Effect of Digital Marketing on Competitiveness of Automobile Companies in Kenya

Introduction
In the research article “Effect of Digital Marketing on Competitiveness of Automobile Companies in Kenya” by Eva Nkatha Kigunda, the objective was to assess how digital marketing strategies affected the competitiveness of automobile companies in Kenya. The digital marketing strategies included in the study are search engine marketing (SEM), email marketing, social media marketing (SMM), and online advertising. The study population was staff working in the marketing departments of major motor vehicle dealers in Kenya, and a sample of 101 (30% of the population) was included in the study (Kigunda 2017). Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires and inferential and descriptive statistics used for data analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. The study findings are that while automobile dealers in Kenya have significantly invested in digital marketing, there return on investment (ROI) is still insignificant. Digital marketing strategies are mainly used in maintaining the current customer pool for the dealers. The research article is a standard-structured paper that included a literature review under chapter two, pages 8-25. In this paper, a critique of the literature review will be done.
1. Have a topic, aim, and scope of the literature been identified?
The literature review chapter begins with an introduction section that links the chapter to chapter one, which contains the topic, aim, and scope of the study. The scope of the study is the Kenyan automobile industry and the researcher conducted review in Nairobi, and the neighboring towns of Rongai, Athi River, Kiambu, and Thika. The study focused on social media marketing, search engine marketing, and email marketing. This notwithstanding, the author has included some of the crucial research questions in the literature review introduction section. For a reader who is only interested in the literature review chapter and thus, doesn’t do through chapter one, it is possible to understand what the paper seeks to achieve from the introduction section of the literature review chapter. The author has included the inquiries that are to be covered in the literature review, which h include; how email marketing affects competitiveness in the Kenyan automobile industry, How online advertising affects competitiveness of automobile dealers in Kenya, how SEM affects competitiveness of automobile dealers in Kenya, and how social media marketing affects competitiveness of automobile companies in Kenya. Even though these are the by extension the research questions of the entire study, having then in the introduction section of the literature review chapter plays a crucial role in bringing the reader on board and serves as an indication of what to be expected from the literature review (Galvan and Galvan 2017).
2. Is there a clear indication of why the materials are included in the review?
The literature review section has referenced a total of seventy-eight materials. These materials are all cover broad and diverse topics, but so does the literature review section. In furthering and broadening the topic of how digital marketing strategies affect competitiveness in the Kenyan automobile industry, several sub-topics are covered in the literature to not only clear up the primary topic but also make the reader understand how the various parts of the topic are connected. For instance, the author has sought to clear up the connection between digital marketing and competitiveness of the Kenyan automobile industry by including a section on how digital marketing improves company/dealer ranking in the digital space, as seen in the search engine results page. This ranking is important as studies have shown that customers will only click on the first three links on the search engine results page (Kigunda 2017). The diverse sub-topics covered in the literature review, therefore, warrant the inclusion of the various materials covered in the review.
It is also noteworthy that, all except one of the materials included in the literature review are only as old as 2010. Given the research was done in 2017, it means that all the materials except the study by Evan (2007), are only eight years old. Based on the quality of information contained in the materials, it is argued that it is very much up to date. This argument is however made with full acknowledgment of the fact that, in the digital sphere, strategies and methods can change significantly within a year. This notwithstanding, given the nature of the article’s subject, it would be considered that ten years are a safe buffer on the quality of the information included (Machi and McEvoy 2016; Wong 2016). The only article that falls past 2010 also falls within the ten years bracket that is allowed for age of materials in a standard study.
It is however noted that, even though the current study focused on the region of Kenya, only one of the studies by Kimani (2012) covers the region. All the other studies even though relevant to the study subject, did not cover the Kenyan or similar regions. It will be understood that the Kenyan industry falls in a developing second-class lower economy. Based on this perspective, the metric and operations of digital marketing might be different from those of developed economies. However, it will also be noted that studies on digital media marketing as a general concept have not been popular in Kenyan academia and thus, the current study might be among the first.
3. How has the context of the topic within the research area been established and does it embrace cultural and technological change ahead?
To contextualize the research topic, the author has in the literature review chapter sought to put into perspective how digital marketing influences the market and competitiveness. To achieve this, the author has discussed how online marketing affects competition, organizational image, and ranking of the company website on the search engine results page. More directly, the author has discussed how online marketing influences customer attraction and satisfaction, product accessibility, and the place of email advertising to increase awareness among potential buyers and previous customers on knowledge of new products. In addition, the author has discussed the benefits of online marketing include affordability and reach and the return on investment. In addition, digital marketing improves interaction with customer on a more one-on-one level as compared to the traditional methods of advertising. Lastly, the author looks at how digital advertising influences decision-making for potential automobile customers.
