THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON

MKTM021 - DISSERTATION AND RESEARCH METHODS

TOPIC: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON GLOBAL

BRANDS: A CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSAL BANKS IN GHANA

Submitted in partial fulfilment for

MASTER OF ARTS IN MARKETING

SOLOMON ADU ATEFOE - 14410776

Supervisor: Dr. Kathleen Mortimer

YEAR 2015

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ABSTRACT

In some few years back, the traditional media were one of the main source of information about

businesses and their brands, today social media is one of the major sources. Consumer-to-

consumer interactions are shaping brands and recreating new ones as they talk about what they

like and do not like about those businesses and their brands. A business therefore cannot afford

to stand on the fence and watch because they stand the risk of being branded negatively. The

focus of this study is to find out how brands in the Ghanaian banking industry are making use of

social media so far as their brands are concerned. The main objectives are to: find out the

relevance of social media to banks, ascertain the level of incorporation of management structures

to managing social media presence of banks and examine the level of growth on banks‟ brands

with the use of social media.

Using non-probability sampling methods such as purposive sampling and convenience sampling,

a sample of 11 banks were drawn from the total population of 27 universal banks in Ghana. The

questionnaire was the data collection instrument used. The findings indicate that Facebook is the

most used social media platform by the banks. The results also show that generally most of the

banks have been on social media for about 2 years and the personnel managing those social

media accounts usually do that as part of other duties in the bank. The outstanding factor that

influenced banks to sign up to social media is for the purposes of branding. Also, the biggest

challenge to banks adopting social media is the inflexibility of the bank to adopt new

technologies. The banks see increased brand recognition as the biggest opportunity social media

has given them and the biggest use of social media by the banks is to create dialogue with their

customers. Integrating social media with traditional media is the biggest strategy adopted by the

banks.

It is concluded that social media is of huge relevance to banking brands in Ghana, useful for

market research, addressing customer complaints, marketing, new product development etc. It is

also concluded that social media does not fit perfectly into the operational and managerial

structures of the various banks, that notwithstanding it has been a big tool in promoting and

growing their brands. It is recommended for further research to find out how the ordinary

consumer on social media view the activities of banks on social media and how that is shaping

their perception and image of the bank brands.

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ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………...i

TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENTS…...............................................................................................................................ii

LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………………….v

LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………………..vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………….……………………………………………...……..vii

SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION - SOCIAL MEDIA IN BANKING

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY……………………………………...…..……………….1

1.1.1 Factors Driving Industry Use of Social Media………………………..………………...1

1.1.2 Social Media in Ghana and Africa…………………………………….……….……….3

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT……………………………………………………………………3

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY……………………………………………………………..4

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS..……………….……………………………………….……..…4

1.5 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY……………………………………………………..…..4

1.6 RESEARCH SCOPE………………..…………………………………………………….….5

1.7 ORGANISATION OF THE DISSERTATION……………………………………………..5

SECTION TWO: THEORIES, IDEAS AND PRACTICES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

2.1 INTRODUCTION……….……………………………………………………………………7

2.2 WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?…..…………………………….………………………………7

2.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK…………………………………..………………………...9

2.4 THE GHANAIAN BANKING INDUSTRY………………………………………………...11

2.5 SOCIAL MEDIA AND BUSINESSES……………………………………………………..12

2.5.1 Various Uses of Social Media by Businesses………….…………………………..12

2.6 SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE BANKING INDUSTRY………………………………….…14

2.6.1 Getting Started On Social Media…………………………………..………………15

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2.6.2 Staying Through On Social Media………………………………..…………….....16

2.7 HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS ADVANCING THE CAUSE OF BRANDS………………….17

2.8 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………….19

SECTION THREE: METHODOLOGY – HOW THE RESULTS WERE OBTAINED

3.1 INTRODUCTION….………………………………………………………………………..20

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN…….…………………………………………………………………20

3.3 TARGET POPULATION……………………………………………………….……….…..20

3.4 SAMPLE AND SAMPLING PROCEDURE……………………..……………………...….21

3.5 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT…………………………………………………..…21

3.5.1. The Nature of the Questionnaire Used…………………………………….………22

3.6 ADMINISTRATION...……………………………………………………………………....22

3.7 LIMITATIONS………………….……………………………………………….…………..23

3.8 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS……………………………………………………………23

3.9 DATA ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………………….23

2.10 SUMMARY OF METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………….24

SECTION FOUR: RESULTS/FINDINGS

4.1 INTRODUCTION…………..…………………………………………….…..………...…...25

4.2 DEMOGRAPHICS………………………………………………………………………..…25

4.2.1 Social Media Platforms Bank Are On Officially……..……………………….…...25

4.2.2 Availability of Personnel Managing Bank Social Media Platforms…………….…26

4.2.3 Job Level of Personnel…………...…………………..…………………………….27

4.2.4 Years in Present Position…………………………………………………………..28

4.3 ADOPTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY BANKS……………………………………………28

4.3.1 Period Banks Have Been On Social Media………………………………………..29

4.3.2 Factors That Influenced Banks to Use Social Media Platforms…….……………..29

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4.3.3 Acceptance of Social Media by Bank Management……………………………….32

4.3.4 Tools and Resources for Effective Social Media Activities……………………….32

4.3.5 Challenges Faced By Banks in Adopting Social Media…………………………...33

4.3.5 Opportunities Presented By Social Media………………..………………………..35

4.4 USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS BY BANKS……………..……………………..37

4.4.1 Specific Use of Various Social Media Platforms………………………………….37

4.4.2 Everyday Use of Social Media by Banks…………………………………………39

4.4.3 Are There Policies for Managing Social Media Campaigns………………………41

4.4.4 Strategies Employed By Banks for Effective Social Media Campaigns………….42

4.5 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS/RESULTS…………………………………………………

SECTION FIVE: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

5.1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………...………...………44

5.2 DEMOGRAPHICS……….……………………………………………………..…………..44

5.3 ADOPTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY BANKS……………………………………………45

5.4 USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS BY BANKS……………………..…...………..49

5.5 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………….…………..51

5.5.1 The relevance of social media to banks……………………………………………52

5.5.2 How social media fits into the operational/management structures of the banks….52

5.5.3 Effect of social media on the brand value of banks in Ghana……………………..53

APPENDICES……………………………………………………………….………………….54

NBS Ethical Form………………………………………………………………………………60

REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………….65

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Summary scale for Analysis…………………………………………………………..24

Table 4.1a Factors That Influenced Banks to Use Social Media Platforms...…………...……....30

Table 4.1b Factors That Influenced Banks to Use Social Media Platforms...………..….……....31

Table 4.2a Challenges Faced By Banks in Adopting Social Media ….........................................33

Table 4.2b Challenges Faced By Banks in Adopting Social Media ………………………..…...34

Table 4.3a Opportunities Presented By Social Media………………………………………….. 35

Table 4.3b Opportunities Presented By Social Media………………………………………….. 36

Table 4.4a Specific Use of Various Social Media Platforms…………………………………… 37

Table 4.4b Specific Use of Various Social Media Platforms…………………………………... 38

Table 4.5a Everyday Use of Social Media by Banks………………….….……………………..39

Table 4.5b Everyday Use of Social Media by Banks……………………………………………40

Table 4.6a Strategies Employed By Banks for Effective Social Media Campaigns ………........42

Table 4.6b Strategies Employed By Banks for Effective Social Media Campaigns ………........43

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Illustration of Theoretical framework………………………………………………...9

Figure 4.1 Social Media Platforms banks are on officially………………..…………………….25

Figure 4.2 Availability of Personnel on Bank Social Media Platforms…………….……………26

Figure 4.3 Job level of Personnel managing Social Media Platforms………….………………..27

Figure 4.4 Years in Present Position……………………………………………………………..28

Figure 4.5 How long Banks have been on Social Media………………………………………...29

Figure 4.6 Acceptance of Social Media by Bank Management………………………………….32

Figure 4.7 Tools and Resources for Effective Social Media…………………………………….32

Figure 4.8 Are there Policies for Social Media Campaigns……………………………………...41

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I appreciate the health granted me by Almighty God in making this possible despite the

challenges. I appreciate the support of my family, Naana Adu Atefoe, Stephenie Adu Atefoe,

Solomon Nana Adu Atefoe, Seth William Adu Atefoe, Samuel Adu Atefoe and Sharon Adu

Atefoe. Sincere thanks to my Supervisor Dr. Kathleen Mortimer and all the managers of the

various banks in Ghana who agreed to be part of this project. God bless you all.

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SECTION ONE

INTRODUCTION - SOCIAL MEDIA IN BANKING

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Social media has provided the platform for unlimited connections to almost anybody in the world

today. While the individual connections go on, it has become the utmost point of convergence

for businesses as well; where they also get to interact with their customers. In the view of Dewan

& Ramaprasad (2014) social media is beginning to replace traditional media particularly in the

way people get information about businesses, their products and services and all the other

choices they make about consuming those products and services. It is absolutely a norm today to

find companies encourage consumers to check out their social media pages in any media

campaign. Miller & Tucker (2014) notes that many companies in various industries and sectors

have all created a presence on social media. With about 83% of Fortune 500 companies in 2011

already connecting with their customers using several forms of social media, according to Naylor

et al. (2012), social media has come to stay and businesses are already „fitting in‟.

The discussion has therefore progressed from whether social media is good for businesses and

how businesses are able to maximize their efforts on these platforms. Sponder (2012) posited

that many businesses are still experimenting with social media. They are there mostly because

other businesses are there, especially their competitors. Sponder (2012) believes that for most

businesses it has not reached the point where their presence on social media forms part of a

wider corporate strategy. This seems to be the case of some banks in Ghana that have social

media pages but those pages are not very active.

1.1.1 Factors Driving Industry Use of Social Media

These notwithstanding, there are two major factors noted to be driving the adoption of social

media by the corporate community. The first of them, according to Mount & Martinez (2014), is

the significant advances that have been achieved on the technological front. The improvements

on the internet, that is, making more tools available for collaboration and interactivity is making

it possible to achieve these one-to-many and many-to-many interactivity (Mount & Martinez,

2014). Some few years ago, consumers accessed information about businesses products and

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services only from radio and TV commercials and/or by visiting the static-paged websites of

those organisations. The advancement in technology has led to multiple channels where

consumers are using to access information and also reaching organisations more easily.

Secondly, there are a variety of market conditions that is driving the adoption of social media by

organisations. These market conditions, according to Alfaro & Watson-Manheim (2015) include

but not limited to i) The 2 billion plus customers on these platforms who are gathering and

generating information as well as interacting with other consumers in ways that hitherto were not

possible, making social media a very powerful means to reach out to customers. The fast pace

and constant exchange of information on social media have „pushed‟ organisations to use such

tools (as social media) to support different goals such as “strengthening customer relationships,

enhancing brand awareness, and sharing information with business partners” Drakos et al,

(2011). ii) Firm equity value is directly beginning to be linked to consumer sentiments about an

organisation‟s products and services on social media platforms, according to empirical studies.

