Browsing by Author "Madinga, Nkosivile"

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    Open Access
    Evaluating the influence of corporate social responsibility on brand reputation in the mining industry: a case study of Exxaro's Grootegeluk mine
    (2021) Mashego, Sendra Dimakatso; Madinga, Nkosivile; Chigada, Joel
    Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now playing an imperative role in South Africa and globally, especially in the mining sector. This industry is expected to make profits while contributing towards a better society. Despite the industry‘s significant contribution to the economy, it also has a negative impact socially and environmentally. Over the past decades the mining sector has been seen as not mindful of its immediate stakeholders. Communities in close proximity to mines do not trust mining companies due to perceptions that mining companies fail to consider the environment within which they operate. Communities are often left with the impression that mines have simply degraded the environment without contributing to sustainable local development such as such as poverty, health, infrastructure, education and unemployment. The reputation of mining companies thus has declined, resulting in economic losses. Mining companies still interpret CSR as an environmental stewardship rather than a model for improving alignment with its stakeholders, as well as enhancing and building brand reputation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of CSR on the mining industry's brand reputation. The study links the CSR efforts of Exxaro‘s Grootegeluk Mine and their ability to enhance the mine‘s reputation in areas of operation. Exxaro is among the top five coal producers in South Africa. The Grootegeluk Coal Mine is an open cast coal mine in Lephalale, Limpopo. A quantitative research methodology was applied using a face to face structured self-administered questionnaire to collect primary data from a sample of 330 participants. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted with a view to condense the sample composition. The non-probability sampling was deemed appropriate for this study, particularly, the simple random sampling. Regression analysis was deemed suitable to for this study. The collected data was analysed using SPSS version 26.0. Research results have shown that CSR has a favourable association with brand reputation. The study found that community members are more aware of the mine‘s economic responsibility in relation to other dimensions of CSR. This finding implies that the community is more in-tune with aspects that have a direct bearing on their livelihood and are more inclined to seek opportunities and initiatives that improve their overall standard of living. Overall, the findings show that organisations that invest in socially responsible behaviour have higher levels of perceived reputation among the society. Philanthropic initiatives should be developed with the involvement of community members to ensure that their real needs will be determined. Poorly developed community projects do not benefit the mine or the community. The mines should look into sourcing the majority of its staff from the local community. In addition, mining organizations should look into aggressively training local community members who do not possess the required skills necessary for employment within the mining sector. Furthermore, communities should be made aware of all CSR initiatives which are relevant to them through community engagement initiatives because this action will lead to attitude and behaviour changes towards the mine. Previous studies have focused mainly on how CSR initiatives contribute to brand value, customer satisfaction, brand attitude, customer retention, and customer loyalty, and on the relationship between CSR and organization performance. This study highlights the importance of CSR measures on organizational reputation and advises policymakers, the mining industry and scholars.
  • Thumbnail Image
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    Open Access
    Evaluating the influence of corporate social responsibility on brand reputation in the mining industry: a case study of Exxaro's Grootegeluk mine
    (2021) Mashego, Sendra Dimakatso; Madinga, Nkosivile; Chigada, Joel
    Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now playing an imperative role in South Africa and globally, especially in the mining sector. This industry is expected to make profits while contributing towards a better society. Despite the industry‘s significant contribution to the economy, it also has a negative impact socially and environmentally. Over the past decades the mining sector has been seen as not mindful of its immediate stakeholders. Communities in close proximity to mines do not trust mining companies due to perceptions that mining companies fail to consider the environment within which they operate. Communities are often left with the impression that mines have simply degraded the environment without contributing to sustainable local development such as such as poverty, health, infrastructure, education and unemployment. The reputation of mining companies thus has declined, resulting in economic losses. Mining companies still interpret CSR as an environmental stewardship rather than a model for improving alignment with its stakeholders, as well as enhancing and building brand reputation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of CSR on the mining industry's brand reputation. The study links the CSR efforts of Exxaro‘s Grootegeluk Mine and their ability to enhance the mine‘s reputation in areas of operation. Exxaro is among the top five coal producers in South Africa. The Grootegeluk Coal Mine is an open cast coal mine in Lephalale, Limpopo. A quantitative research methodology was applied using a face to face structured self-administered questionnaire to collect primary data from a sample of 330 participants. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted with a view to condense the sample composition. The non-probability sampling was deemed appropriate for this study, particularly, the simple random sampling. Regression analysis was deemed suitable to for this study. The collected data was analysed using SPSS version 26.0. Research results have shown that CSR has a favourable association with brand reputation. The study found that community members are more aware of the mine‘s economic responsibility in relation to other dimensions of CSR. This finding implies that the community is more in-tune with aspects that have a direct bearing on their livelihood and are more inclined to seek opportunities and initiatives that improve their overall standard of living. Overall, the findings show that organisations that invest in socially responsible behaviour have higher levels of perceived reputation among the society. Philanthropic initiatives should be developed with the involvement of community members to ensure that their real needs will be determined. Poorly developed community projects do not benefit the mine or the community. The mines should look into sourcing the majority of its staff from the local community. In addition, mining organizations should look into aggressively training local community members who do not possess the required skills necessary for employment within the mining sector. Furthermore, communities should be made aware of all CSR initiatives which are relevant to them through community engagement initiatives because this action will lead to attitude and behaviour changes towards the mine. Previous studies have focused mainly on how CSR initiatives contribute to brand value, customer satisfaction, brand attitude, customer retention, and customer loyalty, and on the relationship between CSR and organization performance. This study highlights the importance of CSR measures on organizational reputation and advises policymakers, the mining industry and scholars.
