Impact of Social Media on Consumer Choices

This report discusses the impact of social media on consumer choices, including the positive and negative effects. It explores how social media advertising affects brand image and loyal customers. The report also provides an appropriate plan and procedures for researching the impact of social media on consumer choices, with reference to ASDA company.

Consumer behaviour

Table of Contents
1.1. Topics to be discussed in the report....................................................................................................3
1.2 Factors that contribute to the process of research project selection.....................................................4
1.3 Positive and negative factors of choosing the source of information about the topic..........................5
1.4 Brief entitled of social media affect consumer choices.......................................................................5
1.5 Appropriate plan and procedures for the research on social media affect consumer choices in
reference to ASDA company .....................................................................................................................7
2.1 what are there sources required to carry out your research and what is the relationship between
research resources’ and the ‘research question or hypothesis’?.......................................................7
2.2 Questionnaire ......................................................................................................................................8
2.3 Record the collected data from participants in the form of a frequency............................................10
table that shows the aggregation for each question.................................................................................10
Recommendation ...........................................................................................................................15
References ...............................................................................................................................................16

Introduction
Social media is the biggest digital market a company to advertise their product and services, it
has a big impact on customer choice as various companies and advertising their product so it is difficult
for a consumer to differentiate among various products. While using social media a company can
update regarding the arrival of new products in the market and it is easy for the company to generate
demand forecast for their product based on the customer review which they collect from comments on
web page and videos of their product s. This all is because of the advancement of the technology . In
today's scenario internet is easily accessible by every one and it is commonly used as a big platform
for digital marketing this causes a tough competition between companies and they switched to profit
through sales. Social media has both type of effects that is positive and negative on a consumer . This
research also tells us that what are the negative effects that a company has to face due to wrong
advertisement of their product on a social media platform.
1.1. Topics to be discussed in the report.
There is a huge impact on the choice of customers because of social media as social media is
one of the biggest online platform to promote various companies of the company . The main topics to
be discussed are
 Introduction consist of an overview about the topic . It include various elements such as
positive effect, negative effect , outcome and other elements of the report . This would also
include a brief introduction about what is social media .
 Means of advertising on social media will include the various means on which ASDA company
can advertise for their product on various social media cites and other social media applications
.
 Positive effect will include the positive factors that influence the customer choice in a positive
manner for the product. In this we will refers ASDA company as an example to relate with the
topic .
 Negative factors will include various negative factor on customer that effect their buying
behaviour. This would also include various point that give a negative impact on the customer's
choice and preferences
 Social media advertisement's impact on loyal customers will include the impact of promoting

products and service on social cites and application gives a positive or negative impact on loyal
customers.
 There would be a impact on brand name of the company for their promotions on wrong cites
which would be awkward for the user as well as loyal customer. Social media is a good
platform for the promotion of products as it is used by almost everyone but there is also a
negative impact of wrong promotion or wrong selection of platform to promote the product by
the company.
 Outcome will include the result of our research on social media affect on customer choice with
reference to ASDA organization. This would be a general outcome as this may differ according
to personal point of view of various customers consuming their product and services.
1.2 Factors that contribute to the process of research project selection.
Various factors that are responsible of the selection of the topic are
 Cost efficiency is one of the biggest factor for choosing this topic because before choosing any
means of advertisement an organization looks at the cost first which is dependent on the size of
the organization and cost of promotion on various social media platforms such as Facebook
which is one of the biggest platform to promote products and services . A company also looks
at the outcomes of promotion according to the customer's reach trough that media, in this we
would like to take an example of ASDA company by analysing the promotion schemes of the
company and it's result.
 Return on investment is very important for an organization . It include the amount or the
increase in market share of the company due to it's promotion on social media . There is a
sudden impact on the company's performance as almost everyone is connected trough digital
media and promoting wrong on digital media could decrease the brand image and and customer
attraction on the other hand promoting on these media could give a sudden increase to the
market share due to creating a good image in the customer mind. As almost everyone is
connected to the social media so everyone would be aware about the product in the market
which will attract to a large number of customer on a very short period of time .
 Customer awareness include various ways trough which a customer is aware about new
products which is launched by the company . There are various ways which is used by the
company to keep the customers updates about the launch of new product in the market, it's

