Rapid technological progress has transformed the communication process, specifically the consumption and distribution of information. Through technological progress, the world has become a smaller place by bridging the gap between individuals and bringing them together. From a marketing perceptive, this has resulted in the Internet becoming one of the most significant sources of information for both consumers and marketing practitioners. With immeasurable access to information, consumers specifically have been empowered as they can search for the best and lowest products or services. The objective of this study is to analyse Content Marketing, and explore its application in the vehicle insurance industry in South Africa. This study proposes that Content Marketing, as a marketing trend, impacts the vehicle insurance purchase decision-making process. More precisely, in the South African context, vehicle insurers already make use of firm-generated content (FGC), using an emotional trigger to encourage consumers to purchase insurance. Using a questionnaire, data was collected from 192 insurance consumers residing in South Africa. The study tested ten hypotheses using PLS- SEM and the data was analysed using SmartPLS software. The results indicate that eight of the ten hypotheses are supported. The results also demonstrated that FGC, moderated by the emotional trigger ‘fear', has an impact on the vehicle insurance purchase process. Furthermore, consumers are more receptive to marketing communication through storytelling. Due to the shift from traditional marketing, the ability for organisations to communicate something valuable to consumers presents an opportunity to create a strong brand positioning. MiWay's “Your silence is our signal” online video served as the research object and was used as a practical example for the research participants, exposing them to insurance FGC. Therefore, it is imperative for marketing practitioners to adopt a marketing approach that underlines the importance of content generation and communication that is in line with the organisations overall brand positioning. They need to modify their marketing strategies to incorporate online and social media platforms in order to distribute online content that is both beneficial and relevant to consumers. Based on the insights generated from this study, the research aims to amplify existing scientific literature relating to Content Marketing and to contribute knowledge in the clarification of Content Marketing in the body of knowledge.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/32704 |
| Date | 26 January 2021 |
| Creators | Gcabashe, Thuso |
| Contributors | Pillay, Pragasen, Hirschfelder, Benedikt |
| Publisher | Faculty of Commerce, Marketing |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MCom |
| Format | application/pdf |
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