Tirunillai & Tellis (2011) found that information from social media sites are incorporated by

some investors as part of their decision making process.

Alfaro & Watson-Manheim (2015) finally states that, as many organisations in different industry

sectors are creating their own spaces on social media, other companies who are not there yet are

driven to get there so as not to lose out competitively.

1.1.2 Social Media in Ghana and Africa

While there are technological and market forces driving the use of social media enterprises as

mentioned above, the use of social media in Africa is highly driven by the growing accessibility

of internet (both broadband and mobile) around the continent. A Standard Bank Africa Macro

Insight and Strategy Report (2012) records that internet penetration in Africa grew by 2,527%

between 2000 and 2011, compared to a world average of 480%. The report also shows social

media websites to be the most visited websites by people across Africa, where the usage grew

from 17 million in 2010 to 34 million by the end of 2012, Standard Bank Africa Macro Insight

and Strategy Report (2012).

Today, there are about 5.1 million internet users in Ghana, as of June 2014 and 1.6 million

Facebook users, as of December 2012, (www.internetworldstats.com, 2015). Social media is

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actively used by many companies, especially media organisations. These media outlets put real

time information and news of happenings around the country on social media. They invite

thoughts and comments from listeners and viewers during the airing of their programs on these

platforms. It has indeed become the new media for information and anything being searched for.

Most banks in Ghana have some sort of social media presence and are either signed up to one or

more of the popular social media platforms known. In the 2014 Ghana banking survey, PWC,

(2014), adoption of new technologies were one of the top three things bank executives conceded

will define banking in Ghana in the next five years and new media technologies such as social

media is a very significant part of this technology adoption. One of the external factors that has

driven social adoption among corporate organisations in Ghana is the organisation of

conferences by social media „experts‟ who seem to be drumming it into the „head‟ of corporate

Ghana about the value of social media to their institutions. Usually, tools for effective social

media campaigns are taught in these conferences.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

While the adoption of social media by banks in Ghana as part of running their enterprises has

reached unprecedented levels, there is a significant level of gap on the adaptation of social media

to the banks. In other words even though most banks are on social media they are not making

changes to fully utilize it. It is not enough to say banks in Ghana are on social media, it is

important to explore how they are using and how much it is influencing their overall corporate

objectives.

Considering the obvious way the birth and growth of social media has been largely influenced by

advancements in technology, Toplu et al. (2014) are of the view that it is also important that the

practical applications and implications of social media in business should form part of the latest

subjects that deserve attention in the study of management sciences today. This is especially

more significant in jurisdictions like Ghana where little or no literature exist on social media and

corporate business services. The use of social media platforms as a means of providing digital

and other electronic banking services therefore should be of high priority since they have cost,

profitability and branding implications, Toplu et al. (2014).

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1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Generally, the research seeks to assess the kind of impact the use or lack of use of social media

may be having on banks and their brands in Ghana. Specific research objectives are to:

Find out the relevance of social media to banks

Ascertain the level of incorporation of management structures to managing social media

presence of banks

Examine the level of growth on banks‟ brands with the use of social media

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions for the study are

What is the usefulness of social media to banks in Ghana

How does social media fit into the operational structures of the banks

Does social media affect the brand value of banks in Ghana

1.5 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

Very little or almost no literature exists on the relevance of social media to the Ghanaian

corporate community. Even though this study is focused on banks it will be a useful material on

the use social media among organisations in Ghana that will serve as a reference document for

further study.

This research can be an eye opener for the banking industry as to how they can effectively

implement ideas gathered from social media by incorporating it into their value chain. The

decision makers for the company may have an idea about the platform but the will and how of

implementation may be lacking. The outcome of this study can inject some fresh impetus and

create compelling reasons why working with social media tools may prove very useful for the

financial industry.

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Other companies outside the banking industry but also in the financial services sector will also

find the research useful. These companies can learn from the case of the banking industry and

see what lessons they can draw from the knowledge obtained.

Findings from the study will be useful in informing banking sector regulatory bodies such as the

Ghana Association of Bankers and the Bank of Ghana, with regards to the kind of policies to put

in place that will protect the interests of both banks and customers so far as the use of social

media platforms are concerned.

Based on the outcome of the research, policy makers in government (both the executive and

legislature) may be able to formulate policies and/or pass laws to ensure that the infrastructural

and legal layout that will ensure that the social media tools are thriving fruitfully in the business

marketplace are in place.

1.6 RESEARCH SCOPE

Even though the research study considers the performance of brands all over the world with

respect to social media, the spot light is on banks and their brands in Ghana. Ghana as an

emerging force in banking in West Africa needs to know its industry on all sides vis-à-vis global

banks. The focus is specifically to unveil unique methods and procedures that may not be

available in literature but are specific to countries that are not so advanced technologically and

where the penetration of internet is still a challenge.

1.7 ORGANISATION OF THE DISSERTATION

The research work is organized in the following five sections;

Section one of the dissertation gives an introduction to social media in banking in Ghana. This

includes the background of the study, the problem of the study, the objectives of the study and

research questions posed. It also captures the scope and relevance of the study and then finally

how the whole work is organized. Section two reviews relevant literature based on the research

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objectives of the study, in theory and in practice. It generally explains what social media is and

how it is being used in different areas in the corporate world around the globe.

Section three is the methodology of the dissertation and it deals with the research design,

population, sample and sampling, techniques, data collection procedures and data analysis.

Section four presents the results and findings that have been obtained during the data collection

processes. Tables and charts are generated to illustrate the findings. The final and fifth section

discusses the findings and analyses the finding obtained. It also contains the conclusion and

recommendations for future research work.

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SECTION TWO

THEORIES, IDEAS AND PRACTICES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The theories on social media and ideas related to its creation and work are discussed in this

section of the dissertation. These include the factors that led to the creation of this new media

and the technological underpinnings. Since social media is being studied in relation to

businesses, specifically banks, practical ideas from publications from social media experts more

or less expressing their own opinions of how banks and other organisations can make maximum

use of the platform are also considered. In view of the newness of this area of research, not all

the works reviewed were from results from empirical researches. Also discussed are practices as

experienced by banks and other organisations, that have produced tangible results, and so have

become the basis to implement such ideas so far as social media and businesses are concerned.

The theoretical framework of the study creates an illustration of how social media and businesses

do interrelate.

2.2 WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?

Social media is a concept of the 21st century. It has become the new way friends and families

relate and interact when they are not available to see each other face-to-face physically.

According to Pannunzio (2008) it is generally the term used to describe the vast number of

interactive broadcast activities and social networking websites. Okazaki and Taylor (2013) also

define it as a sequence of technological revolutions, in both hardware and software, facilitating

the creation of inexpensive content and interaction, among users who are connected online.

Tsikerdekis & Zeadally (2014) states that between 2005 and 2013, people using and creating

social media witnessed a 64% increase in the number of people using these platforms. Using the

two major social media websites as examples; Twitter saw a usage increase by 10% from 2010 to

2013, and 1.2 billion users were connected online to each other in 2013 through Facebook and

Twitter accounts. The success of these platforms tells us how people find these social

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connections to be important to their lives. Patterson (2015) shows that majority of users on social

media platforms are young people aged between 18 and 29 with most of them being female.

The root of social media is embedded in the proliferation of web-based technologies, the

continual growth in usage and the opportunities provided by online media tools, Tsikerdekis &

Zeadally (2014). Toplu et al. (2014) agrees that this has completely changed the way content is

created and exchanged through the Internet, leading to proliferation of social-media applications

and services. Internet technologies such as Web 1.0 enabled information sharing and use of

internet in a variety of ways, but Web 2.0 technologies further took sharing of information and

other content on the internet to a level where a lot of power is found in the hands of the ordinary

internet user to create and distribute their own content (Knight, 2011; and DiMauro and Zawel,

2012). Safko (2012) posits that even though the concept of social media, enabled by advancing

internet technologies, developed only recently, the evolution of “social networks in

technologically advanced human life have been an ongoing process”.

Various literature, articles and publications including that of Rouse (2014) explain social media

as the collection of communication channels that are online and are dedicated to “community-

based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. Websites and applications dedicated

to forums, microblogging, social networking, social bookmarking, social curation, and wikis”.

However in this study the definition of social media platforms is limited to the popular and the

major social networks, that is, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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2.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The theoretical framework for this study is based on the concept of social media obtained from

the theories and researches of experts in the field. The simplified form of the framework is

illustrated in the diagram, created by the researcher.

Figure 2.1, Theoretical framework: the role of social media on global brands, a case of

Ghanaian Banks

Software developers make use of the elaborate composition of Web 2.0 technologies to develop

the functionality and tools for social media platforms. These platforms become useful based on

the opportunities provided by online tools. The marriage of the technology and the opportunities

with online tools create a whole new environment of thriving web applications that have become

social media platforms. They key feature about this applications is that, as powerful as they seem

to be one does not need be tech savvy or a technology geek to be able to use it. In view of that

anybody can just generate their own content without support.

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At the organisational level, running social media applications typically do not require IT support

from organisations. Alfaro & Watson-Manheim (2015) observes this and writes that social media

is different from many traditional IT applications. These applications are deployed and hosted by

organisations different from the firms using the applications therefore requiring little

involvement from the firm‟s IT department to have access to it and be able to use it Alfaro &

Watson-Manheim (2015).

The absence or lack of involvement of the traditional IT departments of firms and institutions in

deploying and hosting social media apps means that social media can easily be treated as an

outside thing and may lack a real fusion into the organisational processes of many companies.

This also suggests that the inclusion of social media use by organisations as an acceptable

corporate digital channel could lead to an alteration of the management structure organisations;

something that is not easily done among organisations with brands having a global presence.

This poses to be big challenge to the adaptation of social media by firms; that is not just using

the platform or having a presence there, but it being totally incorporated into the scheme of

things of organisations in creating value for customers.

Mount & Martinez (2014) recounted a situation Nestle UK faced in incorporating their

engagements from Facebook into their research and development (R&D), in their research on

making social media an open tool for innovation in the organisation. Nestle UK was using

Facebook to reignite the interest of customers in Rowntree‟s Randoms, a jelly sweet product,

targeting young people between the ages of 18 and 24 years which they perceived was reaching

its maturity on the market. The company wanted to take advantage of the large fan base it had on

Facebook by actively engaging them in dialogue other than using traditional market research, to

gather new market insights and trends in pushing the product back unto the market.