It is disappointingly noted that the literature review doesn’t connect the research topic to the culture and technology of the study location. As earlier noted, Kenya is a developing second-class lower economy and even though the adoption of digital technology is very high, with regard to online marketing, it is not widespread as to each the masses. This is evident because even the author writes that digital marketing is not very effective and it has to be married with traditional marketing strategies (Kigunda 2017, p.67). more importantly, the culture of the Kenyan people greatly affects their shopping behavior and eventually their decision to buy. As a result, even though digital marketing might be effective in creating awareness and reaching the masses, it might not result in actual conversion to sales. This is because most Kenyans, especially when purchasing automobile rely on word of mouth or by visiting the dealers shop physically. To this effect, it is argued that the literature review falls short.
4. Have key resources and landmark studies been included in the review? (requires assessments of citation analysis on Google Scholar or other databases.)
As previously stated, the current study has cited 78 materials in the literature review section. With regard to the entire topic of the effect of digital marketing on competitiveness of automobile companies in Kenya, it is argued that there is not an established authority on the subject. This because of the nature of the topic and the study location, which would be considered an emerging market in terms of online marketing. As a result, the author uses resources that address specific subjects of the study e.g. effect of digital marketing on competitiveness. with respect to use of authority materials in the area, it can only be argued that the author uses materials that are relevant to the study subject. Given the newness of the subject of digital marketing, there are no specific identifiable authority research materials. That notwithstanding, yes, the author has used some authority references, for example, Kaplan & Haenlein (2010). More importantly, all the articles referenced in the reviews have been peer-reviewed.
5. How has the relationship between theory and empirical research been addressed and the main methodologies been identified?
The purpose of any research is to test and established the practical relevance of theory in the form of a hypothesis or research question. In the standard research, the author uses a theoretical framework to connect the research with the theory. In the current study, the author does not have a theoretical framework to contextualize the empirical research. This is considered significant issue is the reader is left without a framework of how to interpret the findings of the research. A theoretical framework is vital for research as it provides a structure to hold and support a theory within a research study. Theoretical framework introduces and describes the theory as any assumptions that are attached to the research problem (Ngulube, Mathipa and Gumbo 2015). In this study, the inclusion of a theoretical framework would be useful in contextualizing the research findings.
Even though the current study doesn’t have a theoretical framework, it can be established that the relevant reference materials have been cited so as to further the subject of the study. This has been down in a systematic manner to establish how digital marketing might influence competitiveness and how it influences competitiveness. to do this, the author has cited findings of previous studies to promote the argument that digital advertisement does influence a product in the market and therefore, its competitiveness, or lack there off.
6. How has existing research been synthesized to open up a new perspective?
Among the various roles of literature in a research paper is to establish the rationale for the study by showing that there exists a gap in the literature, which therefore necessitates the current study. In this study, it has been established that, even though significance of the study is provided in chapter one of the study, the literature review does not argue for a gap in the literature. Looking at the literature material included, it is obvious that, so far as this study is concerned, there is no previous research that has been conducted on the current topic in Kenya. However, the author doesn’t expressly state this is the literature review section of the article. The existing research included in the study has been synthesized to connect digital marketing and its influence on marketing. However, the literature review in this research article doesn’t open up any new perspectives.
Conclusion
The literature review chapter begins with an introduction section that links the chapter to chapter one, which contains the topic, aim, and scope of the study. The literature review section has referenced a total of seventy-eight materials. These materials are all cover broad and diverse topics, but so does the literature review section. It is also noteworthy that, all except one of the materials included in the literature review are only as old as 2010. It is however noted that, even though the current study focused on the region of Kenya, only one of the studies covers the region. It is disappointingly noted that the literature review doesn’t connect the research topic to the culture and technology of the study location. With regard to the entire topic of the effect of digital marketing on competitiveness of automobile companies in Kenya, it is argued that there is not an established authority on the subject. In the current study, the author does not have a theoretical framework to contextualize the empirical research. In this study, it has been established that, even though significance of the study is provided in chapter one of the study, the literature review does not argue for a gap in the literature.
References
Evans, M.P., 2007. Analysing Google rankings through search engine optimization data. Internet research, 17(1), pp.21-37.
Galvan, J.L. and Galvan, M.C., 2017. Writing literature reviews: A guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences. Routledge.
Kaplan, A.M. and Haenlein, M., 2010. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business horizons, 53(1), pp.59-68.
Kigunda, E. N. 2017. Effect of Digital Marketing on Competitiveness of Automobile Companies in Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, United States International University-Africa).
Kimani, B., 2012. When social media does the marketing. Management magazine, (36-37).
Machi, L.A. and McEvoy, B.T., 2016. The literature review: Six steps to success. Corwin Press.
Ngulube, P., Mathipa, E.R. and Gumbo, M.T., 2015. Theoretical and conceptual frameworks in the social and management sciences. Addressing research challenges: Making headway in developing researchers, pp.43-66.
Wong, L.L.C., 2016. Challenges and expectations: Preparing postgraduate students to write literature reviews. In International Conference of the Spanish Association of Applied Linguistics (AESLA), 2016. University of Alicante.