CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the study

The global environment over the years has changed drastically and become highly innovative and competitive. Every field has become a race to compete and prove. And to remain in this highly competitive market, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become very vital. Today, the rate at which capacity, competition, customer expectations and the lifestyle is changing, it is very important to keep up the pace with these rising expectations and mould the working of the company in that direction. These changes have led the organizations to move to a direction which will provide a competitive edge in a very cost

• effective way and embrace the usage of Today the use of ICT is not only inside the company but also outside the company as a tool for marketing and approaching customers and it also facilitates flow of information, ideas, people, products and capital

Historical  Background Of Airline In Nigeria

 

Air Travel in Nigeria commenced during World War II (1939-1945) when it became necessary to move troops and supplies fast across the country. Several air strips were built then which were converted after the war, to Civilian use Ileoje, N.P. 2003. Nigerian Airways was established in October, 1958 as a Joint Venture among the Nigerian Government, Elder Dempster Lines and the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The Nigeria Airways took over the operation of the industry in 1963 and operated a fleet of nineteen aircraft consisting of two each of Boeings 707 and 737, one DC 10-30 aircraft used mainly for international flights, seven F.28 Jets and seven Folder F.27 propeller aircrafts used mainly on domestic routes in 1976 Filani, M.O. 1983. There are other major international airlines which operate flights to Nigeria, thereby linking Nigeria with the World’s major socio-economic and political centers. This industry was later deregulated and Virgin Nigeria was rebranded to Air Nigeria Filani, M.O. 1983.

By realizing the role of air transport system in the economy, Nigerian Government developed both its physical and human capital such as airport infrastructures and manpower development respectively in the aviation industry Ileoje, N.P. 2003. Statistics revealed an increase in the use of air transportation in Nigeria Filani, M.O. 1983.

Airlines are advanced users of ICTs and a number of airline activities depend heavily on ICT Christensen, J. 2000. Distribution and collaboration with partners is perhaps one of the most critical areas of ICT contribution Shon, et al. 2003. Many low-cost carriers rely exclusively on ICTs for displaying their availability and for communicating and transacting with their clientele. ICTs are equally important in operations management and contribute to the optimization of procedures and processes Alamdari, F.1999 as well as for softer service elements such as in-flight entertainment and customer service Alamdari, F.1999.

Statement of the Problem

Information technology attempts to improve the quality of services offered in the aviation sector, through cost management, time service delivery and improve processes and procedures. According to Porter and Tanner (2012) the development of IT has had profound effects on the services rendered in the avaiation sector. Traditionally IT facilities were primarily used for general business application such as data entry, analysis and manipulation of that data for reporting purposes (Kim, Eves& Scarles, 2013). Information technology is a key growth area in this century especially in a dynamic business and high competition environment, which requires utilizing, advanced IT tools to improve efficiency, cost effectiveness and to present high quality products and services to customers (Seethamraju, 2012).

Global studies focus on IT implementation, management and success in more developed countries like America and China (Davenport, 2013). Competition and dynamic business environment has also triggered any studies to evaluate the extent of use in various industries. However, little attention is given to information technology and operations performance of aviation sector  in the nigeria . Mihalic and Buhalis (2013) studiedICT as a new competitive advantage factor; a case of small transitional hotel sector.

Objectives of the Study

The study seeks to achieve the following two objectives

To examine the factors responsible for the effective deployment of ICT in the aviation sector.

To analyze the Motivating Factors responsible for the deployment of ICT in the Nigerian aviation sector

To investigate the various Challenges faced with the use of ICT services

Research Questions

What are the factors responsible for the effective deployment of ICT in the aviation sector?

Does Motivating Factors responsible for the deployment of ICT in the Nigerian aviation sector?

What are the various Challenges faced with the use of ICT services?

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Basically every research requires a significant percentage of human efforts. As this work is not an exception, some of the limitations experienced (exenterated) in the course of carrying out the research are hereby identified:

(1)     Information:

(i)       It is obvious that most organisations are skeptical about giving information as required by researchers. This explains why adequate information was not received from some of the respondents to the questionnaire.