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    Open Access
    Millennials' Attitudes Towards Organic Personal Care Products in South Africa: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour
    (2020) Lupindo, Mongezi; Madinga, Nkosivile
    The organic products market has grown worldwide in recent years. Increasing demand for products that are less harmful to the environment and health is one of the factors driving this phenomenon. Consumers are becoming more conscious than ever before about the environmental effects of the products they consume. Specifically, millennials have become environmentally responsible consumers. Although earlier studies have provided insights into factors influencing attitudes towards organic products in various contexts, there is limited research into organic products in the South African context, specifically research focusing on organic personal care products among millennials. Millennials are influential consumers who are environmentally conscious and digitally savvy. Recently, social media has gained increased attention for its ability to amplify environmental concerns and promote sustainable behaviour among young people. As a result, understanding how young consumers develop their purchasing behaviours towards organic personal care products is necessary. Therefore, this study investigated millennials' attitudes towards environmental issues and health consciousness, and the effects of their attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioural controls on their willingness to pay for organic personal care products. The study followed a descriptive, quantitative research design using an online selfadministered survey. A non-probability virtual snowball sample of 433 Facebook users, aged between 18 and 25 years who live in South Africa, was followed. Out of the 433 questionnaires that were collected, 377 were included for analysis. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results reveal that South African millennials' environmental concern and health consciousness had a significantly positive influence on their attitudes towards organic personal care products. The results also showed that attitude towards organic personal care products had a significant positive effect on subjective norms, and attitude was the strongest significant predictor of willingness to pay for organic personal care products. The results provide marketers with insights into how millennials ' attitude and willingness to buy organic personal care products can be influenced. Specifically, marketers should develop marketing strategies that incorporate environmental concerns, health awareness, and social influence to increase customer willingness to pay for organic personal care products. The findings also help policymakers understand the level of customer concern about the environment and their health, develop effective environmental policies necessary to achieve sustainability, and boost green purchasing through legislation. In addition, policymakers should be more constructive to promote ecologically conscious consumer behaviour. Collaborating with the private sector in various campaigns would help to enhance consumers' attitudes regarding the environmental concern.
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    The impact of advertising controllable elements on consumers' attitude towards the advertisement, brand and purchase intention
    (2021) Arshad, Suhaila; Madinga, Nkosivile
    Downstream fuel retailing among the major players in South Africa is highly competitive, and further compounded by the emergence of new players and changing customer orientation under the current price regulation environment. Marketing of fuel by way of expanding geographical coverage and the distribution network is no longer sustainable. Advertising benefits fuel companies by communicating their value proposition for brand differentiation, swaying consumer perception of fuel as a low involvement commodity with no difference in quality, and ultimately influencing their attitudes and behaviour. Fuel companies can take advantage of the advertising elements that have direct bearing – and are within their control – to make impactful advertisements to attract customers. Thus, this study investigates the influence of advertising controllable elements – namely, source and message – on attitude towards the advertisement, as well as attitude towards the brand and subsequently on purchase intention. A sample of 201 respondents was selected using convenience sampling method. The data was collected using an online self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. The relationship between the independent and the dependent variables was then examined using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 26.0. The study findings established that attitude towards the advertisement is positively and significantly influenced by source credibility, source likeability and emotional message. Rational message has a positive impact on attitude towards the advertisement, albeit insignificant. Meanwhile, only source credibility and rational message have positive significant effects on attitude towards the brand. The impact of source likeability on brand attitude although positive, is not significant. Contrariwise, emotional message has neither influence nor significant effect on attitude towards the brand. Moreover, the study findings showed that while attitude towards the advertisement positively influences brand attitude, it does not influence purchase intention. The purchase intention for fuel is nonetheless influenced by attitude towards the brand. This study offers useful insights that can be used to create an impactful fuel advertisement, leveraging on source attributes and message appeals to influence consumers' attitudinal as well as behavioural intention.