Impact of Digital Marketing on Brand Awareness: Evidence from the Fast Food Industry

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of digital marketing tools on brand awareness of the fast-food industry in the Jaffna District. Digital marketing tools, such as social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and search engine advertisement are used as variables to examine the impact of these tools on brand awareness of the fast-food industry. The fast-food industry is growing with the development of cutting-edge technology. Studies on how digital marketing tools assist the fast-food industry to build brand awareness among customers are scarce. Although there are a few studies available on the domains, those had not comprehensively studied the impact of digital marketing on brand awareness. Available studies focused on different contexts and various sectors. Therefore, the need for studying digital marketing's impact on brand awareness in the fast-food industry in Jaffna District has urged the researcher to engage in the current study. The data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected from the people who consume fast food in the Jaffna District through a Google form questionnaire distributed through social media to test the study hypothesis. The sample size is 208. The collected data were assessed using SPSS. The study allows the fast-food industry managers, policymakers, app developers, and government bodies to incorporate the results in their strategy making, policy making, and decision making. This study proposes a comprehensive framework for enhancing brand awareness in fast-food industries through digital marketing techniques. The results show that digital marketing tools significantly improve brand awareness. Digital marketing tools, such as search engine optimization, content marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing, improve brand awareness in the fast food industry in the Jaffna district. This study is limited to Jaffna District with limited variables. Thus, similar research can be replicated in upcoming studies in various fields. This study aims to assist the fast-food industry to formulate its marketing strategies and develop promotional plans.