The Internet is one of the most advanced technologies of modern times and it is diffusing at an exponential rate amongst business-to-consumer and business-to-business organisations. This has resulted in it becoming an irrevocable and an unstoppable trend, thereby making it vital for companies to incorporate it into their businesses. The Internet, Internet technologies and Internet services, particularly the Web, are widely acknowledged to have had and to continue to have a considerable impact on the practice of marketing. The adoption of the Internet and the Web is an independent variable influencing two interrelated aspects of the marketing function, namely the company’s conceptualisation of its marketing activities and the definition of its markets, which together directly influence the creation of greater customer value. Although research studies regarding the Internet’s impact on marketing conducted in the past in different countries and at different times produced quite similar trends in responses, advances in information technology (IT) and the increased Internet usage since the late 1990s necessitated reinvestigating marketers’ perceptions as to the changes in market practices brought about by the Internet. This study sought to determine the changes arising from the Internet in the conceptualisation of marketing activities, the definition of markets and the creation of greater customer value, based on a literature review and on empirical evidence founded on the opinions of South African marketing practitioners. The purpose of this study was to determine the South African marketing practitioners’ perceptions of the Internet’s influence on the practice of marketing. Five focal questions were asked and answered by the study: 1. How has the Internet changed the way that companies conceptualise their marketing activities? 2. How has the Internet changed the way that companies define their markets? 3. How has the Internet changed the way that companies create value for their customers? 4. To what extent have South African marketers’ perceptions of the influence of the Internet on marketing changed from the late 1990s to 2011? 5. To what extent do South African marketers’ perceptions of the influence of the Internet on marketing differ to those in studies conducted in Australia in 2001(Leong, Ewing & Pitt, 2003) and in Iran in 2007 (Ghazisaeedi, Pitt & Chaharsooghi, 2007)? For this study, the target population comprised South African marketing practitioners. The sampling frame consisted of the top 200 South African companies of 2009, ranked according to turnover, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), as published by the Financial Mail (2009). A non-probability, judgment sample of the 100 of these top South African companies was taken in April 2011. The study was conducted without replacement sampling. The telephone directory was used to obtain the telephone numbers of these companies so that the secretaries could be contacted to obtain the particulars of the marketing managers or marketing directors of the companies and permission to forward the questionnaire to the respective individuals. A structure self-administered questionnaire was then be emailed to those respondents from whom telephonic permission had been obtained. The questionnaire requested respondents to indicate on a five-point Likert scale their perceptions as to the extent to which the Internet influences the marketing practices within their company on 31 items divided into the three constructs of re-conceptualising marketing activities, changing market definition and creating greater customer value. In addition, the respondents were asked to provide certain demographic data. The findings indicate that the Internet has changed the way companies conceptualise their marketing activities, define their markets and create value for their customers in a variety of ways. When comparing this study against the results of the other three studies it is evident, that between the 1997 and the 2011 South African study and the 2001 Australian study and the 2011 South African study, the respondents did not vary significantly in their perceptions towards the items in each of the three constructs and the overall scale. Hence, the differences between the mean scores of the two studies concerning the three constructs and the overall scale are both statistically and practically non-significant. When comparing the 2005 Iranian study against the 2011 South African, the results show that for both the first construct and the overall scale there is a significant statistical difference at p < 0.05. Concerning to Construct 1, the extent to which the Internet has changed the way that companies conceptualise their marketing activities, a significant statistical difference exists between the two studies, with p = 0.002 < 0.05. Furthermore, with regard to the overall scale, the Internet’s influence on the marketing activities of companies, a significant statistical difference exists between the two studies, with p = 0.046 < 0.05. With the exception of Construct 1 and the overall scale, there is no significant statistical difference between the 2005 Iranian and the 2011 South African studies on Construct 2 and Construct 3. These results indicate that the respondents from the two studies conducted in Iran in 2005 and more recently in South Africa in 2011 did not vary significantly in their perceptions towards items in the second construct and the third construct. In order to assess whether there was a significant practical difference in the item means between the two studies, Cohen’s D-statistic was used. There is a small effect, moving toward practical significance on Construct 1 (D = 0.422) and the overall scale (D = 0.268). From this, it is evident that all main areas of marketing are being significantly influenced by the Internet. Therefore, Internet marketing has become a business imperative owing to it being an irrevocable and an unstoppable trend and, as a result, companies must make a concerted effort to collaborate the technologies available to them to avoid failure in the new digital business environment. / MCom, Marketing Management, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/10358 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Sharp, Kristy-Lee |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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