Influence of Integrated Marketing Communications Tools on Adoption of Telecommunications Innovations

The importance of integrated marketing communications (IMC) in organizations and institutions is paramount as it facilitates coordination and control of activities, builds teamwork and creates a supportive attitude in organizations. The problem that generated this research project is that there is underutilization of the mobile money services in Bujumbura. And this may be a consequence of an ineffective communication which is being done to promote that innovation. The main purpose of this research project was to determine the influence of IMC tools on adoption of telecommunication innovations with the special focus on the influence of interactive communication on the adoption of mobile money services among women. Stratified sampling technique was used to draw a sample size of 133 respondents from a target population of 800 business women in Bujumbura City Market, and 13 communication practitioners from Econet Wireless, in Burundi. Data were collected using a closed ended questionnaire and an interview guide and analyzed using a computer based software named Statistical Package for social Sciences (SPSS) for both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results were presented in form of frequency tables, graphs and correlation matrix. The findings of the current research will have far reaching implications in terms of informing the communication practitioners on the misses affecting the adoption of telecommunication innovations.