Marketing Management participates in SAIMS Conference 2025

The University of Pretoria’s Department of Marketing Management was proudly represented at the SAIMS Conference 2025, held from 14 to 17 September at Sun City. The conference, hosted by North-West University, was well-attended by scholars from various universities and management disciplines.

Prof Tania Maree and Dr Mafanedza Makumbi delivered presentations showcasing their latest research contributions. Their participation reflects the Department’s ongoing commitment to advancing scholarly thought leadership and addressing contemporary marketing challenges.

Dr Makumbi presented a work-in-progress study on the social media branding of dark tourism destinations. The study examines how user-generated content influences tourists’ brand perceptions and attitudes toward a dark tourist site undergoing rebranding and moving beyond its historical associations with tragedy.

Prof Maree’s presentation was also a work in progress. It focused on the topic of advertising creativity and its influence on ad effectiveness. The study featured a humorous ad from Nando’s. She reported that the study results show that ad creativity has a significant influence on several measures of ad effectiveness, including word-of-mouth, attitudes towards the ad, purchase intent, and ad sharing intent. These findings underscore the importance of creative, humorous ads for eliciting favourable outcomes. During the conference, Prof Maree also acted in her capacity as a board member of SAIMS.

The conference provided an opportunity to enhance the Department’s visibility and also offered a chance for networking, collaboration, and peer knowledge exchange with leading marketing scholars.

Prof Tania Maree and Dr Mafanedza Makumbi