This study was carried out in order to examine the effect of digital marketing dimensions on customer patronage of fast food industries in Akwa Ibom State. The researchers adopted a survey research technique for this study. The population of the study was sixty-four (64) customers of registered fast food industries operating in Akwa Ibom State. A sample size of 361 customers were drawn from the population using quota sampling techniques from across the four major cities in Akwa Ibom State that visited the eateries during the period of data collection for the study. The digital marketing dimensions (independent variable) considered for this study were Social Media Marketing (SMM), Email Marketing (EM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The dependent variable was Customer Patronage. Using a 5 point Likert scale, the hypotheses stated were tested using simple linear regression model at a 5% level of significance. From the data analysis, the major findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between each of the three variables of digital marketing (social media, email marketing, search engine marketing) and customer patronage of fast food in Akwa Ibom state. The result of the first hypothesis shows that social media marketing influences customer patronage of fast food in Akwa Ibom State with a regression coefficient of 0.687. The result of the second hypothesis also reveals a regression coefficient of 0.694 which denotes that there is a strong positive relationship between email marketing and customer patronage in Akwa Ibom State. The third hypothesis reveals a regression coefficient of 0.688 which denotes that there is a strong positive relationship between search engine optimization and customer patronage of fast food in Akwa Ibom State. From the finding, it was concluded that digital marketing dimensions can increase customer patronage at any point in time. Based on the findings, it was recommended that marketing campaign should be emphasized on social media platforms since the age group in those platforms constitutes the people with interest in patronizing fast food product. Also, management should place adverts on popular search engines so as to go global. By doing this, vendors will be able to reach more customers, have steady link between the products and brands with their customers, enhance their sales volume and guide them on how to improve their products with reference to customers’ feedback, mitigate increased competition, and create avenue to access new markets.
Keywords: Digital Marketing, customer’s patronage, fast food industries
