Masters Degrees (Marketing)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/19589

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Consumer understanding of green symbols on beverage packaging and its influence on green behaviour.
(2020) Dumakude, Sinegugu Samukelile.; Ellis, Deborah Ann.
Climate change is no longer an idealistic but rather a critical reality faced by people worldwide with severe and urgent forecasts for the future. It is all very well for marketers to go green and implement green marketing initiatives such as the placement of green symbols on packaging; however, for sustainability to be achieved, consumers need to behave in a green manner. The purpose of this research was to evaluate consumer understanding of green symbols on beverage packaging and determine the implications for green behaviour. The study makes a practical contribution as it will assist marketers to understand what aspects of their green labelling communication influences consumers’ buying behaviour Theory contributions of this study are in understanding the role that knowledge plays in terms of behaviour and understanding the content of that knowledge. The study applied a cross-sectional descriptive research design and adopted a quantitative approach. Data was collected through an online questionnaire sent through Facebook, applying snowball mom-probability sampling resulting in 325 participants. Findings reveal that although about half of the respondents buy non-alcoholic beverage products that can be reused or recycled, behaviour to purchase products with green symbols is low. While non-alcoholic beverages are frequently bought, only about a third of respondents look for green symbols when making this purchase. Consumer knowledge of green symbols, attitudes toward green symbols, and the level of confidence consumers have in green symbols, has a positive impact on green behaviour. Moreover, consumer demographic factors affect attitudes and behaviour relating to green symbols on beverage packaging. Recommendations for marketers and government are to try and increase consumers’ level of knowledge of green symbols by establishing educational programs. Recommendations for future research are to use a probability sampling technique for better generalization of findings, and research how environmental studies are incorporated in educational institutions at all educational levels.
Consumer-to-consumer influence on attitude towards, and intention to buy South Korean food: an Instagram study.
(2020) Ramjathan, Shéfali Rokush.; Ellis, Deborah Ann.
Background – With the emergence of the internet and the introduction of social networking services, opportunities for consumer-to-consumer (C2C) communication have expanded exponentially. Virtual communities enable consumers to access and exchange information with each other, independent of companies, allowing consumers to influence each other’s attitudes and behaviours. Instagram, a free photo and video sharing mobile application, is a platform with great potential and growth and has caught the attention of marketers seeking to understand and use C2C influence. With the increase of user-generated content (UGC), interest has shifted onto consumers and what factors influence them in a C2C context. Purpose – The purpose of this research was to investigate the factors of Source Credibility, Tie Strength, Informational Quality and Consumer Susceptibility to Interpersonal Influence (CSII) in the C2C context of Instagram and their effect on consumers attitudes towards and intentions to purchase South Korean food. The contribution is for marketers to better understand C2C influence. Research Methodology/Approach – A quantitative approach involved an Instagram account called @shaynanigans_sk being specifically set up and images and videos of South Korean food consistently posted. Research data on the constructs in the conceptual framework was collected using an online survey, with a total of 163 Instagram followers who made up the final sample. Findings – The research found that Source Credibility and CSII significantly impact consumers’ attitudes towards South Korean food, and Informational Quality was found to significantly impact consumers’ purchase intentions towards South Korean food. Managerial implications – Marketing practitioners spend a significant amount of time determining the driving forces that influence consumer behaviour. The outcomes of this study confirmed that the relationships between Source Credibility, CSII, and Attitude; and Informational Quality and Intention were significant. These results emphasise the need for marketers using consumers in Influencer marketing strategies on Instagram to consider and pay attention to the chosen consumers’ credibility, their content quality, and the types of other consumers they target, as these factors will influence the success of Influencer marketing on this platform. Research limitations – Limitations and recommendations for future research are identified.
A content analysis of green information on three major online search engines.
(2017) Mabaso, Mandy Gweneth.; Ellis, Deborah Ann.
