SOCIO-ECONOMIC UTILITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN NIGERIA FROM 2011- 2022

ABSTRACT

The crux of this research was to examined the impact of social media adoption on the socio-economic utility of social media in Nigeria. The findings reveal a strong statistical relationship between social media adoption and SMEs performance. The results show that using social media for marketing and communication, information search, customer relations, building brand awareness and equity, competition and improve validates findings from previous studies on social media adoption. Therefore, for better financial and nonfinancial performance, SMEs owners and managers need to adopt social media as a strategic tool for marketing and related business activities. The study proves that social media is a potential instrument to strategically assist SMEs in creating better brand awareness and build equity, create and sustain good customer relationship, cut cost of marketing and advertising and increase market share and sales. Relatively, there are a lot of studies on social media adoption, but this study is one of the few that examines the impact of the adoption on SMEs performance and especially in the context of Nigeria, thereby contributing to the body of literature on social media adoption. The study can be replicated on other part of Nigeria to further validate the impact of social media adoption on SMEs performance. The study also captures how social media were demonstrated to be a veritable tool for economic growth in the selected states. This confirms with existing literature and upholds the technological determinism theory. In this study, social media technology was 74 found to be significant in determining the business models of entrepreneurs in Southern Nigeria. Social networks were also found to be sources of business assets; information; getting customers and suppliers which can ensure sustainable economic growth.