Attracting and retaining profitable customers to new and unfamiliar products and services is one of the challenges that the banking fraternity is faced with today. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the important factors that influence attitude in the Islamic banking. Probability sampling was used and 250 questionnaires were distributed among participants based at a local university in Johannesburg. The results revealed that there is a positive relationship between product awareness, social norms, community influence and attitude towards Islamic banking. Also, the results indicated that most of the respondents were not aware of the Islamic banking. The bank practitioners and marketers were, therefore, recommended to take a focused approach on creating awareness of the Islamic banking. Marketers can target community leaders or opinion leaders in order to shed light on Islamic banking to the rest of their community.

This paper presents the findings of a study on the factors that affect SMMEs ability to adopt E-commerce conducted in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis in order to ensure reliability and generalisability of the results. Qualitative data was first subjected to thematic analysis and content analysis to turn it to enumerative data. Eventually all the quantitative data was coded into SPSS for graphs and descriptive statistics. According to the findings the most significant e-business adoption variables in the province are security, prestige, government support, vision and the need to service niche markets.

Media reports on the effects of climate change on Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa has increased over the past decade. The amount of loss in terms of assets and infrastructure suffered by SMEs is disturbing. Yet insurance providers are not eager to insure SMEs and prefer to deal larger organisations. An empirical study of 203 SMEs was done, structured questionnaires were administered to SME owners. Data was analysed and the results illustrated factors such as the reliability of an insurer, staff knowledge and brand name of the insurer have a great impact on the decision made by SMEs to build a relationship with insurance providers. The respondents, who had been approached by an insurance broker and received training, had a business relationship with an insurance provider. This helps to reach the conclusion that any form of interaction between SMEs and insurance providers helps to facilitate a business relationship.

Facebook has become the main platform for young adults to sustain their social presence as well as expand their social networks. The impact of social media on youth decision-making has attracted much attention in research and academia. The research setting was at University of Fort Hare, a university located in South Africa. Before and during a student representative council (SRC) election at the university, the six student parties contesting for the leadership office utilised Facebook in communicating and marketing their campaign messages to fellow students. This research therefore empirically investigated how Facebook influenced university students’ intention to vote and elect an SRC for the institution. The survey methodology was adopted in collecting data and non-probability sampling, a form of convenience sampling was utilised in selection of suitable participants for the study. A total of 381 students participated in the study responding to questions examining potential drivers of selection of a particular student representative party (SRP). A conceptual model was developed with Facebook constructs that included “medium credibility of Facebook”, “peer communication on Facebook” and “user trust of Facebook” among other factors that influence students’ choice of an (SRP). The main findings established that identification with peers was observed as having the most significant impact on youths’ intention to vote for student representatives. Message credibility was found to have weak impact on student’s intention to vote for a particular (SRC) candidate. Implications emerged from the findings and further research suggestions were provided.

Rebranding has become a very important strategic tool for companies wanting to succeed in this evercompetitive business world using the principles of rebranding. Companies may occasionally discover that they may have to re-position the brand because customers change preferences and new competitors enter the market. Moreover, a strong brand enhances positive evaluations of a product's quality, maintains a high level of product awareness, and provides a consistent image or brand personality. To keep up with fierce competition, companies may seek to transform their business due to changing business directions or adding extra business units. The main purpose of this study was therefore, to investigate the influence of rebranding on brand equity and firm performance. This study was quantitative in nature. Data were collected from 372 respondents using anonymously completed questionnaires. Research scales were operationalised on the basis of previous work. Proper modifications were made in order to fit the research context and purpose. "Rebranding" measure used five-item scales; "Store Layout" used a five item scale measure; "Franchising" used three item measure, "Brand Equity"; " Perceived Quality ", "Brand Associations and Attributes" and "Firm Performance" all used a five item scale measure while "an customer experience " used a six item scale measure. All measurement items were measure on a five-point Likert-type scale that was anchored by 1=strongly agree to 5= strongly disagree to express degree of agreement. The seven posited hypotheses were empirically tested. The results supported three hypotheses in a significant way and rejected four hypotheses. Important to note about the study findings is the fact that rebranding has no effect on the firm's brand equity although brand equity has an influence on the firm's performance. Notably too, the relationship between customer experience and firm performance is robust. This finding indicates that brand equity can have a strong influence without the influence of rebranding. A major implication for this study is that rebranding is a risky operation that needs to be carefully managed.