Author(s): Eustache Tanzala Kikasu, Eunice B. Akindeji, Yunus G. Doba
This paper intends to analyze the influence of digital marketing on consumers’ buying behaviour in the post-Covid-19 era in South Africa. It focuses on questioning the effects of digital marketing on wholesalers, and retailers’ businesses, as well as consumers’ buying behaviour in the post-Covid-19 pandemic era. Traditional marketing, which mostly relies on getting direct contact with the target audience and makes use of newspapers, direct sales, live promotions, door-to-door, and so on, was practically irrelevant during the Covid-19 pandemic. The usage of digital marketing became more imperative, as many socio-economic activities were influenced by government measures and restrictions that required and forced people to work at home to reduce interactions between people in many social gatherings. The pandemic has become a driving force in the usage of digital marketing for promoting and selling products or services using the Internet. Covid-19 has influenced and increased the practice of digital marketing during the lockdown period.
Therefore, wholesalers and retailers have found an occasion to turn to digital marketing (originally known as electronic marketing or internet marketing) to keep and maintain the business running as little as they could, in an attempt to avoid a total shutdown of the business operating system. As currently, wholesalers and retailers have fully resumed using traditional marketing (getting direct contact with the target audience, making use of newspapers, direct sales, live promotions, TV, Radio, door-to-door, and so on), this paper aims to explore, review and analyze works of literature on the competing influence digital marketing could have on consumers’ buying behaviour in the post-covid-19 era in South Africa. It seems to be essential to analyze and understand the competing usage of both traditional and digital marketing influence on consumers’ buying behaviour in the post-Covid-19 era.