(ii)      There was a colossal dearth of published materials on the subject matter.

(2)     Finance: Finance/resources were not readily available as required to carry out an extensive and thorough research.

(3)     Time: Constraint of time was another limitation experienced in the course of research.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The increasing need to validate the marketing efforts across brands and also, identifying the most effective way to drive engagement and attribution among products shareholders in Lagos, and Nigeria at large has been on the rise recently (Solomon, 2003). The study further explains that firms generally are moving to the fast paced digital channels to market their products as opposed to the traditional means that used to play a major role in advertising and marketing. While tracking of cost per acquisition or attribution in the old traditional means of marketing such as billboards, television and radio is quite difficult, the recent developments in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector where digital channels have proven to be more effective and attributable has brought the need to measure this impact and assess the possible effects of this impact on marketing efforts today.

 

This study will investigate how ICT is being used by firms, and the various channels such as the Internet, Short Message System (SMS), EMAILS and other means through which users generally interact with using their mobile phones, laptops and other gadgets. According to a study by Philip (2001), the aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer which makes the process of selling products and services seamless.  He went further to explain that the aim of business is to create a customer and to be in that business, there must be marketing and innovation. Other activities are basically costs and the best way to predict the future is to create it. The approach that should be used in marketing in this digital age should be adapted to the cultural changes of this generation.

 

Furthermore, as noted by Vilaseca-Requena(2007), intensive ICT use in marketing makes most firms more innovative, as it is perceived that its usage breaks down barriers to innovation and speeds up processes that in turn become more efficient. Also, the rapid growth of ICT has encouraged firms to integrate and collaborate with robust ad-networks firms to help develop their innovation processes. The internet specifically has been a massive marketplace where a lot of activities take place. It combines creativity and technicality which goes into design, development and advertising. The misconceptions around internet marketing being a process of using websites or displaying banner ads on web pages are still rampant. Effective marketing on the internet requires a strategic process that aligns a firm’s objectives to available channels and the most effective one at that (Ray and Kelly, 2016). In this case, the reach (or target audience) is narrowed down and various channels or platforms are identified to serve this ads to the right audience, at the right place and the right time.

 

However, ICT has had several effects on marketing, with some seen as  positives and others negatives. The advent of mobile phones has been a huge boost to the development of the ICT sector in Nigeria (Twinpine, 2017). This has led to a positive impact on users because information is more easily accessible. Advertisements can easily be done instantaneously as opposed to waiting for a radio jingle or television allocated slots for your adverts. In addition, geographic boundaries that once defined audiences no longer apply. One can conveniently reach people in all geo-political zones without having to bother with the complications that come  with boundaries and environments. On the contrary, many people who are not technically inclined especially in rural areas are not easily reached when using the internet as a way of advertising. According to National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria (2018), Nigeria has a population of about 200 million people and only about 60 million people are on the internet which constitutes 30% of the entire population (Twinepine, 2017). This leaves room for 70% of the people not captured and unreached because they are either feature phone users or they are not technologically inclined.

 

The Nigerian ecosystem has a variety of marketing firms working with several industries like the telecommunications industry, the manufacturing industry and the financial services industry. Animashaun(2013), identified several marketing activities and its impact on the telecommunications sector using MTN Nigeria as a case study. Users were incentified with sales promotion by giving free airtime and data bundles, sponsorships and exhibitions. Direct marketing was also done when users go to their offices or call centres to make enquiries. He explained how innovation in products and idea gives MTN an advantage over other competitors. In addition, the use of mobile surveys to get feedback from its users while coming up with mobile airtime and data strategies has helped them.

