TITLE:
Extent of Social Media Marketing Use by MSMEs in the Construction Industry in Harare. Case Study of CIFOZ and SMEA Members
AUTHORS:
Moses Chundu, Patricia Chigombe, Tolbert Mucheri
KEYWORDS:
Social Media Marketing, MSMEs, Technology Adoption
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Industrial and Business Management,
Vol.12 No.7,
July
18,
2022
ABSTRACT: The study examined the extent of social media
usage by construction industry MSMEs in Harare guided by Chaffey’s theory. A
sample of 119 was drawn from CIFOZ and SMEA, using systematic and purposive
sampling techniques. Questionnaires and interviews were used for collection of
data which was analysed using SPSS and Nvivo. The instruments had a Cronbach
alpha index of 0.72 implying validity. The findings showed that there was greater
appreciation and motivation towards adopting social media tools among the
participants and the MSMES in the construction sector in Harare. The study,
therefore, concludes that knowledge, skills and motivation towards social media
marketing tools are abundant among MSMEs in the construction
sector contrary to apriori expectations. The results also show that
social media marketing offers the opportunity for a high number of social
interactions for businesses to expand product/brand awareness as well as offer
a feedback mechanism. The study, therefore, concludes that social media has a
diverse and plethora of benefits that can be enjoyed by construction MSMEs in
accentuating and perpetuating the growth of MSMEs in the construction sector in
Zimbabwe. It is recommended that firms invest in the training of their staff on
social media skills as well as in the acquisition of technology infrastructure
for the adoption of social media marketing. It is further recommended that
MSMEs take the next step in digital use by creating measuring tools to enable
them to measure the contribution of social media marketing to the growth of their
businesses.