In a world where information is critical to decision making, the search for information has been made easier by the ease of access to online platforms such as articles, reviews, statistics, videos, images and even social media. A growing trend and concern is green behaviour which has emerged from concerns about the sustainability and condition of the environment. A study of the content of available online information related to how consumers can be greener would be beneficial to marketers and businesses in the process of developing their strategies to address the needs of the green consumer. The objectives of this study were to determine the extent and content of the environmental information available online which is targeted at consumers and to identify who is providing the environmental information. The content of each website listed from the search engines was evaluated against criteria from a structured research questionnaire. The study was conducted in the form of a content analysis of three major search engines which were Google, Yahoo and Bing. The study found that recycling, reducing, green products and energy efficiency were the most prevelant solutions on the environmental information sites. Profit-orientated companies and educational institutions are the major providers of environmental information available online as they collectively contributed about 70% of the information available online. Businesses should align their products in such a way that they offer solutions to environmental challenges. This should further be translated and be visible in their product labels and websites. Green marketers should consider uploading environmental information which appeals to a child audience.
The effect of family communication structure on children’s influence strategies and parental responses in a purchasing context.
(2020) Sookdew, Revasha.; Ellis, Deborah Ann.
Children are seen to have increasing power over family decision making and are regarded as being major participants in the consumer market and are an important target market. Not only do children have more power over their own spending, but they also have a greater influence over their parents’ spending. At the same time, family structures have changed, and parents have become more lenient with their children. Anitha and Mohan (2016) propose a conceptual model in which family communication structures affect the influence strategies used by children, which in turn affect parents’ responses. This research aimed not only to determine the relationship between family communication structures, children’s pestering, and parents’ responses, but also to test the model. A positivist paradigm and quantitative research design was used. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Using exponential snowball sampling, the sample consisted of 165 parents who completed the child portion of the questionnaire separately for each child thus giving a total of 300 child questionnaires. Non-parametric testing was then used to analyze the data showing the impact the various factors have on the final purchasing decision within a family household. Results were presented in the form of graphs and tables for ease of understanding. It was found that children exhibit low levels of both persuasive and emotional pestering, proving the relationship that family communication structure affects the kinds of influence strategies that children are likely to use. These family communication styles are associated with low levels of both persuasive and emotional pestering. In this sample, a consensual family communication style was most common, revealing that children belonging to consensual families use influencing strategies to get what they want and parents belonging to this family style are more open to accepting the views of their children. It was found that most of the participants agree to their children’s requests. Parents tend to agree more to food and snacks, clothes and shoes and grocery requests. As the most common pestering form was persuasive and the common parental response to this influencing strategy was to accept children’s requests, marketers should target both children and their parents in their communication strategies. Encouraging and endorsing a consensual family communication style would also make good business sense as children’s roles in family decision making are likely to be more accepted in families with this family communication style.
An exploratory study of the position accorded to the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) by business in Gauteng Province.
(2010) Chiweshe, Nigel Tawanda Farayi.; Ellis, Deborah Ann.
No abstract available.
The extent and nature of green advertising in magazines in South Africa: a content analysis.
(2020) Ndlovu, Sibusiso David.; Ellis, Deborah Ann.
This study provides a South African perspective that is increasingly important in a globalised economy. Research shows that South African consumers are becoming environmentally conscious. As consumers are increasingly becoming aware of the negative impact of conventional products, organisations are encouraged to devise new strategies that reflect these consumers' interests. As a result, the use of green advertising by organisations targeting the green consumer segment is growing, with organisations interested in enhancing their green message. However, the extent or nature of such advertising has not been established within the South African context. This research seeks to assess and understand the extent of green advertisements in magazine advertising in South Africa and how the green message is communicated in these advertisements. This study followed the qualitative method, using a descriptive design and deductive analysis of magazine advertisements that were selected using a simple random sampling. This content analysis research on magazine advertising in South Africa provides insight into the nature of green advertisements. The findings revealed a limited number of green advertisements. The results provide evidence of the different green advertising appeals, message elements, message explicitness, green problems addressed and green solutions proposed in the green advertisements. Past research does not indicate how the green message is communicated in magazine advertising in South Africa. With insufficient information often reported as the cause of a lack of green behaviour, this study provides evidence of the extent to which this is true in South African advertising. Thus, recommendations are made to green product marketers on how to incorporate the green message into various elements of message structure to enhance green communication. The research also contributes to marketers using a green message, to understand the types of message elements currently being used in magazine advertising in South Africa and possible alternatives for making the green message unique. The study recommends future research to expand its investigation of green communications into websites, social media and television advertisements. Further, recommendations for green marketers, academics, policymakers and future research are provided.