According to Mount & Martinez (2014), after gathering very useful amount of information, the

large size of the organisation, the closeness of its organisational culture and the organisational

structure were found to be “key challenges limiting Rowntree‟s ability to fully embrace the

openness required to exploit social media as a tool for R&D”. Among other things, Mount &

Martinez (2014) found that senior managers were reluctant in implementing what the consumers

were suggesting for the fear of relinquishing their control over the brand, in terms of how it is

positioned and believed in the company proposing the best strategy as managers to sell the

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product. Clearly, working with social media could render some existing procedures unnecessary,

hence the conscious and unconscious resistance to its total incorporation into organisations‟

value chain.

Using the above as foundation, this study is exploring how relevant social media is to banks in

Ghana, for creating value for themselves and customers and the extent to which support are

given to social media initiatives.

2.4 THE GHANAIAN BANKING INDUSTRY

Ghana‟s banking industry is one of the most vibrant sectors of the Ghanaian economy. With over

27 universal banks – 12 have majority ownership being local and 15 have majority ownership

being foreign – competition in the industry is at its peak. About 81.8% of executives of the banks

acknowledge in the 2014 banking survey that competition will be one of the biggest factors that

will have impact on the business of banking in the next five years, PWC (2014). Apart from the

universal banks, there are 137 rural and community banks, and 58 non-banking financial

institutions including finance houses, savings and loans, leasing and mortgage institutions.

Among the 27 banks the top big brands, in no particular order, are Barclays Bank Ghana,

Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Ecobank Ghana, Agricultural Development Bank, SG Bank, Zenith

Bank, Ghana Commercial Bank and Unibank Ghana.

The sector contributes immensely to the economy of the country. The service sector, which the

banking industry is a very important part of, contributed 49.3% to GDP in 2012, while the

banking sector contributed 11.4% to that, PWC (2014). Banks in the industry are quite well

capitalized based on sub-regional standards at an asset base of GHȼ 36.17 billion. For 2013, the

banks in Ghana recorded a profit after tax of 60.1% with 45.1% of their income coming from

loans.

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2.5 SOCIAL MEDIA AND BUSINESSES

Forces of globalization, (Al-Tarawneh, 2012) mentions, have necessitated the incorporation of

social media tools into business, since it involves taking away certain obstacles of time and space

in their many different settings. If business is about customers then the focus of the business

should be being where the customers are and participating in the way the customers play. With

the dramatic growth in the popularity of social networks and social networking sites in recent

years, people are able to do all that they want to on their internet enabled phones, Toplu et al.

(2014). People are able to get any kind of information they want and be able to communicate

with friends and family in their network almost instantly around the world. Social media for

businesses has therefore become a matter of necessity. Cook (2015) observes that the way email

has become a standard way of communication after businesses restricted employees from having

personal email accounts, today communication is fast moving in the direction of social media

and it might as well become yet another standard business communication tool.

Nonetheless, Mangold & Fauld (2009) recommends that organisations need to adapt social

media tools in their businesses considering the fact that social media tools are highly vital to

access various target customer groups. In making use of social media, businesses must carefully

select which tools to adapt, develop strategies to execute their campaign as well as have

measures to effectively implement their strategies. All of these must be fueled by clearly defined

goals, according to Knight (2011), who has conducted several researches in social media for

businesses.

2.5.1 Various Uses of Social Media by Businesses

Businesses around the world are using social media for several other things other than a means

for communication and interaction with people. This portion of the literature review discusses

some of those ways organisations are using social media today.

Brand Equity Creation – In view of the rapid growth of social media platforms, a lot more

power is wielded by the consumers who are churning out information on a regular basis about

what they think about brands of companies, (Berthon et al., 2007). This power is seen in the way

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consumers can talk with each other to friends and followers who may be in their thousands about

the perception and performance of companies. While others may be generating content on social

media others find it as the ultimate source of information for anything they consume, since they

find the sources trustworthy. Organisations have therefore jumped into the social media

bandwagon to enable them contribute, be part and manage what is said about them and their

brands.

Human Resource (HR) – Tulgan (2006) mention that there are very useful ways social media

can be deployed to also assist the work of HR. The platform is useful in serving employees in

organisation in remote places to be supervised and managed much more easily by superiors. The

kind of real time interactions and reporting that can be done saves time and cost. Some

organisations are using social media to find new employees to recruit and better do background

check on them. With that the organisations get to appreciate the potential employee‟s

connections and how socially balanced they may be, Tulgan (2006). Social media provide

options for companies on how to conduct their training and development activities for employee

growth. Most companies make content easily available as wiki pages or podcasts that can easily

be accessed and shared by members of their staff, on the company‟s intranet.

Communications – Bruhn, Schoenmueller & Schafer (2012) mention that companies invested

1.54 billion dollars in communications in 2008 in social media marketing alone. And this was

expected to reach 3 billion dollars per year by 2013. Considering the demographic and

geographical reach of broadcasted messages and the small cost to get that done coupled with the

viral diffusion of information, it seems to have become the preferred mode of communication for

both large and small organisations alike, (Kozinets et al., 2010). For most companies around the

world today, their social media pages are part of their formal means of communicating and

releasing important notices about their businesses to customers. Companies use social media to

announce new products and services in their product line-up and update customers on what is

happening with the organisation.

Marketing – Traditional marketing with the use of TVs, radio, billboards, printed materials and

other outdoor screen projections are making way for a more pervasive and interactive form of

marketing, Jaska and Werenowska (2014). This revolution is shifting marketing strategies where

customers are supplied with information about products and services to engaging them in

14

dialogues. After all this is what social media are meant for. The ability to upload and display

pictures and other rich media contents have been one of the biggest points of engagement on

social media. Interesting pictures and videos about a company‟s products can go viral in no time

offering a great and cost effective way to market than ever seen or can be done with traditional

marketing.

Research and Data Analytics – Many organisations are using social media to do researches and

gain further insight into their markets. With the aid of the right kind of tools, organisations are

able to organize their customers into various demographics to be able to market their products

effectively to them. Some of the segmentation is according to the behavior of the customers

based on which businesses will know what to sell to which group of customers. Over along a

period of time, data generated from the interaction customers are having with businesses could

be analyzed with data analysis and data mining techniques. This would reveal very useful

information about customers to business based upon which intelligent and innovative decisions

could be made.

Customer Relationship Management - Sarkkinen (2009) states that a great way to build

corporate credibility and relationships are when firms place value on personalized interactions,

collaborations, communication and feedback. The value placed on these things means that they

are done promptly with a great sense of urgency. The only way to tell if customers value the

relationships you are building with them on social media is the when they say positive things

about it and are always glad to come back. While many organisations cannot build all the system

from scratch to enable them do all of these social media standout as the most convenient and

applicable channel to achieve the desired level of credibility in relationships just the way

customers want it.

2.6 SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE BANKING INDUSTRY

Banks are caught up in an environment of constantly evolving and changing of trends in which

tools like mobile and social media are revolutionising the way financial services are delivered

and received. This according to Collins Taylor (2013) is proving to be both an asset and a

challenge. Schwanhauser (2013) states that many financial institutions may lose their positions

15

of trust to technology companies and others like Apple, Google, mobile carriers who are offering

innovative personal financial management (PFM) services if banks are not seen to be interested

in meeting the young or the technology-savvy group of customers. Also, Collins Taylor (2013)

believes that customers are beginning to appreciate a multichannel mode of communication, so

expects their financial institution to be available on most communication channels so they can

connect with the institutions easily. It is now the responsibility of the financial institutions to

create a means where they can seamlessly communicate with customers and potential ones on

these multiple channels available, including social media platforms.

2.6.1 Getting Started On Social Media

Fields (2012) suggests a few strategies for banks to note when getting started with social media.

The goal of banks and other financial institutions should not just to be present on social media.

This is because social media is only a tool. The goal of the bank should be geared towards

making use of the tools to achieve certain defined objectives. These strategies mentioned by

Fields (2012) on getting started with social media are explained in five points; a) Banks should

just listen and monitor the conversation b) Develop a strategy based on what they gather c) Have

a groundwork laid out d) Integrate social media into their marketing, and finally e) Banks should

measure their social media performances.

Banks should just listen and monitor the conversation: The basis for just listening is to enable

the bank to develop the most suitable social media strategy for themselves, according to Fields

(2012). The listening by the banks is to know what customers are saying about their brand and

other brands, their competitors, discern consumer behaviour and have a peep into the industry

from the customers‟ perspective.

Develop a strategy based on what they gather: Listening informs in assessing the current social

media activities of customers, developing the right goals and objectives and the kind of social

technologies to use. Fields (2012) states that the social media goals of a bank must be linked to at

least one of the major organisational processes of the bank. For example; social media

campaigns should be linked to improved customer services, brand management, online

reputation, etc. This should then be followed by a plan to achieve the set goals and objectives.

16

Have a groundwork laid out: Laying the ground work gives energy and life to the goals and

objectives for the campaign. This involves getting the support of the executive members of the

bank, including the CEO, so that it will be an accepted content distribution channel. Beyond that,

as part of the bank getting started on social media, there must be clear guidelines for employees

on dos and don‟ts on social media, instituting an external brand voice, coming out with a

response plan and creating a calendar for creating and distributing content. This Fields (2012)

mentions helps establish a single tone for all those responding to customers and posting on the

social network platforms.

Integrate social media into their marketing: Fields (2012) recommends that a banks presence

on social media should not be a standalone activity. Social media must be part of banks‟

comprehensive marketing plan or strategy where social media elements are incorporated into

other initiatives of the bank. Including social media icons on the marketing materials of the bank

are a way to boost the social media following of the bank. This is because it makes consumers

know how active the bank is on these platforms.

Banks should measure their social media performances: Measuring the performance of a bank

on social media is based on the objectives and goals that are guiding their social media

campaign. However in conducting this performance assessment, it is important banks look at the

extent of travel of their messages, growing traffic on their traditional website, number of engaged

discussion with customers and potential ones and the number of returning users to their pages on

social media.

2.6.2 Staying Through On Social Media

Banks are told not to expect the process of gaining traction on social media and utilizing it, to be

a sprint; it‟s more of a marathon. A TSYS survey report on banks on social media shows that

only one out of five follow their financial institution on social media, Cocheo (2014). Experts

commenting on this finding mention that the outcome is so primarily because of the way

financial institutions use their social media accounts. Liu (2014) suggests that bank social media

accounts must be ran in a way that gives customers value; with regular contents they can relate

with in their everyday living. Since social networks is primarily for friends and family, when a

17

bank positions itself as a friend or family, in the tone and content of posts and messages, serving

others interests, it easily gets the attention and engagement by customers.

In staying through social media, Marous (2014) indicates that banks must conduct their social

media campaign with the focus of giving the customer value. Marous (2014) explains that digital

bankers need to give customers a reason to listen and that the real value in customer engagement

revolves around content, context and value. The use of social media as a mass broadcasting

platform by banks undervalues its use, Cocheo (2014). In the view of Cocheo (2014), it has the

potential to be one of the most powerful medium of interaction with customers if used properly.

