Online social media usage of car dealerships in Gauteng Province, South Africa

The concept of social media is top of the agenda for many organizations today. Decision makers, as well as marketers, try to identify ways in which organizations can make profitable use of social media platforms. The adoption of social media in marketing communication campaigns to carry the marketing communication message to the target audiences remains a challenge to organizations in the motor industry. The purpose of this paper was to establish an understanding of the online social media tools used by car dealerships in their marketing communication strategies and campaigns. In achieving the purpose of this paper, a qualitative research approach using semi-structured in-depth interviews with marketing personnel of different car dealerships in Gauteng province, South Africa was followed. In this paper, a qualitative content analysis was used to analyze primary data using Atlas ti version 10 computer software. The findings of this paper revealed that the use of social media platforms by car dealerships varied in terms of message content. Recommendations to stakeholders in the motor industry and future research directions are provided.

Keywords: social media, marketing communications, communication channels, consumer-to-consumer communications, car dealerships.
JEL Classification: M31, M37