arrival date in the market and cost of the product . Social media is considered to be the best
platform to promote their product in the market . Keep its customers update about the arrival of
new product, its launch date etc. in order to keep an eye on their potential customers.
1.3 Positive and negative factors of choosing the source of information about the topic.
There are two aspects for choosing the source of information about the topic which are
 Positive aspect includes the results which have a positive image or outcome about the source of
information. In this we have collected the source from the official website of ASDA company
which is an authentic source of information. The other source of information is primary data
collection by filling the questionnaire of various clients of the company which is also a good
source of information as being the customer of the company they have used the products and
services of the company so it would be easy for them to tell their feedback for company this is
the most authentic source of information even better then taking information from official
website of the company . These mediums are easy to collect as official data could be easily
collected from net and questionnaire could be filled by the customer which could be found near
the outlet . These sources are in relation to the topic of the research as company publish their
product in the market for the customers only . Use of digital media has increased the reach of
company as are easily accessible by a common person who have a net connection. Moreover
this topic is in general sense and almost every company has to advertise their product in the
market.
 Negative factor behind choosing this topic is that the data which would be collected in the
process can be fake or old data . The main reason is that while filling a questionnaire from an
unsatisfied customer they can easily give wrong details about the company . If the targeted
person is an employee of competitor then he/she also will give a negative feedback for the
company which will result in the wrong judgement of hypothesis of this report.(Mihart, C.,
2012)
1.4 Brief entitled of social media affect consumer choices.
In this report it is easy to find various impact on social media advertisement on
consumer which means that what effect does it give in the mind consumer which are :-
 Impact on brand image is huge because almost every person is connected to

the social media ASDA have a wide market reach by advertising their
product on various social media like Facebook, twitter, you tube, Instagram.
Which are the biggest online marketing platform . There are various ways
of marketing their product on each social media like while marketing their
product of Facebook company has to create its own page on that same in
Instagram and Twitter but in the case of you tube company has to create it's
advertisement and their page to market their product on it.
 Impact on return on investment means that digital market is spread all over
the globe so if a company has to market it's product beyond the boundaries
of the country then it is a great platform . In order to advertise their product
overseas ASDA has to design the advertising scheme according to the
customer's environment and it's tradition. Wrong advertisement would
create a bad image of the company and first impression is the last
impression so it would be very difficult for the company to change their
image all of a sudden it would take time and then also we can not be sure of
the acceptance of ASDA 's product .
 Impact on loyal customers will be good. Loyal customers are those
customers who buy the product of the company on regular basis . They do
not switch their brand on a easy note. By promoting the product online a
company can update their customer about the launch of new product in the
market , their specifications, cost etc. through which a company can
determine the upcoming demand of their product in the market and reviews
of customer about their product which is very important for the sale of the
product .

1.5 Appropriate plan and procedures for the research on social media affect
consumer choices in reference to ASDA company .
S no. Activities Time consumed in the process in days
1 introduction 1
2 Literature review 3
3 Data collection 5
4 Data analysis 1
5 conclusion 1
In this research we have plan to do the following research on the topics with
reference to ASDA a retail market company . In the introduction segment of our plan we
would give a little review about retail industry, then we would tell about the ASDA
company .(Cai, Y. and Shannon, R., 2012) This will also include the market share of the
company in retail industry and various marketing tools used by the company . Under
literature review segment we would collect information about various ways of social
marketing of the product their pros and cons .(Cai, Y. and Shannon, R., 2012) Then we
collect the media which is followed by ASDA to market their product. Data collection
process would include two process which are making of the questionnaire and then
asking customer to fill the questionnaire. Data analysis would include analysing the data
trough various process which would include graphical presentation of the data to prove
our hypothesis . In the last process of our research we would conclude by proving that
our hypothesis is correct by a given amount of percentage.(Mihart, C., 2012)
2.1 what are there sources required to carry out your research and what is the
relationship between research resources’ and the ‘research question or
hypothesis’?
There are various resources required to carry out the research on the topic which