Banks can host personal conversations with clients, understand their needs, and even be able to

cross-sell or deep sell. These personalized interactions help banks to win the trust and confidence

of customers the more and positions the bank closer to them, Marous (2014). In these processes

the customer experience is enhanced.

Ramirez (2014) states that banks should not just make it a matter of priority to get more likes or

followers because that is not where the value lies for the customer. Seeking to merely build

followings effectively means nothing. It does not contribute to banks giving value to customers.

The social must be part of an interconnected process linked to other parts of the banks especially

for the purposes of gathering intelligent information about customers and exploring how their

“pain points” can be basis for innovation and problem solving for them. Even though banks are

used to taking and addressing issues as they come to them in their own established channels,

social media interactions can be multidirectional. This can serve as a means to hear what

customers are saying about them on social media, proactively address them before the feedbacks

becomes complaints.

2.7 HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS ADVANCING THE CAUSE OF BRANDS

According to Jaska and Werenowska (2014), the main objective of brand engagement on social

media is the positive influence on the brand image, and tracking of current trends in the market.

In the view of Bruhn et al. (2012), the fact that consumers around the world are already

becoming fans of brands on social media and using social media as the main source of

information about those brands, is the beginning of the impact of social media on brands. Any

18

brand on social media can expect two sets of communications that influence the perception

people have about their brands, Foux, (2006). The first set of communication is the one that

comes from the organisation itself. Such communications are meant to project, grow and manage

the image and perception of their brands on social media platforms. This kind of organisation-

created social media content and communications are highly under the control of the company

and the brand manager, Bruhn et al. (2012). And usually the kinds of brand contents that are

generated and communicated are in the interest of the brand.

There is however another set of communication, the user-generated content, which is what social

media is all about, where the content of brands communicated are far beyond the control of

companies. It is the concept of word-of-mouth on the wheels of social media. Dellarocas, (2003)

states that there is a general understanding that consumer to consumer communication is an

important source of information on brands. Social media has given this process a new energy that

is almost unstoppable. This is so considering the fact that people are now able to communicate

with other people they know about brands and even with other people they may not know across

nations and continents, Duan et al., (2008).

The impact social media makes on brands, especially in this context can be crystallized into two

main ways; 1. It has made it possible for organisations to easily and in a cost effective manner

access and gather consumer to consumer communication data. This is difficult and expensive out

social media, Godes and Mayzlin (2004), 2. These interaction data can be analysed to reveal

useful trends and information, which will influence products, their development and positioning.

There is evidence to show that these consumer-to-consumer interactions on social media

influences brand outcomes in companies. For example Liu (2006) attests to the positive revenue

differences such communications and interactions have made, especially on box office revenues.

While Simon and Sullivan (1993) identify marketing communications as one of the main sources

of driving brand equity, Yoo et al. (2000) indicate in their research that marketing

communications do have huge positive influences on what consumers see as brand quality. This

also drives brand loyalty, brand association and it becomes the main means of creating brand

awareness. Continuous engagements in marketing communications therefore on social media

about the brands of organisations create certain image and perception of the product, service

and/or the organisation.

19

2.8 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW

In exploring the theories, ideas and practices of social media an explanation of social media was

given and the main social media platforms that are being considered in this research. The

theoretical framework gives the theoretical underpinnings of the study as explained by the

theoretical framework diagram. The section on the Ghanaian banking industry gives brief

information and statistics in the Ghanaian banking sector. This is then followed with some of the

activities business use social media for. Further review is conducted on the things to note when a

bank is starting its social media campaign as well as things to note to stay through the campaign.

Finally, the impact of social media on brands is reviewed with literature from previous works on

branding and social media.

20

SECTION THREE

METHODOLOGY – HOW THE RESULTS WERE OBTAINED

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This section of the dissertation explains the approach taken to obtain the results. These results

inform the discussions that are done on the findings, from which conclusions are drawn and

recommendations are made. It includes the research design, defining the target population which

is the focus of the study and the sample size and the procedure used to arrive at that sample size.

It further explains the data collection instruments used to collect the data, how the data collection

process was administered and then finally the approach taken to analyse the data.

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

The research is designed to be exploratory. This is to enable any new finding or information that

could be obtained from social media among the banks in Ghana to be revealed. The concept of

social media for traditional organisations such as banks is relatively new in Ghana. Not much

knowledge, both in theoretical and empirical has been derived about banks delving into social

media. This means that there is enough room for new lessons to learned and new procedures to

be carved. Since the concept of social media for banks is relatively new, Rofianto, (2011)

suggests exploratory research may be the best research design. In conducting exploratory

research the information needed should be loosely defined only and research process is flexible

and unstructured.

3.3 TARGET POPULATION

The target population is all the banking institutions in Ghana that have received the universal

banking license from the Bank of Ghana. There are 27 of such banks in Ghana. The target

population to respond to the data collection instrument to be used is all the employees/agencies

working on behalf of the banks managing their social media accounts. Following the work of

Alfaro and Watson-Manheim (2015) in analyzing the recruitment of social media personnel to

21

manage the social media accounts of various organisations, the banks will most likely have one

person in charge of social media. In that regard the total population of people to respond to the

data collection instrument is 27.

3.4 SAMPLE AND SAMPLING PROCEDURE

A number of non-probability sampling methods were used to select the sample. In a non-

probability sampling method all the members in the population to be selected do not have equal

chances of being selected to be part of the sample Baumgartner et al. (2002). The first is

purposive sampling. Purpose sampling involves using ones judgment and being subjective to

select entities from a population to be part of a sample for a reason or that will serve a certain

purpose. The purposive sampling method was used to select Banks that have at least one social

media account. It was found that 25 banks had at least once social media account.

The other non-probability sampling approach is convenience sampling. Convenience Sampling is

selecting the research participants on the basis of being easily accessible and convenient to the

researcher. In the view of Baumgartner et al. (2002) this type of sampling is less expensive, not

so time consuming, more convenient and gives results as valid as the results obtained from

probability sampling. And this rightly serves the purpose and helps achieve the results for the

work.

In view of these 11 banks were conveniently chosen (those banks that were easily accessible and

who social media account managers were known personally by the researcher). This represents

about 40.7% of the universal banks in the Ghanaian banking sector.

3.5 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT

The data collection instrument used was the questionnaire. This is one of the most popular and

very efficient and effective data collection instruments. Its efficiency and effectiveness is

paramount to getting information that is factual about practices and conditions. Kerlinger (1973)

mentions that it is also useful for enquiring into opinion and attitudes of respondents, resulting in

responses that are stable, constant and that do have a uniform measure without variation. By its

nature, a questionnaire does not offer much opportunity for bias in the responses given since the

same kind of questions is asked across to all respondents.

22

3.5.1. The Nature of the Questionnaire Used

With the exception of the job title of the personnel in charge of the social media account of the

banks, all the questions asked were closed ended questions. Knowing the kind of personnel to

respond to the questionnaire open ended questions would have taken most of their time and

would demotivate them to continue or give right answers. Also, all the answer options given to

the questions took the format of the Likert scale. The Likert scale named after Dr. Rensis Likert

(1903-81) is often used for researches in management and life sciences. The Likert Scale kind of

response options is a method where numbers or weights are given to qualitative data so that one

can be able to perform quantitative analysis with them, Dawes (2008). The Liker Scale response

options are usually odd, that is, either the response options are 3, 5 of 7. In this case some of the

questions had 3 response options others had 5.

The questions of the questionnaire were based on reviewed literature, most of which are in

Section Two of the dissertation. The questions were in four parts. The first part covers the

demographic information of the respondents, that is, the employee/staff responsible for the social

media accounts of the banks. The questions relates to how long they have been working in the

bank, their job level, their job title and whether the position as social media manager is full time

or are assigned to other duties.

The second part is in respect of the factors that influences the adoption of social media by the

banks. This includes challenges and opportunities social media presents to banks. The third

portion focuses more on the role and usage of social media platform by banks. The fourth and

final part is about the strategies and polices toward the usage of social media by banks.

3.6 ADMINISTRATION

The questionnaire was designed and administered physically to the sampled respondents. Trips

were made to the individual offices in the banks where they worked. Some of the respondents

went through the questions and filled them in some minutes. Others requested they do that later

for responded questionnaire to be picked up upon completion. All 11 responded questionnaires

were obtained representing a response rate of 100%.

23

3.7 LIMITATIONS

Measuring how much the brands of the various banks have grown since they launched their

social media campaigns was difficult. One way would have been to find customers of the

surveyed banks and find out from them how they perceive or see those banks differently now

that they are on social media. This would have taken more time and financial resources to do.

Considering the unavailability of such resources the effect of social media of the various brands

of the bands was only looked from the banks‟ perspective.

3.8 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The ethical concerns in research are usually about the collection of data and their use, Miller et

al. (2012). Data collection procedures can be ethical and unethical. To ensure ethics standards in

the collection and use of the data; a) All the participants (people in charge of the social media

accounts of the banks) were invited to participate willingly and voluntarily b) The identity of the

respondents were protected to ensure confidentiality and anonymity. c) the purpose and use of

the study were honestly explained as well. Authorization of EBS ethical form was strictly

adhered to.

3.9 DATA ANALYSIS

The responses obtained on the in the questionnaire were coded and entered into the statistical

software, SPSS. This SPSS was used to generate the quantitative results which were later

organised into charts and tables with the aid of MS Excel. This is to provide pictorial views of

what is being explained or described from the results obtained.

Quantitative analysis is possible in this context because of the values assigned to the response

options, as indicated in the explanation of the Likert Scale. On the Likert Scale the following

values are assigned to response option on the questions that had Likert Scale format.

24

Response Options Assigned Value Analysis Scale

Strongly Disagree 1.0 1.0-1.49

Disagree 2.0 1.5-2.49

Neutral 3.0 2.5-3.49

Agree 4.0 3.5-4.49

Strongly Agree 5.0 4.50-5.0

Table 3.1 Summary scale for Analysis

2.10 SUMMARY OF METHODOLOGY

The section details the research design which is the fundamental principle behind the study data

collection exercise. The target population is defined as the social media managers of the banks.

Non probability sampling procedures like convenient sampling and purposive sampling are used

to draw the sample size. The questionnaire is used as the data collection instrument with most of

the questions being closed ended. The response options to the questions took the Likert scale

format. Data analysis was done with the aid of the SPSS tool and MS Excel.

25

SECTION FOUR

RESULTS/FINDINGS

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Chapter four presents the results and the findings that have been obtained in the data collection

exercise. These results are based on responses from 15 banks in Ghana who are full time

employees of those banks.

4.2 DEMOGRAPHICS

As part of the study it was desired to know the kind of social media platforms that the surveyed

banks have accounts with officially and use them for their social media campaigns. The

demographics also give background information of the kind of people who work on the social

media pages of the surveyed banks.

