expenses related to that, and an increase in the need for personalisation (Agrawani, 2022). Despite extensive research on digital advertising's impact on consumer decisions, there is a lack of studies focusing on the effects of personalisation on consumer behaviour in South Africa. This study employs a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews analysed via thematic analysis, with convenience sampling to select the 20 participants for this study (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). This method was practical for gathering data efficiently within the study’s constraints. The findings of the study highlight the critical role of relevant advertising in engaging consumers and underscore the importance of ethical data practices to build consumer trust Drawing upon foundational literature in consumer behaviour, marketing ethics, and cross-cultural studies, this study seeked to inform decision-making and promote ethical practices in personalised advertising. The conclusions emphasise the critical importance of relevance, transparency, and consumer autonomy in developing effective advertising strategies and building trust in brand-consumer relationships. By integrating these elements, the study underscores the need for aligning advertising practices with ethical standards to foster meaningful and trustworthy interactions between brands and consumers.
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    Customer adoption of mobile Fintech in the South African middle income market
    (2021) Jacobs, Penelope Lucy
    The financial industry level changes are adaptations to changes already taking place at a consumer level. Consumer behaviours are changing owing to the centrality of digital products accessed on mobile phones. Therefore, consumer lives are increasingly being digitally transformed. This study sought to chart both industry and consumer changes that are taking place in the middle income market of South Africa. This middle income market is highly banked and likely to be on the ‘right side of the digital divide’ in terms of high accessibility to digital products and services. However, this customer market’s digital transformation journey has not filtered down as much into individuals’ financial lives as into their social lives. As a result, this study explored factors that contribute to the customer adoption of mobile fintech in this market. A mixed methodology was employed, where multiple methods were used to firstly examine both positive facilitators and negative barriers to the customer adoption of mobile fintech in the middle income market. The top positive factors were found to be facilitators such as attitude, behavioural intention, and customer needs (utilitarian factors). The only found negative factor was the barrier of self-efficacy. Moreover, additional factors, outside of the found barriers and facilitators, further explained the nature of customer adoption for this context. Secondly, the middle income market’s digitally transforming behaviours were explored and found to be ungeneralisable due to nuances according to the various income and digital profile segments. As the middle income market is found to be an under-researched area when compared to underbanked and unbanked markets, this study clarifies the nature of this market at this time. It is a diverse customer segment that requires strategic enablers from fintechs, incumbent banks and government players if it is to show an accelerated curve in the adoption of mobile fintech
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    The effects of perceived offensive advertising on consumer buying behaviour in South Africa
    (2020) Mdlongwa, Sikhulekile
    This paper aims to examine the effects of offensive advertisements on consumer behaviour in South Africa by analysing the individual characteristics and attitude of consumers towards such advertising. This study aims to articulate the relationship between offensive advertising and consumer behaviour, and the nature of consumers and how they respond to the advertisements differently; and how the brand is affected. Using gender, self-construal, hedonic and utilitarian attitudinal appeal, the paper hypothesizes that South African consumers will be less accepting of offensive advertising. It also compares how attitudes towards offensive advertising influence the intention to purchase the advertised brand. A survey of 194 respondents was conducted in November 2019. A questionnaire with three print advertising containing a neutral, sexual reference and religious offense advert were printed and distributed online. Findings on consumers’ attitudes towards offensive advertising were varied. Results show that the levels of offensiveness differ according to gender and self-construal. The results also found that consumers attitude towards offensive advertisements has a significant impact on consumers’ intention to purchase the advertised product and the advertised brand. Consumer responses for this study were derived from South African consumers only. This study provides useful insights on current marketing strategies used by organisations and useful advice to marketers who wish to make use of offensive advertisements and the possible risks involved.