The influence that MXit advertising has on word-of-mouth: A study amongst Bellville South Secondary School learners

Abstract

Research has shown that Africa has the lowest Internet access in the world. However, this is changing for the better as mobile devices are growing rapidly in numbers; there are nearly 32 million Internet-capable cell phones in South Africa (Maake, 2012). MXit, a social networking site, which has grown immensely over the past few years, now has over 10 million subscribers in South Africa. MXit users stipulate their age, gender and other personal information, which can be very valuable to marketers since they can convey their message directly to their target audience to best create the highest possible return on investment. The recession of 2008 has impacted advertising budgets negatively for a few years after the downturn, so marketers are constantly looking for creative and cost-effective ways to reach their target market. The effectiveness of word-of-mouth can help marketers a great deal in creating brand awareness as the information regarding a particular brand passed on from one individual to another at no cost (Jidenma, 2011). The study was descriptive in nature and the learners of Bellville South Secondary High School were approached in order to disperse 400 questionnaires in order to investigate the influence that MXit advertising has on word-of-mouth.