4.2.1 Social Media Platforms Bank Are On Officially

The results are shown in the chart below. It is observed that close to half, that is 45.5% of the

surveyed banks have accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This means that the banks

ran all of these accounts. About 27.3% of the banks have both Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Figure 4.1, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

9.1%

27.3%

45.5%

9.1% 9.1%

Facebook Facebook and

Twitter

Facebook, Twitter

and You Tube

Facebook and

LinkedIn

Facebook,

LinkedIn, Twitter

and You Tube

Social Media Platforms Banks are on officially

26

It is also noted that 9.1% are on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube and a similar

proportions are only on Facebook and LinkedIn only and Facebook only.

4.2.2 Availability of Personnel Managing Bank Social Media Platforms

Figure 4.2, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

Only 18% of the banks have employees or staff members who are available full time doing the

job of manning the social media campaigns of the banks. This is contrasted by 82% from other

banks that have other duties and assignments apart from running the social media accounts of the

banks they work with.

18%

82%

0%

Availability of Personnel on Bank Social Media Platforms

Yes, this is the only thing I do at

the bank

No, I have other duties

I can't say

27

4.2.3 Job Level of Personnel

Figure 4.3, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

For all the banks, there was no staff member being a General Manager of Director who does the

work of social media. The highest job level person who is involved in social media is at the

senior management level. About 36.4% of them are both at the senior management and middle

management levels while 27.3% are at the junior level. The personnel managing the social media

pages of the banks had various job titles including Head of Banking Channel, Head of E-

banking, Marketing manager with an Agency, Brand and communications manager, Unit head –

corporate communications, New Media manager, Agency.

27.3%

36.4% 36.4%

0% 0%

Junior Manager Middle Manager Senior Manager General Manager Director

Job Level of personnel managing Bank Social Media

Platforms

28

4.2.4 Years in Present Position

Figure 4.4, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

A lot more people have been in their current position for about 2 - 5 years, in charge of or

associated with the social media account of the banks. This represents 72.7% of the responses

from the Ghanaian banking professionals. About 18.2% have been that position for at most 10

years but not less than 6 years. Only 9.1% have been the position of managing their social media

accounts for only a year and less. This indicates that responses to this study are coming from

professionals who have had enough exposure and use of the official accounts of their banks.

4.3 ADOPTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY BANKS

This portion of the presentation captures how banks are using social media platforms, what

social media platforms they are using for what purposes and how these are beneficial to their

businesses. It also brings to the fore challenges banks are having with full adoption of social

media.

9.1%

72.7%

18.2%

0%

Less than 1 year 2 - 5 years 6 -10 years 11 years or more

Years in Present Position

29

4.3.1 Period Banks Have Been On Social Media

Figure 4.5, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

In spite of the fact that most of the banking professionals have had over 2 years or more

experience in their current position, most of the banks have not been on social media for more

than 2 years. This represents 73% of the surveyed group. Only 9% have been on the platform for

more than 5 years. Another 9% have been on it between 3 -4 years and less than a year.

4.3.2 Factors That Influenced Banks to Use Social Media Platforms

Below are the factors that influenced banks in Ghana to adopt social media platforms as the

official channel of their organisations. This results show the mean, the standard deviation, the

minimum and the maximum responses. The mean shows the average response of all the

respondents and the standard deviation shows where the results are skewed towards. Based on

the rankings (Strongly Disagree- 1, Disagree -2, Neutral -3, Agree -4, Strongly Agree -5)

minimum and maximum values are assigned to the responses.

9%

73%

9%

9%

How long the Banks have been on Social Media

Less than a year

1 - 2 years

3 - 4 years

More than 5 years

30

Declining

response

rates

Technology

Development

Demographic

shifts

Customer

preference

Word of

mouth

Mean 3.55 4.18 4.27 4.18 3.36

Std. Deviation 0.522 0.405 0.467 0.405 0.505

Minimum 3 4 4 4 3

Maximum 4 5 5 5 4

Table 4.1a, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

Even though a standard deviation of 0.522 show that the responses were skewed towards

„neutral‟, a mean response of 3.55 indicate that generally the respondents think that the banks are

on social media because of „Declining response rates‟. This means that most of the banks were

not getting their customers getting back to them or the level of interaction with them was poor or

non-existing.

A mean value of 4.18 indicates that most of the responding bank professionals agree that

adoption of social media platforms as a digital channel for the banks adds to their „technology

development‟ initiatives. After all, a bank with a presence on social media is seen a

technologically friendlier than the bank that is not. The standard deviation shows that there were

a lot more „Agree‟ responses to this than „Strongly Agree‟.

A stronger response is given by the bankers, indicated by the mean value of 4.27, about the

„Demographic shifts‟ of current and potential customers unto social media platforms compared

to „Declining response rates‟ and „Technology Development‟.

„Customer preference‟ also shows as one of the reasons the banks moved officially to sign up to

the various social media platforms. The mean response of 4.18 and standard deviation of 0.405

suggests that most of the respondents agree that customer preference may be influential.

Generally, the bank officials responding to the questionnaire are not sure that „Word of Mouth‟

influenced their social media decision. The average response of 3.36 is more in the range of

„neutral‟ or undecided or not sure.

31

Market Research Branding

Building

Relationships Competition

Mean 4.45 4.64 4.27 4.00

Std. Deviation 0.522 0.505 0.647 0.632

Minimum 4 4 3 3

Maximum 5 5 5 5

Table 4.1b, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

For the purposes of „market research‟, a good number of the respondents were in agreement that

it contributed to their move unto social media. An average response of 4.45 shows a strong

response towards that.

The highest mean response so far is coming from the „Branding‟ factor. With a mean response of

4.64 the banking professionals may be suggesting that one of the most important reason for them

to be on social media is for them to be able to manage their brands- promote it and hopefully

fight negative publicity. A low standard deviation of 0.505 shows that most of the respondents

had responded „Strongly agree‟ or „Agree‟ to getting social for the purposes of branding.

A strong confirmation is seen with the respondents putting „Building Relationships‟ as one of the

strong reasons for the banks getting social. The minimum response of „Neutral-3‟ seems to

suggest that some of the banks are not sure if social media is the right place for them to build

relationships either with stakeholders or with their customers. Nonetheless, the average response

of 4.27 puts it as good reason to have a social media presence.

There is a „flat‟ agreement, represented by the mean response of 4.00, from the responding

banking professionals about the influence of the „Competition‟ to their social media campaigns.

Similarly as the issue of „Building relationships‟ above, while others are not sure about the role

of the competition, others „Strongly agree‟ that the competition brought them there.

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4.3.3 Acceptance of Social Media by Bank Management

Figure 4.6, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

Generally, for all the banks surveyed, management was in full support of the social media efforts

launched. More than half, 54.5%, of the respondents said management has accepted it and the

remaining 45.5% say their management had „Very much accepted‟ it

4.3.4 Tools and Resources for Effective Social Media Activities

Figure 4.7, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

0%

0%

0%

54.5%

45.4%

Not at all accepted

Not accepted

Neutral

Accepted

Very much Accepted

Acceptance of Social Media by Management

27.3%

54.5%

72.7%

45.5%

0% 0%

Is there enough budget allocated to social media

campaigns

Do you have tools (technological or not) to be

able to measure your performance on social

media

Tools and Resources for effective Social Media

Yes No it is not enough I can't say

33

More than 70% of the bankers do not think their organisations have allotted enough funds for

their social media campaigns and efforts. So even though management may strongly agree and

full support their social media initiatives the true test of their commitment may be lacking. On

the other hand, 45.5% think they do not have enough tools to be able to derive quantitative and

measurable results from their social media activities.

4.3.5 Challenges Faced By Banks in Adopting Social Media

In spite of the fact that banks surveyed already have a presence on social media platforms, the

bankers realise that there are challenges that lead to their adoption, and some of those challenges

may still be hampering a full adoption of social media by their banks.

Table 4.2a, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

An appreciable number of the respondents shared the thought that wrong perception by

management of social media is one of the challenges facing the adoption of the platforms. The

respondents confirmed that with an average response of 4.09.

Most of the respondents were also of the opinion that, Ghanaian banks generally are not flexible

when it comes to adopting new technologies. This response appears to be the strongest among

the bankers, with a mean response of 4.18.

Even though some were in agreement others disagreed that a lack of technical knowledge in

setting up and running a social media account is a challenge to adoption of social media by banks

in Ghana. Generally, they were not sure what truly it may be.

Wrong

management

perception

Inflexibility

of banks

adopting

technology

Lack of

technical

know how

Inadequate

financial

resources

Company

failing to

adapt to

change

Mean 4.09 4.18 3.64 2.73 3.82

Std. Deviation 0.539 0.603 0.674 1.104 0.751

Minimum 3 3 2 1 2

Maximum 5 5 4 4 5

34

There was strong disagreement from some quarters as a possible reason for the slow adoption of

social media by the lead financial institutions in Ghana. This may probably be the fact that social

media accounts are free to be created. On the average the result is that they were not sure

„Inadequate financial resources‟ affection adoption or not.

Quite a number of the bankers think the company is not really willing to adapt to the

technological changes that is happening around the world and hence influencing the way the

market is behaving.

Company

culture

Regulatory

issues

Management

fear of losing

brand control

Perception of

social media

for youth

only

Possible

leakage of

customer

information

Mean 3.91 2.82 3.55 3.91 3.91

Std. Deviation 0.302 0.982 0.820 0.302 0.302

Minimum 3 2 2 3 3

Maximum 4 4 4 4 4

Table 4.2b, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

In the view of some of the bankers, the company culture of the banks is a contributing factor to

the slow adoption of social media. Majority of them believe that could be an issue as well,

indicated by the mean response of 3.91.

In as much as the banking industry is a well regulated industry, the general response to

„Regulatory issues‟ being a challenge to adoption nearly received a disagreeing response from

the respondents. That is considering the mean response of 2.82. This response however suggests

that they are not sure regulatory issues actually affect adoption of social media.

On management fear of losing brand control, the mean response is 3.55. This is almost like the

responding bank officials saying they are not sure whether that is a factor or not to adoption to

social media. The fairly large standard deviation indicates that there was a wide variety in the

responses chosen by the respondents, with regards to the response options given.

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The responding bank officials „Agree‟ that idea that social media is youth oriented, that is, it is

made up of a lot of young people connecting with each other. For that fact that the bank find it a

challenge because it is youthful dominated itself is a problem.

Considering the high premium financial institution place on protecting customer financial data,

the idea of engaging in something that could jeopardize could be make them suspicious. Truly,

with an average response of 3.91, most of the bank officials agree and see a possible leak of

customer information as a challenge to getting social on social media platform.