are first information about various social media which allow various companies to
advertise their product on their website this would include all the social media
applications like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, you tube and various other applications
on which it is easy to advertise their product . Second is the process of advertisement
which would include various ways trough which a company can advertise their product
on these social media like on Facebook a company has to make it's webpage in order to
advertise their product and a blue colour symbol is also provided with the name of the
company which refers to authenticity of the webpage . You tube uses a different format
for the promotional purpose in this companies have a web profile on which company
upload a video advertisement about their product(Gifford, R. and Nilsson, A., 2014) . They
can upload as many videos as they want and depending upon the number of views
company will earn from you tube also. Research resource consists of that information
form where a researcher has collected their data. In this research data is collected from
two sources both primary and secondary for the primary data collection we have
produced a questionnaire and asked people to fill that and in secondary section data is
collected from internet and various other social websites. Research hypothesis is a
hypothetical question which a researcher has to answer. The main difference between
both is that for very research there is a hypothesis that has to be answered by the
researcher whereas research resource is the resource of collection of data in order to
prove the hypothesis.(Cai, Y. and Shannon, R., 2012)
2.2 Questionnaire
Q1) Which social media you use regularly?
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Instagram
 You tube

 All of the above
Q2) Approximate time spend on these?
 0-1 hour
 1-3 hour
 3-6 hour
 6-10 hours
 More than 10 hours .
Q3) In your opinion, can a person find information about new products on social media?
 Always
 Often
 Rarely
 Sometimes
 Never
Q4) Do you agree that searching about a product on social media is easier than other media like
newspaper?
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Neutral
 Disagree
 Strongly Disagree
Q5) How often you consult your friend before purchasing anything online?
 Sometimes
 Often
 Always
 Rarely
Q6) Do you search for a products on social media before purchasing it?

 Always
 Often
 Sometimes
 Rarely
2.3 Record the collected data from participants in the form of a
frequency
table that shows the aggregation for each question.
1)
With the help of this graph it is easy to determine that out of 30 people most of the person are
connected to Facebook and other social media as today Facebook is used by everyone . It has a huge
impact on digital marketing because almost all the companies would try to advertise their product
online so it would be difficult for a customer to decide what to purchase and from where ?
2)
1 2 3 4 5
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16

This image shows the average time spend by 30 person on the above social media and
according to the result a person spent almost 6 hour in average. Just because of extra usage of these
applications they have become a perfect platform for various companies to market their product on
them . Through this they could easily target a large number of customers at a same time . This may
incur huge cost but the return on investment in much more higher than the cost due to it's mass reach
and usage among people.
3) It is easy to determine that finding about a new product is much more easier than searching
anywhere else as a person can easily write and comment about the product which is read by every
person who will visit that page . Few negative comments are enough to make a person to switch to
other product or brand offering same thing but have a good feedback on their page or profile .
4) Almost more than 60% of the people believe that to search about a product on social
media is easier than searching on a newspaper and other media because of the
technology update it has become easy . In a newspaper you have to read each news to
1
2
3
4
5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

find about various products whereas on social media you have to just visit to the page
of the company for update.
5) According to this table most of the consumers consult their friends and other relative
before the purchase of any product or goods online regarding trust issues as well as
various other issues because a customer can not feel or touch product online they could
only be seen and a hypothetical judgement could be made regarding the quality of the
product.
6) This graph represents the number of guest that search about the product on social media
before purchase of the product . This is because before buying any product guest checks
for the feedback of other customers on behalf of the company as they force customer to
do feedback of the product.
3.1. Which evaluation type is more appropriate for the research?
Formative research looks at the group in which the agency is situated,and it helps the agencies
to understand the interests,attributes and the need of the people of that particular community or the

