Wits Business School (ETDs)

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Purchase intention

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
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    The impact of social media marketing on brand perception and purchase intention of South African consumers
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Ndlovu, Nondumiso
    This study examines the use of social media marketing (SMM) tactics employed by businesses and how these impact consumer perceptions of brands and purchase intentions within the South African context. Grounded in the Uses and Gratifications model, the Theory of Reasoned Action and De la Roche’s conceptual model, the study aims to explore the intricate relationships among social media marketing activities (SMMAs), consumer brand perception (CBP), and purchase intention (PI). The intention was to collect quantitative data from a minimum of 100 participants, primarily university students, utilising a convenience sampling technique to ensure varied perspectives from a demographically diverse population sample. As part of the data collection process, participants received self-administered online questionnaires via email invitation. The research hypotheses sought to reveal a positive correlation between SMMAs and consumer brand perception (CBP), consumer brand perception (CBP) and purchase intention (PI), as well as between SMMAs and consumer purchase intention (PI) with CBP as a mediator. The study results suggests that CBP is positively impacted by SMM efforts, particularly through electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Moreover, CBP significantly impacts purchase intention. That being said, it's important to highlight that brand perception only mediates the relationship between eWOM and purchase intention. The outcomes of this research will contribute valuable insights to the existing body of information on SMM, and consumer behaviour and brand management. This will empower businesses to make informed decisions when formulating their SMM strategies.
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    Facebook Reviews and Intentions to Purchase Hotel Accommodation in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Tshuma, Mbongeni Nkanyiso; Saini, Y. K.
    The growth of social media use and internet has resulted to more consumers interacting with each other and the brands on social media platforms. At present, Facebook is the most popular social media platform globally, with many users actively participating and connecting on the site. There is a shortage of studies conducted in the South African hospitality sector regarding the impact of Facebook reviews on hotel booking intentions. This research explored how Facebook reviews and comments, customer trust, and brand awareness impact the likelihood of booking a hotel room. The research study was conducted through self-administered questionnaire which was distributed to a random sample of university students and the working professionals through social media. Data collected from the survey was analysed using SPSS 28 and Amos 28 software. The findings indicated the strong and positive influence of Facebook reviews and comments on consumer purchase intention for the hotel accommodation in South Africa. This research provides important findings for hotel companies, marketing managers, and practitioners in the accommodation industry who are involved in creating and executing strategic plans for social media platforms. Furthermore, aid them in managing customer reviews and comments on their social media accounts to promptly address unhappy customers that could damage their brand.
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    Clover SA's brand heritage and consumers' price sensitivity and purchase intentions
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Goerge, Barbara Refilwe; Anning-Dorson, Thomas
    The South African market environment is highly competitive and is characterised by inequality, growing unemployment and rising inflation. The degree of disparity in South Africa’s consumer environment may be the most noticeable aspect as it has one of the highest per-capita expenditure Gini coefficients in the world making it one of the most unequal countries on the planet. Despite this, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) rate continues to climb by 3.1% in 2021 indicating that despite the prevailing economic and socio-economic issues, the country is seeing a higher flow of revenue and expenditure on goods and services. Consumers are also becoming bombarded with brand communication which increases the level of competition amongst options available to consumers. This makes understanding consumer and shopper behaviour important, more so in terms of the factors that drive purchase intent which is paramount for the success of a brand. In light of this, the research sought to delve into brand heritage and what purpose it serves in in today’s ever-changing economy. Underpinning the research, South Africa premium dairy and milk heritage brand, Clover, was used. With its heritage rooted in South Africa for over 100 years, the intention is to establish whether indeed brand heritage plays a role in purchase intentions for this premium product. Drawing on a comprehensive literature review, the study endeavoured to investigate how brand heritage serves as a significant signalling mechanism for consumers by conveying important information about the quality, consistency and pricing of the brand. This is significant as it helps managers understand the important variables impacting customer purchasing behaviours in South African segment and how to successfully use heritage brands in this market. By employing convenience sampling through a quantitative research methodology, 450 online surveys response were collected and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to validate the measurements used. Of the six hypotheses, five were supported by the data, however also indicating that price sensitivity does not moderate the relationship between brand heritage and purchase intention. The findings and conclusions provide implications for marketing professionals in the product retail space and further provide suggested areas for future research. It provides actionable recommendations marketers can use when looking to optimise their brand strategies in a competitive marketplace.
