SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AND OPERATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY OF SMALL SCALE BUSINESSES IN AKWA IBOM NORTH-EAST SENATORIAL DISTRICT
Abstract
The study examined the extent to which social media marketing influence the operational sustainability of small scale businesses in Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District. One research objectives, one research questios and one research hypothesis guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Population of the study comprised 872 managers of small scale businesses in Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District. The sample size comprised 247 managers of small scale businesses in Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District. Instrument titled “Social Media Marketing Questionnaire (SMMQ) and Operational Sustainability Questionnaire (OSQ) were developed by the researcher and was used for this study. The instruments were validated by three research experts. Two from Department of Business Education and one from Department of Computer and Robotics Education, Faculty of Vocational Education, Library and Information Science, University of Uyo. To ascertain the internal consistency of the instrument, the researcher carried out a trial test reliability on 30 managers who form part of the population but not sampled. Cronbach Alpha statistical tool was used to analyze the data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The reliability coefficient of 0.81 was obtained which make the instrument reliable for use in the study. Simple Linear Regression was used to answer research question and test research hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that social media marketing significantly influence the operational sustainability of small-scale businesses in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District. It was concluded that Small-scale businesses may not thrive sustainably without deliberate and well-structured promotional strategies. It was recommended among others that Small-scale entrepreneurs should embrace social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp Business and Instagram as low-cost yet high-impact tools for brand visibility and customer engagement.References
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