Influence of social media strategies on organizational performance of commercial banks in Makueni County

Abstract

Over the last two decades, there has been a tremendous increase in the development and use of various social media tools in sharing of information, discussions of issues concerning the day-today life of the people. A review of previous studies on the use of social media tools has revealed its impact on the organizational performance of different institutions. However, there is very little that has been done in relation to the impact of social media tools on the organizational performance of commercial banks especially in the developing countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of social media strategies on organizational performance of Commercial banks in Makueni County. The specific objectives of this study included; to establish the effects of social media engagement, social media measurement, social media risk management and social media tools on the organizational performance of Commercial banks in Makueni County. The study was guided by the Social Network Theory and Uses amd Gratifications Theory (UGT). The researcher applied a descriptive research design. The sample size of this study was 103 permanent bank employees of the 13 of commercial banks identified in Makueni County. A questionnaire was used in the empirical investigation to gather the responses from the study participants. The quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics while the qualitative data were analyzed thematically according to the study objectives. Inferential statistics and multiple regressions were also used to determine the prediction factor of dependent variable caused by independent variables. There was a weak positive correlation between the social media engagement and organizational performance. However, the relationship was not significant. The findings on the second objective revealed a moderate negative correlation and a significant relationship between social media measurement and organizational performance. The findings on the third objective revealed a moderate negative correlation and a significant relationship between social media risk management and organizational performance. The findings of the fourth objective suggested a moderate positive correlation and a negative relationship between social media tools and the organizational performance. This study concluded that social media engagement, measurement and tools influence organizational performance of commercial banks in Makueni County positively while social media risk management influences it negatively. Social media tools have the highest influence on the organizational performance of commercial banks. The independent variables studied in this study were more responsible for the bigger proportion of the total change in the organizational performance of commercial banks. The study recommends that there is need for managers to design policies to improve the performance of commercial banks. The study recommends further research to develop more safe and secure ways of sharing information between the commercial banks and their clients.