Synthesis of Energy Development of Sustainable Policy for Integrated Marketing Communications Based on Consumer Behaviour in The Global South: A Case Study of Nigeria

Abstract

Our research focuses on the Synthesis for Energy Development of Sustainable Policy for Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) based on Consumer Behaviour (CB) in the Global South (GS): A Case Study of Nigeria. The knowledge and the need of sustainable energy is evolving globally and so is evidence of increase consumption as long as the energy is available and affordable to the citizens. It has been positioned that Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) should adopt a step-by-step approach to understand consumer behaviour when making an argument for sustainable energy. It has further been established that when structuring environmental values in sustainability debate, it is paramount to apply IMC to spread awareness. There exists laxity on issues such as consumer willingness, awareness, buying decision, knowledge gap, environmental benefits, costing (operation, installation and maintenance) of alternative energy products. This paper argues for the need for adopting the established five phases comprising of “behaviour selection, user orientation, communication, elements of intervention and measurement of behavioural changes”. Given the dynamics of Consumer Behaviour (CB) in the selection of energy products and the awareness created by IMC, the paper proposes the use of both positivism (deductive) and interpretivism (inductive) as a research philosophy while recognising the limitations imposed by data collection and reliability in the Global South (GS). This paper builds on the inadequacy and inability of the hitherto existing CB theories to adequately explain what drives consumer decision process to buy a product or service, by offering the practiced and tested 4Ps of marketing (that is Product, Price, Place, and Promotion). The discussion in the paper argues that the economic development of Nigeria’s future depends on the long-term availability of affordable, open and harmless energy for the ecosystem, and that security, climate change and general well-being are closely related to the underpinning energy policy. It further argues for the need for sustainable energy policy in electricity generation capacity, grid connection, electricity transmission, while highlighting the limited range of alternative energy generation. The paper concludes that alternative energy, energy efficiency, asset analysis and valuations are prerequisite to determine the energy potential of Nigeria in her pursuit for sustainable development under the right policy regime. Finally, the paper recommends the promotion and awareness of alternative energies and energy efficiency leveraging on global partnerships for finance and creative alliance. Given the differences in cultural, economic and lifestyle of over 200 million Nigerians, future work will include collection of exhaustive primary data using a survey questionnaire and analytical tools i