Impact of Social Media on Business: A Dissertation Analysis

This dissertation analyzes the impact of social media marketing on business functioning and sales. It focuses on the benefits, challenges, and strategies for using social media in the retail sector, with a case study of Marks & Spencer. The study aims to examine the benefits of social media for business, the impact of social media on customer buying behavior, and the issues faced by Marks & Spencer in using social media. The research provides recommendations and conclusions for effective social media marketing strategies.

Dissertation
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Abstract:
The main objective of present dissertation is to analyse the way social media marketing could
affect the present business functioning. Marketing is an activity that is associated with using
various digital marketing strategies for the purpose of achievement of higher business sales.
There are different digital marketing strategies that could easily be used in business for achieving
higher sales. Social media marketing is one such transformational strategy that has complete
changed the way in which marketing function is transformed in various business organisation. It
is one of the cost effect strategies that are used presently by business organisations. Such as in
present research work there is analysis of the way different social media marketing strategies can
be used by research business in order to expand their present sales and overall productivity.
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Abstract:...........................................................................................................................................3
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................5
Chapter 2: Literature review............................................................................................................8
What are the different issues faced by Marks & Spencer by using the social media...........12
Chapter 3: Research methodology.................................................................................................13
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION..................................................................16
CHAPTER 4: Results and findings................................................................................................29
Discussion of findings..........................................................................................................29
Contributions........................................................................................................................29
Recommendations................................................................................................................30
Chapter 5: CONCLUSION............................................................................................................31
Chapter 6: Reflection.....................................................................................................................31
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................34
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Chapter 1: Introduction
Marketing is a process of developing some promotional strategies that can help in development,
communication, exchange and further delivering of offerings for the purpose of enhancing the
overall value for customers, Digital marketing has become more popular with the growing
technology base. It is a broad are of development that is used for searching of platforms and
other associated aspects. With the growth paid digital marketing platforms are also used by
business organisations for the purpose of achieving required sales (Shareef and et. al, 2019). The
COVID 19 pandemic situation has also affected the way organisation are using various
promotional strategies for the purpose of promoting their businesses and products. Present report
is based on analysing the impact of using various social media strategies in Marks and Spencer
for the purpose of promoting its goods and services across various such platforms. For this
purpose there is application of various strategies that can be used in the present functioning of
businesses (Wang and Kim, 2017). There are various challenges that are faced by organisations
in order to achieve their laid aims and objectives that have to be evaluated in the course of
business functioning. The present research work is going to assist in the process of making a
detailed evaluation of such challenges in order to reach relevant recommendations and
conclusions for Marks and Spencer in this fast changing dynamic environment.
Background of the company
Mark and Spencer is a British multinational retail brand that is having its headquarters in
London. It species in selling of home products, clothing and food products; it is listed on London
stock exchange and is also a constant of FTSE 250 Index. It was founded in the year 1884 by
Thomas Spencer and Michael marks. It is having 959 stores across different parts of UK. Among
which there are 615 that are selling food products and is done through television advertising that
is of exclusive nature. They are also facing online food delivery services with their joint venture
Ocado.
Research Questions
 What are the benefits of social media for business?
 What is the impact of social media on buying behaviour of customers in Marks &
Spencer?
 What are the different issues faced by Marks & Spencer by using the social media?
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Section five: Research aim and Objectives
Research Aim
“To examine impact of social media on buying behaviour of customers. A study on Marks &
Spencer. ”. A case study of MARKS AND SPENCER.
Research Objectives
 To determine the benefits of social media for business.
 To examine impact of social media on buying behaviour of customers in Marks &
Spencer.
 To identify the different issues faced by Marks & Spencer by using the social media.
Rationale of research:
The main reason behind this research work is to identify the ways in which social media
marketing is now used by retail sector organisation as a digital marketing tool for the purpose of
promoting their brand. There are some skills that are crucially required for the purpose of
analysing the impact of various research skills that includes literature review, communication,
time management and other associated skills. Such type of skills is very helpful for investigator
in completion of the dissertation successfully. This investigation is very important for the
purpose of professional development in the future course of business. The main interest of this
research is to improve my overall personal & professional growth. This research is very helpful
in analysing the way social media for the purpose of using it in the course of business.
Scope of the study:
The scope of present study is to analyse the way digital marketing and the role of social
media marketing are helping organisations in achievement of higher business growth. With the
changing times there has been a comeoplet transformation in the way retail sector organizations
are functioning. So, there is requirement to analyse the ways and strategies that can be used in
order to expand the present market share by using various social media marketing strategies.
