The Effect of Digital Marketing on Service Delivery Enhancement: The Case of Ethiopian Airlines Group
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Date
2024-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
In today's business world it has seen a significant shift in the global economic paradigm as digital marketing has succeeded traditional marketing. Digital marketing has become a major marketing engine in the last decade since it has reached every household. The usage of digital marketing, including search engine optimization, email marketing, content marketing, affiliate marketing, and social media marketing, is growing along with the rapid advancement of technology. This study's objective was to determine the impact of Digital Marketing on Service Delivery Enhancement and provides insight into the impacts of digitalized marketing on the service delivery enhancement taking the case of Ethiopian Airlines Group based on a 320-questionnaire distributed to passengers arriving, transferring and departing to and from Addis Ababa Bole international terminal. Convenient sampling technique was employed and the collected data were analyzed using percentage, mean-scores, and standard deviation, correlation and regression analyses. The result of the study indicates that the digital marketing dimensions: Social Media marketing shows a positive relationship with service delivery enhancement at (r=0.605, p<0.01) and in case of content marketing shows a positive correlation with service delivery enhancement (r=0.290, p<0.01). The other dimension email marketing also shows a strong positive correlation with service delivery enhancement (r=0.606, p<0.01). The dimension search engine optimization shows also a positive correlation with service delivery enhancement (r=0.402, p<0.01) and the dimension affiliate marketing shows a moderate positive correlation with service delivery enhancement (r=0.331, p<0.01). There is obvious gap between passengers' expectations and their assessment of the quality of the services rendered by Ethiopian Airlines Group and the quality of airline service delivery significantly and favorably affects airline customer satisfaction. Additionally, the outcomes demonstrated that every factor influencing digital marketing improved the airlines' ability to provide services in a favorable and meaningful way. In addition, the results demonstrated that content marketing, affiliate marketing and email marketing were the most important factor influencing the airlines’ service delivery quality improvement followed by search engine optimization and social media marketing respectively. In conclusion digital marketing strategies simplify customer service by offering alternative transactions through digital platforms, reducing wait times and line waiting, and increasing comfort through online check-in and baggage services and the results of the study can be used by the airline, regulators, and policymakers to evaluate the impact of digital marketing on enhancing quality of service delivery. The recommendations can help airlines enhance their digital marketing strategies, staying updated with emerging trends to maintain relevance, engage with customers, and provide unique experiences in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. It is anticipated that the findings of this research could serve as a foundational resource for the creation of digital marketing strategies for airlines.
Key Words: Ethiopian Airlines Group, Digital Marketing, Service delivery enhancement.