 

The financial service industry offer a wide range of financial services to personal and business customers. Some of these services are bank accounts, advisory, guarantorship, credit/debit card transactions, and money transfers (Lawal, 2014). He went further to show the relationship between marketing strategies and the banks performance has a huge impact on the revenue made at the end of the fiscal year. Banks typically want users to open accounts, fund existing accounts  more often, utility bills and other bills paid through them. In order to achieve this, marketing strategies such as a platform for incentives, profit on savings  and long term investment plans are  at the core of their marketing campaigns.  Recent activities such as Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) for making mobile payments, airtime recharge and money transfer  has proven efficient and effective using short code marketing done by banks (Flaming and Bull, 2013). An example is 737 shortcode used by GTB.

 

Marketing activities impacts virtually every product or service sold in Nigeria. These activities collectively form the marketing mix that describes how a company produces, prices and promotes a product or service within a market (Greene, 2018). The variation in marketing activities are a lot and encompass almost every kind of media or campaign(Lovering, 2019). Some examples of marketing activities that have proven effective in engaging customers are as follows;

• Sending SMS blast messages to the users
• Placing a phone call to the users informing them of new deals, products, discounts e.t.c
• Sending occasional newsletters
• Using search engine marketing
• Meeting customers at trade shows and exhibitions
• Product placement on TV commercials

 

1.2 STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

According to Thelma (2015), companies still fall short of their target despite the advancement in ICT marketing. Information and Communications Technology channels such as the internet, SMS and mobile applications are considered important for creating a competitive advantage. Despite the rapid deployment of ICT by small and medium enterprises in Nigeria, there is still a huge gap regarding how they are able to sell their products and services (Ebitu and Ufot, 2015).

 

Besides, major SMEs in the Southern part of Nigeria, currently do not have the required managerial expertise to make good marketing decisions when it comes to selling their products and services (Ebitu and Ufot, 2015). The findings highlighted in this study is that there is a significant relationship between the marketing problems experienced by the SMEs and the increase in their profit margin and sales volume. Some of the major challenges the SMEs face were also discussed in the study.  These challenges are that the manager/business owner may not be able to raise short term capital needs of his business from banks or other financial organizations and may rely heavily on personal savings or loans from family and friends, the level of understanding of marketing, its activities and channels for managers and other decision makers is usually low, capital requirements for small scale enterprises are small, which means they have small marketing budget as well, most SMEs are generally poorly equipped as they feel reluctant to accept help from external persons owing to the fear that they would not have full ownership and low demand for their products and services.

The popular radio and television jingles are gradually been phased out and replaced with digital means (Olajide, 2011). The study explains that huge budgets are allocated for these commercials and the effects are always minimal. On the other hand, the use of internet, mobile applications have helped solve this problem. Budget spent has a direct relationship with the outcomes that are desirable. Small and medium enterprises are able to plan and strategize their marketing campaigns. SMS marketing has gained significant ground because of its penetration and reach since the advent of mobile devices in Nigeria (Bomiegba and Ezema, 2017). The study explains that customers are generally not receptive to unsolicited messages especially when these messages do not apply to them. While this is the case, firms find it easier to market through this channel because of its reach (both smartphone and feature phone users)  to the target audience.

In an attempt to fill this research void, the proposed study would examine how the implementation of ICT tools and activities assists SMEs with their marketing efforts. By testing a number of hypotheses from the data that would be collected, this study would discover possible impact that the use ICT channels and activities has on marketing firms in Lagos State.

 

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. what are the various types of ICT activities that are available to marketing firms in Lagos?
2. what is the degree of adoption of the ICT channels by marketing firms in Lagos?

• what impact does ICT activities have on the performance of marketing firms in Lagos?

 

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The specific objectives of this study are to:

1. identify the various types of ICT activities available to marketing firms in Lagos
2. examine the degree of adoption of ICT channels by marketing firms in Lagos

• access the impact of ICT activities on the performance of the marketing firms in Nigeria

 

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will be of great importance to the improvement of products sales for small and medium enterprises with their marketing efforts. It would highlight and explain the impact of ICT on marketing and in turn, inform firms on how to integrate advertising strategies with information technology and contribute towards realization of high sales turnover.  Furthermore, this study will provide small scale business stakeholders the need to propagate their businesses practices to meet global needs. This study will also include inclining individuals, agencies and government on the need to create an enabling environment where businesses can thrive and as well, emphasize on the value created when proper ICT practises for marketing are adopted by firms.