4.3.5 Opportunities Presented By Social Media

Regardless of the challenges bankers may acknowledge to be facing their companies in adopting

social media there are perceived opportunities for them as well. The following shows the weight

banking organisations in Ghana place on the opportunities available to the on social media.

Keeping

with industry

trends

Competitive

advantage

Corporate

credibility

Generate

qualified

leads

Increased

brand

recognition

Mean 4.27 4.09 3.73 4.00 4.55

Std. Deviation 0.467 0.302 0.647 0.447 0.688

Minimum 4 4 3 3 3

Maximum 5 5 5 5 5

Table 4.3a, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

Most of the bankers very much confirm that social media presents them with the opportunity to

keep in touch trends on the market and their industry in general. There were „Neutral‟,

‟Disagree‟ or „Strongly Disagree‟ responses.

With an average response of 4.09, generally, the banking officials see social media as a place to

monitor the competition and how they can be more competitive than their competitors. By this

monitoring, they can offer better products and services to have a compelling competitive

advantage.

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Some of the bankers were „Neutral‟ about social media offering them the opportunity to be seen

as a more credible bank. Nonetheless, others „Strongly agreed‟ that it adds to their corporate

credibility as a financial institution. Generally, they all seem to put some importance on social

media for corporate credibility, with the mean response of 3.73.

Cumulatively, the banks agree that social media platforms offer them the opportunity to

„Generate qualified lead‟. In this case too, some were not sure of the potential of social media to

this effect.

„Increased brand recognition‟ received that highest average response value of 4.55, even though

there were a few people who were „Neutral‟ on that. The fairly large size of the standard

deviation, 0.688, points to the fact that it ranged from „Natural‟ to „Strongly Agree‟.

Improved

brand loyalty

Higher

conversion

rates

Decreased

marketing rates

Platform for

bank to educate

customers

Mean 4.36 4.00 4.18 4.18

Std. Deviation 0.674 0.632 0.874 0.603

Minimum 3 3 2 3

Maximum 5 5 5 5

Table 4.3b, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

There was a firm subscription to the idea that „Improved brand loyalty‟ is one of the

opportunities social media presents the banks. This was with a mean response of 4.36.

Other opportunities that the bankers surveyed acknowledge social media offers their banks

include high conversion rates, decreased marketing rates and a platform to educate their

customers. These were with an average response of and 4.00, 4.18 and 4.18 respectively.

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4.4 USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS BY BANKS

4.4.1 Specific Use of Various Social Media Platforms

It was noted that organisations use certain social media platforms for some specific purposes.

This portion of the study explores which social media platform is used for what purpose by the

various banks surveyed.

Advertising Brand

Management

Complaints

Handling

New Product

Development

Facebook (%) 9.1 27.3 85.7 66.7

Facebook and

Twitter (%)

54.5 45.4 14.3 16.7

Facebook,

Twitter and

YouTube (%)

36.4 27.3 0 16.7

Table 4.4a, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

When it comes to advertising, where banks create awareness of both new and old products and

services, 54.5% of the bank social media managers say they use Facebook and Twitter. 36.4%

responded that they use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube while 9.1% responded that they use

only Facebook for advertising.

Facebook and Twitter have been popular when it comes managing the brands of the various

banks since 45.4% use it for such purposes. About 27.3% use Facebook only and similar

proportion also use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Facebook is the major platform used by the banks to handle complaints and other challenges

customers might have, that is according to 85.7% of the banking professionals. Only 14.3% use

both Facebook and Twitter to address customer concerns.

In developing your products, Facebook is still a popular choice, with 66.7% of the banks using

the platform. 16.7% of them used Facebook and Twitter, and Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

respectively for product development.

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Knowledge

Sharing

Sales

Promotions

Lead

Generation

Entertainment

Facebook (%) 28.6 60 66.7 60

Facebook and

Twitter (%)

28.6 20 33.3 0

Facebook,

Twitter and

YouTube (%)

42.9 20 0 40

Table 4.4b, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

A lot more banks, 42.9%, use the combination of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for knowledge

sharing purposes than they use Facebook only and Facebook and Twitter, which were both used

by 28.6% of the respondents.

Facebook again is a major platform when it comes to sales promotions by the banking

institutions. About 60% of the responding bank professional indicated that they use Facebook

only for promotional activities. Also with sales promotional activities, 20% use Facebook and

Twitter, and Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Twitter and Facebook are what the banking professionals often use to generate leads to follow

through and sell to potential customers. About 33.33% use both Facebook and Twitter for that

while 66.7% uses only Facebook.

The banking professionals find Facebook, Twitter and YouTube most suitable for entertainment

or anything that is fun but not unprofessional, especially appearing entertaining to customers

sometimes. 60% use only Facebook for that while 40% combine Facebook, Twitter and

YouTube.

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4.4.2 Everyday Use of Social Media by Banks

The social media managers of surveyed banks responded to use of social media on a regular

basis for the banks they work with.

Not Sure No Yes

Brand Awareness 31.2 0 68.8

Lead Generation 31.2 0 68.8

Good Social Responsibility 9.1 0 90.1

Good word of mouth Promoter 45.5 0 54.5

Creates Transparency 45.5 0 54.5

Enhances Sales Promotion 31.2 0 68.8

Maintain Online Presence 31.2 0 68.8

Enables Engagement with Stakeholders 9.1 0 90.1

Table 4.5a, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

From Table 4.5, the top regular use of social media by banks in Ghana is to enable them engage

with stakeholders and be seen as socially responsible organisations. This is according to 90.1%

of the respondents. The other significant results in the use of social media is for creating

awareness of their brands, generating leads, enhancing their sales promotion and to maintain an

online presence. This response came from 68.8% of the bankers responding to the questionnaire.

Not so significant are the use of social media for the purposes of transparency and a place to

create viral contents.

40

Not Sure No Yes

Increase Competitive Advantage 0 9.1 90.1

Enhance new Product Development 0 0 100

Handling Customer Complaints 18.2 0 81.8

Boudary-less market 18.2 0 81.8

Creates Dialogue with customers 0 0 100

High return on investment 18.2 0 81.8

Traffic to Bank's website 9.1 0 90.1

Recruitment 45.5 18.2 36.3

Table 4.5b, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

Social media finds its use very importantly among the banks as a platform to engage

stakeholders in the development of new products. This is probably the most important use of

social media by the banks as shown by the 100% response from all the bank respondents. About

90.1% indicate the use of social is to drive traffic to their corporate website and also let it be a

means to increase their competitive edge over others in the industry. Furthermore, 81.8% use it

as a platform to handle complaints from customers and be able to reach markets beyond the

borders of Ghana giving a high return on their investments. Recruitment is the least use of social

media by the banks; only 36.3% use social media for recruiting purposes.

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4.4.3 Are There Policies for Managing Social Media Campaigns

Figure 4.8, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

There was an outright „No‟ from 9.1% of the banks using social media for their campaigns about

whether the organisation has a policy that guides their work. A further 27.3% were not certain if

something like that existed and 63.6% were certain that the banks‟ social media initiatives are

guided by some policies from the banks.

63.6%

27.3%

9.1%

Yes

Not sure

No

Are there Policies for Social Media Campaigns

42

4.4.4 Strategies Employed By Banks for Effective Social Media Campaigns

Table 4.6a, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

With the exception of „Unified message to all social media platforms‟, which the respondents

were undecided about it being a strategy for effective social media campaigns, as indicated by

the mean response of 3.40, the remaining strategies received their approval.

These remaining strategies which the banking professionals in charge of social media think help

execute an effective social media campaign include „Listening and segmenting target audience‟,

„Formulating social media objectives‟, „Identifying key influencers‟ and „Analysing competitors

social media performance‟. The average response in each of these cases was above 3.55.

Listening

and

segmenting

target

audience

Formulating

social media

objectives

Identify key

influencers

Analyse

competitors

social media

performance

Unified

message to

all social

media

platforms

Mean 4.10 4.10 3.60 3.80 3.40

Std. Deviation 0.316 0.316 0.966 0.632 1.174

Minimum 4 4 2 2 2

Maximum 5 5 5 4 5

43

Develop

content

strategy

Identify

social media

tools

Integrate

social media

and

traditional

media

Implement

approved

social media

strategy

Measurement

of

effectiveness

Mean 4.20 4.22 4.40 4.20 4.10

Std. Deviation 0.632 0.441 0.516 0.422 0.568

Minimum 3 4 4 4 3

Maximum 5 5 5 5 5

Table 4.6b, Source: Results from data collection, 2015

Other key strategies the respondents confirmed included „Developing content strategy‟,

„Identifying social media tools‟, Integrating social media and traditional media‟, „Implementing

approved social media strategy‟ and the „Measuring the effectiveness of the campaign‟

4.5 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS/RESULTS

The results show that Facebook is the most popular social media platform used by the banks.

This is to suggest that they use Facebook most than other social media platforms. While some

manage their banks social media pages on full time basis others do it on a part-time basis. It was

found the generally most of the banks have been social media for about 2 years now. The

outstanding factor that influenced banks to sign up to social media is for the purposes of

branding. Also, the biggest challenge to banks adopting social media is the inflexibility of the

bank to adopt new technologies. The banks see increased brand recognition as the biggest

opportunity social media has given them and the biggest use of social media by the banks is to

create dialogue with their customers. Integrating social media with traditional media is the

biggest strategy adopted by the banks.

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SECTION FIVE

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

5.1 INTRODUCTION

The discussion of the results focuses on implied meanings and consequences that can be drawn

from the results obtained from the data collection process. These means are juxtaposed against

literature in the field of social media and digital social media banking.

5.2 DEMOGRAPHICS

The results on the kind of social media platforms the banks have created show Facebook to be

the most popular amongst them. Some do not have Twitter accounts, or LinkedIn or YouTube

but ran Facebook accounts. This is primarily because Facebook happens to be the most popular

of all the social media networks available. In terms of usage this is followed by Twitter.

According to Statista (2015), the online social media statistics portal, Facebook had 1.49 billion

and Twitter had 304 million monthly users at end of the second quarter of 2015. It therefore not

surprising that the banks are pitching camps there since those are the most likely places they will

meet their customers.

The proportion of the bank officials who are in charge of social media but do not do that on a full

time basis, even though they work in the bank for full time, gives indication of the level of

engagement those banks get to have with customers on social media platforms. For the 18% who

responded that managing the social media accounts of the bank was their full time job, it is

positive and it means that a lot of attention is given to the work of the bank on those platforms.

When the employee managing the social media accounts has got other duties, those duties could

take most of her attention and not be available most of the time to respond to issues that

customers may have or „be a friend‟ to the customer as Toplu et al. (2014) suggests.

