ABSTRACT

The study determined the relationship between social media marketing elements and consumer patronage in universities in Benin City. The social media marketing elements examined include Facebook marketing, Twitter marketing, Instagram marketing, and Blog marketing.

A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consists of all students and staff of the University of Benin and Benson Idahosa University. A sample of one thousand (1000) respondents was taken out of which 867 respondents filled and returned the questionnaire. However, 812 copies of the questionnaire were validly filled and used for the data analysis. Data collected through questionnaire administration were analyzed using frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation, t-test, analysis of variance and multiple regression. All analyses were done using  Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 24.0) software.

The study found that social media marketing such as Facebook marketing, Twitter marketing, Instagram marketing, and Blog marketing have positive and significant impact on customer patronage as expected. It was also found that demographic characteristics (status, sex, marital status, age, educational qualification and monthly income) do not significantly influence customers patronage. The study, therefore, recommends that continuous efforts should be made by companies to ensure that contemporary security architecture is put in place in protecting their social media platforms from being hijacked by scammers that may want to mislead, exploit and swindle unsuspecting customers.