Benefits and Challenges to the Adoption of Modern Technologies for Real Estate Marketing in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Historically, some industries have lagged behind others in adopting technological improvements. Real estate is one of such industries. Even as technology affects the world around them, many real estate professionals continue to market or manage properties the same way they did in the past (Barillas, 2020). Hence, there is a need to savvy how informed they are about modern technology options that can boost their productivity, and why they have not leveraged these options. Therefore, this research examined the benefits and challenges of marketing real estate utilising selected modern technologies in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria. Eight-two questionnaires were administered on the Estate Surveyors and Valuers (ESVs) in the study area and 76 (93%) were returned and found useful. The data was analysed with the use of percentages, mean and relative importance index. The findings show that majority of the ESVs are aware of digital marketing (90%), big data (89%), virtual reality (82%), artificial intelligence (79%), drone technology (79%) and blockchain technology (68%) as a medium for marketing real estate. The study also revealed that the most commonly used technology for marketing real estate is digital marketing (e.g. email, WhatsApp, Telegram e.t.c). The findings further show their perception of the benefits of adopting these technologies as reduction in manual labour (RII=0.903) and efficient communication between clients and real estate agents (RII=0.903), amongst others. Finally, the ESVs have not adopted most of the modern technologies because of resistance to adoption of modern technologies (mean=4.68) and lack of up-to-date and relevant property information (mean=4.51). The study concluded that there is a need for the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) and the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) to provide opportunities for ESVs to be enlightened, educated and trained on the various technologies for real estate marketing.