The job titles and the job level throw more light on the reason why some cannot manage their

banks‟ social media accounts on a full time basis. For example a brand and communications

manager in charge of social media will obviously have other pressing issues coming up

occupying the mind of what customers are saying on social media. Similarly will be the case for

a Head of E-banking who will have to attend to other digital and electronic issues customers may

45

have, will not be able to engage customers daily with posts that keep the bank on their minds

most of the time.

For the fact that responses to these survey were coming from employees who have been working

in their present position for at least 2 years gives a lot of credence to the responses that they have

given. It means that responses are more reliable and the results can conveniently be extrapolated

to explain other things happening in the banking industry in Ghana so far as social media

activities and their management are concerned.

5.3 ADOPTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY BANKS

Since articles and other publications started emerging around the late 2000s, especially 2008 and

2009 about the need for organisations to get on social media, Mangold and Faulds (2009), most

of the banks in Ghana (73%) only signed up not more than 2 years ago, based on the results from

Figure 4.5. Only 18% have been on the social media platforms for at least 3 years. This can be

explained in three ways: 1) Internet penetration in most parts of African, including Ghana has

been very poor for many years. It is until recently that most of the telecommunication companies

in Ghana started building and laying fiber optic cables, making it easier for more people to easily

access the internet. 2) In view of the low literacy rate in Ghana a lot more people cannot make

use of social media which is more about user-generated content. So in this vein, many people

could not generate their own content and couldn‟t read content generated by others as well. But

as the youthful population grew exponentially, more young people have been signing up to social

media accounts. 3) Big organisations in general, like banks in Ghana, are the late laggards to

adopting any new technology, creating a structure for it and integrating into their overall

organisational structure. And also if a number of the literate population is not on social media, it

is not a motivation for banks to get on there as well.

Declining response rates and Word of mouth were not considered as convincing factors that

might have influenced banks in Ghana to jump unto social media. This means banks in Ghana

have their own way (may be the traditional way) of getting in touch with customers and do not

rely on word of mouth to adopt a technology. It therefore suggests that there are more

46

compelling reasons for banks to sign up to social media platforms. The more compelling reasons

are discussed below:

The adoption of social media by banks adds to their technology development initiatives. Alfaro

& Watson-Manheim (2015) note that social media is one technology that does not need the

support of IT yet. A bank on social media will definitely be recognized as technologically

inclined or technologically responsive. They will earn the respect of the technology community

and get attractive to millennials who have grown up to see these technologies as part of their

daily lives.

This feeds into the factor of demographic shifts that also motivated the banks to have a social

media presence. A greater part of Africa‟s population (about 60%), including Ghana‟s, are young

people below the age of 35, UNFPA (2011). These group people are definitely in their curious

and adventurous stages of their lives and have accepted social media so much so that it is part of

their lives, with some having multiple social media accounts. It is absolutely business prudent for

any forward looking bank to be on social media to be able to effectively engage such a

demographic.

It therefore implies that if a sizeable population of the growing customer base of a bank is on

social media then they would prefer interacting with their banks there. Customer preference is

the compelling way for a bank to adjust, because every business exists because of their

customers. Banks can engage their customers on social media to find out what they need and

how they can serve them better. Social platforms offer tools that can be used for polls and to

conduct other surveys. Social platforms also offer tools that can be used to study the behaviour

of consumers, by analyzing the things they talk about, the posts they put out and the things they

click on. All these serve as valuable information for banks to position their products and services

well to meet the latent need of customers online. And these can only be achieved when the banks

are on social media.

Branding received the highest recognition among the respondents as one of the important factors

that influenced banks to be on social media. Cocheo (2014) states the banks need to be on social

media to manage their brands. It is therefore not surprising that the social media managers of the

various banks see it very important too. Cocheo (2014) explains that customers are mentioning

47

the name of brands on social media every time. For whatever experience they have offline they

come to share it with the rest of the world online. And since social media gives customers the

opportunity to talk and say whatever they want to say, banks need to be there to deal with

situations that are negative in a very quick way while promoting the positive things that are being

said about them. If banks do not take the responsibility of branding on social media, customers

and potential customers there will brand them. This will be like leaving your branding as a bank

to chance and that can be very costly.

The value in building relationships is that people who feel valued by you will always value you.

To be on social media to build relationships with customers is a very good reason for banks in

Ghana to go social. When banks build relationships with customers in a social way customers do

remember them not just as a bank but as a partner to make their social life worth living. Social

media offers the platform for that to be achieved - where the bank can easily be accessed and

where the customer can say whatever they want to say to the bank.

If your competitors are on social media, it influences you to be there as well. Typically in Ghana

where there are 27 banks offering similar products and services, a bank that takes the lead in

anything innovative gets the whole bunch of other banks following suit within a short period of

time. So the influence of competition on the banking industry is very strong, the only setback the

inability of banking executives to fully acknowledge that. Banks are also able to monitor what

other banks are doing, both on social media and in other areas of their businesses. These

competitive factors are compelling enough to influence banks to adopt social media.

It is very positive from Figure 4.6 that the managements of the various banks fully accept the

social media initiatives of their banks. However it appears this full acceptance may just be in

word and not in deed. This is because more than 70% of them responded that they do not have

enough resources to meet the needs of the social media campaign. The true test of commitment

to a cause is the allocation of resources to execute whatever the cause is being advanced for. It is

possible the managements of the banks may not know the true value social media for the banks

or just do not think it can be a factor in the operations of the bank. On a better note, close to half

of the banks have been equipped with the tools to do their work on social media platforms well.

The other half may be part of those who lack the tools and are ill equipped financially to execute

a good social media management work for the bank.

48

On the challenges banks face in incorporating social media to their banks, the respondents stated

emphatically that they are inadequate financial resources or regulatory policies. Signing up to

social media is free and more so the tools for social media engagement that are for sale are not

expensive, so inadequate financial resources cannot be a challenge. The Bank of Ghana and

Ghana Bankers Association, which is the regulatory bodies for banks and bankers in Ghana, have

no regulatory policies towards the use of social media. In fact the technology landscape in Ghana

is not strong so there are no recognized bodies regulating internet, mobile and other technology

start-ups.

The two notable challenges to the adoption of social media by banks are the 1) inflexible nature

of banks in Ghana to adopt technology and adapt to changes those changes introduces and the 2)

wrong perception managements have over social media. The current leadership of most banks in

Ghana (especially the local ones) grew up in the culture where most problems were solved

manually. Technology for everyday living came long after they had their education, so did not

grow with it at all. Most of them see using technology as a challenge that would rather slow them

down. Their knowledge of the benefits of technology has been highly theoretical. Even though

the apathy towards technology is improving it has been extremely slow. Some of the wrong

perceptions managements have about social media according to Mount & Martinez (2014) is

where young people have and entertain themselves, so nothing serious happens there. Others also

see social media as a place where things get out of control where you cannot effectively create,

position and manage your brands as often done with traditional media.

The social media managers for the banks really see social media as the place to project the

brands of their organisations. The results from Table 4.3a show increasing brand recognition and

improving brand loyalty as the biggest opportunities getting unto social platforms. Since social

media is made up of many communities who talk and share anything that is of importance to

them, the community offers banks the opportunity to position themselves in a positive light so

that people belonging to the various communities can have a good image of those bank brands.

Social media offers banks the opportunity to keep up with industry trends. Social media has

become the platform where people as well share new things that are happening around the world.

Sometimes people get information on social media before traditional media organisations get

them. A social network like Twitter is noted for giving information of things happening around

49

the world. When a bank has a presence of Twitter, a customer or anybody at all can tweet at

them telling them of whatever is happening. The organisation misses out if they are not on social

media to be tagged.

Again, social media has offered the opportunity for banks to educate their customers, especially

when there is a new product release. When something is posted on social media which is helpful

to bank customers, it is very likely that it will be shared by those customers for other customers

to benefit from it.

5.4 USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS BY BANKS

The specific use of certain specific social media platforms for certain purposes is highly

influenced by two main factors. 1) The first is the design and features of those social media

platforms. The design and features an application shows what is possible with the app and what

is not possible. 2) The second is the adoption level of the application; in other words the total

number of people who use that particular social media application. The number of people who

use the application determines the reach of whatever the application is used for.

Advertising – Advertising involves showcasing whatever product or service the bank wants to

create awareness of. This can be done in text, in pictures and/or video. Facebook offers all of

these in an unlimited way. Banks can upload as many pictures/images of their services as they

would want. The same applies to videos. Even though Twitters offers place a place for the

upload of images and videos that is done in the quantity as it is done on Facebook. Then again

Twitter places a limit on the number of characters a user can post in their status. YouTube is

more designed to host and videos. Considering the design and feature of these three platforms

anyone of them would be good for the purposes of advertisement.

Brand Management – Working to maintain the image customers and individuals have about the

bank goes more to the way everything else is done on social media. This is within the control of

the social media personnel. What may be outside their domain is core delivery of banking

services which they cannot do anything about something going wrong. However they can

effectively use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to inspire, encourage and motivate customers

about future prospects while they use text and images to manage any kind of damage.

50

Essentially, brand management on these platforms is how about things are done and what is

being for that kind of image to be created on the minds of customers.

Complaints Handling – Facebook and Twitter have direct messaging and chat component which

YouTube does not have so they become the primary platforms when a customers want to

message businesses about their challenges. And since Facebook is about four times more popular

than Twitter people, a lot people use that to request for solution over whatever frustrations they

may be having.

New product development – This involves engaging customers about innovative products and

services the bank would want to roll out. Inviting comments and suggests in posts can be

enriching. Customers see other peoples comments and either disagree or build on it. A period of

time a dozen of free ideas have been shared for which the business can make use of.

Knowledge Sharing and Sales Promotions – Just like advertisements, these can be done with

videos, text and images.

Lead Generation – Most of the social media managers responded that they use Facebook and

Twitter for this and not YouTube, because some interactions have to go on to engage the

potential customer.

Entertainment – Most social media platforms are designed for entertainment as well. And in fact

that is the reason why a lot people are hooked on these platforms.

It is observed that none of the social media managers of the banks mentioned LinkedIn as

platform they use for any of things mentioned. This is understandably so because LinkedIn as a

business professionals social networking sites do not have a lot of going there to seek out

information about products and services of banks. More so there are some banks that do not a

LinkedIn profile of their products and services there. LinkedIn has become a great tool for

recruitment less for sales, product development and brand management, even though such

activities happen there as well.

The everyday use of social media platforms by banks as shown in Tables 4.5a and 4.5b is a list

that is no exhaustive. Literature reviewed showed that everyday organisations are using social

media for new things. Nonetheless, the use of social media as shown in Tables 4.5a and 4.5b

51

gives an indication of how wide Ghanaian banks are using social media. This is expected to

increase and grow with time.

According to Pry (2010) having policies as a bank on the use of social media platforms is a way

of avoiding anything that might damage or hurt your bank‟s reputation and brand. The policy

begins with the kind of social media platform the bank will be comfortable with. Also very

important is the kind of content that is shared and how frequent this is done. It is therefore

surprising that only about 64% of the banks have social media policies that guided employees

and people engaging customers on social media.

