Social Media and Brand Equity:Reality for Small to Medium Enterprises in Zimbabwe Tourism Industry

The evolution of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has been appreciated as a means to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in the 21^st century. Many developed countries including Zimbabwe have engaged in this bandwagon. The main reason being to create employment and eradicating poverty along with closing other colonial gaps in macro resources ownership. The Zimbabwe’s tourism sector has witnessed a positive reaction to this paradigm to an extent that SMEs have increased visibility in the accommodation, travel and resort sectors. Branding is still accepted as a game for the giants by many SMEs. The study investigated the effects of social media in branding Zimbabwe’s SMEs operating in the accommodation, travel and holiday resorts. The main aim was to see how social media could fit in SMEs branding as a survival strategy to overcome the increasing global tourism competition. The findings from the study showed that the majority of SMEs did not appreciate the supremacy of social media in improving brand awareness, image, perceived quality, loyalty and association. The study recommended a model integrating social media and brand equity variables as a strategy for SMEs’ survival.