| dc.description.abstract | Previous research reveals an increase in the use of
the social media in business, but not much
has been done, from the customer’s perspective, on
the success of the use of these social
networks in customer relations. This research aimed
at establishing whether the use of social
media (Facebook and Twitter) by Safaricom has been
effective in the management of its
relationship with the customer when compared to the
conventional means of managing
customer relations. Success in the use of the socia
l media customer relations was examined
from a client perspective through their own attitud
es and opinions related to the response
time to their communications. The findings from the
study will be useful in informing the
organizations and others in the service industry on
the impact of their use of the social
customer relations strategy. The theoretical framew
ork that was used in the research is the
Uses and Gratifications Theory. The researcher used
a mixed method research design
collecting both quantitative and qualitative data.
Quantitative data were collected using
questionnaires which were distributed to 200 partic
ipants, purposively sampled from the
population of Nairobi. Qualitative data were collec
ted from a virtual ethnography where the
researcher engaged in a study through the Internet
to find out the response time and opinions
of the users on the Internet. A sample of 20 users
was selected from the Internet using
purposive sampling, for the virtual ethnographic st
udy. The data from the two methods was
analyzed, using descriptive statistics for quantita
tive data and content analysis of the
qualitative data. Findings from the analysis led to
the conclusion that the use of social media
in customer relations was more effective as it has
reduced response time, compared to use of
conventional models such as telephone communication
s, like the traditional 100 line. The
researcher therefore, recommends that business orga
nizations use the social media
applications to communicate with their consumers bu
t should seek to reduce the response
time | en_US |
