Usage characteristics effect on BBM advertising regarding awareness: A study amongst Milnerton High School learners

Abstract

Africa has the lowest Internet access in the world, but this is changing due to the high cell phone incidence, and as a result social media usage has increased, especially amongst the youth. Social media advertising has thus become a prevalent instrument for marketers, but little is known regarding the effectiveness of the said advertising. Learners at Milnerton High School in Cape Town were surveyed in order to ascertain which social media they make use of, their usage characteristics, as well as their general attitudes towards advertising on social media. The results (which were derived from the responses of 400 participants) were analysed and revealed that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was the favourite social media. Furthermore, according to another study, South African teenagers consider BlackBerry to be the most sought-after smart phone on the market largely due to the device’s social networking and instant messaging capabilities (Wilson, 2011). The research aims to determine whether the usage characteristics (access, length and frequency of usage, hours spent per log-in and profile update incidence) have an effect on the awareness of BBM advertising, and the findings will assist marketers in deciding how to target the youth on social media.