BUSINESS OPERATOR-BASED STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING THE UTILIZATION OF E-MARKETING OPERATIONS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

Amaka U. Okeke, Gabriel Chidiebere Alonta

Abstract


The purpose of this study was to determine strategies considered effective for improving the utilization of e-marketing operations in small and medium scale enterprises in South-East, Nigeria. One research question guided the study, and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. The study was carried out in the five states in South-East, Nigeria. The population of the study was 13,035 registered small and medium scale enterprises in the South-East. A 9-item questionnaire was used for data collection. The questionnaire was tested for validity and to determine the reliability, a pilot study was carried out. Test on the data collected using Cronbach alpha reliability method yielded reliability coefficients of 0.61. The data from the study were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation. The mean ratings were used to answer the one research question while standard deviation was used to determine the closeness of the respondents mean ratings. t-Test statistics was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that operator-based strategies are considered effective for improving the utilization of e-marketing operations in small and medium scale enterprises in South-East, Nigeria. Based on these findings, it was concluded that SMEs can adopt operator-based strategies to improve the utilization of e-marketing operations in South-East, Nigeria. The researcher recommended that SME operators should improve their knowledge and skills of Information and Communication Technology for e-marketing operations by attending conferences and seminar where utilization of ICT in business is discussed.

Keywords. Operator-based strategies, utilization, e-marketing, SMEs.


Keywords


Operator-based strategies, utilization, e-marketing, SMEs.

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References


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