EFFECT OF DIGITAL SYNERGY ON CONSUMER PATRONAGE OF PRODUCTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background of the study

Customer satisfaction has long been recognized in marketing thought and practice as a central concept as well as an important goal of all business activities (Anderson, Fornell, and Lehmann 1994). In fact, there are at least two different conceptualizations of customer satisfaction, one is transaction-specific and other is cumulative. Transaction- specific satisfaction provides specific diagnostic information about a particular product or service encounter (Lam et al. 2004). In contrast, cumulative customer satisfaction is an overall evaluation based on the total purchase and consumption experiences with a product or service overtime (Anderson, Fornell, and Lehmann 1994), which is more fundamental and useful than transaction – specific consumer satisfaction in predicting a consumer’s subsequent behavior and a firm’s past, present and future performance.There are several media advertisements which are influencing Gen Y customers in making a purchase decision. Almost everyone grows up in the world which is flooded with the mass media e.g. television, advertising, films, videos, billboards, magazines, movies, music, newspapers, and internet. Besides making up over 40 per cent of the country's population, Nigerians aged 30 and below are the ones who will shape the country's social, economic and political landscape in the future Nigerian Communication and Multimedia Commission (NCMCIn Africa alone, there are about 660 million people in Gen Y category, which is also known as the millennial generation. Worldwide, the Gen Y population is estimated at 2 billion. The sheer size of the Gen Y population and their spending power require companies, producers, marketers and advertisers to reconsider their business and marketing models. The distinct characteristics of this generation call for social and political entities to revisit their existing approaches.We are in a very dynamic and complex world. The business environment is becoming sophisticated day by day and as such, decision-making is becoming more and more challenging and risky. Business organizations are failing due to poor decisions. Investors are losing their money and are unhappy. They are being discouraged and this is quite unhealthy to the economy. In some other instances, organizations are springing up in great numbers; some are successful in the marketing of their products and services, while others are still akin to the barber’s chair syndrome where all is motion but no movement; struggling to reach their target audience. Consumers are also faced with the challenge of choice making due to indecisiveness, skepticism, indifference and confusion which are among the key sales killers in business world.Advertising is any paid form of non-personal communication about an organization or its product to a target audience through a mass/broadcast medium by an identified sponsor. It should be observed that for any promotional activity to be called advertisement it must be paid for. In the real sense, it is the method used by companies for creating awareness of their products, as well as making new products known to the new and potential consumers. This thesis however, centers on the impact of advertising on the sales volume of a product. This work will shed light on how digital synergy can really affect a consumer’s buying decisions in a growing economy like that of Nigeria and how successful advertising can keep businesses going even in the midst a tough competition. More so, advertising as a promotional tool also tends to remind, reassure and influence the decisions of the consumers because an advertisement itself enlightens, educates, and persuades consumers on their acceptability of the product offering. Advertisement in such a media as print (newspaper, magazines, billboards, flyers) or broadcast (radio, television) typically consist of pictures, headlines, information about the product and occasionally a response coupon. Broadcast advertisement on the other hand consists of an audio or video narrative that can range from 15seconds spots to longer segments known as infomercials, which generally last 30 to 60 minutes. (Busari 2002)

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Consumer perception challenge is the first and greatest hurdle that advertisers must cross. Perception guides all activities of the consumer from the people he associates with to the product he buys. In the business world, it has always been what people say about a product or service and not what the marketer says. Especially in this Gen Y consumer, marketing and advertisement has taken a different dimension from what it use to be to personified approach, it is against this backdrop that the researcher intends to investigate the effect of digital synergy on consumers patronage of products.

1.3      OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to ascertain the effect of digital synergy on consumers patronage of products, but specific objectives include:

i)             To investigate the impact of digital synergy on consumer choice of product patronage

ii)           To investigate the role of digital advertising on choice of the consumer

iii)          To ascertain if there is any relationship between digital synergy and consumers patronage of a product in Nigeria

iv)         To investigate the effect of digital synergy on the sales volume of an organization

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION   

For the successful completion of the study, the following research questions were formulated by the researcher;

i)             Does digital synergy has any impact on consumers choice of product patronage?

ii)           Does digital advertising play any role on the choice of consumer?

iii)          Is there any relationship between digital synergy and consumers patronage of a product?

iv)         Does digital synergy has any effect on the sales volume of an organization?

1.5      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of great importance to the marketing manager in formulation of policy that will enhanced effective implementation of marketing strategy which will aid increase in sales volume, the study will also be useful to the sales promotion team as the study seek to explore the effectiveness of digital synergy in relation to sales volume, the study will also be of importance to researcher who intend to embark on a similar study as the study will serve as a reference point to them, finally, the study will be of great importance to the marketing profession as the study will contribute to the pool of existing literature in the subject matter

1.6      SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers effect of digital synergy on consumers patronage of products, but in the cause of the study, there were some factors which militate against the scope of the study;

a)     AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study 

b)     TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

c)     FINANCE: The finance available for the research work does not allow for wider coverage as resources are very limited as the researcher has other academic bills to cover.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Digital synergy

Digital Synergy is a premier virtual digital marketing agency successfully serving clients all across the country.  Since 1997, we’ve delivered web marketing solutions for all types of businesses and markets, and we always ensure that our clients receive the best in digital marketing services.

Marketing

Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. Marketing is used to create, keep and satisfy the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, it can be concluded that Marketing is one of the premier components of Business Management - the other being Innovation

Sales volume

Sales volume is the number of units sold within a reporting period. This figure is monitored by investors to see if a business is expanding or contracting. Within a business, sales volume may be monitored at the level of the product, product line, customer, subsidiary, or sales region

1.8      ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study its based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.