SOCIAL MEDIA: A TOOL FOR SUCCESSFUL OPERATION OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES (SMEs) IN THE 21ST CENTURY NIGERIA.
Abstract
The study assessed the use of social media as a tool for successful operation of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the 21st century Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population consisted of 2512 small and medium scale enterprise and a sample size of 251 managers (made up 166 small and 85 medium scale managers) was taken. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts. The reliability of the instrument was ensured using pilot test technique. Data collected were analyzed using Cronbach Alpha formula which yielded reliability co-efficient of 0.88. Data related to the research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while the z-test analysis was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings arising from the study revealed that the use of social media as a tool in customer relationship management by SMEs and in the innovativeness of SMEs in Anambra State, Nigeria were rated to a high extent. Findings also indicated that managers did not differ significantly in their mean responses regarding the use of social media as a tool in customer relationship management and in the innovativeness of SMEs. It was recommended among others that managers of SMEs should endeavour to learn and adopt social network in order to fit into the business world at large since the world is becoming a global village.
Keywords: Social media, social media tools and small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).
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