Influence of Ethical Marketing Practices on Brand Perception of Selected Online Stores in Nairobi City County

Abstract

Online stores have increasingly been under scrutiny by the members of the society in the recent times. To this end, most of them are making conscious efforts to include ethical practices within their marketing operations. In other words, businesses are increasingly getting concerned about the company’s brand perception. Kiluva (2006) observed a successful sale relies on judgment of buyers of a business’ reputation. Their ethical practices go a long way in building consumers’ and other stakeholder experiences with the brand. A 2018 research conducted by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) in conjunction with Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) revealed that 27% of businesses in Kenya now sell their products online. Nevertheless, the potential of ecommerce remains huge and will see many more businesses join the bandwagon. To date, it has attracted multinational companies like Alibaba Group Holdings Limited, Jumia, Avechi, Kilimall, and Africa Sokoni among many others. In addition to the multinationals, we also have locally owned online stores like Masoko by Safaricom, Cheki, BidorBuy, and Vitu Mob amongst many others. Nevertheless, the online stores in Kenya are struggling to win customer trust as many have had prior bad experiences relating to ethical marketing practices which have been shared through word of mouth and on social media platforms. To this end, the study sought to investigate the influence ethical marketing practices on brand perception of selected online stores in Nairobi City County. The study was based on cross sectional descriptive survey design and data was collected through online questionnaires. The study found that ethical marketing practices influence brand perception of the selected online stores in Nairobi City County. When it comes to ethical marketing practices, the study concluded that the ethical marketing practices among the selected online stores in Nairobi City County are average. In regards to the brand perception, it concluded that the brand perception of the online stores in Nairobi City County is positive. The study recommends further research to be done on influence of ethical marketing on performance of online stores in Kenya.