INFLUENCE OF ONLINE MARKETING ON YOUTH EMPOWERMENT IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

The work empirically examined the significant influence of online marketing on youth empowerment in Local Government Areas in Rivers State, Nigeria. The objective of the study was to examine how online marketing influences measures of youth empowerment in terms of job creation, financial independence and youth restiveness reduction. The cross-sectional exploratory survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of nine hundred (900) accessible young people within the ages of eighteen (18) and forty (40) years who are presently engaged in online marketing activities such as affiliate marketing, social media adverts, foreign currency trading in the headquarters of nine (9) local government areas of Rivers State. The Krejcie and Morgan Sample Size Determination Table of 1970 was used to arrive at a sample size of two hundred and sixty nine (269) respondents. Bowley’s (1960) Population Appropriation Formula was used in determining the sample size for each of the nine (9) selected local government areas. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain primary data after due validation, and ascertaining the reliability of the instrument at 0.74 using Crombach alpha. SPSS Version 20.0 was used to run the analysis. Spearman’s Rank Order was used for the Bivariate analysis. Out of two hundred and sixty-nine (269) copies of the validated questionnaire that were administered, the researcher was able to retrieve two hundred and forty (240) copies. The findings of the study revealed that online marketing has a strong positive influence on job creation of youths in Local Government Areas in Rivers State, Nigeria; online marketing has a strong positive influence on financial independence of youths in Local Government Areas in Rivers State, Nigeria, and; online marketing has a very strong positive influence on youth restiveness reduction in Local Government Areas in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study concluded that online marketing positively influences youth empowerment in Local Government Areas in Rivers State. The study recommended among other things that youths should specifically take huge advantage of social media platforms to engage customers and potential customers of their products and services, as this will help them widen their niche and gradually gain financial independence.