Academic literature on the topic 'Internet marketing – Zimbabwe'

Despite producing top of the range products and services, entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe's rural Gokwe face limited access to markets. Access to local and regional trading markets is further aggravated by inadequate technological infrastructure and financial resources to carry out business activities. Aim: This article investigates the role of digital design and technology in expanding market outreach in Zimbabwe. Methods: A mixed methods research design was adopted. The qualitative data, obtained from semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion, was analysed through thematic analysis. The quantitative data was obtained from the administration of a questionnaire and used to corroborate the findings of the qualitative tool. Results: The findings revealed that while digital design and technology had little effect on identifying entrepreneurial opportunities and communicating with potential customers in Gokwe, there were clear signs that plans were being made to integrate digital technology and internet connectivity in at least one sector of the rural economy of the district. Implications: The findings may provide vital information for rural entrepreneurs and policymakers looking to benefit from the digital revolution. Recommendation: The paper encourages the use of digital marketing and advertising to take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities.

The introduction of the Internet has led to the development of new technologies and applications that have been adopted by organisations and their users to enable them to survive in this age of technology. Online technologies have penetrated Zimbabwe, particularly in the retail industry, however, little research has been done to link the research results to theory particularly the technology adoption theories. Therefore the objective of this study was to explore the current extent of adoption of online transaction platforms in the retail industry in Zimbabwe. Furthermore, this paper purposed to determine the extent of this adoption on the Technology Adoption Curve. The online transaction platforms studied were Internet banking, Automated Teller Machines, Mobile banking, Point of Sale and Mobile money. The study took a mixed method approach where both qualitative and quantitative strategies were used. A three-sample dataset comprising of 268 bank and supermarket customers, 56 bank managers and 31 supermarket managers was used. The resultant adoption rates were plotted on Moore’s Technology Adoption Curve. The results indicated that although the retail industry had made great strides to adopt online technology platforms, but the adoption by customers was relatively low at a market penetration of 14.5%. The study thus concluded that Zimbabwe’s online technologies were in their infancy stage on the maturity model adoption curve and were inside Moore’s chasm on the technology adoption curve. The study recommended to customers to use the adopted online technologies in order to keep abreast with the digital era. On the other hand, banks and supermarkets were urged to devise marketing strategies in an effort to cross the chasm in the Technology Adoption Curve.

Phillip Madanire es Director Creativo Asociado en OgilvyOne Worldwide, New Cork, EE.UU. Responsable de los servicios de marketing interactivo y desarrollo de Internet para clientes como IBM, American Express, Ameritrade, Sprite, DuPont, Deloite, DHL, Kodak, AT&T, ONDCP, Motorola, etc. Phillip reside en la ciudad de Nueva York. Nació en Zimbabwe y ha estudiado en las mejores escuelas de India y Estados Unidos.

The study focused on the use of social media marketing in the telecommunication business in Zimbabwe, as it has received limited attention in the literature available to date. The study aimed to explore the use of social media marketing in a telecommunications business- Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited. The study took on an exploratory research design which was qualitative in nature. A case study approach was applied with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited as focus of being studied. Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited was chosen because it is the market leader in the telecommunications industry which has adopted the use of social media marketing in its business. Data collection was done through in-depth interviews with judgement sampling being used to choose the participants for the interviews. The data collected was analysed using thematic analysis. It was found that Econet Wireless Limited is using social media marketing to communicate with its customers, for their brand to be visible. They also use it because it is an inexpensive way to promote their business with a possibility to reach a large number of people in a short space of time.
Business Management
M. Com. (Business Management)