Effective ways South African brands can market on instagram to influence purchase intentions: a user's perspective

Abstract

Background - Although Instagram is one of the fastest growing social network sites, research dedicated to this platform has been limited. Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate how South African brands could optimally utilise Instagram as a marketing channel that positively influences consumer buying behaviour. Research Methodology/Approach – A quantitative approach was used for this study. Research data was collected using an online survey, with a total of two hundred and seventeen South African Instagram users who made up the final sample. Findings – The outcomes confirmed that all hypothesised statements were significant and thus, accepted. The main findings further revealed that user perspectives played a valuable role in the co-creation process and reiterated that types of content (on Instagram) positively affected the study’s constructs; customer engagement, brand awareness and electronic-word-of-mouth. In addition, these constructs proved to positively impact consumer purchase intentions. Research limitations – The present study focuses on a niche sample which consists of South African Instagram users only. It is recommended that future researchers incorporate a global user perspective from Instagram users across the world, to determine other key factors that might positively impact consumer purchasing behaviour. Managerial implications – Marketing practitioners spend a significant amount of time in determining the driving forces that boost sales. The verified relationships between types of content, brand awareness, customer engagement and electronic-word-of-mouth reiterates the need for all stakeholders to incorporate Instagram as a powerful channel of marketing in their social media strategies.