Exploring the Use of TikTok Social Media Marketing: A Case of Motor Vehicle Dealerships

Social media platforms have changed how organizations communicate with customers and potential customers in many sectors of the economy. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of TikTok as a social media digital marketing platform for motor vehicle dealerships. Complexity theory is adopted in the study to address the purpose of the study. A qualitative research method was used to collect the primary data in Tshwane, South Africa. A content analysis method was used to analyse the primary data collected during in-depth interviews with salespersons at motor vehicle dealerships with the aid of ATLAS.ti version 8. The findings of the study uncovered that motor vehicle retailers had indeed adopted TikTok for marketing of services and sharing of information on new vehicle arrivals, special offers and dealership locations. In addition, the findings revealed that motor vehicle dealerships did not have measurement metrics to determine the impact of their use of TikTok as a marketing platform. Recommendations to stakeholders and on future studies are made in this paper.