Samsung Electronics entered the mobile device market on the back of their successes in other markets for electronic devices. The mobile device space in South Africa was dominated by Nokia and Blackberry and in a short space of time Samsung stormed into a tie for the top spot alongside Blackberry with a market share of 23%. In 2013 Samsung’s market share dropped 5%, moving down to 18%, placing them second to Blackberry as they entered 2014. Samsung’s IMC strategy for their mobile devices has been consistent and well-thought throughout the years. The influence of WOM suggests a greater need for Samsung to determine the effectiveness of WOM as part of their IMC strategy for mobile devices in South Africa. It is important for Samsung to understand how WOM shapes South African consumer purchasing decisions, what causes WOM, and what types of marketing are available to drive WOM for their mobile devices in South Africa. This study therefore attempts to investigate WOM as advertising tool in an IMC campaign, with a focus on Samsung and the South African market for mobile devices.
The research indicates that 94% of South African consumers trust WOM from family and friends more than any other form of advertising. This statistic clearly indicates that South African consumers trust WOM from family and friends more than any other form of advertising. It can be deduced that if 87% of consumers actively seek WOM when purchasing a mobile device, and 94% of consumers trust WOM, then WOM is indeed powerful. In conclusion, it is clear that for Samsung, WOM is effective as part of an IMC strategy for its mobile devices in South Africa.
• Africantelecomsnews.com, (2014). South Africa: Major African Mobile Markets: Future Growth Prospects. [online] [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].
• AGP & Associates, Inc., 2014. IMC Mix. [image] [Accessed Apr. 2014].
• Arndt, J., 1967. Word of mouth advertising: A review of the literature. 1st ed. New York: Advertising Research Foundation.
• Bansal, H. and Voyer, P., 2000. Word-of-Mouth Processes within a Services Purchase Decision Context. Journal of Service Research [Accessed Feb. 2014].
• Belch, G. and Belch, M., 2014. Advertising and promotion. 10th ed. Ontario: McGraw-Hill, p.41.
• Bughin, J., Doogan, J. and Vetvik, O., 2010. A new way to measure word-of-mouth marketing. [online] Mckinsey.com. [Accessed Apr. 2014].
• Buttle, F., 2008. Word of mouth: understanding and managing referral marketing. Journal of Strategic Marketing, [online] 6(3), p.242 [Accessed Feb. 2014].
• Buyer behaviour - The decision-making process. 2012. [online] Tutor2u.net. [Accessed Jan. 2014].
• Chui, M., Manyika, J., Dobbs, R., Roxburgh, C., Sarazzin, H., Sands, G. and Westergren, M., 2012. The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies. [Accessed Apr. 2014].
• Communication Theory, 2013. Shannon-Weaver model of communication. [image] [Accessed Jan. 2014].
• Granovetter, M., 2003. The strength of weak ties. American journal of sociology, 78(6), p.
• Hutton, J., 2011. Mobile Phones Dominate in South Africa. [online] Nielsen.com. [Accessed Apr. 2014].
• Information Search - Boundless Open Textbook. 2014. [online] Boundless. [Accessed 16 Feb. 2014].
• Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). 2014. [online] [Accessed Mar. 2014].
• Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communications - Boundless Open Textbook. 2014. [online] [Accessed Feb. 2014].
• Kirby, J. and Marsden, P., 2006. Connected marketing. 1st ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G., 2014. Principles of marketing. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson, p.88.
• Lange, P., 2014. South Africa - Mobile Market - Overview, Statistics and Forecasts - BuddeComm - BuddeComm. [Accessed Apr. 2014].
• Levy, K., 2012. Consumer Decision Making and Word of Mouth Communication. Masters. University of Waterloo.
• Lurie, I. and More, R., 2011. Conversation Marketing: A definition. [online] Portent. [Accessed 3 Apr. 2014].
• Naeem, B., Bilal, M. and Naz, U., 2013. Integrated Marketing Communication: A Review Paper. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, [online] 5(5), pp.122-133. [Accessed Feb. 2014].
• Nidiganti, S., 2012. The Role of IMC in the Marketing Process. [Blog] Marketing Communique. [Accessed Jan. 2014].
• Nielsen: Earned Advertising Remains Most Credible Among Consumers; Trust in Owned Advertising on the Rise. 2013. [Accessed 12 Apr. 2014].
• Samsung Galaxy SII- Promotion. 2011. [online] NorthVista [Accessed 11 Jan. 2014].
• Schiffman, L. and Kanuk, L., 2007. Consumer behavior. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
• Schultz, D., 2003. Integrated marketing communications: Maybe definition is in the point of view. Marketing News, [online] 27(2), p.17 [Accessed Jan. 2014].
• Sernovitz, A., 2012. Word of mouth marketing. 1st ed. Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group Press.
• Silverman, G., 2011. The secrets of word-of-mouth marketing. 1st ed. New York: AMACOM.
• Social Networks - Boundless Open Textbook. 2014. [online] [Accessed 9 Jan. 2014].
• Solomon, M., 2002. Consumer behavior. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
• South Africa Demographics Profile 2013. 2013. [online] [Accessed 10 Apr. 2014].
• Statistics South Africa, 2012. General household survey. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa, pp.35-36.
• The Growing Importance of Word of Mouth - Boundless Open Textbook. 2012. [online] Boundless. [Accessed Feb. 2014].
• trnd: WOM makes traditional media more effective. 2014. [online] [Accessed 8 Jan. 2014].
• Two Step Flow Theory. 2014. [online] Utwente.nl. [Accessed Mar. 2014].
• Vermeulen, J., 2013. BlackBerry overtakes Samsung in SA: research. [online] Mybroadband.co.za. [Accessed Mar. 2014].
• Villanueva, J., Yoo, S. and Hanssens, D., 2008. The impact of marketing-induced versus word-of-mouth customer acquisition on customer equity growth. Journal of marketing Research, [online] 45(1), pp.48-59. [Accessed Mar. 2014].
• Welcome to WOMMAPEDIA. 2014. [online] Wommapedia.org. Available at: [Accessed 1 Feb. 2014].
• What is integrated marketing communications (IMC)? definition and meaning. 2014. [online] BusinessDictionary.com. [Accessed Mar. 2014].
• Word of Mouth Around the World. 2010. [Blog] The Keller Fay Group. [Accessed Mar. 2014].
• Word-of-mouth the most powerful seeling tool: Nielsen Global Survey. 2007. [Accessed Jan. 2014].
Copyright: © 2014 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