There is a positive impact on the buying behaviour of customers in terms of other available
sources. Such as it includes discounts, promotions, content that has a ability to influence the
buying behaviour of customers. Social media is used for analysing the buying behaviour that can
help in future forecasting of customer needs and demands. Based on this made forecasts further
strategies are formulated in retails sector organisations like marks and Spencer. Present report is
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going to analyse such challenges that are faced by marks and Spencer while formulating their
social media marketing strategies. Further there will be a detailed evaluation that will be required
to analyse the impact such issues can have on the overall process of strategy formulation in
marks and Spencer.
Structure of the dissertation
There are various chapters that is required for the objective of completing the research in a
more systematic manner. Literature review is one of the most important chapters that is
facilitating the purpose of collecting information from magazines, books and other sources
assigned with the research topic. Methodology is another important aspect of dissertation that
includes method types that can help in collecting secondary form of information. Further
findings and results are assisting researcher in reaching towards relevant conclusions.
Recommendations are the part where the entire information is finally analysed to draw clear
suggestions for the management of marks and Spencer to deal with the changing external
environment.
Chapter 1: Introduction: It is the first chapter of dissertation that consist of aims, objectives,
and research questions an explanation of title. All such information is used in doing next chapters
that is literature review. The researcher has introduced this topic for the purpose of explaining it
in context of this project and focussing on other major aspects.
Chapter 2: Literature Review: The researcher is using this aspect to collect relevant
information from available secondary sources that consist of books, articles, journals, the major
purpose is to help researcher in achieving the laid objectives.
Chapter 3: Methodology: it is a important section that is facilitating the investigator in
collection of information through research methodology. It includes various methodologies such
as inductive approach, inetrpretivisom and secondary methods of collecting data.
Chapter 4: Results and Findings: this chapter will be used to evaluate the collected
information. As per the present dissertation there will be use of various analytical techniques in
order to analyse and interpret the overall collected information. For this researcher has to make
carious themes on which specific research questions are based. For the purpose of presentation of
data there will be use if charts and graphs by the researcher.
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Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations: In this chapter the researcher will be use to
explain entire information of chapters in a more clear manner, recommendations and conclusions
will be drawn based on using the overall information that is part of the research.
Chapter 6: Reflection: it is the last part of research where the dissertation is used for explaining
the journey based on the difficulties and learning’s that has been gone through in whole research
work. It is one of the most important tools to analyse the way various research findings were
achieved by the researcher through this research work.
Chapter 2: Literature review
To determine the benefits of social media for business
According to the viewpoint of (Savci and Aysan, 2016), Social media is being considered
as a best way to in increase and enhance the business profit at higher scale. Technology is being
viewed as major hotspot in this contemporary business world. The use of technology has brought
up a new change in humans life. Social media is the most trending element of technology. Social
media is being used well for sharing of information, presentations, social networks and building
relationships (Leung, Bai and Erdem, 2017).. Social media marketing is used for engaging with
targeting audience. Social media platforms are ways through which one can obtain vast
credentials and engage with other people. In context of Marks and Spencer, it has been examined
that it is important to focus on adapting of social media on the basis of which company is able to
promote their brand goodwill and also it helps in understanding customer changing behaviour as
well as attitude. Digital marketing concept is to be considered as priority when it comes to
developing the brand name through social media this is because social media platforms and
digital marketing are linked with each other. The selected on addition have a digital marketing
team who uses appropriate keywords and well efficient strategies which are useful for their
development and growth in both current as well as future period of interval. Also, it is seen that
both B2B and B2C marketers are currently using digital marketing as well as social media
simultaneously through which they are capable of dealing with on certain situation and easily
analyse the behaviour of a particular customer.
Moreover, it is also stated that it is essential to use social media for business expansion
through which selected organisation is able to implement effective strategies and also determine
the performance level of business in market. In this competitive market, it has been specified to
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that it is critically crucial to be well aware about market situations and competitors. In retail
sector the level of competition is increasing at higher level and it is impacting upon Marks and
Spencer profit as well as sales ratio. This is necessary to use appropriate social media platforms
like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other marketing tools which are beneficial for
development of business goals and objectives. There are many other benefits of social media like
it helps in engaging with customers and targeted audience, help in analysing the competitors
strategies, company can easily make effective decisions when activities of being done through
digital platforms (Heinze and et. al, 2020). Moreover it is also seen that by use of digital
technologies and platforms complete benefits can be easily achieved. Applying digital marketing
tools and techniques to the business require a wide knowledge and expertise in various types of
field like SEO, SMO, PPC marketing, E-mail marketing etc. With proper use of this different
types of tools and techniques individual or a brand is able to reach to the mission and vision
inappropriate way. It has been reported that main benefit of using digital marketing in enterprise
is that it helps marketing department to make decisions how and what type of customers to target
who will potentially purchase the product of a brand this is essential for enterprise to higher
skilled and efficient employees so that it could be easier for them to achieve computer benefits in
in the retailing market.
