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MARKETING UNDERGRADUATE PROJECT TOPICS

IMPACT OF ONLINE MARKETING ON SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

IMPACT OF ONLINE MARKETING ON SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

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IMPACT OF ONLINE MARKETING ON SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

ABSTRACT

This study looked at how online marketing affected small and medium-sized businesses in the Lagos metropolitan area. The study used a descriptive quantitative survey research approach.

The research population consisted of all Small and Medium Enterprises in the Lagos metropolis that use online marketing tools and have their own internet websites, which is estimated to be 395 units.

A sample of 200 SME units will be drawn from a total of 395 units in order to collect primary data. As a result, 200 people were picked at random for the study. In this study, the stratified random sampling technique was employed to acquire the required data.

A well-structured Likert-scale instrument was used to evaluate the influence of online marketing applications (internet marketing, advertising, order and delivery, customer assistance, and payment system) on business processes in small and medium-sized businesses.

The Pearson product moment correlation statistical approach was used to assess the study’s assumptions at a significance level of 0.05. The data analysis yielded the following results:

Small and medium-sized businesses benefit greatly from online marketing applications.

Online marketing has a huge impact on small and medium-sized business efficiency.

Online marketing order and delivery have a substantial favourable impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized organisations.

Online marketing customer assistance has a substantial positive impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized organisations.

Online advertising has a considerable positive impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized organisations.
Online payment systems have a substantial positive impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized firms.

According to the findings of this study, there is a need for SMEs to reexamine how they use the Internet and websites, raise awareness of the importance of Internet integration into their business, and obtain some useful information on how other SMEs conduct their

Internet business, as well as some concentrative literature on Internet applying to SMEs international business, which may highlight their future development.

Chapter one

INTRODUCTION

1.1. BACKGROUND FOR THE STUDY

Businesses are seeking for innovative technologies to fulfil their distinct business needs.

Position oneself to benefit from worldwide developments in company activity. Companies both

To compete in today’s rapidly changing climate, organisations of all sizes require information.

be able to efficiently process data and use information in their daily operations. The expansion of the Internet has created a huge arena, allowing firms,

particularly small and medium-sized organisations (SMEs), to offer their products and services to a global audience that they would not have been able to reach via old techniques.

A literature search suggests that many developments in organisations today have been technology-related.

driven Clarke (2001) emphasises that information technology (IT) is actually transforming the entire nature.

of business transactions involving customers and suppliers of goods and services. Pigneur (1996).

tells highlighted that organisations, particularly SMEs, face a variety of developments that necessitate

Innovative responses. These challenges include the rise of a competitive global economy;

The movement towards an information-based economy, as well as the transition from mass production to a customer-driven economy. He says that to compete in today’s global, information-based

In today’s customer-driven economy, SMEs must be efficient, inventive, and competitive: Capable of responding

Just in time, prioritise quality, and deploy mass customisation. He proposes that to do

Today, they must also be able to use modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) to better integrate into their environment, build more cooperative inter-organizational ties, and compete in worldwide markets (Pigneur, 2006).

In recent years, numerous studies and publications have been published in the United Kingdom and abroad on

Internet use in business in general. This is not another investigation of the general.

use of the Internet in business, rather it compiles and summarises substantial and valuable studies.

already completed in these areas and isolates the key themes and ideas being communicated.

By the majority of SMEs. The study’s goal is to look into the perceived opportunities and benefits that SMEs can gain from using the Internet.

Barnes et al. (2008) said that SMEs contribute significantly to most economies throughout the world; they are socially and economically vital because they account for 99% of all firms in the EU, provide approximately 65 million employment,

and promote entrepreneurship and innovation. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been proved to make important contributions to national and regional economic growth, greater employment, and locally relevant products and services.

SMEs are critical to the UK economy; they account for 99% of all businesses and provide more than 59% of private sector employment (BERR, 2008). They are also the drivers of future growth and innovation.

Barnes et al. (2008) claim that the development of the digital economy has made Internet adoption and use a serious concern for the majority of SMEs.

Nonetheless, many SMEs face a challenging scenario. They may be too tiny to hire a professional IT specialist and lack the funds to purchase consulting services. They frequently lack experience in selecting, implementing, and assessing proposed IT solutions (Barnes et al., 2008).

Barnes et al. (2008) observed that SMEs are locked in a trap; a lack of resources means that, while there may be an aggregate need for IT services and advice, the variable nature of that demand makes it uneconomical for other enterprises to supply that demand.

According to Bili and Raymond (2003), small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are regarded as the driving factors of long-term local economic development around the world.