 

1.6 SCOPE OF STUDY

The study is based on the impact that ICT activities has on marketing firms with the core focus on small and medium sized enterprises in Nigeria. However, the concentration of study is Lagos State, Nigeria where most of these firms are highly concentrated (Adeoti and Ogundele, 2012). The study will assess the effect in which various ICT activities has had on these marketing firms with specific reference to their performances. For this study, the focus will be on SMEs (small and medium enterprises) where over 90% of Nigerian businesses fall under. In addition, over 50% of employment and industrial outputs are from these SMEs (Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, 2018).

 

The channels adopted for marketing in this study are limited to the use of mobile phones (SMS), the internet (WEB) and mobile applications due to high rate of mobile phone and internet penetration in Nigeria. According to a report by Twinpine (2017), over 70% of the populace use feature phones and 30% use smartphones. The implication of this is that most ICT channels are designed for smartphones (i.e the web) and that leaves 70% of the potential market share untapped. Due to this, there has been several attempts to devise a working solution to potentially bring the larger chunk of the people (the 70%) to the web or alternatively, bring the adverts to them. The safer option is to bring the adverts to them and recent improvements with the use of SMS to deliver campaigns for marketing have helped in this regard. Developments such as SMS to URL, USSD, Video in SMS, flash messages, end of call notification (EOCN) with ads appended and so on have helped improve marketing efforts (Ayo and Ukpere, 2011).

 

1.7 EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE

This study will reveal the various ICT activities in which marketing firms in Nigeria are disposed to. Also, the study will reveal the extent of adoption of ICT channels by marketing firms in Lagos State. In addition, the impact of ICT activities on the performance of marketing firms in Lagos State will be known through this study.

 

 

 

 

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

ICT: information and communication technology

ADVERTISING: the activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services to drive sales

SMS: Short Message Service, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, internet and mobile device systems

URL: Uniform Resource Locator, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and mechanism for retrieving it

USSD: Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, sometimes referred to as quick codes or feature code is a communications protocol used by GSM cellular telephones to communicate with mobile networks

EOCN: End of Call Notification, is the message you get on completion of a call telling you your account balance

TV: Television

SMEs: Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. Typically, we would be considering about 100 – 250 firms in this report with a reasonable capital base of at least N100, 000.

ICT Activities: these are activities carried out to promote a brands products and services

Marketing Firms: These are firms that helps other businesses to grow by managing  their  product and service development.

ICT Channels: These are the various ways in which ICT enables marketing activities. The use of mobile phones through SMS and the internet are the channels through which these activities happen.

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SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR PEACE BUILDING AND CONFLICT PREVENTION IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Humans have an innate desire for communication, over the years the communication channels have been in constant evolution. However there has been a dominance of what is referred to as mainstream media, which include broadcast media (Television and Radio) as well as print media (newspapers, reviews, magazines etc.). Main stream media are in most cases very structured and owned by the elite in Africa. Skeptics have accused main stream media of manipulating and relaying information that represent the interest of their owners and those in power, and they can be loosely be referred to as instruments of power in most emerging democracies. The same individuals also enjoy media and political economy, the ownership of the media houses is split between political actors which have given the Nigerian media a long continued support.

More recently there has been the emergence of the new media which has also referred to as social media. It has complemented main stream media in relaying information to the masses. The mostly used social media platforms include; Facebook, Twitter, Whatsup, Google chat, Skype, Yahoo chat and Blogs. In March 2010 there were a little over two million Facebook accounts according to the NCC. This accounts for about 5 percent of the entire population. These numbers are much large now with more and more Nigerians joining Facebook. A great majority of those on social media are the youth.