With the adoption of social media in business context enterprise has the opportunity to
generate more leads for development of organisation and also it increases the sales as well as
profit ratio at higher level. Furthermore it is also stated that it increase the website traffic of a
company which is needed to attract more prospects towards the brand. Use of internet has
increased, and it is saying that most of the people are active on internet social media and other
websites with purpose of personal as well as professional motive. Manager of company make
ensure that relevant information and sources are being used so that benefits within contemporary
environment can be easily obtained.
This is stated that above explain paragraph literature review focuses on how this social
media is beneficial for business purpose and how it can help in accomplishing of goals as well as
objectives. In this contemporary business environment, HR department of an organisation need
to make assure that decision making is being carried out effectively so that positive benefits are
obtained. The social media platform offer method of low commitment for user to express interest
in organisation and its products. There are various benefits or advantages of platform of social
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media that aids assistance to organisation to attract more users and getting its feedback and
maintain loyalty of customer in respect of organisation. They focus on research of market
involving international market that assist organisation to increase brand image and its revenue by
improving and also building user network. There are various benefits or advantages of social
media marketing that help in increasing involvement of user and assess awareness of individual
person regarding business. The organisation focuses on adopting social media for advertisement,
promotion and many more. In addition to this, social media marketing can help Marks and
Spencer in attracting customers, getting feedback of user and build loyalty and trust of user
during particular phase of time period. It is also helpful in conducting marketing research as well
as decrease cost of marketing and improve brand during particular phase of time period. In
addition to this, they also focus on keeping eye on competitors so that they make appropriate
strategy that is helpful in conducting different kind of activities of organisation in an appropriate
manner.
To examine impact of social media on buying behaviour of customers in Marks & Spencer
With viewpoint of (Roberts, 2019), Analyses that social media has a deep impact on
behaviour and attitude of customers at larger scale. In this changing period of time, it is
necessary to be well aware about how and why customers are switching towards another brand
which is only possible through use of social media platforms and tracking the old as well as new
customers. In reference of selected organisation, it has been stated that consumers who are
influenced by social media are four times more likely to spend on products and purchase of a
brand. It has been also reported that around 90% of customers are likely to purchase on same day
of using a particular social media platform. Consumer buying behaviour is important to be
determined by the organisation so that it becomes convenient for them to implement market
strategies and make effective decisions accordingly. Buying behaviour of customers changes
with time period and trends in the market (Parsons and Lepkowska-White, 2018). It is necessary
for or enterprise to conduct external and internal analysis on the basis of which it is easy and
simple to understand the reason for change of attitude and taste of customers.
The chosen company redesigned and launched its website to test the followers and obtain
the feedback as well as analytics of brand through digital platforms. M and S examine that 40%
of the customers faced issues when purchasing to the brand product through online and
enterprise improve the quality of search returns by 14%. The team of social media of
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organisation is planning to respond to customer issues in most effective manner so that positive
relationship is being developed. This company also determined that there is a sales enhancement
after implementation of social media campaigns for example customers demanded more M & S
walnut cheap chocolates and for the coffee flavour but entity stop s the distribution. There was a
vast difference before adoption of the social media and after use of social media in business
context of Marks and Spencer. This is because consumers were happily purchasing the products
of a brand online and through E-Commerce websites. It is critically analysed to that in this
covid-19 situation enterprise has been focusing on development of their online website and
partnership with e commerce websites like Amazon and e-Bay. With the implementation of new
strategies and tactics company is able to identify the buying behaviour of customers which helps
them to execute their operations at functions in proper manner (Heggde and Shainesh, 2018).
There are various types of factors that impact upon buying behaviour of consumers such as
review from influencers, review from social media connections, presence of a brand on platform,
social media advertising, trending and popular algorithms such as Face book. These are some of
the factors which directly affect the consumer behaviour within M & S. Main purpose of
consumer buying behaviour is to analyse the various situations like what to consumers buy why
do they buy, when do they purchase how often the purchase and what are the reasons for
purchasing. To understand this type of situations it is necessary to properly understand the
changing behaviour of consumers in well effective way so that benefits and goals are achieved
within time interval. Digital marketing has a number of types, most essential one are website
marketing, search engine optimization, content marketing, PPC advertising, social media
marketing, email marketing, video marketing, and affiliate marketing. Digital marketing and
inbound marketing are easily confused, &for good reason. This concept uses same tools as
inbound marketing—email and online content, to name a few. Both exist to attain attention of
prospects through the buyer’s journey and turn them into customers. When it comes to enhancing
brand’s overall visibility or goodwill, there is no subset of marketing that is changing faster than
social media. Every business or professional can benefit from understanding social media’s
importance when it comes to reaching their audience and strengthening their brand image in a
specific market. To reduce the level of competition in market, retailers are using different types
of tactics and strategies so that benefits are achieved by them at all level. Moreover in
consideration of M&S, they have been increasing their partnership with Amazon and many other
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e-commerce website through which they will be selling the product to consumers at global scale.
