Impact of social media marketing on entrepreneurial orientation and economic sustainability of architectural firms in Nigeria

Abstract

The concept that architecture is not market driven profession, as stated in the Architect's Code of Conduct on the advertisement and marketing of professional services, is a misconception in today's reality. Given how competitive the design and construction sectors are, planning and implementing strategic marketing in an architectural business is becoming increasingly unavoidable. The use of social media marketing (SMM) as an entrepreneurial marketing technique has increased in recent years, resulting in multitudinous economic benefits for both customers/clients and firms. Despite this situation, there is competitive economic pressure on organizations' survival, and there is little research on the impact of social media marketing on architectural firms' entrepreneurial orientation and economic sustainability. However, the study aimed to close a research gap in Nigeria's competitive economic environment. The study employed a quantitative research approach and structural equation modelling (SEM) used for the inference analysis which focused causal relationship between the variables. The data was collected from the architects in Nigeria's registered architectural firms through a purposive sample technique and a structured questionnaire. The research findings confirmed that social media marketing predict the entrepreneurial orientation and economic sustainability of architectural businesses in Nigeria. The outcome of this research influence educational curriculum development and the realignment of the professional code of conduct on advertising and marketing to reflect contemporary practice.