They serve as the foundation of economies, promoting private property and entrepreneurial capacities that, due to their flexibility, can quickly adapt to market changes, provide employment, diversify economic activity, and contribute to exports and trade.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

Online marketing has and continues to transform the way businesses are done around the world. With the commercialization of the Internet, online marketing has emerged as one of the most promising avenues for inter-organizational business activities. Online marketing has grown into a variety of business-related interaction models.

In Nigeria, numerous small and medium-sized businesses are increasing their investments in the Internet/online marketing industry. In order to thrive in today’s tough economy,

SMEs must be competitive and resilient. So, the primary goal of this research is to analyse the impact of internet marketing tools on business operations in small and medium-sized firms.

It suffices to say that online advertising or marketing is significant among Nigeria’s major sites; the efficiency of online advertising is determined by whether consumers are willing to click and watch, but the reality is that most internet users disregard online advertising.

How to capture the attention of consumers has become a critical issue. In actuality, various types of advertising can be used to attract customers, including pop-up ads, button ads, advertising couplets, floating ads, full-page advertisements, and so on.

Due to limitations on marketing resources, news, advertising, and wide-scale promotional activities, SMEs have less opportunities for publicity, so website promotion via the Internet is far more crucial for them than for major corporations.

Thus, this study looks into the relationship between online marketing and small and medium-sized business productivity in the Lagos metropolitan.

1.3. GOALS OF THE STUDY

The study’s aims are:

1. Determine whether online marketing applications have a significant and beneficial impact on business processes in small and medium firms.

2. To look into the relationship between online marketing and productivity in small and medium-sized businesses.

3. Determine whether online marketing order and delivery has a significant and beneficial impact on the business process in small and medium-sized firms.

4. Determine whether an online marketing customer support service has a significant and beneficial impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized businesses.

5. To determine whether online advertising has a significant and beneficial impact on business processes in small and medium-sized firms.

6. Determine whether online payment systems have a significant and positive impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized firms.

1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions listed below will guide the project.

1. Will online marketing applications have a big positive impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized businesses?

2. How does online marketing affect the productivity of small and medium-sized businesses?

3. Determine whether online marketing order and delivery has a significant and favourable impact on business processes in small and medium-sized firms.

4. Does internet marketing customer support have a major and good impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized enterprises?

5. Will online advertising have a big and positive impact on business processes in small and medium-sized enterprises?

6. Do online payment systems have a major and positive impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized businesses?

1.5. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The following research theories will guide the investigation.

1. Online marketing applications have no significant or beneficial impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized businesses.

2. There is no significant link between online marketing and small and medium-sized firm efficiency.

3. Online marketing order and delivery have no significant and favourable impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized businesses.

4. Online marketing customer assistance has no significant positive impact on business processes in small and medium-sized businesses.

5. Online advertising has no significant and positive impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized firms.

6. The online payment system has no significant and positive impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized firms.

1.6. Significance of the Study

The study’s conclusions will benefit both organisations and enterprises, particularly in terms of the need to focus on online/internet marketing, individual, group/team, and organisational innovation.

Furthermore, the findings of this study will serve as a channel of awareness and enlightenment on the numerous environmental issues that have impacted organisations in recent years, as well as present potential solutions to such problems as they arise.

Not only that, but its findings will serve as a platform for professional managers, CEOs, and other workers involved in staff training, administration, and management to learn how to motivate their employees for maximum human creativity and invention.

By doing so, several organisations would be better equipped to develop a repertoire of techniques (management control systems) for improving average employee performance while also increasing management efficiency by enforcing worker cooperation and standardisation of work methods, particularly in creative organisations.

In conclusion, the findings of this study will contribute to the management of national culture in terms of cultural individualism, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance,

and multiple cultural dimensions that may influence an individual employee’s preferences for and reactions to management control systems in interactive ways; and it will serve as a systematic knowledge base for researchers.

1.7. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study would include all Small and Medium Enterprises in the Lagos metropolis that use online marketing tools and have their own internet websites.

1.8. Definition of Terms

Medium-sized firms are defined as those that employ fewer than 250 people and have an annual sales of no more than N50 million or an annual balance-sheet total of less than N43 million.

Small enterprises are defined as those that employ fewer than 50 people and have an annual turnover and/or balance sheet total of less than N10 million.

Micro enterprises are defined as those that employ less than ten people and have an annual turnover and/or balance sheet total of less than N2 million.

Online Marketing: This term encompasses all forms of internet advertising, internet payment systems, internet marketing, internet customer assistance, and internet ordering and delivery.

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