Fields (2010) agree that listening and segmenting the target audience and formulating social

media objectives are the way to begin any social media campaign. Therefore the response from

the social media managers of the banks to do that as a strategic to have an effective social media

campaign is a step in the right direction. However, these social media managers from the banks

do not find identifying key influencers, analyzing competitors‟ social media performance and

being able to send unified messages to all social media platforms as very necessary strategies for

their social media campaigns. Nonetheless, what they find compelling to the success of their

social media campaigns are the development of a content strategy, identifying and using the right

social media tools, integrating social media and traditional media and having an effective way to

measure the effectiveness of their campaign.

5.5 CONCLUSION

The conclusion of the dissertation is based on the objectives of the study, which were the focus

of the study. The conclusion offers insights for decision making both by specific banks and the

industry in general. Recommendations for further research in with respect to brands on social

media are also made.

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5.5.1 The relevance of social media to banks

Banks perform a unique role of financial intermediation; where they accepts deposits from

depositors and lend them out to borrowers who many need them to perform various economic

activities. Since banks keep and work with the hard earned monies of people (their customers)

they need to have a respected, trusted and credible corporate image – a very important

component of their brand.

A bank having a presence on social media makes the bank more accessible so that they can

easily be reached by customers. Social media also serves as the platform where they continue to

build their brand among the community of people on those platforms. Anywhere there are

people, a bank needs to prove itself to be trusted, credible and reliable. Social media provides

another channel where banks can sell to people and get more customers. Getting more customers

mean they will grow their deposits and be able to lend more and make more money on the

interest rates. People may have issues that need to be resolved as quickly as possible. Social

media serves as one of the means customers can voice out their anger and frustrations and

demand better services from their banks. These feedbacks help the bank to grow and become

better.

In a nutshell, social media is relevant to banks in Ghana to market their products and services,

build relationship with their customers and get to know customer and competitive trends on the

market.

5.5.2 How social media fits into the operational and management structures of the banks

Social media appears integrated into the operational structures of banks in Ghana, albeit not

fully. There are employees whose main responsibility is to manage the social media accounts of

the banks. This however comes with most of the banks‟ social media platforms not been

managed as the full time responsibility of employees. Also, insufficient budgetary allocations to

social media campaigns and limited tools for effective administration of social media accounts

tell a story of limitations in total fit. These speak louder than the mere acceptance by

managements to run a social media accounts for the banks. Anything that is significant to the

operations and management of the bank must have the needed resources so as to be able to

contribute effectively to the overall goals of the bank.

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5.5.3 Effect of social media on the brand value of banks in Ghana

The presence of the banks on social media adds to the projection of their brands. If banks were

not on social media many customers will see them not to be updated with technology. Then

again the constant communication by banks with customers, to a large extent influenced the way

customers perceive banks. This communication in terms of the content of texts, quality of images

and videos, all add up to the increased brand value of the banks. The branding purpose of social

media for banks is highly been achieved with less prominent banks on social media losing out.

5.6 RECOMMEDATIONS

In the all responses of this study, the social media managers rate branding and building brand

loyalty as the most important use and reasons for being on social media. It is important to

ascertain if this is being achieved at all by the banks in Ghana. From the perspective of the banks

it may look like it is being achieved. Further research must be initiated to find out from

customers‟ perspective; the how they perceive their banks that are on social media. This is to

find out if brands of banks are growing on social media or not.

54

APPENDICES

QUESTIONNAIRE

A study is being undertaken to understand the use of social media among banks in Ghana.

Kindly fill out the questionnaire being as honest as possible. All information will be kept

confidential and shall be used for academic purposes only.

SECTION A. DEMOGRAPHICS

A1. Is your Bank officially using any social media platform?

Facebook

Linked In

Twitter

You Tube

Google +

Don‟t know

Tick as many that apply

A2. What is the job title(s) of the person(s) managing your social media accounts?

……………………………………………………………………………….

A3. Is this a full time position?

Yes, this is the only thing I do at the bank

No, I have other duties

I can‟t say

55

A4. What is the Job Level of such a title in the Bank?

A5. Years of experience at present position

Less than 1 year

2 – 5 years

6 – 10 years

11 years or more

SECTION B

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ADOPTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY BANKS IN

GHANA

B1. How long has your bank been on social media for marketing purposes?

Less than a year

1 - 2 years

3 - 4 years

More than 5 years

Junior Manager

Middle Manager

Senior Manager

General Manager

Director

Other

56

B2. What factors influenced your Bank to use social media?

Strongly

Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Disagree

Declining response rates

Technology development

Demographic shifts

Customer preference

Word of mouth

Market research

Branding

Building relationships

Competition

Others

B3. How well is social media accepted by management?

Not all accepted

Not accepted

Accepted

Very much accepted

Don‟t Know

B4. Is there enough budget allocated to social media campaigns

Yes, it is enough

No, it is not enough

I can‟t say

57

B5. Do you have tools (technological or not) to be able to measure your performance on social

media?

Yes, it is enough

No, it is not enough

I can‟t say

B6. In your opinion what are the challenges faced by banks in adopting/using social media?

Strongly

Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Disagree

Wrong management perception

Inflexibility of banks adopting technology

Lack of technical know how

Inadequate financial resources

Company failing to adapt to change

Company Culture

Regulatory Issues

Management fear of losing brand control

Perception of social media for youth only

Possible leakage of customer information

Don‟t know

Others

B7. What are the opportunities presented by social media to your bank?

Strongly

Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Disagree

Keeping with industry trends

Competitive advantage

Corporate credibility

Generate qualified leads

Increased brand recognition

Improved brand loyalty

Higher conversion rates

Decreased marketing costs

Platform for bank to educate customers

58

Don‟t know

Others

SECTION C: ROLE AND USAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS IN GHANA

C1. What are the uses of social media to your Bank?

Facebook Linked In Twitter YouTube Others

Advertising

Brand Management

Complaints Handling

New Product Development

Knowledge Sharing

Sales Promotions

Lead Generation

Entertainment

Don‟t know

Others

C2. What are uses of social media for your bank?

Not Sure No Yes

Brand awareness

Lead generation

Good social responsibility

Good word of mouth promoter

Creates transparency

Enhance sales promotion

Maintain online presence

Enables engagement with stakeholders

Increase competitive advantage

Enhance new product developments

Handling customer complaints

Boundary-less market

Creates Dialogue with customers

High return on investment

Traffic to organisation website

Recruitment

Others

59

SECTION D

STRATEGIES AND POLICIES INFLUENCING THE USAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY

BANKS IN GHANA

D1.Do you have policies that guide on how to manage social media?

Yes

Not sure

No

Don‟t Know

D2. What strategies do you use to implement your social media?

Strongly

Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Disagree

Listening and segmenting target audience

Formulating social media objectives

Identify key influencers

Analyze competitors social media

performance

Unified message to all social media tools

Develop content strategy

Identify social media tools

Integrate social media and traditional media

Implement approved social media strategy

Measurement of effectiveness

Don‟t Know

60

Appendix 2 – NBS Ethical Form

This document is to be initiated by all NBS students or staff undertaking research.

Students must present this form to their Dissertation/Research Supervisor at the first

meeting and include a copy with their final submission.

Staff must present this form to the Head of Research/Research Mentor before the research

commences.

Part A: Project Detail

1. Project title:

The role of social media in global brands: A case of universal banks in Ghana

2. Programme/Module:

MA, Marketing

3. I have read and agree to adhere to the NBS Research Ethics Procedure and the Guidance

on Ethics for Researchers

PRINT NAME: SOLOMON ADU ATEFOE

STUDENT NUMBER (if applicable): 14410776

Signed:

61

Date: JANUARY 14, 2015

4. Supervisor name (s):

Dr. Kathleen Mortimer

5. Use of human participants: Tick one of the following:

I am using human participants.

I am using archival data where individuals are identifiable

I am not using human participants or data where individuals are identifiable and

therefore do not need to complete the remainder of this form.

6. Participants: Tick the box which most accurately describes your sample:

Children under 16 years

16-18 year olds

Adults over 65 years old

Members of the public (general)

NBS Students (please specify)

Members of vulnerable groups (frail elderly, recently bereaved, members of support

groups – describe here :……………..……...)

Other. If other, describe your sample here: Electronic Banking Executives and

Managers in Banks in Ghana

√

√

√

62

7. Issues for concern: Tick below any issue that relates to this research.

Involves participants undertaking tasks they would not normally undertake

Involves any activity that might be described as an ‘invasion of privacy’

Involves deception

Involves a topic that would be considered ‘sensitive’

Involves the collection of data that is not anonymised (contains identifying information

such as name and address)

Other. If other, describe here: Participants are going to be anonymous and can

pull out at anytime

8. Methodology: Tick the appropriate box. Full details of what you will do and where it

will happen, should be provided in the accompanying Proposal.

Questionnaires

Interviews

Experiments

Observations

Archival

Other. If other, state here:

9. Recruitment Process. Tick the process that best describes how you plan to recruit

participants. Full details of how you will recruit and where it will happen, should be provided

in the accompanying Proposal.

Via poster in a public place such as a library or community centre

‘Packs’ will be provided to named person in an organisation/group to be distributed on

my behalf

Asking personal contacts to pass my information packs to their contacts

Will be asking friends/family

√

√

63

Cold calling

Other. If other, state here: Emails to book appointment, followed by calls and

personal contact.

10. Recruitment material. Tick all the recruitment material you will be using. They must

not be used until seen and approved by your supervisor.

Recruitment poster

Recruitment letter to named person in an organisation/group who will be distributing

‘Packs’ on your behalf

Recruitment letter to potential participants

Participant Information Sheet

Consent form

Other. If other, state here: Recruitment email

11. Risk assessment: Some projects will require risk assessment for participants and/or

researchers. In other words, there is a possibility that participants and/or researchers will

get hurt collecting data. If so, a risk assessment must be conducted. Tick the appropriate

box below concerning your need for risk assessment.

There is no risk of injury to participants and/or researchers, so no risk assessment will

be conducted.

There is a potential of injury to participants and/or researchers, so risk assessment has

been (or will be) conducted.

12. Consent from the host Company:

I consent to the aforementioned named student carrying out research on Company

premises or in relation to this Company.

Senior Manager Name: ALFRED AMOH MENSAH____________________

√

√

√

64

Senior Manager Signature: _ ____________________

Host Company Name: AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT BANK_____

13. Compliance with the Ethics Procedures of the Host Company.

I the student have read and complied with the ethics procedures of the host company.

Signed: ___ ________________________________

I the Senior Manager confirm that the student has read and complied with the ethics

procedures of our Company.

Signature: __ ___________________________

65

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