The extent to which corporate social responsibility activities in South Africa address invasive alien plants.
(2021) Mdletshe, Mapule Nomvula.; Ellis, Deborah Ann.
The problem posed by Invasive Alien Plants (IAPs) threatens all sectors of society. Government’s limited budget and resources to address issues necessitate the involvement of businesses. This can be implemented through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), however, no study has established the extent to which businesses get involved in IAP management using CSR. There still is no study even comparing the extent to which CSR is focused on environmental versus philanthropic causes. Literature indicates that there have been successful (CSR) initiatives which give an indication that environmental CSR can be a useful tool which private companies can utilise to assist in the problem of IAPs. From the top 200 Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies the research investigated the extent to which environmental preservation and specifically IAP management are incorporated into the CSR activities. The types of existing partnerships held with local organisations to carry out CSR activities as well as the stakeholders involved in and beneficiaries to, the CSR activities were identified and discussed. Stakeholder theory formed the basis for identifying active stakeholders. Qualitative research analysis was selected for its use of analytic strategies to make sense of trends from research findings. Research themes related to CSR types and participating stakeholders identified in the literature and stakeholder theory were used in a deductive content analysis of the websites of the top 200 JSE listed companies. Key findings showed that, majority of companies participate in CSR related to climate change with very little attention given to IAP management. Private companies are given recommendations on ways to incorporate environmental CSR, specifically IAP management. There are recommendations also to government to incentivise CSR active companies through tax policy transformation. Further research is recommended to investigate the cost of sourcing indigenous plants as a result of native locations being dominated by IAPs.
Factors affecting environmentally preferable purchasing of sustainable fish products: a theory of planned behaviour perspective.
(2021) Hlophe, Simphiwe Lincon.; Ellis, Deborah Ann.
Fish stocks have been in crisis for a long time. Many fish species are on the brink of extinction due to exploitation. As per the Millennium Development Goals 2010, green consumption is one of the core pillars in achieving environmental sustainability. Given that there is a high level of unsustainable fishing and fish consumption leading to the depletion of fish resources, it is critical to understand consumers and their perceptions and behaviours in relation to sustainable fish products. Better comprehension of factors influencing sustainable fish product purchases can help improve green marketing efforts to achieve sustainable consumption of these products. The current study followed a causal research design and quantitative method. The target population for the study was working individuals. The study population was formed by consumers who are part of the South African LinkedIn community and who eat fish, whether concerned or not about sustainability. Judgmental and snowball sampling techniques were used to draw a sample of 200 respondents. Univariate, regression and mediation analyses which were carried out through SPSS 27, provided crucial insights. The extended TPB as a theory underpinning the current study, led to the discovery of the following key findings: the independent variables (attitude towards sustainable fish products, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, moral attitude, environmental concern, health consciousness, subjective knowledge and objective knowledge) predict intention to purchase sustainable fish products when they are all together. However, other than attitude towards sustainable fish products, no variable on its own is significant predictor of intention to buy sustainable fish products. Therefore, other than improving attitudes towards sustainable fish products, marketers cannot focus on one specific variable to increase sustainable fish consumption. All variables need to be addressed to achieve the desired behaviour of sustainable fish consumption. Recommendations are provided to social & green marketers to do this.
Perspectives on the effects of ambush marketing: the case of Nike, the global ambusher.
(2017) Sukram, Achal.; Ellis, Deborah Ann.
