HEIs in Zambia have adopted the use of social media in advertising, online learning and also for administrative purposes. Social media has developed in the recent years to a level where it presents itself as the biggest virtual market with the potential to increase geographic markets and revenue for organizations. While cases of HEIs that have used social media marketing for purposes of marketing exist in other places, there is no significant research in the Zambian environment that shows empirical evidence that the use of social media marketing can impact marketing performance in HEIs.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of social media marketing on marketing performance in HEIs and the findings are meant to build a model for social media marketing for HEIs in Zambia in (see figure 5.2 in Chapter 5). Data in this research was collected from twelve HEIs using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, since this research is a mixed research with both deductive and inductive arguments. The data collection techniques included a semi structured interview for qualitative data and a semi structured questionnaire for the quantitative data. Data analysis was carried out using different techniques in SPSS for the quantitative data and content analysis using Google analytics for the qualitative data.
The implications of the findings in chapter four mean that HEIs in Zambia must begin to use social media not only for administrative or advertising purposes but they must use it effectively as a tool to increase their market share and increase their revenue. The findings and data analysis in this research indicated that social media is effective in marketing HEIs in Zambia, however these institutions must adopt the suggested model in Figure 5.2 in Chapter 5 if they are to enhance social media performance for marketing

Excerpt

DECLARATION

Certificate of Approval

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

RESEARCH TITLE

ZCAS-U THEMATIC AREA

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.1.1 Introduction
1.2 Background of the study
1.3 Statement of the Problem
1.4 Purpose of the study
1.5 General research Objective
1.5.1 Specific objectives and questions
1.6 Hypotheses
1.7 Justification of the Study
1.8 Scope of the Study
1.9 The research concepts
1.10 Dissertation/Thesis Outline
1.11 Chapter Summary

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1.1 Introduction
2.2 The meaning of social media
2.3 Higher education Institutions (HEIs)
2.4 The concept of marketing and social media
2.5 The advent of social media
2.6 Social media and interactivity
2.7 Definitions of social media platforms
2.8 Social media adoption in the education sector
2.9 The use of social media in HEIs in the USA
2.10 The use of social media marketing in HEIs in Wales (Europe)
2.11 The use of social media in Australia
2.12 The use of social media in HEIs in India (Asia)
2.13 Studies on the use of social media in HEIs in Kenya (East Africa)
2.14 Studies on the use of social media in HEIs in Nigeria (West Africa)
2.14.1 Influence of social media in Nigeria
2.15 Studies on the use of social media in HEIS in Morocco (North Africa)
2.16 Studies on the use of social media in HEIs in South Africa (Southern Africa)
2.17 Studies related to social media in Zambia
2.17.1 Social media regulation
2.18 Limitations of Legal frameworks in Zambia
2.18.1 Emerging use of social media platforms
2.19 Contemporary studies on social media
2.21.1 Social media marketing poularity during COVID-
2.22 Implication of the latest findings on this research
2.23 Theoretical framework
2.24 Synthesis of literature review
2.24.1 Literature linking social media and marketing concepts
2.24.2 The concept of social media marketing
2.24.3 The relationship between Social Media Marketing and Marketing
2.24.4 Harmonizing Differences in the definitions of social media platforms
2.24.5 Authors who have provided definitions
2.24.6 Researched differences in the use of social media platforms in HEIs
2.24.6.1 Differences in the use of Social media in HEIs in Kenya
2.24.6.2 Differences in the use of Social media in HEIs in Nigeria
2.24.6.3 Differences in the use of Social media in HEIs in South Africa
2.24.6.4 Comparisons of the differences in use of social media
2.24.6.5 Harmonizing the findings on Social media usage
2.24.7 Researched similarities in the use of social media marketing in HEIs
2.24.7.1 Most popular social media platform in different countries
2.24.8 Convergence of the social media theory and the brand loyalty theory
2.24.9 Incorporating the social media theory
2.24.10 Implication of the literature on the research objectives
2.24.11 Mapping of objectives in the literature review
2.24.11.1 Research objective
2.24.11.2 Research objective
2.24.11.3 Research objective
2.24.11.4 Research objective
2.25 Conceptual Framework
2.25.7 Measuring effectiveness
2.25.8 Social media effectiveness
2.25.9 Marketing effectiveness
2.25.10 Explaining the independent variable
2.25.11 Outcomes of social media marketing studies in Zambia
2.25.12 Implications of COVID-19 and the Adoption of technology
2.25.13 The role of social media in branding HEIs
2.25.14 Explaining the intervening variables
2.26 Measures of social media marketing performance
2.27 Social media marketing and marketing performance
2.28 The relationship among the variables
2.29 A summary of the social media intervening variables
2.29.7 Engagement
2.29.7.1 Engagement in this research
2.29.8 Reach
2.29.8.1 Social media and referral marketing
2.29.8.2 Reach in this research
2.29.9 Conversion
2.29.9.1 Conversion and referral marketing
2.29.9.2 Conversion in this research
2.29.10 Lead
2.29.10.1 Lead in this research
2.29.11 The Relationship among the social media variables
2.29.12 Explaining the Dependent Variables
2.30 The shift from traditional Marketing to Social Media Marketing
2.31 Measuring Marketing performance
2.31.7 Increased student numbers
2.31.8 Increased Revenue
2.31.9 Increased Market share
2.32 Gaps identified in the literature
2.33 Chapter summary

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research Onion
3.3 Research Philosophy
3.3.1 Philosophical choice
3.4 Nature of Research
3.5 Research Approach
3.5.1 Deductive and inductive
3.6 Methodological choice
3.7 Qualitative Data collection Techniques
3.8 Quantitative Data Techniques
3.9 Sampling Plan
3.9.1 Sampling Plan - Qualitative study
3.10 Justification of the sample size
3.10.1 Quantitative study
3.10.2 Qualitative study
3.10.3 Research Design
3.11 Time horizon
3.11 Triangulation design
3.12 Data Analysis
3.14 Ethical considerations
3.15 Chapter summary

CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Actual qualitative data collected
4.3 Actual quantitative data collected
4.4 Data reliability test
4.5 Data normality tests
4.6 Survey responses and analysis
4.6.1 General information about respondents
4.7 Demographic data of respondents
4.7.1 Age range of respondents
4.8 HEIs using social media platforms
4.8.1 Identifying social media platforms used in HEIs
4.8.2 Identifying social media platforms that respondents are signed up for
4.8.3 The most common social media platforms in HEIs
4.8.4 Common social media platforms used for Marketing HEIs
4.8.5 Other social media platforms used in HEIs
4.8.6 Relationship between age and social media platform signed up for
4.8.7 The relationship between social media platform signed up for and Gender
4.9 Social media and student numbers
4.9.1 Social media platforms influencing the choice of learning institutions
4.9.2 Social media platforms providing information
4.9.3 Social media platforms and student interactions
4.9.4 Social media can increase sales revenue
4.9.5 Social media makes it easier to make payments to HEI
4.9.6 Correlation analysis- Can social media increase revenue and make it easy for students to make payment
4.10 Effectiveness of social media on marketing performance
4.10.1 HEIs social media platform designs
4.11 Identifying Social media platforms used in HEIs
4.11.1 The Most effective social media platform to market HEIs in Zambia
4.11.2 Normality test
4.12 Extent to which SMM leads to higher market share in HEIs
4.13 CHAPTER SUMMARY

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Common social media platforms in HEIs
5.2.1 A model for SMM in HEIs
5.3 Social Media and Student numbers
5.3.1 Adverts and information influence student numbers
5.3.2 Contribution of social media marketing to overall marketing performance
5.4 Social media increasing market share
5.5 Return on marketing investments
5.6 Research implications
5.7 Contribution to the body of knowledge
5.7.1 Effectiveness of social media marketing
5.7.2 Development of a model for marketing HEIs
5.8 Conclusion and Recommendations
5.8.1 Reccomendations to HEIs
5.8.2 Recommendations for future studies
5.9 CHAPTER SUMMARY

6 References

Appendix 1: Non- disclosure agreement

Appendix 2: Structured Questionnaire

Appendix 3: Semi structured Interview

Appendix 4 Summary of main Literature in the study

DEDICATION

This research is dedicated to my wife Wilma Nyasha Mukosa and my children Angela Mutale Mukosa, Anashe Chebo Mukosa, Akudzwe Lumba Mukosa and Lutanda Anesu Mukosa who have always been around me during the period I took up this study. I would also like to dedicate this research to the memory of my late brother Ian Kangwa Mukosa and my Late Mother Thresa Mukosa who were ever passionate about my education and encouraged me to excel in my schoolwork.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special thank you goes to my Supervisor Dr. Kelvin M. Kayombo, who was highly instrumental in providing guidance during this study. I would also like to acknowledge my friend and colleague Mr. Burton Mweemba who is always supportive in both my academic and personal projects. Sincere gratitude to my mentors late Kwesi A. Sakyi, Dr. Sydney Chikalipah and Anderson Malumo who introduced me to advanced academic writing and Dr. Austin M. Mwange for his encouragement.

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1.1: SIMPLIFIED RESEARCH OUTLINE

FIGURE 2.2: B RAND L OYALTY M ODEL

FIGURE 2.3: C ONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

FIGURE 2.4: T HE ASSUMPTION ON HIGH SMM AND LOW SMM

FIGURE 2.5: ELEMENTS OF SMM

FIGURE 3.4: RESEARCH ONION

FIGURE 3.1: TRIANGULATION MODEL FOR QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DATA

FIGURE 3.2: QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH MODEL

FIGURE 3.3: ANALYSIS OF INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES

FIGURE 4.1: NORMALITY TEST 1

FIGURE 4.2: NON-NORMAL DISTRIBUTION QQ PLOT

FIGURE 4.3: NORMALITY TEST 2

FIGURE 4.4: COMPARISON OF RESPONSES FROM PRIVATE AND PUBLIC HEIS

FIGURE 4.5: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF RESPONDENTS

FIGURE 4.6: AGE RANGE OF RESPONDENTS

FIGURE 4.7: SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE IN HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTIONS

FIGURE 4.8: SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS MAINLY USED IN HEIS

FIGURE 4.9: COMBINATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SIGNED UP FOR BY THE RESPONDENTS

FIGURE 4.10: POPULARITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM AMONG STUDENTS IN HEIS

FIGURE 4.11: COMMON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS IN HEIS

FIGURE 4.12: OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS USED IN HEIS 117 FIGURE

FIGURE 4.13: CORRELATION BETWEEN AGE RANGE AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM SIGNED UP FOR

FIGURE 4.15: EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN IMPROVING STUDENT NUMBERS

FIGURE 4.17: SKEWNESS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTS

FIGURE 4.18: SKEWNESS ON THE QUESTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA CAN INCREASE STUDENT NUMBERS

FIGURE 4.19: HYPOTHESIS TEST RESULTS

FIGURE 4.19: SOCIAL MEDIA INCREASING INTERNATIONAL STUDENT NUMBERS

FIGURE 4.20: MEASURES OF RETURN ON INVESTMENT

FIGURE 4.21: SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PLANS FOR HEIS

FIGURE 4.22: MONITORING SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES

FIGURE 4.23: SOCIAL MEDIA GENERATING REVENUE

FIGURE 5.1: SOCIAL MEDIA MIX

FIGURE 5.2: MODEL FOR SMM IN HEIS IN ZAMBIA

FIGURE 5.3: MEASURES OF MARKETING PERFORMANCE FOR HEIS IN ZAMBIA

FIGURE 5.4: REVISED CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 2.1 MAIN STUDIES RELATING TO SOCIAL MEDIA IN ZAMBIA

TABLE 2.2: LITERATURE AUTHORS ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPT

TABLE 2.3 : AUTHORS ON THE DIFFERENCES ON SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINITIONS

TABLE 2.4 : AUTHORS ON THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN HEIS

TABLE 2.6 : POPULARITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS IN EUROPE, ASIA, AMERICA & AUSTRALIA

TABLE 2.7 : EXPLAINING ENGAGEMENT, REACH, LEAD AND CONVERSATION

TABLE 3.1: SELECTED SAMPLE FROM THE PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

TABLE 3.2: SELECTED SAMPLE FROM THE PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

TABLE 3.3: ESTIMATED STUDENT POPULATION IN HEIS

TABLE 4.1: CRONBACH ALPHA TEST

TABLE 4.2: NAME OF HEIS AND FREQUENCY RESPONSES

TABLE 4.3: STATISTICS WHAT IS YOUR GENDER

TABLE 4.4: STATISTICS ON WHAT IS YOUR AGE RANGE

TABLE 4.5: STATISTICS ON DOES YOUR INSTITUTION USE SOCIAL MEDIA

TABLE 4.6: DATA SET FOR THE MOST POPULAR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM AMONG STUDENTS IN HEIS

TABLE 4.7: CORRELATION RESULTS

TABLE 4.8: CORRELATION BETWEEN GENDER AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SIGNED UP FOR ...

TABLE 4.9: SOCIAL MEDIA INCREASING STUDENT NUMBERS

TABLE 4.10: RESPONSE WHETHER SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTS CAUSE RESPONDENTS TO VISIT PARTICULAR LEARNING INSTITUTIONS

TABLE 4.11: SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCING THE CHOICE OF LEARNING INSTITUTION

TABLE 4.12: SOCIAL MEDIA PROVIDING INFORMATION

TABLE 4.13: SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND STUDENT INTERACTION

TABLE 4.14: SOCIAL MEDIA INCREASING SALES REVENUE

TABLE 4.15: SOCIAL MEDIA MAKES IT EASY TO MAKE PAYMENT

TABLE 4.16: CORRELATION ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL MEDIA INCREASING PAYMENT AND INCREASING SALES REVENUE

TABLE 4.17: SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS OVERALL EFFECT ON MARKETING HEIS

TABLE 4.18: INSTITUTIONAL PAGE DESIGN

TABLE 4.19: SOCIAL MEDIA NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DECISIONS TO ENROLL IN COURSES

TABLE 4.20: WHICH IS THE MOST COMMON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM COMBINATION USED IN YOUR INSTITUTION

TABLE 4.21: WHICH IS THE BEST SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM FOR MARKETING HEIS IN ZAMBIA...

TABLE 4.22: SUMMARY OF STATISTICS

TABLE 4.23: EVIDENCE OF SKEWNESS AND KURTOSIS

TABLE 4.24: CORRELATION BETWEEN DEPENDENT AND INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

TABLE 4.25: CODING QUESTIONS FOR CORRELATION

TABLE 4.26: CORRELATIONS BETWEEN DEPENDENT AND INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

TABLE 4.27: REGRESSION ANALYSIS SUMMARY

TABLE 4.28: MODEL SUMMARY OF REGRESSION

TABLE 4.31: CHI SQUARE ANALYSIS

TABLE 5.1: STATISTICS ON SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT IN HEIS IN ZAMBIA

TABLE 5.2 : TRIANGULATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA INCREASING STUDENT NUMBERS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Gross Domestic products (GDP)

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

Educational Services export (ESE)

Higher Education Authority (HEA)

Institutions (HEIs)

Marketing Investment (RMI)

ROI: Return on Investment

Social media marketing (SMM)

RESEARCH TITLE

An investigation of the effectiveness of social media marketing on the marketing performance of selected Higher Education Institutions in Zambia

ZCAS-U THEMATIC AREA

This research falls under theme 2 of the ZCAS University thematic area, which is Business Innovation, since it seeks to provide a business solution to the educational industry by creating a social media model for marketing Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Zambia. The research also aims at developing a social media marketing strategy for HEIs and makes recommendations on the best social media tools that HEIs can use to increase online presence and revenue through social media marketing. The research area fits into the ZCAS University research areas under business and innovation of growth and innovation as well as strategic business model, since social media marketing is transforming into a strategic partner for the implementation of strategic business goals.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of social media marketing on marketing performance in HEIs and the findings are meant to build a model for social media marketing for HEIs in Zambia in (see figure 5.2 in Chapter 5). Data in this research was collected from twelve HEIs using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, since this research is a mixed research with both deductive and inductive arguments. The data collection techniques included a semi structured interview for qualitative data and a semi structured questionnaire for the quantitative data. Data analysis was carried out using different techniques in SPSS for the quantitative data and content analysis using Google analytics for the qualitative data.

The implications of the findings in chapter four mean that HEIs in Zambia must begin to use social media not only for administrative or advertising purposes but they must use it effectively as a tool to increase their market share and increase their revenue. The findings and data analysis in this research indicated that social media is effective in marketing HEIs in Zambia, however these institutions must adopt the suggested model in Figure 5.2 in Chapter 5 if they are to enhance social media performance for marketing

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1. Introduction

Digital marketing is defined as the involvement of online channels and methods that enable businesses or organizations to track success of their marketing campaigns in real time (Minculete & Olar, 2018). Digital marketing has become a strategic partner in the delivery of modern marketing strategies. Digital marketing has become the new media for marketing communication. According to Cizmeci and Ercan, digital marketing has brought about a great transformation in marketing practices (Cizmeci & Ercan, 2015). Traditional marketing has been enhanced by the introduction of digital marketing and this has given rise to the development of social media technologies which are a means of conducting marketing online (Abbas et al., 2019). Digital marketing channels have become a useful tool to promote products and connect with customers since this is the place they spend most of their time to seek information and even entertainment.

This thesis is based on the study of Social Media Marketing (SMM) and its effects on the marketing performance of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Marketing performance in this thesis refers to the outcome of high student numbers, increased revenue and increased market share as a result of social media activities.

The advent of social media has brought about huge changes in marketing practices with further enhancement of E-commerce applications, especially in the education sector. This Chapter covers the background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, the research objectives, justification of the study and the hypotheses. It also brings out the research questions framed to achieve the purpose of the study. The background section brings out information on the research interest and subsequently the statement of the problem.

A study of the effectiveness of social media marketing on the marketing performance of HEIs in Zambia is an area of prime interest as it enhances understanding of how HEIs have incorporated social media in their marketing planning. Social media has the capability to enhance customer interest in the organization and help in building effective relationships between institutions and their customers (Don & Andrew, 2014).

1.2 Background of the study

The education sector in Zambia has sixty registered HEIs (Higher Education Authority, 2022); this number includes nine public institutions. Since the Higher Education Act of 2013 was enacted, there has been an increase in the number of both private and public HEIs. The increase in the number of HEIs implies increased competition and a possible shrink in the market share. Increased competitive trends in the education sector have caused HEIs to step out of their traditional marketing approaches and embrace new marketing media platforms. Social media marketing has become the most effective marketing tool; and in the era of digital technologies, it has become purely impossible to define marketing strategies without considering social networks (Bashar & Wasiq, 2012).

According to Mone and Pope (2013) , marketing performance is the accountability of marketing returns on marketing investments. This means that whatever institutions put into the marketing function, there must be a return on investments in building social media platforms and online tools and skills to manage these must translate into effective marketing performance. The expectation is therefore that HEIs that incorporate social media marketing must achieve a return on this investment. In the researcher's view this means that social media marketing must translate into marketing performance since there is a relationship between social media marketing strategies and marketing performance.

Competition causes market share to shrink and ultimately it creates the need for institutions to become more innovative in the way they conduct their marketing. Accordingly, marketing innovation has a relationship with competitiveness, as probed by using the complexity theory (Gupta et al., 2016).

Innovative marketing includes the adoption of social media as an effective tool to enhance marketing performance. Because of the aspect of competition, HEIs have adopted smarter ways of marketing using social media rather than flashy marketing campaigns (Aditya, 2019). Columbia University, for example, has been able to use social media to improve relationships between the institution and the students through what they refer to as 'the online social community' (Dosanjh, 2017). The online social community brings together staff and students from different cities and campuses to share information and to communicate on one common platform. The result of the online social community is increased student retention. Student or customer retention is one of the key indicators of marketing performance and this is influenced by the application of social media effectiveness. Social media is affected by cultural trends and these are different in Zambia and in New York where Columbia University is located, and therefore the observations in social media usage by that institution cannot be generalized to HEIs in Zambia.

Social media is the use of internet-based applications such as blogs, interactive sites and mobile Apps for communication and information sharing (Ezeife, 2017). Most social media sites and platforms are free and this has caused budgets for marketing in many organisations to reduce, it has become the modern method of reducing the marketing expenditure while improving efficiency in organizations. Facebook, for instance, is the largest virtual market in the world with over 140 million businesses on its Apps while the media itself has over 1.5 billion people (Corrigan & Alhabash, 2018). Virtual markets represent a huge opportunity for institutions to expand their markets beyond geographic borders and in the case of HEIs this includes online learning through e-learning platforms. The increase in e-learning or virtual environments has cause market share to further shrink forcing HEIs to adopt more aggressive marketing strategies especially on media such as Facebook since it almost free and provides a higher reach. During COVID-19 the use of social media for marketing became a prominent tool for marketing because of government restrictions imposing less physical interaction.

In 2016, Klaus Schwab gave a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) which he titled “ The 4th Industrial revolution”, this became a trend in the management of world economies particularly that the emphasis was on cyber or virtual means of achieving economic goals (Human integration with computer neural networks). The advent of COVID-19 is an example of the application of the concepts of the 4th Industrial revolution, particularly in the education sector. During the time the 4th Industrial revolution set into motion, the Higher Education Act in Zambia was also amended to allow for an increase in the number of both Private and Public HEIS, giving rise to higher competition and shrinking of market share. The increase of HEIs in Zambia causes these institutions to incorporate social media marketing (SMM) to improve their marketing performance.

The Higher Education Act has been in existence in Zambia since 2013, and this means that all HEIs in Zambia must register with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to be considered a legal entity (Higher Education Authority, 2018). Many HEIs in Zambia have been more involved in traditional marketing, but since social media is becoming the new media in marketing, many of these institutions have also incorporated SMM in their marketing activities.

Most HEIs largely use Facebook as their primary tool for SMM, and this is the area of interest for this research. HEIs in other countries such as the UK and the USA have used SMM effectively to engage customers and expand their marketing reach; but how effective has the utilization of social media been on their marketing performance?

1.3 Statement of the Problem

Social media started as far back as the early 1990s when the Department of Defense in the USA commercialized internet protocols (Edosomwan & Kouame, 2011). Since its introduction, social media has transformed business communication in that its interactive nature has allowed for customer feedback to be obtained in a second and wider markets to be reached by a click of a button. It has introduced more interactions between firms and their customers and through social media channels, blogs and platforms.

Due to its collaborative and interactive nature, social media is highly suitable for relational marketing; however, the tools available for social media applications may have limitations for marketing educational institutions (). Contrary to this view, Helgesen and Klassen (2008) argued in their research that the relational marketing approach is the best model for educational institutions, and social media provides the ability for this approach to enhance marketing. These two contradictory views from the two authors raise concern and research interest on whether SMM is effective for marketing HEIs.

Sudies conducted previously show that social media is effective for marketing, one such study is by Appel who conducted a research on the future of social media and found that it had a positive effect on marketing (Appel et al., 2019). The Findings by Appel was conducted using a sample in the commercial sector but creates research interest to investigate if the same findings can be extrapolated to the marketing of HEIs.

In Zambia HEIs have utilized traditional marketing approaches and incorporated social media approaches in their overall marketing strategies. However, the inclusion of social media in the marketing planning must imply that HEIs must grow their market share and incur lower marketing cost and efficiency in the marketing processes. Once the means to measure the effectiveness of social media marketing on the performance of marketing for HEIs is determined, the question of the effectiveness of social media in marketing HEIs needs to be investigated. In the USA, research conducted by the Hanover Research indicates that from 2002 to 2019 social media student recruitment increased from 11% of total students enrolled to 32% representing an 11% increase (Hanover Research, 2014). The percentage increment from 2002 to 2019 is relatively low pausing questions around how effective SMM is on marketing performance and creating the problem of utilization of social media for marketing purposes. Social media in HEIs appears to be a costeffective alternative to traditional marketing; but how can the marketing spend be justified for using such media if there is no measure of how effective it is on marketing performance? The problem therefore, that arises is that when HEIs implement SMM, is there a means by which the performance of their marketing can be measured in terms of its effectiveness? Are these HEIs able to justify their marketing spend on social media by means of its effectiveness? This problematic area creates an interest to investigate the effectiveness of SMM on marketing performance in HEIs in Zambia.

1.4 Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of SMM on marketing performance of HEIs in Zambia. Given that there is no model or mobile app that has been developed to measure the effectiveness of SMM on marketing performance of HEIs in Zambia, the study set out to develop such a model and make recommendations for effective use of SMM in HEIs in the country. In the 21st century, most millennials spend their time on social media, in actual fact research shows that there is an addiction to electronic gadgets such as phones and tablets mostly linked to social media usuage (Gustav & Alexandra , 2020). HEIs can take advantage of the fact that most of their target market is in the millennials and use social media for branding and market share growth.

1.5 General research Objective

To determine the effectiveness of SMM on marketing performance in HEIs in Zambia, the study identified the social media platforms that HEIs in Zambia are using that are seemingly part of the marketing strategies in such institutions. Whereas HEIs have used digital marketing in their marketing activities for a significant number of years, it is not certain as to whether this implies enhanced marketing performance. The study focuses on determining the effectiveness of SMM on marketing performance by critically analyzing how social media has affected the performance of marketing for HEIs in Zambia.

1.5.1 Specific objectives and questions

To fulfill the aim of this research, the study was designed to address the following objectives:

1. RO1: To identify the social media marketing platforms used in higher education institutions in Zambia.
2. RO2: To investigate the extent to which social media marketing leads to higher market share in higher education institutions in Zambia.
3. RO3: To determine the best combination of social media platforms that enhance effectiveness of social media marketing in higher education institutions in Zambia.
4. RO4: To establish the extent to which social media marketing contributes to the overall marketing performance of higher education institutions in Zambia.

To fulfill the aim of this research, the study is designed to answer the following research questions:

1. RQ1: What social media marketing platforms are higher education institutions in Zambia using in their marketing strategies?
2. RQ2: To what extent does social media marketing lead to increase in student recruitment and market share in higher education institutions in Zambia?
3. RQ3: What is the best combination of social media platforms that enhance effectiveness of social media marketing in higher education institutions in Zambia?
4. RQ4: To what extent does social media marketing contribute to the overall effectiveness of marketing performance of higher education institutions in Zambia?

1.6 Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were designed to answer RQ2 and RQ4:

Hypothesis 1

H0: Social media platforms do not have an effect on marketing performance in HEIs.

H1: Social media platforms have an effect on marketing performance in HEIs.

Hypothesis 2

H0: Social media marketing does not lead to an increase in student enrolment in higher education institutions in Zambia.

H1: Social media marketing leads to increase in student enrolment in higher education institutions in Zambia.

Hypothesis 3

H0: Social media marketing does not lead to an increase in market share of higher education institutions in Zambia.

H1: Social media marketing leads to an increase in market share of higher education institutions in Zambia.

Hypothesis 4

H0: Social media marketing does not contribute to the overall effectiveness of marketing performance of higher education institutions in Zambia.

H1: Social media marketing contributes to the overall effectiveness of marketing performance of higher education institutions in Zambia.

1.7 Justification of the Study

This research is necessary for HEIs in Zambia to create effective SMM strategies that would give them a competitive advantage. The research identifies SMM platforms that are relevant to an HEI and provides recommendations for these platforms. Terry's research on challenges and opportunities for use of social media in HEIs states that before new technology is adopted in such an environment, there is need to examine both its effectiveness and challenges (Terry, 2019) . The use of SMM is a new concept of marketing in many learning institutions in Zambia, especially for those that have been in existence since before the advent of social media. Many of these institutions have no empirical evidence of the effects of SMM on marketing performance or they may not have a model to measure marketing performance of social media.

It is envisaged that this research shall benefit HEIs in Zambia by firstly enabling them choose the correct SMM strategies. Secondly the outcome of the study will enable HEIs to link SMM to their marketing performance and their overall marketing research. Empirical evidence exists in developing countries on how Universities and HEIs have fully used SMM to drive student recruitment and enhance marketing performance. However, in the case of Zambia, the relationship between SMM and marketing performance has not been adequately measured.

1.8 Scope of the Study

The research investigated the effectiveness of SMM on the marketing performance of HEIs in Zambia. Its focus was to study HEIs and how they are using social media for marketing performance. The first phase of the research included establishing how HEIs in Zambia have used social media in their marketing planning and whether they have measured this against their marketing performance. The second phase compared information from various institutions defined in the sample and determined how best they could use social media for marketing purposes.

1.9 The research concepts

The research investigated how effective SMM is on marketing performance of HEIs in Zambia. The research compared how SMM has been used in different HEIs in order to develop a model for SMM of these institutions. Marketing performance is the dependent variable while SMM is the independent variable. The assumption was that SMM must result in increased marketing performance for HEIs and that the tools for social media marketing should be able to result in business growth for these institutions in Zambia. For example, in Australia and the USA, the use of SMM has resulted in a huge success for the University of Western Australia and Columbia University respectively (Aditya, 2019). The success of social media in Australia and in the USA in HEIs leads to the assumption that it can produce similar results in the Zambian environment. However, research is required in order to provide empirical evidence of the effectivenss of social media marketing in HEIs.

1.10 Dissertation/Thesis Outline

The main stages in the research project areas are outlined in Figure 1.1 below :

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

FIGURE 1.1: SIMPLIFIED RESEARCH OUTLINE

The thesis consists of five Chapters as follows: Chapter 1 Introduction and Background, Chapter 2 Literature Review, Chapter 3 Methodology, Chapter 4 Research Findings and Analysis and Chapter 5 Discussion and Recommendations. After outlining the overview of the overall research program in this Chapter, Chapter 2, the literature review, critically reviews research findings from other authors and also published work and theories that support the study. The research methodology is covered in Chapter 3. This Chapter outlines and justifies the methodologies employed in the study. Chapter 4 presents and analyses the findings from the study. Chapter 5, the final Chapter, draws conclusions from the preceding Chapters. This encompasses theoretical and managerial implications with limitations and directions for future research also being noted.

1.11 Chapter Summary

This Chapter has given an overview of the thesis regarding the effectiveness of SMM on the performance of marketing in HEIs. It has provided the background and justification for the study to investigate the effectiveness of SMM in marketing HEIs in Zambia. The Chapter further outlined research objectives, hypotheses and questions that should be answered in order to provide answers to the study undertaken. The next Chapter reviews the literature which informs the study.

CHAPTER TWo: LiTERATURE REViEW

2.1. introduction

The purpose of this Chapter is to review the literature that informs the study and provide direction to the development of the study by identifying literature that supports the study and also helps to identify the gaps in existing studies. Many writers and researchers have presented findings that either support some aspects of this study, or argue against this study's concept. The literature on SMM has developed aggressively especially in the last ten years because of the advancement in digital technologies. SMM is regarded as the future of marketing and it is taking over traditional marketing. Facebook is the biggest virtual market of all social media platforms. It is the world's biggest social media platform with over a billion subscribers (Ozanne et al., 2017). This Chapter reports on the journal articles, research papers, and books by different authors that were interrogated to satisfy the research arguments. The latest reports on social media have indicated that social media represents the fastest growing media technology in marketing, with Facebook alone recording an estimated 2.8 billion active users monthly (Appel et al., 2019). SMM therefore becomes more associated with the concept of social media.

The Zambia Institute of Marketing (ZIM) calls SMM the new media in marketing (ZIM, 2020); this is because social media has enhanced traditional marketing. A review of research conducted in Zambia shows that many publications in this area have focused on social media as a teaching or learning aid and not necessarily as a marketing tool. This Chapter explores literature that has been published in line with the topic and mainly focuses on journal articles and research papers as the main source of the literature.

2.2 The meaning of social media

Social media refers to the means of interaction, among people in which they create, share and exchange ideas and information in virtual communities and networks (Tufts University , 2021). While Tufts University uses the word interactive in the definition of social media, Merriam Webster on the contrary uses the word communication (Merriam Webster, 2022). Perhaps a much broader definition of social media is by Aichner et al who defines social media as an umbrella that includes a variety of online platforms including blogs, business networks and collaborative networks (Aichner et al., 2021). In spite of the differences in definitions, it appears that interactivity, collaborative and networking are terms that have characterized most of the definitions of social media.

The concept of social media is therefore based on interactivity and exchange, which are achieved through engagement, lead, reach and conversion. In the Zambian education sector social media is slowly becoming a strategic tool for communication (Mwalimu et al., 2017). Education managers and academicians are using social media Apps to organize their students and, in many instances, to also deliver meetings and lectures. Amongst fears that social media is a threat to pedagogy, it is also able to facilitate learning and teaching (Dominic, 2017). The researcher is an academician with practical experience in the use of Chat in classroom delivery through student portals as a result of COVID-19 restrictions by the ministry of health in 2020

2.3 Higher education Institutions (HEIs)

The term Higher Education Institution (HEI) is used in this thesis to mean a University or a college offering both University level qualifications and high-level professional college qualifications. In Europe they refer to HEIs as Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs), but in Zambia these are referred to as HEIs. IGI Global defines HEIs as Universities, Colleges and educational institutions delivering higher education including traditional Universities (IGI Global, 2017). The term HEI has been used mainly in research work in Eastern Africa and Southern Africa, examples of which include Willey & Masue who investigated acceptability of E-learning in HEIs in Tanzania (Willy & Masue, 2020) and the other is Kayombo in his Doctoral research thesis that investigated measurement and competitive positioning of a higher education institution brand in Zambia (Kayombo, 2014). The abbreviation HEIs earlier appeared in a report produced by the Ministry of Education in Malaysia as a blue print for education in that country (Ministry of Education, 2015). It appears the abbreviation HEIs is highly acceptable in different parts of the world and the researcher adopts it for use in this research with its implied meaning.

2.4 The concept of marketing and social media

Social media refers to websites that allow profile creation and visibility of relationship creation between users (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). The ability for social media to create visibility of relationships makes it suitable for interactive and modern marketing. Marketing is the creation of long-term beneficial exchange relationships between buyers and sellers of goods and services (Richard & Kotler, 1975) as cited by Kaplan (2020). Since marketing was redefined in 1975 as an exchange process, the term interactivity becomes visible in the application of marketing and since social media increases interactivity, it has become the most commonly used platform for marketing activities. The recent definitions of marketing include aspects of social media and interactivity between buyers and sellers of goods and services and this makes SMM a significant component in the process of marketing (Brunswick, 2019).

2.5 The advent of social media

The advent of social media can be traced as far back as when e-commerce platforms were introduced and since then the definitions of social media have shifted to include digital technologies and internet technologies. According to a publication by Kaplan & Haenlein, social media is a group of internet-based applications that build on the ideology and technological foundations of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 also allows the exchange of user-generated content (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2017). The definition of Social media by Kaplan and Heinlein indicates that there has been a progression and improvement in social media since it was first defined by Loudon and Loudon as the process of conducting business using electronic means or internet technologies (Loudon & Loudon, 2005). Marketing using social media, therefore, is a concept that started way back since the advent of electronic commerce applications and Web 2.0. SMM also known as “marketing using the new media” (Whiting & Deshpande, 2014) is the new approach of marketing communication for both tangible and intangible products.

The advent of digital technologies creates a new need for information and a new method of marketing goods and services. Social media allows individuals to interact freely and it also offers various ways of engaging with customers, which is why globally the total number of social media users by 2022 is expected to be 3.29 billion which represents 42.3% of the world's total population (Gil et al., 2020). The forecasted numbers on social media represents a new market for HEIs and thereby creates the need to build strategies and models for SMM in the education sector, particularly for HEIs in Zambia.

2.6 Social media and interactivity

Social media allows people to freely interact with others and offers different ways for marketers to engage with customers (Gil et al., 2020). This makes social media the most effective tool for online interaction and obtaining feedback from customers. The most powerful aspect about social media is that it has reduced marketing costs but increased the ability for organizations to be able to grow their markets beyond geographic boundaries. Since social media reduces costs and increases access to markets, it is also likely to improve profitability for organizations (Ming & Yazdanifard, 2020). During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media becomes one of the platforms that creates social relationships among people in different locations. People signed up for the platform are able to communicate, to order essentials and pay for goods and services on different platforms, including accessing health care (Wong et al., 2020). This means that social media becomes the most powerful tool for both interactivity and marketing of goods and services. A report by Facebook indicates that there has been a 70% increase in time spent on Facebook in Italy where they effected a lock down in the early stages of the pandemic (GSM, 2020). Social media is not only a means of allowing social interactivity among people, it has also become a powerful marketing tool since it allows organizations to easily recognize needs of their customers through engagement (Susanto et al., 2021). The key aspects of social media that connect it to the marketing concept are; engagement, lead, reach and conversion: these are building blocks of interactivity on any social media platform.

2.7 Definitions of social media platforms

Social media platforms according to Kaplan & Haenlein (2017) are web-based podiums that allow users to consume and publish content in real time independent of physical location (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2017). Svetlana & Philipp, defined social media platforms as an online meeting place (Svetlana & Philipp, 2012). Both definitions indicate that a social media platform is virtual and independent of physical location. The implication of this is that social media platforms are a common podium on which users from different locations regardless of type of device they are using, come together to interact, share ideas and communicate. Svetlana & Philipp argue that the first social media platforms that were ever created were the Bulletin Board systems. Bulletin Board systems were created in the early 1990, while other researchers argue that social media networks were invented at the same time that World Wide Web (WWW) was created. The two definitions by Kaplan & Haenlein as well as by Svetlana & Philipp seem to belong to the same school of thought. Latest definitions of social media platforms include the aspect of mobile technologies since these were recently developed (Kawaljeet et al., 2018).

Social media platforms are the most common online markets in the 21st century and particularly during the COVID-19 era, since they have capability to increase interaction between those offering services and those hoping to acquire services (Ana et al., 2020). The definition of Social media platform adds new meaning to the use of SMM, since they have become the biggest virtual markets (Gil et al., 2020). HEIs in Zambia need to define the best combination of SSM platforms that would achieve their marketing and sales objectives if they have to effectively link SMM to their marketing performance. Weak research findings in the Zambian environment do not seem to point to social media as a marketing tool and it becomes challenging to conclude that SMM has an effect on the marketing performance of HEIs in Zambia.

2.8 Social media adoption in the education sector

SMM in the education sector took advantage of the introduction of social networks (SN) that were originally designed to encourage students to create and maintain networks of friendships (Nyangau & Bado , 2012). Research indicates that admission officers in various HEIs are using social media to capture potential students. Competition is increasing in the education sector and thus resulting in the aggressive use of social media for student recruitment, retention, and attraction. In a research conducted in the hospitality and tourism sectors, SMM came into play as a result of increased competition in the sectors forcing institutions to become more innovative in their recruitment process ( Vukic & Vukic, 2019). The reality is that competition has forced HEIs to adopt SMM in their overall marketing strategic planning (MSP).

2.9 The use of social media in HEis in the USA

There are numerous studies on the use of social media in HEIs in the USA. Even though differences exist in the findings of many researchers the commonality is that most studies indicate that social media users use it for interactive purposes (Hruska & Maresova, 2020). One research shows there is potential for social media in higher education marketing (Singhal, 2019). The findings of this research are linked to the case study of Columbia University, which is perhaps the most successful University in the world in terms of the use of SMM to grow its student base.

Further research in the USA indicates that Facebook is the most popular site in terms of students getting course information at 74.85%, followed by YouTube at 24.56% and then google+ at 22.75% (Reddy, 2014). This research was investigating the impact of social media on student choice of programs and was based on a sample size of less than 200. The research was also within a single University and this means that the findings may not be conclusive in terms of generalization. It can also be argued that the USA has a different advanced technological and cultural environment compared to Zambia where this research was conducted. However, the case of Columbia University leads to an assumption that SMM has a huge potential for marketing HEIs. The case of Columbia University

Columbia University in the USA is perhaps the leading HEI in terms of using social media for its marketing activities. It has increased its student numbers up to 61% through social media engagement and online student recruitment in less than two years of usage (Singhal, 2019). The case of Columbia University creates the opportunity to explore the uses of social media in marketing HEIs. The case of Columbia University also provides further opportunity to explore how effective social media platforms can be in the marketing of HEIs especially in Zambia.

2.10 The use of social media marketing in HEIs in Wales (Europe)

Wales is one of the territories within the European Union (EU) that has aggressively used online platforms, including social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Fotis states that consumer behavior is highly influenced by social media and this enables marketing processes to work more effectively (Fotis, 2015). The findings by Fotis bring out the fact that SMM has been used effectively. Further studies in Wales show that social media and particularly Facebook and Twitter have worked effectively in learning, delivery and student recruitment programs for Universities (Qingya et al., 2011). Other studies by Lai show that Facebook is the largest social media platform used in Universities, followed by Twitter and then YouTube (Lai, 2011). The findings in this research have also identified Facebook as one of the most influential social media platforms in Marketing HEIs. Wales is a highly advanced country in terms of social media technologies and has a more robust ICT infrastructure compared to most African countries, including Zambia. This means that these findings cannot be extrapolated to Zambia and the findings in the current study may bring out a completely different outcome, since cultural influences, the choice of social media platform and cultures are different from one region of the world to the other.

2.11 The use of social media in Australia

Australia is one of the countries in the world that has placed ICT at the center of national development and as a strategic partner in the education sector (The world Bank, 2020). A literature review by Nyangau (Kent University) and Bado (Ohio University) in Australia reveals that a total of 534 students in both Universities were recruited in 2008 after 453 interviews on social media. The result showed an over performance of 15% in the marketing activity (Bado & Nyangau, 2012). This finding provides empirical evidence that SMM is effective in the marketing of HEIs in Australia. This finding brings out an interesting dimension to this research as it forms a successful case study on the concept of this research and provides a basis for comparison.

The research by Nyangau & Bado was a desk review and did not include primary data collected from a primary research sample. The research was also based on two Universities namely Kent and Ohio Universities and therefore the findings cannot be representative of the use of social media in the whole of Australia

Research conducted in Australia reveals that the top 10 Universities in Australia have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube (Maresova et al., 2020). This finding indicates that Facebook is the most popular social media platform used in Australian HEIs. This is an important finding in the discussion of the popular social media platforms at global level and also in the findings of this research.

The case of Western University

The University of Western Australia is another HEI that has used social media to capture students, especially international students in Africa and Asia (Collyer, 2019). According to the study, SMM has increased University's market presence internationally by 3%. The similarity between Columbia University and Western University is that for both Universities Facebook and twitter have been the biggest platform used for SMM. However, it is not clear whether these platforms are likely to be as effective in the Zambian scenario despite evidence showing that these have worked effectively in Australia and the USA. The USA and Australia have more advanced ICT infrastratures compared to Zambia and cultures and social behaviours are completely different, this makes it difficult to generalise the findings in those environments to the Zambian environments. Social media as a platform for marketing requires that institutions using them define clearly their marketing objectives and they must align the appropriate platforms with their marketing strategies. The current study focused on the HEIs and how effective SMM platforms are on their marketing performance.

2.12 The use of social media in HEIs in India (Asia)

Significant research in India reveals that younger people are adopting social media at a higher pace than never before (Abbu et al., 2012). The findings firstly bring out the possibility of social media being one of the effective SMM tools since the main target market of HEIs are younger people intending to take up study at any HEI. The study also concludes that social media is highly effective as a marketing tool. Another research shows that Facebook globally and in India had close to 2.65 billion people by 2018, worldwide and the number of social media users in India stood at 318 million people (Singh, 2019). The research by Singh shows that Facebook, twitter and Instagram are the most popular social media platforms used by younger people between the ages of 16-25.

The findings show that more students in India were influenced to select a University abroad as a result of SMM. This finding in India confirms that SMM has impact on marketing of HEIs in India, however what is of interest is that the study was not focused on the effectiveness of SMM for marketing HEIs but rather the impact of social media on decision making of Indian students to study abroad. The sample size used in this research was more than 150 respondents making the research very authentic and its findings acceptable to form part of the literature to inform this study.

2.13 Studies on the use of social media in HEis in Kenya (East Africa)

In East Africa, and specifically Kenya, the most commonly used social media platform is Facebook which represents 71% of internet users (Langat, 2013). Latest research in 2020 shows that the use of social media chat such as WhatsApp has increased to over 75% among students in Universities since the research by Langat (Statista, 2019). East Africa and specifically Kenya is placed among the most technologically developed countries in Africa and especially in the education sector where 90% of HEIs have incorporated the use of SMM in their learning processes (Economist, 2018) . In Zambia there has not been research on the most popular social media platforms in Universities. Akakandelwa (2017) carried out research at the University of Zambia but this study did not cover all the registered HEIs in Zambia and at the time it was carried out the number of HEIs in Zambia was relatively small. Akakandelwa et al focused their study on social media and its impact on the social life of students at the University of Zambia. This study is different because it focusses on the use of social media as a marketing tool as opposed its impact on social life of students.

2.14 Studies on the use of social media in HEis in Nigeria (West Africa)

Studies elsewhere have been carried out on the use of social media for marketing of HEIs, however the conclusions drawn on these studies cannot be generalized. An example of such a research is in Nigeria, where a study was conducted to investigate the attitudes and responses of youths towards social media adverts. The study found that youths were highly active on social media and that this was the most effective method of advertising services offered by educational institutions (Otugo et al., 2015). Further a study by Chukwudi in south east Nigeria showed that Facebook was the most popular social media site in the education sector and should be integrated in the learning activities in all the four Universities that were the focus of this study (Nwazor & Godwin-Maduike, 2015). These studies compared to studies carried out in Zambia have linked SMM to advertising and they have also identified the most popular social media platforms for marketing HEIs in Nigeria. However, most of the studies in Nigeria, just like in Zambia, have focused on the use of social media among students and in the learning process; an example of this is the study by Ekwueme & Okoro (2018) who examined the use of social media among selected online businesses including Universities (Anthony & Ngozi, 2018). Another study by Mathias investigated the use of social media and the academic performance of students in Nigeria (Mathias, 2019) . The studies by Ekwueme & Okoro was in a different industrial environment compared to this study and that of Mathias which were primarily in the education sector, however Mathias investigated academic performance while this study is inclined to social media marketing in the education sector.

2.14.1 Influence of social media in Nigeria

Recent research in Nigeria has looked at the influence of SMM platforms towards online purchases and findings indicate that most of the students at Port Harcourt in Nigeria spent a lot of time on social media. The spending of more time on social media by students therefore means that social media is an effective tool to use in marketing HEIs in Nigeria (Andy et al., 2020). The research on SMM, particularly in the recent research provides a good comparative to this study that has been undertaken in Zambia. Zambia has different environmental factors, different ICT infrastructure and a different cultural dimension from Nigeria. However, the findings in Nigeria cannot be generalized since the findings in this research are different, for example in Nigeria research indicates that Facebook is the most common social media platform while in studies such as those by Azafia in the USA show that Youtube is the most common social media platform. This study on the other hand has brought out Facebook and WhatsApp as the most common social media platforms in HEIs.

Nigeria has had a well-developed social media legal infrastructure since it passed its social media laws in 2019 (Abdullateef, 2021). The implication of Nigeria passing its social media laws is that social media is well regulated in that country and can be adopted for use in the education sector. This means that contrary assertion by Balkin that social media is poorly regulated and cannot be used for marketing structured businesses remains a poor argument (Balkin, 2020).

2.15 Studies on the use of social media in HEIS in Morocco (North Africa)

The internet in Morocco was introduced in 1995, and since then reports show that there has been increase on its usage (The Morrocan Regulator, 2020). The introduction of the internet in Morocco and generally in North Africa was earlier than in Southern Africa, East Africa and West Africa. The implication of this is that North Africa might have a more developed internet infrastructure with significant influence on social media. In one of the studies at PhD level carried out by Anass Sedrati and published by the Institute of Asian, it was discovered that YouTube was once the most popular social media platform in Morocco (Sedrati, 2017). This research was a case study of three cities in Morocco and had a sample size of more than 200 respondents. The finding that YouTube is the most common social media in Morocco can lead to the assumption that it could be a suitable tool for marketing HEIs in that country.

There have not been many studies on SMM in HEIs in Morocco; however there have been studies on its usage as a learning or teaching aid. A study carried out to investigate the use of social media in learning English in Moroccan Universities found that Facebook was the most popular social media platform used in the delivery at Universities offering training in English.

Studies in Morocco have largely been around the use of social media in enhancing learning abilities. Findings in some research indicate skepticism around the use of social media due to some cultural influences (Sedrati, 2017). A study at the University of Hassan II with a target sample of 500 respondents and a 62.5% response rate, revealed that 49.2% of students are using Facebook and share personal information online (Mansour & Youssef, 2013)

The findings in Morocco are very similar to the findings in Egypt where Facebook and YouTube are the most widely used social media platform in Universities (Mostafa & Nehale, 2020). The findings in Morocco provided very useful literature in this research as they formed a strong benchmark to hypothise that SMM platforms are useful in marketing of HEIs. The findings also show that there is a gap in the study of SMM in both Morocco and Zambia.

2.16 Studies on the use of social media in HEIs in South Africa (Southern Africa)

In Southern Africa the use of social media in the education sector has gained popularity since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of ICT infrastructure support (World Bank Group, 2020) . In South Africa research shows that social media is being used greatly to influence the behavior of learners (Manzira & Tsvara , 2019). In South Africa, just like Zambia, most of the research that has been carried out focusses on the use of social media in learning and not really in the marketing of HEIs. One such research was conducted at University of Zululand where they investigated the use of social media and academic performance of undergraduates (Nisizwana & Tshabalala, 2017).

2.17 Studies related to social media in Zambia

There has not been so much study in the area of social media in Zambia, and especially in the education sector. A study by Mambwe (2019) at the University of Zambia investigated the use of social media in the news room (Mass communication). The researcher concluded that there was an increase in the usage of social media in Zambia. This is supported by the findings in the study by Kunda, Chembe and Mukupa (2018) who researched on the factors that influence Zambian higher education Lecturers' attitude towards integrating ICTs in teaching and research. Both research works are pointing to the fact that there is an increase in the use of social media as confirmed by ZICTA who reported that 55% of Zambia's population is now using mobile devices and are on the internet and on social media (ZICTA, 2018). As literature reveals, most of the research on social media in Zambia, and particularly in the education sector, is on learning and teaching. There is as yet no study that has focused on the use of SSM to enhance marketing performance.

The main studies related to social media so far published in Zambia are listed in Table 2.1 below, which also shows the outcome of the study and the area of study.

Table 2.1 Main studies relating to Social media in Zambia

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The studies outlined in Table 2.1 are not in marketing and are not focusing on the effectiveness of SMM on marketing performance in any sector. Studies on social media in the education sector have not brought out the use of social media in marketing and this significantly justifies this research. Zambia does not have much literature on social media except for reports published by the Zambia Information and Communications Authority (ZICTA). These reports are general reports and not specific to the education sector. A knowledge gap is when a particular research interest is the first of its kind in a particular study and in a particular environment, even if the same study has been conducted somewhere else (Leite et al., 2019). However, the studies by other researchers in Zambia on social media are highly useful since they have been used to inform the study and they provide some concepts which this study has used to build a framework for the concept of this research.

A study conducted by Wyche and Baumer (2016) from Michigan State University and Cornell University, investigated perceptions of non-users of social media in the rural areas in Zambia. The study showed that non-users of social media were interested in the communication platform and in its income generating possibilities. This research provided helpful information linked to the growth of social media in marketing and its effectiveness on income generation, and is perhaps among the main studies related to social media in Zambia. The study is also the only study that specifically looks at social media for business growth. However, the study is also not in the field of marketing and not in the education sector and therefore a knowledge gap still exists in the study area.

Limitations in social media studies in Zambia

In Zambia, not much research has gone on around the issue of the effectiveness of SMM on the marketing of HEIs. Most research in Zambia around this topic is centered on the use of social media in teaching and learning (Mwalimu et al., 2017). The research in Zambia carried out mostly at the University of Zambia is based on the usage of social media as a learning aid than its usage as a marketing platform. Chawinga in his research focuses on bringing social media into the classroom and particularly using twitter and blogs for class room delivery (Chawinga, 2017). The research by Mwalimu, Mulauzi & Mwiinga and also the research by Chawinga forms a strong basis for exploring the use of social media in HEI's including for purposes of marketing.

Further study carried out by Mulenga and Marban focused on exploring the use of social media and social media platforms in teaching and learning among pre-service mathematics teachers (Mulenga & Marban, 2020). There is so far no research in Zambia that has been conducted in relation to the use of SMM in HEIs in Zambia. The closest research to this was perhaps the research by Akakandelwa who at least in his research included the impact of social media use on the social life of students (Akakandelwa & Walubita, 2017), since the topic in this research is based on marketing and cannot ignore the aspect of consumer behavior.

2.17.1 Social media regulation

In Zambia the government has embarked on regulating social media by introducing the cyber security bill which was asended in 2021 (Zambia reports, 2021). The laws controlling social media in Nigeria are highly different from the laws in Zambia and therefore the application on the usage of social media for marketing HEIs maybe different from those in Zambia, for example in Zambia the laws demand that age limits for the use of social media are 16 and above while in Nigeria the age limit is 13.

In Nigeria the use of social media in HEIs can be drawn as far back as 2004 when the use of digital devices was implemented in that country through the National policy of education (Aniefiok & Gbemisola, 2016). While the use of social media in the education sector in Zambia can be traced back to as early as 2006 (Mwalimu et al., 2017), Nigeria has an upper hand. The earlier implementation of social media in the education sector in Nigeria implies that the digital environment in Nigeria could be more advanced than that of Zambia. Countries such as Tunisia and Morocco in North Africa implemented digital platform in their education system as early as 2002 and 2004 respectively (Oxford Business Group, 2017). The trend seems that those countries that implemented social media early in their education are utilizing social media more effectively in their education system.

2.18 Limitations of Legal frameworks in Zambia

Legal frameworks on the use of social media in many countries including Zambia are not well developed. According to MISA Zambia regulating social media should be opposed as it would be equivalent to suppressing freedom of expression (MISA Zambia, 2019). The argument by Anderson (2008) relates to the view of MISA Zambia in that if social media does not have a legal framework then HEIs must not use it for their marketing activities since these must conform to legal and ethical requirements in their marketing activities. The alternative view is that SMM is as good as using bill boards, flyers or press releases as the only difference is that one is physical and the other is virtual (Barrere, 2021). In 2021 Zambia enacted the Cyber Security bill which controls social media and this might mean that the arguments by Anderson or even by MISA Zambia may no longer be as valid.

Social media is gaining popularity as a marketing tool globally and around Zambia; globally 30% of registered HEIs are using social media either for teaching purposes or marketing purposes (Tahani et al., 2020). In Zambia it is not clear how many HEIs are using social media for marketing or teaching purposes as this data forms part of the findings for this research. The findings in Zambia so far are focused on the use of social media for teaching purposes and not on marketing purposes, even though the use of social media in marketing is becoming popular. The perceptions of the use of social media in marketing are beginning to change with many HEIs registering presence on social media so that they can tap into the existing 2.30 million users of social media in Zambia (Digital 2020 Zambia, 2021).

Literature indicates that from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and America, Facebook is the most commonly used Platform in many sectors including the education sector (Lai, 2011). However, the statistics do not interpret the use of social media for marketing purposes in the education sector. This research takes an interest in investigating the effectiveness of SMM on the marketing performance of HEIs in Zambia and research papers by other researchers especially in Zambia on the topic of social media becomes very useful. According Higginbottom & Liamputtong (2015), any research that must draw an acceptable conclusion should depend on literature previously published both in the same environment where the research is conducted and other studies in different environments (Higginbottom, 2015). This research reviewed literature from researchers in Zambia on the subject of social media and also researchers on the same subject in other regions of the world so that the outcomes of the study are authentic and acceptable

2.18.1 Emerging use of social media platforms

Research Centre in the USA reveals that Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are among the most commonly used social media platforms by adults in the USA (Perrin & Anderson, 2019). According to the research by Perrin and Anderson adults between the ages of 18-29 form 68% of the population for social media usage in the USA.

The success of Columbia University leads to the assumption that the use of social media in HEIs in Zambia could result in a higher effect on the marketing of HEIs, but the two technological environments are different and therefore may lead to totally different findings.

In Nigeria the most commonly used social media platform is Facebook which represents 87% of all internet users in that country, followed by YouTube at 76% and Instagram at 67% (Statista, 2019). WhatsApp is the most commonly used messaging software standing at 94%. Research conducted in six Universities in Nigeria further indicates that the usage of social media is very high among undergraduate students (Kanelechi et al., 2014).

The statistics in the popularity of social media platform in Nigeria is viewed to be inaccurate since the population of Nigeria changes dynamically and that it is usually not conducted across all Universities in Nigeria. Nigeria is also regarded as a technologically advanced environment compared to Zambia and therefore its use of social media in the education sector is wider since the student population numbers are higher. The popularity of social media platforms in Nigeria generate research interest to investigate whether there might be a similarity in the use of social media in Zambia and Nigeria. This research focused on investigating the effect of SMM on the marketing performance in HEIs in Zambia and therefore studied the most commonly used social media platforms in Universities in Zambia. The research brought out recommendations of the best social media combinations for HEIs in Zambia.

2.19 Contemporary studies on social media

The latest studies on social media have placed SMM as the biggest frontier of customer engagement and interaction (Potena, 2022). Social media is the best method to reach customers and convert them (Wright, 2021). The findings by Wright are highly useful in this research as they seem to support the research hypothesis that social media is effective in marketing HEIs, since it constitutes the most effective tools that can be used to reach customers and grow revenue. Further research by Mason who investigated how SMM has gained importance during COVID-19, brought out findings that COVID-19 has led to increase in consumer social marketing behaviors in the United States (Mason et al., 2021). The findings by both Wright and Mason support this research highly in that they link SMM to marketing performance. These studies where in different sectors other than the education sector and were also done in a different environment, implying that the factors may vary based on industry and also that the findings cannot be generalized.

Debios writes that social commerce has come of age during the COVID-19 pandemic and has now answered the question of justifying ROI on social media by organizations as they are now forced to establish presence online (DeBois, 2021). This research by Debios focuses on how COVID-19 has caused institutions in different sectors to use virtual means for marketing and management. In HEIs the marketing of their services and products can no longer fully depend on traditional marketing but shift to digital marketing which also includes the selection of specific SMM strategies so that they can increase customer retention and increase revenue. The research by Wright links SMM to marketing performance. The connection with Debios' finding is firstly that SMM is strategic to marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic and secondly that behaviors of consumers has changed during the pandemic to respond as they depend more on online platforms for information and access to goods and service. The study of social media in HEIs needs to address the question of whether SMM is effective for marketing HEIs and this is an angle that both research from Debios and Wright focused on.

Henry DeVries describes social media as the next biggest channel for purchase and not just for discovery (DeVries, 2022). This confirms the findings by Debios that social media has come of age particularly in the COVID-19 pandemic and that it now represents the biggest market globally. While social media is growing in usage and effectiveness for purposes of marketing, can the same concept be applied in its use for marketing HEIs in Zambia?

2.21 Social media marketing poularity during COVID-19

Research already shows that in Universities such as Columbia in the United States, social media has increased their student retention. This means that social media has high potential for higher effectiveness in marketing of HEIs, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In almost all the studies carried out in the last quarter of 2020 and in 2021 the trends seem to be pointing towards the fact that social media is gaining popularity and that it is a powerful tool for marketing (Mason et al., 2021). This popularity is especially that consumer trends are changing as a result of lock downs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lock downs are triggering an interest to develop research in the education sector on whether HEIs in Zambia are able to use social media for the marketing and that this use will result in increase in student numbers, increase in market share and their overall marketing performance.

A study recently done on student behavior on social media networks has found that students have developed addiction to social media (Maslin et al., 2021). The addiction imply that students are mostly on social media and HEIs in their SMM strategies may assume that this represents an opportunity for them to attract these numbers to their social media pages.

This study is highly useful in this research since it is dealing with the behavior of students on social media, a variable that is linked to the social media variables that were interrogated in this research. This study greatly informs the current research, particularly that it creates a link between the theoretical frameworks and the conceptual frameworks. The study also informs this study because it covers consumer behavior, brand awareness and the concept of social media effectiveness which form the basis for developing the conceptual framework and selecting the theoretical framework that fits with this study.

2.22 Implication of the latest findings on this research

The latest studies on SMM reveal that social media currently is the biggest marketing tool that organizations including those in the education sector can use to maximize revenue and grow their markets. This assumption is supported by the growth of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn which are expected to grow from $94.83 billion in 2020 to $104 billion in 2021 (Reporter Linker, 2021). During COVID-19 most organizations and businesses have reinvested into digital technologies and SMM since traditional marketing has been greatly affected especially physical contact marketing such as door to door campaigns or seminar type events. The implications are that HEIs should be able to invest in SMM but before that, there must be information available for them to make such decisions. This research brings out justification for investments into SMM since it measures the effectiveness of SMM on marketing of HEIs in Zambia.

A report released by the entrepreneur online suggests that in 2021 the best marketing strategies for social media is high investment in targeted Ads, and video marketing (Paul & Nafez, 2021). The question that may arise as a result of this is how can organizations justify the high investment in social media technologies? The reports by Reporter link and also by the entrepreneur as cited by Paul & Nafez did not capture any institutions in the education sector and therefore the strategies suggested may not be applicable for HEIs.

2.23 Theoretical framework

This section of the paper discusses the theories that were identified to support the study and build arguments that were linked to the conceptual framework of this study. Three theories were used to explain the research phenomenon and synthesis of the literature. The theories identified were used and accepted as part of the body of knowledge in the study of SMM in general.

2.23.1 The Social Media Marketing concept

The concept of SMM emerges from the fact that many businesses have successfully used social media to build a network of customers and as an instrument for customer engagement, retention. Communication and sales. The concept or theory first started when companies began to publish online and share their contents on social media to increase traffic to their site in the hope that they can capture customers. Studies show that 70% of social media visitors come in to obtain information and 49% of these have decided to purchase (ElAydi, 2018). The findings in this

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Title: An investigation of the effectiveness of social media marketing on the marketing performance of Selected Higher Education Institutions in Zambia
Course: Marketing
Grade: Pass
Author: Dr. Francis Mukosa (Author)
Publication Year: 2022
Pages: 244
Catalog Number: V1283224
ISBN (PDF): 9783346740694
ISBN (Book): 9783346740700
Language: English
Tags: Marketing Social Media Higher Education Institutions Social Media platforms interactivity

Quote paper: Dr. Francis Mukosa (Author), 2022, An investigation of the effectiveness of social media marketing on the marketing performance of Selected Higher Education Institutions in Zambia, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1283224

An investigation of the effectiveness of social media marketing on the marketing performance of Selected Higher Education Institutions in Zambia

Excerpt

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

RESEARCH TITLE

ZCAS-U THEMATIC AREA

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1. Introduction

1.2 Background of the study

1.3 Statement of the Problem

1.4 Purpose of the study

1.5 General research Objective

1.5.1 Specific objectives and questions

1.6 Hypotheses

1.7 Justification of the Study

1.8 Scope of the Study

1.9 The research concepts

1.10 Dissertation/Thesis Outline

1.11 Chapter Summary

CHAPTER TWo: LiTERATURE REViEW

2.1. introduction

2.2 The meaning of social media

2.3 Higher education Institutions (HEIs)

2.4 The concept of marketing and social media

2.5 The advent of social media

2.6 Social media and interactivity

2.7 Definitions of social media platforms

2.8 Social media adoption in the education sector

2.9 The use of social media in HEis in the USA

2.10 The use of social media marketing in HEIs in Wales (Europe)

2.11 The use of social media in Australia

2.12 The use of social media in HEIs in India (Asia)

2.13 Studies on the use of social media in HEis in Kenya (East Africa)

2.14 Studies on the use of social media in HEis in Nigeria (West Africa)

2.14.1 Influence of social media in Nigeria

2.15 Studies on the use of social media in HEIS in Morocco (North Africa)

2.16 Studies on the use of social media in HEIs in South Africa (Southern Africa)

2.17 Studies related to social media in Zambia

2.17.1 Social media regulation

2.18 Limitations of Legal frameworks in Zambia

2.18.1 Emerging use of social media platforms

2.19 Contemporary studies on social media

2.21 Social media marketing poularity during COVID-19

2.22 Implication of the latest findings on this research

2.23 Theoretical framework

2.23.1 The Social Media Marketing concept

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