Abstract
M.Com. (Business Management)
Businesses globally are using social media to engage with their customers on social
media platforms, because that is where their customers are. The largest social media
platform in the world, Facebook, is home to over a billion users. Prospective university
students, current university students as well as alumni of universities have a presence
on Facebook. Therefore, it is pivotal for all higher education institutions to use this
platform for marketing and communication purposes. Considering this, it is imperative
for the University of Johannesburg to determine how faculties within the University are
using Facebook as a marketing communication tool.
The primary research objective of this study was to determine how faculties within the
University of Johannesburg use Facebook as a marketing communication tool. The
primary research objective was addressed by a literature review and the empirical
study that followed. The empirical study sample was the University of Johannesburg's
nine marketers that manage their faculties’ Facebook pages. Thereafter, a content
analysis was conducted of the nine faculties Facebook pages. This study used two
qualitative research methods, namely in-depth interviews and content analysis.
The method used to analyse the empirical research results was the Morse and Field
approach, which indicated that faculties were using Facebook as a marketing
communication tool; however, there are many risks and challenges encountered when
doing so. The results also highlighted the lack of cohesiveness among the faculties at
the University of Johannesburg and depicted that faculties were working in isolation of
one another. Furthermore, results also established that there was a lack of branding
and association to the University of Johannesburg on faculty Facebook pages. Lastly
the results postulated that faculty Facebook pages received a substantial amount of
administrative queries, some of which Faculty marketers were not equipped to
respond to because they did not have the administrative knowledge to do so.
By exploring the usage of Facebook by faculties within the University of Johannesburg,
the researcher was able to provide guidelines on how faculties within the University of
Johannesburg could effectively use Facebook as a marketing communication tool.