Nike is one of the most recognisable brands in world. The brand has developed a reputation for its creative and imaginative marketing strategies, especially its effective and successful use of ambush marketing as a marketing tactic during major sporting events. Thus, it has been dubbed the global ambusher. The growth of ambush marketing as a marketing strategy during major sporting events has raised concern over the value of sponsorship. This is because the ambush marketer may receive similar benefits of sponsorship without the investment in sponsorship fees. As such, this may have a direct effect on major stakeholders in a sponsorship relationship. Therefore, this research is important as its primary purpose is to understand ambush marketing as a marketing strategy and the effects it has on major stakeholders such as the public, spectators and participants, event organisers, sponsors and ambushers. The study focuses on Nike as a case in point. Understanding the effects of ambush marketing is important for policy and law makers developing legislation to prevent ambush marketing. It is also important for event organisers trying to source sponsors to fund events and to protect those sponsors’ sponsorship investments. Then finally for competing companies, understanding the potential benefits and risks of ambush marketing is important as they weigh these up in the development of their competitive strategies. The literature review forms the foundation for this study. It has discussed sponsorship, in particular, sport sponsorship before introducing the concept of ambush marketing and engaging in topics such as ambush marketing strategies, ethics, legal implications and preventive steps. In accordance with the objectives of this study, the focal literature around ambush marketing focuses on the effects of ambush marketing on various stakeholders. The research methodology for this study has focused on Nike as a global ambusher. Data was collected from three different sources. The first source of data collection was academic articles from Google Scholar and the second source was from popular online press articles around the 2014 Soccer World Cup. The final source of data was collected via a website called Social Mention, which tracks data on social media websites. The findings for this study suggest that despite the presence of Nike as an ambusher, Adidas was able to counter-act with its own successful promotional and marketing strategies. iv However, Nike was able to achieve similar results and reactions from its target market without having to spend on sponsorship fees that Adidas had to spend in addition to their promotional and marketing campaigns. It can be concluded, that ambush marketing has a negative effect on various stakeholders, however one should acknowledge the creative and imaginative ability of ambushers to effectively compete with sponsors. In accordance, recommendations were made to the various stakeholders on how to oppose the effects of ambush marketing.
Understanding the factors influencing green purchase intention.
(2020) Aigbe, Vivian Chineye Ofili.; Ellis, Deborah Ann.
Rapid worldwide economic growth has given rise to increased consumption by consumers, raising concern about the ecological decline and overconsumption of natural resources. Environmental sustainability issues and problems encountered around the world are affecting and altering the consumption patterns of humans lives and actions. Stimulated by the seriousness of the deterioration of the environment, consumers’ attitudes and behaviours in consumption matters are steadily changing, but consumption levels of sustainable products in South Africa are still low. Factors such as perceived high price, perceived inferior quality of green products, and greenwashing has been found in some studies to affect consumers’ perceptions of green products. The focus of this study was to determine the extent to which these negative perceptions limit consumers’ green consumption amongst a sample of South African consumers. To understand the factors potentially limiting green behavioural intentions the following factors were investigated: perceived quality, perceived price, social value, environmental concern, trust in green products and demographics. A casual research design with a survey of 301 adult respondents was used. Descriptive analysis of the profile of the sample presented, and the subsequent analysis of the reliability and validity tests carried out. Univariate analysis was also carried out and to conclude, a multivariate analysis was examined to determine how well the independent variables predict the dependent variable and to test the hypotheses. Findings showed that the independent variables (perceive quality, perceived trust, environmental concern, and social value) positively influence South Africa consumers’ intention to purchase green products, while perceived price had a negative influence. However, the two main variables that had a greater impact were environmental concern and perceived trust. The perceived higher price of green products was found to be a significant but relatively minor constraint’ to consumers purchasing these products. Given the major findings from this study, it is recommended that green products should be advertised more intensively and positioned in a way that portrays the benefits that are associated with purchasing and using them. This will raise awareness and trust in green products and may reduce the sensitivity to the higher prices. Marketers should invest in the quality of green products and both marketers and government should put in place environmental awareness campaigns to increase green consumer knowledge on the effect of not going green on the environment. This will raise a concern and in turn intention for green consumption. Limitations are identified and recommendations for future research are proposed.

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Marketing) by Author "Ellis, Deborah Ann."