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    Trust in E-commerce and its impact on the purchase intention of consumers in south africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Esther, Mufhadi Thilimbilu; Pillay, Kiru
    The COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges to companies. With the restrictions that were imposed, companies were forced to look at their digital transformation strategy to first overcome the challenges they were facing and second to determine what digital technologies could be leveraged to fast-track services and service delivery to their consumers. This research study seeks to understand the role of online trust in stimulating the purchase intention of e-commerce consumers in the South African market. The study applied an experimental research design to address the research questions. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire collected through an online survey. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (chi- squared test). Furthermore, to investigate the relationship between privacy concerns and online trust in e-commerce consumers in South Africa, regression analysis was applied, and a p-value of 0.05 was used. The SPSS Version 28 was used to analyse the data. Results show that online shopping occurs predominantly amongst youth between 18 and 39 years old with an honours degree education. Most of the participants purchase online for convenience (27.9%), and 2.6% of participants mentioned fear of cybercrime as the reason for not using online shopping. Perceived risk influences consumers’ decision-making processes for buying products on e-commerce platforms. Most of the participants learned about online shopping from social media platforms (32.5%) and 11.3% from word of mouth. Most of the participants trust the e-commerce (75%). The majority of participants mentioned that website safety and ease of navigation (95%) encourage them to purchase online. Also, 90% of participants believe that familiarity with the website before making an actual purchase reduces the risk of shopping online. This study recommended providing more online shopping platforms to youth and educated consumers since this group is more aware of the risk factors associated with online shopping.
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    The perceived impact of social media influencers on consumer purchase intention in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Mmolotsane, Judith Mantombi; Quaye, Emmanuel
    This research evaluates followers perception of social media influencers (SMIs) impact, effective characteristics SMIs may use to influence consumer purchase intention in South Africa, and if follower age has moderating impact on the informative quality and attractiveness of SMIs. This study used convenience sampling and an online survey. A sample of 186 responses was examined using Smart PLS to conduct Confirmatory factor analysis. The targeted population was active social media users in South Africa, active on at least one social media platform, and are followers of least one SMI. The most popular platforms for following SMIs are Instagram and Facebook. 80% of respondents use social media more than five times per week. The findings of this research supported that SMI informative quality, expertise, and attractiveness positively impact consumer purchase intention.. However, this was inconsistent with this study and their finding did not hold in the South African context. Findings show that the quality of the information and attractiveness are positively influenced by a followers’ ages, especially for younger followers who have little to no life experience to draw upon when making a purchase. SMIs should be part of their digital marketing strategies to increase consumer awareness and market share retention.
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    Factors influencing purchase intention of foreign apparel amongst millennials in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Chang, Maggie; Saruchera, Fanny
    South Africa's clothing and fashion industry is perceived to be quite profitable, with over 800 apparel retailers nationwide. Most of the retailers sell apparel imported from various countries across the globe. Meeting the basic need of clothing trends is the most important factor driving this country's fashion and clothing industry Millennial tastes and preferences mostly drive fashion trends. This study, therefore, has a particular interest in investigating how millennials in South Africa, in particular, respond to foreign apparel and what factors influence them to choose imported apparel as opposed to local retailers by identifying the South African factors that millennial customers use to decide whether or not to buy from foreign clothing brands, assessing the impact of this decision on millennial customers' purchasing behaviour, and examining the drivers behind millennial customers' purchase behaviour. This paper used a sample of 797 anonymous respondents, and descriptive and quantitative analyses were carried out on the survey results. The results described the factors that affected the choice of foreign clothing brands by South African millennials, mainly focusing on the consumption group of South African millennials. The relevance and impact of various factors on millennials' purchase intention and purchase behaviour were shown through the data analysis of several factor variables. The purpose was to determine the influencing factors of millennials' purchase intention to buy foreign clothing brands in South Africa, and the analysis results proved consistent with the theoretical framework. This study found that disposable income, sustainable fashion, social media influence, and brand experience strongly impact purchase intention. Ethnic disparities adversely affected the purchase intention greatly. Purchase Intention also had a major positive impact on purchase behaviour. This study recommended that marketers and brand owners identify diverse client needs based on various customer attributes to satisfy South African consumers' varying and ever-changing wants for foreign apparel products
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    Antecedents and consequences of brand preference in the cement industry
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Pitso, Goitumetswe; Ligaraba, Neo
