Word-of-mouth and customers’ purchasing decisions: a case study of GOTV Ghana limited in the Cape Coast Metropolis

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to examine the role of word-of-mouth communication in the purchasing decision of customers of digital decoders or set boxes in Ghana using the customers of GoTV service providers of the Cape Coast Metropolis as a case study. The mixed method strategy was used to allow for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the issue. The structured questionnaire was the main tool for data collection. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the analysis. The inferential tools were non-parametric test such chi-square, Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The qualitative responses were analysis using content analysis based on four themes. The results indicated that both traditional face-to-face and the electronic word-of-mouth are actively used in the digital television market to share information about digital TV decoders in the study area. The outcome suggested that the face-to-face word-of-mouth dominates the electronic wordof- mouth in the market. It was further observed that word-of-mouth, both face-to-face and electronic, have positive effect on purchasing decisions of digital TV decoders in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Face-to-face communication had strong effects on purchasing decisions than electronic word-of-mouth in the study area. The study recommends that marketing department must encourage the customer service department to ensure good customer service since it is complementary to their work. Also, the technical team must improve upon the signal quality and also train more installers to ensure proper installations to generate positive word-of-mouth.