CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background to the Study

The internet, in Particular has helped in turning the world in this era into a global village as predicted by Marshall Mcluhan. For many decades now, it has improved communication processes which according to Ogwezzy (2008:18), is a process in which the “sender passes information to the receiver or decoder”. It has also allowed many people to communicate, build relationships and express themselves through websites, blogs, social networking sites, pictures and other user-generated media.

It should be noted that, Alofun (2011:4) reiterated that new technologies can lead to new types of media and that, the ability to use a given form of media will be related to the ability to use its incomparable technology. In today’s world, technology has made more globally, the ability to produce media , printing , radio and television are some examples of mass media in the sense that , all of them are intended to reach a more greater number of audiences.

Now, the term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communications and connectivity into an interactive dialogue, most at times profitably. It should be noted that Social Media are in many different forms including internet forums, magazines, social blogs, weblogs, micro blogging, podcasts, wikis, pictures and photographs, video rating and social bookmarking. In a world which the rate at which social media evolves is rampant, were we all find ourselves in a midst of vast social media revolution, of cause there is no doubt that Social medias like Facebook, Skype, Twitter, Instagram etc are extensively used for the purpose of communication. This form of communication can involve a person or better still a group of persons. Trisha D. B. ( 2012).

This online exchange of information also promotes the effective and efficient increase in communication skills among people, especially between Businesses and Customers.

Most at times, such tools are misused and mishandled by people which eventually leads to interference into one’s privacy. These instances can lead to a dangerous situation, knowing that ethical aspect of the use of Social media. Social media have so much brought people close to one another most importantly to those living in far off places. James K. (2008)

Furthermore, the rapid growth of Social media has created the needs for platforms to evolve with consumers demand, especially for something new and entertaining. Over the years, many networks has arose that have been slow to implement changes or unable to adapt their platforms to the demands of customers. It is not doubt that on daily bases we check our phones on average 150 times, in fact in most cases, it is the first thing we do in the morning, and the last thing we do at night and continually throughout the day, hence, one won’t argue that Social Media is everywhere, especially in the domain of information, trade and business.

Over the past years, there have been many social platforms that have successfully developed and come up with their brands to accommodate the needs of Customers, but then were there are successes there are failures, and many of these platforms have failed to stay relevant, especially when it comes to carrying out business activities and programs, in an ever changing technological climate.

Social Media did not only start with Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc. The notion and the idea of Social Media began in the early 1970’s as a result of email, and the first email being sent in 1971.

However, in today’s world it has been noticed that most businesses now-a-day also engages, in a greater extend, in social networking while promoting and selling their products and services to customers. More often, the “bigwig” of the business world try as much as possible to maintain and retain a healthy relationship with their valuable customers. So, social networking sites are therefore seen as an inspiring means of publicity, customer relationship building, keeping them loyal, a phenomenon which every brand or business must embrace if it wants to succeed in today’s business world (James K. 2008).  Social media are internet based applications that allow customers and businesses to interact together by creating, sharing and exchanging information for mutual benefit (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010).

As customers are the backbone of any business and always regarded as “KINGS”, there is no doubt that companies without customers would not be able to sustain their performance Kotlar (2019), & Churchill and Surprenant (1982), & Bose (2007) . This is so because such companies or firms are believed to have no profits, no revenue and subsequently no market value. Definitely, managing customers is a very crucial and important business strategy in which the key focus has been switched in the past years from attracting new customers to preserving existing ones. So both practitioners and share have come to understood that it is much easier and even cheaper to retain existing customers than focusing much on the potential customers. Of cause a decent customer retention level is said to be a major contributor geared towards improvement in the company’s performance as a whole. A token on the existing researches on customer retention shows that financial sector has been details investigated and analysed which paved the way for a detailed investigation on customer retention, especially within the fast-food industry. Customer Retention is seen as an obligation by a customer to carry out business transactions with a particular company on a regular basis (Hansemark & Albinsson, 2004). . To add to this, Molapo and Mukwada (2011) have both clarified that companies are all out there to device strategies and stop any attempt by customers to switch retailers and indirectly retain them. Also, Erdis (2009) has established that companies directs their marketing strategies to please and satisfy their current customers in order retain them strengthen long-term relationships with them. Customers will frequently patronize companies which meets their need, and subsequently an enduring relationship will be fostered (Fill, 2005). Farquhar (2004) said that retained customers increase company’s profits because getting new ones are so much costly. This relate to the outcome of the findings of Reichheld and Schefter (2000) which reiterated that companies that are able to raise customer retention by 5% would be able to boost their profits by 25-95%. Moreover, the costs of acquiring new customers are 5 times more expensive than retaining an existing customer for a company (Tu, Lin, & Chang, 2011). Hence, enhancing customer retention will skyrocket a company’s performance and profits by leaps and bounds (Sim, Mak& Jones, 2008).

