Digital marketing communications and consumer patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods: a study of selected small enterprises in FCT-Abuja

Abstract

It is quite worrying that the consumption of locally made products has reduced among the people of FCT, Abuja, even after the Nigerian government embarked on the production of the whole value chain and indigenous entrepreneurship has been on the rise. Marketing strategies are so far the main suspects in an inefficacy to influence the increase in local consumption. In this respect, the work examined the effect of digital marketing communications on consumer patronage of Made, in, Nigeria goods, with a fine focus on two dimensions: social media marketing and content marketing. It was a cross, sectional survey, and its two major research questions asked how many people use social media in FCT, Abuja as a means of communication and get product information through social media first than any other channels. The study population consisted of the customers of the 7 selected small enterprises operating in FCT, Abuja namely House of Farrah, Style Temple, DZYN Fashion House MitiMeth HandmadeNg, Petals & More, and Amal Tech Limited. Cochrans (1977) formula was used to calculate the sample size of 461 respondents. A 20% margin of safety was considered in the calculation. A multi-stage sampling technique facilitated proportional representation across the enterprises, while primary data were collected through structured questionnaires. Reliability was confirmed via Cronbach’s alpha (α ≥ 0.79) and validity through expert-reviewed content assessment. Data were analysed using regression analysis with SPSS v27. Findings revealed that social media marketing significantly influenced consumers’ purchase intention, while content marketing significantly affected actual purchase behaviour. The study concluded that digital marketing communications are critical drivers of consumer patronage of Made-in-Nigeria goods and recommended that small enterprises enhance social media engagement and develop high-quality content strategies to stimulate both purchase intention and behaviour.