Database marketing practices and opportunities in a newly emerging African market

In this paper, qualitative research is conducted to gain insight into the current application and potential of database marketing in a newly emerging African economy, Tanzania. It is found that database marketing applications in Tanzania are currently limited, but that there is potential. The most promising industries are banking, insurance firms and the mobile phone sector. However, the development of database marketing in Tanzania may be hindered by lack of suitable data warehouses, lack of statistical knowledge, and insufficient knowledge on the application of client data and statistical output for marketing applications. The paper discusses the implications for Western firms. © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan.