CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Business communication is one way to attract customers and sustain their patronage. One aspect of business communication is advertising. Advertising is a brand of marketing mix that creates awareness of an existing or new market entry product for existing customers or prospective customers in a competitive market environment. Kimbarovsky (2021) claimed that brand/product promotion is a method that helps consumers recognize particular goods and services in a business environment where many businesses offer comparable goods and services. In a similar line, advertising is a technique that helps businesses cultivates a positive reputation and quality assurance in customers' eyes. According to Nwali and Ntegeeh (2021), businesses value the idea of advertising because it helps customers form positive associations with products and services, which lowers uncertainty and increases profitability. With the significance of developing effective advertising, it is essential for commercial establishments to construct a distinctively recognizable brand association across a range of industries.
Social media have been recognized as the new paradigm for product and service advertising. This is as a result of the new marketing features like instant feedback, organic and sponsored advertising, display of pictures, text and videos among others. Comparing the traditional method of building brand equity with the social media strategy, Shariq (2018) found that using social media to raise brand recognition is more effective at reaching a bigger fraction of the target population. Social media is a crucial network of channels for spreading the word about a specific good or service.In the age of digital technology, raising awareness has made advertising so fascinating for corporate entities. Ihechu, Amarachi, Nwankwo, and Chidera (2021) claimed that the advertising industry has long sought to follow consumers wherever they go. As a result, the industry has closely followed the constantly expanding online population to social media and even created new types of advertisements that consumers can relate to in their virtual worlds. The world has unquestionably become a "global village" due to the rapid growth of technology. Speaking on how product and service marketing has been impacted by online business marketing,Tuten (2008), argued that the options made possible by the internet have largely, if not entirely, transformed the whole idea of advertising. Because of social media, advertising has transitioned from analog to digital in order to promote brands and connect with a wide-ranging target audience, particularly those who use social media platforms. The speed at which social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, and Instagram have developed from simple interactive tools for connecting with friends and family, making new friends, posting photos and videos, and keeping up with events around the world in professional settings.
The number of users on these online platforms has grown dramatically, with Facebook alone having more than 500 million users as of 2011 and Twitter having more than 175 million, has motivated many business organizations to adopt social media advertising in recent times, (Yahaya and Ayodeji 2019). Furthermore, Yahaya and Ayodeji (2019) emphasized that recent reports indicated that Facebook alone creates more than 1 terabyte of data every day, and Twitter and other social media sites like TikTok also produce significant amounts of data and activity. Supporting, Nwali and Nteggeh (2021), assumed that traditional media has a monopoly on the dissemination of information and, as a result, shapes the opinions of the public. However, the social media era bypasses such traditional media by involving like-minded people in discussions of interest. According to Cabras and Bamforth(2016), social media impact has generated a high degree of popularity in recent years, which has led to widespread use of the platform for a variety of purposes.
Social media helps with marketing, brand management, and fashion product advertising, Chou and Han (2016). Due to the global economic cycle swings as well as the competitive and unfavorable business environment, businesses have been careful with their spending, especially their advertising budgets, turning their attention to online platforms and techniques, (clark and Melancon, 2012). According to the claim made by Chouhury and Harden (2014), many commercial organizations are increasingly shifting their focus away from traditional media channels and toward online advertising techniques with a focus on giving priority to consumer pleasure. Most importantly, purchasers today are knowledgeable tech users and social media addicts.
Social media has made it possible to always be closer to the client, which is highly significant and crucial in today's world. Majority of customers utilize the internet, so when they receive a product and are dissatisfied with it, they quickly go on a social media platform and make a remark about it. Evans (2010) claimed that brands of all sizes have invested in their presence on this rapidly expanding social media network in order to take advantage of social media's potential as a channel for advertising. Ihechu et al. (2021) claimed that social media has seen the rise of many entrepreneurs and has turned into a hotspot for stylish people who use the site in particular.The platform is not only a getaway for people to buy fashionable products through advertising, they look out for but also it provides them access to a whole new range of products where they can surf around until they stumble across other products they find desirable.
Social media increase customer acquisition. According to Marion (2021), social media facilitates clients' access to a variety of images of goods and services that are offered both online and offline. Social media marketing enables businesses to project their brand's name, slogan, and color scheme. According to Yuki (2017), advertising campaigns start in customers' and different businesses' heads. As consumers search for businesses offering goods for their delight, the company running the advertising is looking for new clients who could benefit from the product and services.. Therefore, it can be deduced that the relationship between company’s product and service and customer satisfaction is advertisement. One of the channels for closing the gap is social media.
1.2 Statement of the Problems
Social media usage for product advertising has caused disruption in advertising industry.According to Kang (2018), advertising is the process of raising awareness, and social media has greatly aided the advertising sector by enabling consumers to remember and recognize a specific brand. This ability to recognize a specific brand under dissimilar circumstances is evidenced by consumers' ability to associate the name, logo, symbol, etc. of the brand with specific associations in their memories. In a similar vein, the strength of a brand in the eyes of target markets or customers is how social media advertising is conceptualized. Kang (2018), who added to the overview of social media advertising, stressed the importance of social media brand advertising for the viability of new or specialized, well-known, and established products. In view of this, itis worthy of note that social media brand advertising is important to both new niche and existing products in themarket.
However, there are factors that affect the use of social media for advertising of goods and services in this digital age. Many researchers have identified issue of social media security as strong determinant factors that reduce the effectiveness of social media for product advertising. Nwali and Ntegeeh (2021) assert that social media users are free to publish whatever they choose. Positive feedback will undoubtedly brighten the organization's image, but some negative input may damage that image. Bad comments may arise from within a company. Disgruntled workers have been known to complain about their jobs on social media, which is terrible for the organization as a whole. Based on this information gap, the goal of this study is to fill it and offer clarification.
1. 3 Objectives of the Study
The primary aim of this study is to examine the impact of social media advertisement on the patronage of fashion goods among students of Delta State University Abraka. Specifically, the study seeks to;
- Identify the pattern of social media use for patronage of fashion goods by students of Delta State University, Abraka.
- Examine the Influence of social media advertising on the patronage of fashion goods by students of Delta State University, Abraka.
- Discover challenges affecting the usefulness of social media advertising on the patronage of fashion goods by students of Delta State University, Abraka
1. 4 Research Questions
- What are the patterns of social media use for patronage of fashion goods by students of Delta State University, Abraka?
- What are the Influence of social media advertising on the patronage of fashion goods by students of Delta State University, Abraka?
- What are the challenges affecting the usefulness of social media advertising on the patronage of fashion goods by students of Delta State University, Abraka?
1.5 Significance of the Study
Findings from this study will be beneficial to fashion business owners, digital marketers and the general public. First, the study outcome will offer new insights into the dynamics of social media usage for the promotion of business through product and service advertising. Besides, the study will benefit fashion business organizations because the result of the study will help them to identify key benefits and pattern to increase patronage of fashion goods and issues social media usage for advertising for fashion goods. Also, the general public especially students (younger demographics),will benefit from this study by identifying on how they can shop on social media such as Whasapp status, Facebook market place.
Furthermore, it will benefit the university community, particularly Delta State University, Abraka where the research report will be domiciled as it will expand the body of knowledge that has been done in this area. Lastly, findings from this research will serve as a reference source to future researchers interested in media coverage of social issues, such as human rights advocacy.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The intellectual scope of the study is on social media advertisement and the patronage of fashion goods among students. The geographicalcovers Delta State University, Abraka and the periodic scope covers 2022/2023 academic session.
1.7 Definition of Terms
Social Media:Social media are collection of digital technologies that use the web 2.0 for users to connect to other users from distance location with the purpose of sharing contents.
Advertisement: Advertising is a marketing strategy that involves the use of media to communicate the benefits and features of an existing or prospective products. The aim of advertising is to reach people most likely to be willing to pay for a company’s products and services and entice them to buy
Patronage:This is the ability of a customer to commit his or her money in exchange for value in a product or service. It is also the consistent buying of goods and service from identified producer or product/service marketers.
Fashion Goods: These are type of clothe that are already made from different fibric for customer to wear. They are made for female and male designs. They comes in form of shirt, pants, caps, T-shirts, joggers, belts, glass shoes e.t.c.