group. It can help understand the following things:
 to create programs which have to meet the need of the populations.
 Ensuring programs which are feasible to clients before launching.
 To improve relationship between clients and agencies.
It has to be an integral part of the development of program and it has to be used when the program is in
on-going to improve the activities. This formative research is used over the summative because it
provides a good base to understand the students learning. It helps the people to understand their
weaknesses and strengths that need work. It addresses the various problems and give them a proper
solution. Due to this the students and various persons who are doing this research will benefit and a
proper result and findings can be made out. These are out looking of the given task and are calculated
quickly and in time. It gives the research proposal and gives early feedback. The main points of a
lecture are specified rather than the whole theory is told.
3.2. Analyse the result and show them by using frequency and percentage calculations.
This graph shows that the average time spent by the 30 persons over social media is around 6 hours.
Now, it can be seen that this is a good amount of time spent on the social media. It means whatever
things or material that will come on the social media can be used and is known to large number of
people. So,companies nowadays can use this platform to generate revenues and make profits to the
company. This can be seen here. The main platform here is Facebook here and so things have to be
taken care of. Nowadays, digital marketing is into effect and can be used positively to reach the desired
goals. If proper marketing techniques will be used here then we will see that anything that bring sales is
of use and marketing can merely bring lots of sales and returns. Most of the time relatives and friends
use this type of platform. So,if any person who would like to purchase the product can find it out in his
1 2 3 4 5
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16

daily routine of surfing the social website and can be used respectively.
3.3 Make recommendations and justify the answer.
It can be seen that the social websites play a major role in today's area and time. It can be used as a
major tool in doing any sort of marketing and digital media. Social media is the big new platform for
any sort of marketing,new launch in the market and making a good image and being in the current use.
The next step here is to bring some of the new reforms in the market. New things can help making a
unique image in the market. It is clear by using Facebook,Youtube etc. a global presence can be made
by any one in this country. It gives a global presence by sharing the information with anybody who is
connected on the social media. Digital marketing is directly used in this case. In coming time the
drones can do a great job replacing manpower and using the time very well. Drones are a new
discovery and are very useful nowadays because it can be used anywhere in the world. It can reach
places which are normally un accessible to human beings. It provides safety and is of great help to the
human being.
Present the results and recommendations of the research in a report form and present it.
Conclusion
In the above report it is easy to determine the impact of social media advertising on consumer
choice . There is a high decrease in consumer loyalty ratio of various companies due to the tough
competition in the market and people are offering their product on low price basis with minimum profit
on the sale of a unit of product. Now companies are earning profit trough sales in bulk . There is a
upcoming trend of correlating different brands and then selling the product. Social media has done a
great impact on the advertisement of the product . Wrong advertisement of the product could give a
negative impact on the customers . Customer review is one new factor added while referring about any
product in the online market . The market competition has also gone tough as small companies are also
selling their market online . ASDA being a retail outlet have manage to hold their customers trough
online marketing and giving an update about new products on social media like Facebook,Instagram
etc. ASDA could also promote their brand by making an application for the guest. In the coming times
brand collaboration would be successful so ASDA should consider that also in context to the stability
for the future.

Recommendation
While preparing this report it's easy to understand that social media have become a big platform
to market a company's product with low cost and high return on investment as they are used by every
individual . Most of the companies have build their own application through which it is easy to order
and receive any product a person will order after doing this case study my recommendation would be
that ASDA should build their own application for the easy purchase and sale of goods and promote that
application by giving various sale offer to the customer . This will make a habit of a customer that
whenever they want something they would just open the application and place their order accordingly .
If the company provide them better a new offer it would be easy to attract customers by doing so
company may attract new customers and would be able to generate new loyal customers. Second is
brand collaboration which means that one brand will do the operation and other brand will market the
product and service . In this sense ASDA can also do brand collaboration and allow other companies to
market their product or service providers.
By making this application and following the on going trend a good marketing strategy can be made
and it will result a good impact on the company's market share. It's all about how the product looks to
the customers. If the product won't look good at the appearance to the market and the functionality
then the product can't make sales. So,it is very essential for the company's to use this technology and
marketing techniques to bring out sales in the market. After studying the market it can be said that
social media has connected everybody on a same platform and hence differences can be made out.
Today's generation is mainly focusing on how well can the new trend can be followed. They are very
curious. Anything new will be opted by them. So,in such conditions the company's can make use of this
advantage and can generate high revenues. If we see various advertisements,jingles that are floated
over Facebook,twitter etc. get attention easily and hence can be used to play in the market.With a
single click anybody can access the information and buy whatever product they wish to buy and make
smart buys.

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