    The study investigates the antecedents and outcomes of brand preference in the South African Cement Industry. The theoretical groundings of the study are the Theory of Brand Equity and the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The constructs examined include brand image, perceived quality, price, the influence of others, sales promotions, packaging, brand preference, word-of-mouth, and purchase intention. Design/Methodology A self-administered questionnaire was employed and obtained 260 valid responses. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test the proposed conceptual model and CFA was used to measure the relationship between the variables using SPSS v28 and AMOS. Findings The findings of the study revealed that perceived quality, brand image, price and the influence of others positively impact brand preference. Furthermore, the study found brand preference positively influences word-of-mouth and purchase intentions. The study revealed that sales promotion and packaging do not play significant roles as antecedents of brand preference in the cement industry. Originality/Value This study explored the choice of cement brand from a business-to-business point of view and from a retail to consumer point of view. As far as the author knows, this is first study to investigate brand preference in the South African Cement Industry
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    The influence of ethical production practices on consumer purchase intention from ultrafast fashion e-tailers
    (University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Ramoshebi, Koketso
    The ultrafast fashion industry has been widely criticised for its unsustainable and unethical production practices, including obsolescence and excessive consumption. Recent studies have shown a growing demand for sustainable and ethical practices, particularly in the ultrafast fashion sector. However, research into the influence of ethical production practices on consumer purchasing intention in fast fashion is still limited. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour, this research investigates whether South African consumers’ attitudes and subjective norms towards ethical production practices, and perceived behavioural control, where ethical production practices are concerned, influence consumers’ intention to purchase from ultrafast fashion e-tailers. The primary data collection method is an online questionnaire distributed via email and social networking platforms. The study found positive relationships between consumers' attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and consumers’ intention to purchase from ultrafast fashion e-tailers. These results suggest that consumers are becoming more knowledgeable of the fast fashion industry's ethical and environmental challenges and express concern for ethical production practices
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    Factors that influence purchase intention of motor vehicles during the COVID-19 pandemic
    (2022) Gaoaketse, Lebogang
    The study examined the factors that influenced motor vehicle purchase intention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Theory of Planned Behaviour, together with the Social Judgement Theory and the Self-Congruency Theory were employed for the study. A quantitative research approach was applied and data was collected using a questionnaire which was successfully completed by 223 respondents selected through a convenience sampling method. A structural equation model was used to test the proposed conceptual model of the study. The empirical results revealed that perceived value, perceived reliability, brand awareness of the vehicle together with the manufacturer’s and/or sellers’s website quality, have a positive impact on the consumer’s attitude which subsequently impacts their purchase intentions. The study has both practical and theoretical implications that will improve the existing knowledge and understanding of consumer behaviour during a global pandemic. The findings from the study could assist motor vehicle marketers to develop marketing strategies during a pandemic, as well as provide policy makers with guidelines for the marketing of motor vehicles during a pandemic.
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    Website features, lifestyle compatibility, online shopping attitudes and purchase intentions amongst South African consumers
    (2020) Cuna, Erica
    The rapid growth and adoption of the internet over the last two decades has led to the boom in online businesses, as well as to the internet being used as a way of communication and connectivity. The convenience and relative affordability of accessing the internet has created unprecedented opportunities for organisations to expand their offerings to a wider, global audience. The introduction of e-commerce has provided opportunity for many individuals and organisations to operate solely online. Online stores enjoy a lot of exposure amongst those people with access to the internet, while concurrently being exposed to many competitors too. Websites have evolved from complex coded networks that took weeks to create, to simplistic programs and templates that any individual can create in a matter of minutes. The relationship between websites, website design and online shopping, was examined in this research. The study looked at what were classified for the purposes of this study as systematic and behavioural factors associated with online shopping. The systematic factors are website system qualities and playfulness of the website, and behavioural factors are attitudes towards online shopping, lifestyle compatibility, order fulfilment and perceived usefulness of an e-commerce website. The study draws from the consumer behaviour framework, and focuses specifically on the influencing factors of website design on purchase intentions. It uses previous studies across developed and developing countries, which examined website features, customer satisfaction, and what motivates and influences consumers to purchase online. The methodology of the study employed a cross-sectional survey design, by means of a selfadministered questionnaire, distributed online. The questionnaire was adapted from previous studies, which dealt with online platforms. The results of the study prove that consumers in South Africa found the system quality of a website to be important, as well as playfulness, attitude towards shopping online, lifestyle compatibility, perceived usefulness and order fulfilment, all to be contributing factors affecting their online purchase intentions. However, playfulness in relation to perceived usefulness was not supported in the study, as well as lifestyle compatibility as a direct influencer of purchase intention. The study provides useful insights into the booming online shopping environments in South Africa specifically, regarding how the design and use of a website does in fact affect a consumers desire to purchase. It shows exactly which systematic and behavioural factors are important to consumers, and provides theoretical as well as practical recommendations to marketers and business owners on how to better prioritise their investment into websites, and how to improve their user journeys to encourage purchases.