Advances in Economics and Business Vol. 5(12), pp. 683 - 698
DOI: 10.13189/aeb.2017.051204
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Corporate Social Responsibility as a Positioning Strategy: Evidence from the Ghanaian Telecommunication Industry

Nathaniel Newman ^*
University of Ghana Business School, Ghana

ABSTRACT

Purpose - The telecommunication industry in Ghana has seen a lot of growth over the last decade and with up to six telecommunications companies operating in Ghana currently, there is very little to choose between any two brands. In an overly communicated sector such as the telecom sector, CSR as a positioning strategy seems to be a better way to differentiate one's offering from the rest. With customers more concerned about organisations social responsibility activities and with the telecommunications companies investing huge sums of money in to CSR activities it is imperative to find out if the telecom companies employ CSR (image and ethos) as a positioning strategy. Design/methodology/approach - The study used a sample of students from the University of Ghana who are customers of the telecommunication companies. The study adopted a non-probability quantitative survey using questionnaires. Findings - The key findings of the study were that, respondents were of the view that, the network providers were adopting image and ethos as a positioning strategy, only two strategies positioning competition and image and ethos strategy were adopted and the dominant positioning strategy was competition. Research limitations/implications - Future studies be carried out in other jurisdictions to affirm the validity of the results. Also a longitudinal study with respect to the positioning strategies of firms should be carried out to ascertain the changing trends that can impact and affect the positioning strategy of the firm. Originality/value - It is the first of its kind to be carried out in Ghana in the area of CSR as a positioning strategy and will be of interest to academics and practitioners in both CSR and positioning.

KEYWORDS
Corporate Social Responsibility, Positioning, Strategy, Telecommunication

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Nathaniel Newman , "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Positioning Strategy: Evidence from the Ghanaian Telecommunication Industry," Advances in Economics and Business, Vol. 5, No. 12, pp. 683 - 698, 2017. DOI: 10.13189/aeb.2017.051204.

(b). APA Format:
Nathaniel Newman (2017). Corporate Social Responsibility as a Positioning Strategy: Evidence from the Ghanaian Telecommunication Industry. Advances in Economics and Business, 5(12), 683 - 698. DOI: 10.13189/aeb.2017.051204.