The reason for their popularity has been attributed to the easy access from cell phones. There is a Short Message Service SMS to Facebook for instance, that sends a text to the users on every time something happens on Facebook. More importantly there is an application called Facebook zero, a text only free version of Facebook launched in 2010 in collaboration with mobile providers. This has brought Facebook to a larger number of people who prior did not have access.

In addition to those who access social media websites on their phone there are those who are computer literate. According to a 2008 Consumer Insight Limited study, 74 percent of the population in Nairobi had used a computer at least once in their lives. (CIL 2008). Synovate on other hand has estimated that in 2009, 30 percent of the Nigerian urban population used the

internet weekly (ITU 2010). As a rule, all who use the internet regularly also have a Facebook account or have accounts on other social media platforms.

Twitter is a social network site much like Facebook. Tweets, which are twitter messages, are text based with a maximum of 140 characters long. Unlike Facebook messages which can contain photos or videos. These messages are posted on the user’s profile page and read by followers, not friends as on Facebook. While Facebook has a limit of 5000 friends for every member, there are no such limits on followers on Twitter.

The potential role of social media on political movements to ignite violent conflict has become a topical issue. In Nigeria for instance the discourse surrounding it has been characterized as a dual of anecdotes between cyber utopian and cyber skeptics. Those of the view that the growing popularity of social media will inevitably lead to more transparency in governance and democracy, and those who simply view it as an elitist phenomenon, they only see the danger that uncontrolled communication might pose. The Arab spring in the Middle East and North Africa in early 2011 has prompted calls for need of rigorous study into the potential role the new media can play in conflict prevention and peace building. Protestors in these countries across the region relied to varying degrees on social media to organize protests against incumbent regimes and leveraged on international news organizations to solicit for international support. Recognizing the power of social media, those in power made asserting controls over social media platforms a top priority. Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak shut down all access to Twitter, Facebook, You tube and Google in the first few days of the protest, before essentially shutting down internet on 2011 January 28^th. Gaddafi ‘s security officers blocked all internet traffic in and out of the country , in response the international community redirected funds towards programs that aimed at strengthening media in the region. This was to provide conduit between governing bodies and potential voters, information sources for those in need of humanitarian aid and platform for discussion and debate on how to structure and implement reforms.

Even though social media is critically important and encompasses great potential for democratic dialogue, conflict prevention and peace building, a number of risks can be identified. In Nigeria there has been increasing access to internet which is the main gateway to social media, most users have now the biggest tool for expression and sharing information. However not everyone is

ethically guided while using it, and thus the social media can be abused by such people. Information sharing can and has been used in the past as a platform of extreme right wing groups, even though international and regional instruments such as article 20; sub- article of 2 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 4 of the International Convention of Eliminating all form of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) prohibits the use of any means of media to promote hate speech or incite to violence. Likewise the African Charter on Human and People Rights article 28n prohibits hate speech.

The other significant concern is the difficulty of ensuring reliability and accountability of facts and information disseminated through internet, unverified facts are usually circulated with proposed actions. The social media users often do not give attention to the accuracy of the information, contextualization or verification of information. Inaccurate or misleading information can have serious consequences on conflicts arising and even basic issues concerning the quality of information can make people feel that sharing information will entail a risk for their own credibility and security. As a new platform for communication, the social media acts in new unpredictable ways and without regulations ethical standards or professionalism any individual posting materials can fabricate events and re-write them.

Another concern arises from the unrestricted nature of the internet which is very difficult to regulate, in fact regulating the internet is more difficult than the traditional media. Besides internet and other social media networks are not civil rights platforms. They have a business angle and thus they are collectively a part of a business dominated platform. The inventors of the platforms have priority on commercial interests and profits. They may therefore not be  interested in regulating content, but rather just offer what the market demands. However some actors have set up measures for reporting offensive communication. Google and Facebook have been removed from certain domain websites following an Indian court decision on the basis or religious sensibilities.

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