Entrepreneurs’ characteristics and marketing communication practices of SMEs in South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the entrepreneurs’ characteristics and marketing communication practices of SMEs South Africa. This study adopted the quantitative research design with a descriptive research method. Data was collected through the use of self-administered questionnaires in a survey. Descriptive statistics, T-test, and ANOVA were used to analyse data. The Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure reliability. The results revealed that some marketing communication tools indicate that there is no significant difference in the marketing communication tools adopted by SMEs on the basis of gender, educational qualifications, age of the SME owner and the knowledge of internet technology. In addition, some marketing communication tools indicated that there is a significant difference in the marketing communication tools adopted by SMEs on the basis of the aforementioned entrepreneurs’ characteristics.

Keywords: marketing communication, small and medium enterprises, entrepreneurs’ characteristics, South Africa