The adoption of social media marketing in South African banks

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine social media adoption models and social media implementation models being used by South African banks when adopting social media marketing. Challenges and opportunities faced are addressed in the paper.Design/methodology/approach: In‐depth interviews were conducted with key informants, which were comprised of five South African social media experts and 28 managements within the banking sector.Findings: Social media is still at its infancy level in South Africa. The ACCESS model and the OASIS model are the most commonly used implementation models in South African banks. Further to that, findings indicate that Facebook and Twitter are the main tools used by banks and they are used for reactive customer service and advertising. Legal and regulatory issues were identified as obstacles to the adoption of social media. All respondents agreed on the need to integrate social media with traditional media. This might be because South African customers are consumers of both the new and traditional media.Research limitations/implications: The research was limited to South African banks and focused on Facebook, Twitter, MXit, YouTube and Blogs.Originality/value: The research adds theoretical knowledge on social media adoption models, thus giving a foundation on how other industries can effectively implement social media marketing.