If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.*Related content and download information correct at time of download. Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of behavioural attitudes towards the most popular social medium in the world, Facebook, amongst Millennials in South Africa (SA), and to determine whether various usage and demographic variables have an impact on intentionto-purchase and purchase perceptions. Design/methodology/approach -Quantitative research was conducted by means of a survey among a sample of over 3,500 respondents via self-administered structured questionnaires in SA. A generalised linear model was used to analyse the data.Findings -The results confirm that advertising on Facebook has a positive influence on the behavioural attitudes (intention-to-purchase and purchase) of Millennials who reside in SA. The usage characteristics, log on duration and profile update incidence, as well as the demographic influence of ethnic orientation also resulted in more favourable perceptions of Facebook advertising.Research limitations/implications -Research on Facebook advertising was only conducted in SA, whereas other emerging countries warrant further investigation to establish if they share the slight positive sentiment towards intention-to-purchase and purchase. This inquiry only provides a "snap shot" of behavioural attitudes, usage and demographic factors towards social media advertising, whereas future research could consider the development of cognitive, affective and behavioural attitudes towards Facebook advertising by employing longitudinal and qualitative research designs. Practical implications -Organisations and managers should consider that their existing Facebook advertising strategies may only have a limited effect on intention-to-purchase and purchase in SA. However, certain usage characteristics, namely the more time spent logged on to Facebook and the greater frequency of profile update incidence, as well as the demographic variable, namely black and coloured Millennials, resulted in more favourable behavioural attitudes towards Facebook advertising.Hence, organisations and managers should be prepared to alter or adapt their Facebook advertising tactics accordingly when targ...

The continued growth for both smartphone usage and mobile applications (apps) innovations has resulted in businesses realizing the potential of this growth in usage. Hence, the study investigates the antecedents of customer satisfaction due the usage of mobile commerce (m-commerce) applications (MCA) by Millennial consumers in South Africa. The conceptual model antecedents were derived from the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The research made use of self-administered questionnaires to take a cross section of Millennial MCA users in South Africa. The sample comprised of nearly 5500 respondents and the data was analyzed via structural equation and generalized linear modeling. The results revealed that trust, social influence, and innovativeness positively influenced perceived usefulness; perceived enjoyment, mobility, and involvement positively influenced perceived ease of use; and perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were positive antecedents of customer satisfaction. Several usage and demographic characteristics were also found to have a positive effect on customer satisfaction. It is important for businesses to improve customer experience and satisfaction via MCA to facilitate a positive satisfaction and social influence among young technologically savvy consumers.

Social media has irrevocably transformed the manner in which society communicates and has altered perceptions and attitudes. The proliferation of Facebook usage has connected consumers to each other, to marketers and to brands in a manner that is as inventive, and has altered the world as we know it. However, research on Facebook is still in its infancy in an emerging country such as South Africa. Generation Y is a significant consumer group and, consequently, their attitudes towards social media advertising are of significant importance to marketers. This has triggered the question whether the largest social medium's marketing communications effectively reaches young adults in South Africa, and what influence it has on their cognitive attitudes, which leads to their buying behavior. The results suggest that Facebook advertising has a favorable effect on the awareness and knowledge hierarchy-of-effects model levels amongst Generation Y in South Africa. The research is beneficial to marketers who intend to make use of this powerful conduit to target this vacillating cohort.

YouTube (YT) is the largest online video digital channel with more than 2 billion users, and over a billion hours of YT videos are viewed every day, particularly among young consumers. YT has become a massive marketing communication platform, which serves as a medium to target the lucrative Generation Z cohort (first born in the late 1990s), and influence this generation’s infamously unpredictable purchase decision process. The main aim of this paper was to consider the effect of YouTube marketing communication (YMC) on the traditional and non-traditional attitudinal associations of response hierarchy models. A multi-stage sample technique was used and 3750 high school and college learners (aged 13–18 years old) were surveyed via self-administered questionnaires in South Africa. Structural equation modelling was utilised to consider the hypothesised attitudinal associations. The research determined that YMC had a positive influence on the hypothesised attitudinal associations, and young consumers who used YT for fewer years, logged on more frequently, spent shorter time periods on the platform, viewed higher numbers of commercials, aged 13–14 years old, and from the White population group exhibited the most positive attitudinal responses. Hence, organisations should review their strategies in order to develop more sustainable YMC owing to the heterogeneity evident among young African consumers.