Posted: 2022 | Pages: 93 | Format: MS Word | Chapters: 1-5 | Others: Questionnaires & References

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ABSTRACT

Real estate industry is an information driven and information intensive industry with market intermediaries.  The real practitioners in Enugu property market is not operating at par with their colleagues in terms of the usage of online marketing in the disposal of real estate. The aim of the study is to analyze the effect of online marketing on real estate disposal in Enugu property market. To achieve the aim of the study, four objectives were pursued namely: to ascertain how often the real estate firms in Enugu make use of online marketing in the disposal of real estate, to determine the categories of online marketing platforms that are used by the estate firms in Enugu, to determine the effectiveness of online marketing on real estate disposal in Enugu and to ascertain the strategies that can be adopted to ensure quick disposal of real estate through online marketing. Four research questions and a null hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a survey research design. Estate firms in Enugu, Enugu Surveyors and values in Enugu and REDAN members (Enugu branch) formed the population of study. The estimated population of respondents is 235 while a sample size of 186 was chosen using Taro Yamane formula while stratified random sampling technique was adopted. A total number of 148 questionnaires representing 79.57% of the sample were recovered and subsequently presented in frequency tables while percentages, bar chart and pie chart were used to analyze and answer the research questions. The null hypothesis was tested using the One-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance). The value from the calculation; Pvalue(0.000) is less than the significance level(0.05). This showed that there is significant effect of online marketing on real estate disposal in Enugu property market. Findings of the study revealed that real estate firms in Enugu use online marketing mainly for advertisement, reaching potential clients, creating awareness and providing information. Furthermore, the study recommends that in order to join a digital world and the global market, it is important for real estate firms in Enugu to galvanize on the different online platforms and incorporate same in their real estate dealings so as to reach out to more clients even outside the jurisdiction of Enugu metropolis.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0    INTRODUCTION

• Background of the Study

Our society is a complex structure of people and institution that interact in a multitude of ways. The social and technological revolutions that alter this structure are no less complex. Long ago, we had the ice age and Neoloithic age or period. We later moved into the Agriculture age and the Renaissance period. In the recent time, the social and technological application through online marketing has moved the society into yet another age that has brought a far reaching change in human history especially in real estate disposal.

The disposal of real estate (i.e. sales or letting) is usually information-driven. Where information is inadequate, real estate transaction could become unsuccessful since the players rely on information provided before engaging in private investigation or search during sale (Babatunde,2016). In a quest to increase real estate disposal, the need for real estate promotion have risen, this started few decades ago years after the introduction of the internet.

The internet was originally created because of war; it had its origin in the cold war between Russia and America during the 1960’s. Its concern was about sustaining communication among US Air force during the war, hence it was viewed as an information super high-way which served as a telecommunication that connects the globe. By this, a worldwide network that uses common communication protocol TCI/ IP (Transmission control protocol) was installed (Brucholtz, 2015).

Nwanekezile (2019), opined that internet marketing otherwise known as online marketing is the hallmarks of benefits derivable from the internet. The importance of online marketing to business operations in various industries specifically the real estate industry inspired the creation of websites and online platforms in Nigeria such as Realtor.com (National Association of Realtors Official Website), Homeseekers.com, jiji.ng and property.net. The use of online marketing appears to be changing the way information is released and business is conducted in the real estate industry. It provides visitors of the various websites and online platforms with a wide range of information including data on recent property sales and prices of comparables (Baen and Guttery, 2013).

Consequently, the adoption of the internet for real estate transactions began with property websites where property information was published and enabling real estate firms to have links to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and Linkedin on their websites. These firms disseminate information on properties for sale and to let on their social media platforms for the view and perusal of prospective clients (Ayodele,Babajide and Oluwatofuni, 2015).

However, it is observed that real estate practitioners or firms in Nigeria are still in the dark as to the contemporary innovations and relevance of online marketing on real estate disposal in global property marketing scheme. Parallel lack of emphasis on training and education to meet the demands of the new commercial environment is prevalent. There is a negligent attendance to the benefit of the function of online marketing on real estate disposal. The level of online marketing on real estate disposal awareness amongst real estate professionals in Nigeria is quite low (Kannan, 2018). Also, a recent review of teaching curriculum amongst higher institutions offering estate management in Nigeria including Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) minimum standards for environmental sciences reveal that although ICT course on online marketing are provided for, it is in the form of general introduction on an awareness level. With the widespread use and dependence on online marketing globally, mere knowledge on an awareness level is not sustainable as professionals are unable to apply the skill in practice in meaningful way.

In Nigeria today, we are all witnesses to the on-going revolution in various industries and the change from the use of traditional practice methods less than a decade ago to digital/ online practice methods. The question to ask regarding real estate profession in Nigeria specifically in Enugu is how we have fared and what our current online marketing literacy level and utilization as a profession. Are we taking the lead in the built industry in the area of disposal or are we lagging behind in taking advantage of this laudable innovation.