The paper is based on a case study (M L Sultan Technikon) and asks whether M L Sultan Technikon students are familiar with the website. This found that students did not have access to computers, resulting in poor use of the website. Technikon also needs to invest more in website marketing to increase its reach.
The website contains information about the campus, its range of programs (undergraduate, postgraduate and short courses), staff and extracurricular activities.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND - M L SULTAN TECHNIKON
M L SULTAN MISSION STATEMENT)
PURPOSE OF RESEARCH
The first objective is to identify who uses the web site, whether there are more males than females and perhaps differences in use within race groups
The second objective is to determine how students perceive M L Sultan's advertising on the Internet. This rating process will entail a system whereby students will be asked to rate
The third objective is to provide recommendations and changes, which can be
- LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
- STRUCTURE OF DISSERTATION
- CONCLUDING SUMMARY
- INTRODUCTION
The objectives of this study are to examine closely how M L Sultan evaluates the Internet in terms of advertising and to determine whether students are aware of the website. The first goal is to determine who uses the site, whether there are more men than women, and perhaps differences in usage within racial groups. Access to these departments was feasible and the number of students was sufficient, so the sample was selected.
This problem was overcome by means of the questionnaire which enabled the researcher to determine whether computer access is a problem for those students who did not visit the Technikon website.
Consumer Behaviour in a Services Setting
- ADVERTISING ON THE INTERNET
- SEARCHING POWER GREATLY MAGNIFIED
- IMPORTANCE OF A WEB PAGE
- WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE WORLD WIDE WEB?
Research by Groenne P & Barker C (1997), found that the growth of the Internet is driven by increasing ease of use, access and telecommunications costs, cheaper and faster computers and increasing amounts of entertainment. In a remarkably short period of time, the Internet has become an important method of selling goods and services to consumer and industrial buyers around the world. According to Norton, B & Smith C (1996), the earlier companies that tried marketing on the Internet failed because of a sudden flood of advertising on the Internet.
According to Norton and Smith (1996), there are ten rules that make the Internet different from others.
Firstly, electronic consumers cannot be treated like television viewers, newspaper readers or people looking at billboard, Newsgroup messages are not delivered to a person like ordinary
It is now important that management recognizes the importance of the Internet market and sets up a web page for their companies. Norton B & Smith C (1996) found that the shift in attitudes towards marketing has occurred since the advent of the World Wide Web. The rise of the World Wide Web has made it easy for companies to write advertisements and allows consumers to come to the advertising site instead.
With a World Wide Web site, the consumer chooses where to visit, how long to visit, and when to visit.
Secondly, it is just as important to make the site as interesting and attractive as when it is done for TV or paper based advertising. Internet users are also becoming increasingly sophisticated
Second, it is just as important to make the website as interesting and attractive as it is for TV or paper-based advertising.
It is vitally important that a company avoids brash marketing and unsubstantiated claims. Due to the unlimited potential of consumer reach of the Internet, if a company makes a promise it
The Interne, allows smaller compares to compete in the global market without the cos, of a
Market entry is now easier and has a lower cost on the Internet This increases the need for
The global community has more cultural differences and companies have to be more sensitive
Paying for products and services in a secure and confidential way is slowly being resolved
- WHAT ARE THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE WEB AND TRADITIONAL MASS MEDIA FROM AN ADVERTISING PERSPECTIVE?
- HOW THE WORLD WIDE WEB IS USED FOR ADVERTISING PURPOSES?
- WHAT KIND OF MARKETING STRATEGIES CAN BE USED?
- THE NATURE OF SERVICES
Another important factor to consider when advertising online is that interactive markets are very likely to dominate in the future, hence the learning curve. Online advertising is not just a fleeting visit where an advertiser captures the attention of users for a short period of time. Thus, the traditional approach to advertising cannot be used in these circumstances if we want to achieve success online.
This task can be quite difficult as there are a number of sites competing for attention on the Internet.
Pure tangible good - the offer is primarily a tangible good such as soap, where there is no service to accompany the product
- TANGIBILIZING THE INTANGIBLE
Buyers generally look for evidence of service quality before engaging with that service. The way consumers search is from inferences about the service from "place, people, equipment, communication, material, symbols and price" (Kotler, p. 469, 1998). The presence of the consumer at the time of the service is also part of the interaction.
Both the interaction with the provider and with the consumer is therefore a “special feature of services marketing. Both influence the outcome of the service” (Kotler, Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control, p.469, 1998). If an appointment at a doctor's office is missed, the service value only existed at that moment. According to Pitt, Berthon, and Watson (1999), cyberservice succeeds in overcoming many of the traditional problems associated with service marketing.
One of the main problems that arise for service marketers is that there is nothing to show the customer. To do this, they can use the Web to provide ample evidence of the services that are available. The information provided on the site includes details of the benefits of membership of the Royal Automobile Club, the amount of assistance.
In this respect, for example, when people or prospective visitors to a Disney theme park are often unsure about the visit because of the large amount of money to be spent. Frequency of Update: Surfers will not usually visit a website regularly unless it is updated regularly.
Frequency of update: surfers generally will not visit a web site often unless it is updated regularly. To ensure that there are repeat visits there ahs to be changes made to the Web site
According to Pitt, Berthon and Watson (1999), there are three critical elements to remember when managing a website. To ensure repeat visits, changes must be made to the website.
