Digital Marketing and Reported Consumer Purchasing Behaviour at MTN Rwanda

Obed Byimana and Gitahi Njenga
Mount Kenya University
Email: obedy068@gmail.com

Abstract: Digital marketing can generate favourable engagement without demonstrating equivalent purchasing responses. This study examined the associations of social media, email and content marketing with reported consumer purchasing behaviour at MTN Rwanda in Kigali. The Stimulus Organism Response framework and Theory of Planned Behaviour guided interpretation. A cross-sectional survey with supplementary staff interview accounts drew on a documented organisational frame of 138 individuals. Of 103 planned questionnaires, 95 were returned (92.2%). Five-point agreement scales yielded reported Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of .821–.938 for the focal marketing constructs and .846 for purchasing behaviour. SPSS analysis used descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations and the original regression, which also adjusted for influencer marketing. Social media showed the strongest bivariate association (r = .703, p < .001) and adjusted coefficient (β = .680, p < .001). Email was not significantly associated at the bivariate level (r = .158, p = .125), but its adjusted coefficient was significant (β = .177, p = .010). Content marketing showed positive bivariate (r = .272, p = .008) and adjusted associations (β = .142, p = .043). The complete four-predictor model explained 60.2% of reported score variation. Findings support evaluating interactive social media, targeted email and useful content through channel-specific conversion measures. However, the employee-based frame, overlapping self-report measures and cross-sectional design limit inference to general customers and preclude causal conclusions. The study recommends customer-based replication and transaction-linked campaign evaluation.