1.2. Statement of the Problem

According to Lowe E.(2019), most firms uses various mediums to portray their products and services in a way that would draw customers and win their loyalty, such as billboards, television, radio and the newest media which is the internet. Companies in a bid to meet up with their ever increasing audience whose attentions is always for watching out on the latest features or traits in a brand that best suits and satisfy them, companies do create a special budget to manage these customers and always keep in touch with their taste and lifestyle traits in order to avoid them switching to rival brands or competitors Tsao (2013).

Statistics by Datareportal, according to Kemp(2021)shows that they were 4.30 millions social media users in Cameroon in January 2021 which has increased by 600 thousands (+16%) between 2020 and 2021 which was equivalent to 16.0% of its population in January 2021. This makes Cameroon one of the highest in searching, browsing and spending time on the internet in Africa. Despite the fact that the social media is mostly used for the creation and consumption of entertainment contents, It is no longer news to note that for the past years more and more people seem to have moved to these very platforms as a means to inform, create mutual and long lasting relations, socialise and exchange views between companies and consumers McKinsey (2015).

Interestingly, Casserly (2013), American small business owners are turning up on the social web in droves. The problem is that no matter the number of time they spend on retaining these customers, they are simply not seeing a return on investment. The use of social media is very trending upward according to the survey of more than 1,235 small firms owners, hence no doubt giving the rate of attention paid to the various social media platforms by some of the big firms and media outlets. More than 50% have increased time spent on social media this year, and nearly 85% say they are using platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, Pew Research Center (2018). In fact Sui (2013) stressed that social media has led to the downfall of businesses which in one way or the other, misused the marketing part of it and ended up destroying their reputation at a high cost. Suvashree (2016) noted that negative impact of social media ranges from limited Control of whatever is shared on social media  as any mistake which is made on social media is very difficult to correct and hence, can attract negative consumer reviews which are harmful to the growth of any business.

Also, social media is time consuming and one has to come out with techniques in order to compete with crowded contents on the web. Despite all of these solutions and contributions, the question still remains, “how to better solve it” because there is still a need for deeper understanding of the implications of social media on customer retention (Hennig-thurau et al., 2013), especially when it is based on empirical evidence or proof. Although most of these authors have all covered the aspect of messaging which helps to talk with the customers directly one on one (Gianfranco et. al., 2013), organising various sales contests in order to bring together the customer and keep them connected (Cummins,1998; Keon et. al., 1986; Koter and Roberto, 1989), launching quiz and others attractive bundles such as scholarships etc (Harris and Blair, 2006; Tanford et. al., 2011), yet there still exist the problem of misinterpretation, the difficulties involve in correcting costly mistake made on social media (Debatin et. Al., 2009; Aharony, 2016; Barth and de Jong, 2017), and handling feedback/response which is the most neglected by most authors. In light of this, this research, therefore seeks to bridge these gaps and avoid giving room for disgruntlement, lack of trust and discouragement (public relation crises) on the part of the customers for not being listened to (Ardian, 2010; Cho et. al., 2001; Hennig-Thurau et. al., 2003; Bartikowski et. al., 2014). This will help in building a level of confidence, trust and loyalty from the customers (Gefen et. al., 2000; Kietzmann et. al., 2011). The study also bring out strategies to correct costly mistakes made on social media concerning the products image and how to overcome the negative impacts. It also seeks to bring out strategies as concerning follow up and feedback (which is the most neglected), using the social media platforms for the growth of businesses.

1.3. Research Question

1.3.1. Main Research Questions

To what extent have Social Media Strategies contributed in the retention of customers?

1.3.2. Specific Research Questions

1. To what extent does the social networks exert influence on the retention of customers?
2. To what extent has bookmarking networks influence the retention of customers?

• How does media sharing networks influence and facilitate the retention of customers?

1.4. Research Objectives

1.4.1. Main Research Objective

The main research objective of this study is to examine the extent to which the social media strategies have contributed towards the retention of customers.

1.4.2. Specific Research Objectives

1. To examine the influence of social networks on the acquisition and retention customers.
2. To examine the influence of bookmarking and content curation on the acquisition and retention of customers.

• To examine the effects of media sharing networks on the acquisition and retention customers.