Theses and Dissertations (Marketing & Sport Management)

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations (Marketing & Sport Management) by Author "Dlodlo, Dr. N."

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    Selected antecedents towards the acceptance of m-payment services and the relationship with attitude and future intentions
    (Vaal University of Technology, 2017-03-01) Makokoe, Isaac; Van Schalkwyk, Dr. P.; Dlodlo, Dr. N.
    Keywords: Mobile payments, usefulness, ease of use, security, attitude, future intentions. An increased reliance on mobile phones by consumers for making retail purchases has been witnessed over the years. Given the pervasive use of m-payments and the incessant diffusion of innovations in South Africa, it is important for marketers to have knowledge of the right set of factors that enhance consumers’ intent towards favouring m-payments in future encounters. This study draws from the undertones of Davis’s (1989) Technology acceptance Model (TAM). Whereas the theory alludes to the influences of both usefulness and ease of use on consumer attitudes and behaviour, this study further amplifies the salience of cosumer perceptions of security as a salient drive towards m-payment acceptance. This is because m-payments involve moneybased transactions and therefore it is important for consumers to have assurance that they operate along a secure platform. The TAM was nominated as the underlying theory in this research owing to its effectiveness when applied during the initial phases of an innovation, to avoid costly mistakes of implementing innovation attributes that do not offer the requiredset of elements for persuading consumers. The purpose of this study was to test an integrative research model of the antecedents of mpayment acceptance using a South African sample of consumers. A quantitative study comprising a non-probability snowball sample of 474 consumers aged between 18 and 50 years was conducted in 2016, in and around the five major towns of Southern Gauteng province in South Africa. The structured questionnaire requested respondents to indicate their perceptions regarding the usefulness, ease of use and security of m-payment platforms they have utilised. In addition, the questionnaire relates to consumers’ attitude evaluations of m-payments in general, as well as their intentions to both use and recommending m-payments to others in the future. Initially, descriptive statistics were performed on the data set, including correlation analysis and multicolinearity testing. Subsequently, structural equation modelling was applied by first, assessing the measurement model using fit indices, confirmatory factor analysis and statistical accuracy tests of reliability and validity. Specification of the measurement model led to the conclusion that the future intentions model was a five-factor structure comprising usefulness, ease of use, security, attitude and future intentions. Thereafter, the results of the structural model (Structural model A) supported the existence of a direct influence between usefulness and security with attitude, while the latter was found to have a direct influence on future intentions. Nevertheless, the relationships between ease of use and attitude was not significant and therefore, alternative hypothesis Ha3 could not be supported in this study leading to the need to specify a vi subsequent competing model. Under Structural model B, perceived usefulness is used as both a dependent and an independent variable since it is predicted by perceived ease of use and in turn predicts attitude towards using and behavioural intention to use simultaneously. The results of Structural model B led to the decision to accept the competing model as the ultimate model for this research since the model presents complete evidence of path weights that are greater than 0.20, interpreted as evidence for significant path outcomes. Insights gained from this study could assist both marketing academics and practitioners to understand the perceptions of consumers towards m-payments. In this regard, if a determination is made that conducting m-payment transactions in secure and effort-free environments could enhance the effectiveness of consumers in their jobs and lives in general, then marketers could be in a better position to deliver a worthwhile innovation solution for South African consumers.
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    Selected factors influencing maven tendency and cosmetic products’ trial by female consumers in Southern Gauteng
    (Vaal University of Technology, 2018-11) Dlamini, Zinhle Lindani; Mokoena, Dr. B. A.; Dlodlo, Dr. N.
    In the case of cosmetic products, which convey both psychological and symbolic benefits to consumers, it is imperative for marketers to expand the scope of product trial as it presents a novel strategy for signalling the success of new products. In lieu of this, considerable attention should be accorded to the ubiquitous role of influential consumers who are instrumental in influencing the behaviour of other consumers through exemplary conduct and/or interpersonal word-of-mouth (WOM) communication. In this vein, this study sought to examine the influence of selected factors on market maven tendency and the ultimate trial of new cosmetic products by female consumers in the southern Gauteng. This presents the need to examine empirically the role of market mavens who play an indispensable role in filling the omitted information gaps existing within the market. Particularly, this research is in response to calls for unremitting replications of the work seeking to establish the nomological variables that are antecedent to the market mavenism construct. The study drew from the confluence of the Two-step flow theory and the Stimulus Organism Response (SOR) theory, which provided theoretical lenses in understanding how various stimuli could possibly influence the maven tendency (organism) and the ultimate trial of new cosmetic products (response) by those mavens situated in the southern Gauteng region of South Africa. In view of achieving the overarching objective of this study, a sample survey was conducted in 2018 using a sample of female market mavens that were selected on referral basis, after applying the snowball sampling technique. In the cross-sectional based sample survey, a self-administered questionnaire was utilised. Drawing from the responses, a trichotomisation was developed, enabling the researcher to categorise the participants by including those individuals reporting either low (n=86), moderate (n=141) or high (n=248) maven tendency scores. Resultantly, the findings from a cross-section of 475 female mavens were admissible for statistical analysis. Drawing from the statistical analysis, the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) procedure steered the extraction of six components that are salient towards calibrating the tendency towards market mavenship among female consumers of cosmetic products. The scale items along these six components yielded acceptable internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged between 0.792 and 0.876), whereas the results of the descriptive statistics revealed mean score rankings above 4.0 across the six components, thereby signalling agreeability among the participants with regard to the determinants of market maven tendency. Likewise, weak to moderate correlation coefficients that were positive and statistically significant (p <0.01) were also established in this work (ranging between +0.297 and +0.639). This inferred the existence oflinear and direct relationships among the variables examined in this work. Based on this, it was possible to conduct a structural equation modelling procedure. Prior to testing the hypothesised relationships, model fit of the measurement model was evaluated. Moreover, analysis of the statistical accuracy measures in terms of the reliability and validity of the measurement model pointed to the existence of a six-variable structure of new product trial, comprising consumer innovativeness, aspirational attractiveness, social norms influence, advertising efficacy, market maven tendency and new cosmetic products’ trial. Correspondingly, the direction and prediction among these constructs was tested by specifying a structural model. The structural model yielded adequate fit indices. In terms of prediction, the four constructs, namely consumer innovativeness (ß=+0.441; Z=9.292; p<0.01), social norms influence (ß=+0.339; Z=7.272; p<0.01), advertising efficacy (ß=+0.293; Z=6.607; p<0.01) and aspirational attractiveness (ß=+0.182; Z=4.099; p<0.01) were proven to have positive and statistically significant predictive influence on market maven tendency, in that order. Together, the four stimuli are presumed to explain approximately 43 percent of the variance in the tendency towards market mavenship among the responding female consumers. Market maven tendency was confirmed as a predictor of new product trial in this research (ß=+0.478; Z=8.448; p<0.01). This latter path proved that the tendency towards market maven behaviour explains approximately 23 percent on the variance in new product trial among female mavens. These maiden findings suggest that it is possible to anchor the construct of market maven tendency along a broader behavioural science theory, comprising selected stimulus elements. In particular, the results derived in this study demonstrate the three-fold orientation of the female maven in terms of innate (consumer innovativeness), context-based (social norms influence and advertising efficacy) as well as the desired or sought-after (aspirational attractiveness) stimuli that influence market maven tendency. In addition, the study confirmed that new product trial could act as an invaluable tool for raising awareness about the features and benefits of new cosmetic products. Based on these results, it is recommended that marketing managers capitalise on the contribution of market mavens as auxiliary dispensers of new beauty product information.