Server speed: in the Web environment speed counts as well as ease of navigation (how easily
2.3,2 SAMPLING IN CYBERSPACE
MANAGING SIMULTANEITY
In the case of goods, production and consumption do not take place at the same time or in the same place. As a rule, both the producer and the consumer must be present when providing services. Pitt, Berthon, and Watson (1999) found that service marketers can manage online simultaneity by adapting, treating customers as part-time employees, incorporating innovation in customer engagement, industrializing services, and reducing customer errors.
The web excels in adaptability, as its capacity is based on information technology, data storage and processing, rather than on employees and physical location. Often, the quality of service they receive depends almost as much on themselves as on the efforts of the service provider. Switchboard operators are being replaced by websites that help people find addresses and phone numbers.
When the required information is available, the customer can also send a postcard via the Internet. Thus, according to Pitt, Berthon and Watson (1999), redesigning the system to provide less service by replacing the human element actually provides more service. An advantage of cyberservice is that customers can be guided repeatedly and precisely through a process.
Many websites require the customer to enter their email address twice due to the high error rate. Whenever possible, service marketers are encouraged to use drop-down choices on their websites so that customers have less opportunity to make mistakes.
MANAGING HETEROGENEITY
Some service marketers are reluctant to standardize activities, as it tends to mechanize and dehumanize interactions between people. On the web, interactions that occur include electronic help desks, general information brochures, security options for any transactions that will involve personal details and credit card details, and even FAQs for first-time users. In a traditional setting, customers are faced with different service encounters depending on who they are serving and the circumstances in which that person is involved.
Service marketers can gain an overview of how the service is faring against competitors through electronic snooping. Newsgroups and forums provide a channel through which consumers around the world can comment on company offerings. The people who speak fall into three groups, external customers, competitors' customers, and internal customers or employees.
By listening to these comments, companies can collect and analyze the comments to learn more about their customers and competitors. Interactive online questionnaires are a convenient and inexpensive way to gather customer perceptions about service quality or some other aspect of a service. Many companies have a web version of SERVQUAL, but written in JavaScript, that captures customer expectations and perceptions of service quality.
MANAGING PERISHABILITY
The intangible nature of the education sector increases the importance of the institution's name rather than its individual service. Brand awareness is created by increasing the familiarity of the brand through repeated exposure and strong associations with the relevant purchase or consumption modes. One method used to create brand awareness is to increase the familiarity of the brand through repeated exposure.
The first guideline is that the brand name should be verbally and visually reinforced with reinforcing brand elements. It has been suggested that the slogans or jingles used automatically associate the brand with the appropriate purchase or consumption. Linking strong, favorable and unique associations" to the name of the brand in memory creates a strong brand image.
The newspaper seems to be so immersed in community affairs that it has created a very close relationship with the community. In fact, they are very aware of the brand or image of the institution they follow. According to University of Natal marketing and media consultant William Saunderson-Meyer (Sunday Tribune, July, many historically black institutions have seen declines in university admissions.
To stay ahead of the race, many institutions have sought to reinvent themselves in the public mind. The University of Natal, a major competitor to the other institutions in the Kwa-Zulu region, has embarked on a 3-year campaign to reinvent itself in the public mind.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN SERVICES
Purchases of services almost always occur in an establishment where only one "brand" is on
The availability of the same kind of services in a given geographic area is limited while the
It is also more difficult to obtain adequate pre-purchase information about services
- MODEL OF THE CONSUMER BUYING PROCESS
- CONCLUDING SUMMARY
- RESEARCH DESIGN AND PROCESS
- SAMPLING PROCEDURE
- HYPOTHESES
- DEMOGRAPHICS
- THE MEDIUM THAT WAS USED FOR INFORMATION GATHERING
- THE MEDIUM THAT WAS EASIEST TO ACCESS
- AWARENESS OF THE TECHNIKON WEB SITE
- REASONS FOR NOT VISITING WEB SITE
- SUFFICIENT INFORMATION ON THE WEB SITE
- WEB SITE IS QUICK TO DOWNLOAD
- IMAGING ON THE WEB SITE IS ATTRACTIVE
- CONCLUDING SUMMARY
- RECOMMENDATIONS
The third part of the questionnaire focuses on how the respondents rate the Technikon website in general. H3: There is no difference between the means of the respondents rating the website. There is no difference between the means of the respondents who rate the website as sufficient information for application than those students who do not rate it.
H7: There is no difference in the mean of the respondents rating the website. It will also determine which races and genders use the website the most. The results of the t-test show that there is a statistically significant difference between the respondents who are aware of Technikon's website than those who are not.
The t-test results show that there is a statistically significant difference between respondents who visited the Technikon website and those who did. Frequency counts show that the majority of respondents agree that websites are attractive. The frequency count shows that most respondents agree that the website is easy to use.
Results of the t-test show that there is a statistically significant difference between the respondents who find the Web. Results of the t-test show that there is a statistically significant difference between the respondents who rate the website as average. Some of the respondents rated the site as average, with some students actually rating it as.
There is a high awareness of the Technikon's website, but not enough visits by potential students.
A and Bitner M J (2000). Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the
