Literature Review on Thesis Entitleda Critical Assessment of Social Media as a New Marketing Communication Media in the Financial Sector in Zimbabwe

: This article reviews related literature to the first author‟s current study entitled “A Critical Assessment of Social Media as a New Marketing Communication Media in the Financial Sector in Zimbabwe.”The whole essence of this paper is to present literature review onanassessment of social media as a new marketing communication media in the financial sector in Zimbabwe. In order to gain understanding of social media as a new marketing communication media, the researchers review a range of domestic and international literature sources. The review touches on -a brief history of social media. It goes on to look at the available literature on the forms of social media, as a new marketing communication media as well as its impact and functions as a new communication media. Thereview further deals with the challenges and opportunities on usage of social media as a new marketing communication media and finally, a deeper understanding of social media‟s future potential implications and future lessons about this new phenomenon. While the literature identifies the darker side of social media, overwhelming evidence in the review literature points to the need for financial institutions to embrace social media as a new marketing communication tool. The review identifies a gap in that most of the studies on social media usage base on individual views and most of these studies come from developed economies and tend to concentrate much on large financial institutions. Not many studies have examined the actual impact of social media as a new communication tool on performance of the financial sector in Zimbabwe. The review fills this gap