Marketing consumers find it more is easier to purchase online as compared to purchasing from
online Street shops or malls. Also it is stated that main benefit of purchasing through online and
applications is that offers and discounts are being provided on seasonal basis.
The above explained matter reflects that behaviour of customers are essential which is
needed to be understood with conducting of proper market research and analysis so that it is
easier to make decisions and use appropriate marketing tools in order to convert the prospects
into to customers. Properly focusing on digital marketing tools as well as techniques enterprise
finds it easier to deal with competitors and enhance the brand Goodwill at wider level. Moreover,
this is also specified that appropriate level of knowledge is needed which helps in accomplishing
of goals and set objectives. There are various effects of social media on purchasing behaviour of
user which is related with psychological thought that include perception related to motivation
and also believe in its attitude. In addition to this, the social media influence individual person in
such a manner that help in modifying its behaviour for meeting demand & need of social
environment. Thus, it is assess that Marks and Spencer faces different kind of difficulty in order
to understand behaviour of user because of diverse issues. In addition to this, there are different
kinds of factor which influence behaviour of consumer such as psychological, personal, social as
well as cultural which imposes direct effect on behaviour of consumers during particular phase
of time period. Therefore, it is assess that social media impose positive effect on buying
behaviour of user during particular phase of time period. When it comes to enhancing brand’s
overall visibility or goodwill, there is no subset of marketing that is changing faster than social
media. Every business or professional can benefit from understanding social media’s importance
when it comes to reaching their audience and strengthening their brand image in a specific
market
What are the different issues faced by Marks & Spencer by using the social media.
As per point of view of (Postill, 2018), there are different kind of challenges that is
confronted by Marks and Spencer in order to adopt platform of social media. The different kind
of issues that is confronted by organisation in respect of social media is determined as a lack of
having resources. There different kind of challenge confronted by organisation. The platform of
social media also enhances level of competition between market and it is determined as a major
threat for organisation in order to build loyal & trustworthy relationship between customer and
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its company. It generate effect on cost of organisation because the focus is on using technology
that is running in Market and also it is helpful in growing market and generate user base in
respect of organisation. There are different kind of challenges related to social media marketing
which is a faced by Marks and Spencer that is going to be mentioned below:
Decrease organised research the challenges which is faced by the organisation due to
platform of social media is decreasing inorganic research that push brand in order to use
advertising solution. There are different kinds of challenges which is faced by team of Marks and
Spencer in order to decreasing inorganic research.
Try to influence marketing influencer marketing is considered as a widely adopted
strategy because it is determined as a cost appropriate as compared to mainstream advertisement
and create return on ad. There is different kind of challenges faced by the management of Marks
and Spencer due to influencer marketing that is given below:
Getting bad influencer for brand if the management team do not have a great influence
related to brand then the focus is on using different tool in order to increase value.
Decrease involvement of user: Due to decrease in engagement of customer is determined
as a major challenge faced by management team of marks and Spencer. Therefore, they focus on
reducing these types of issues in an appropriate manner.
Chapter 3: Research methodology
Research methodology is considered as an approach which is connected to concept applied by
organisation for providing description regarding method as well as challenges that is confronted
by researcher for collecting data and execute investigation (Bode, 2016). Research methodology
is considered as a process of collecting data and information in respect of specific field. The
primary purpose of this methodology is to provide facility to researcher by offering reliable data
& information. In current dissertation, it is assess that research methodology is important part in
adoption of proper research Framework that is offered to investigator and particular framework
for aim of collecting data and information that is depend upon specified topic of research.
Therefore, there is different kind of techniques of data collection which is used by researcher in
order to collect data and information in an appropriate manner. The responsibility of research is
to select proper technique according to particular requirements of work of research. In current
scenario, there is assessment of various methodology of research that is used by researcher
reference of work of research in better way. Herein, there is adopting or use of systematic
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assessment by using various methods by investigator in context of specific or current research. It
is needed for aim of reaching to valuable judgement. The primary benefit of research
methodology is to improve proper solution in respect of particular problem. The research
methodology is considered as a function that focuses on collecting and assessing data &
information regarding investigation. In reference of present investigation, the framework related
to research onion is adopted by investigator because it provide support to them in execute
different kind of function as per methodology in an appropriate manner (Palen and Hughes,
2018). There are various types of research methodology that is going to be mentioned below:
Research strategy research strategy is considered as a thought process as well as mind set
of investigator connected to approach which is adopted by organisation. It involves survey,
action, research experiment, case study as well as so on. All these proposal & ideas are adopted
by investigator in order to execute investigation in an appropriate manner. In context to present
research, the investigator focuses on adopting survey as the main strategy. The survey offer
reliable and provide appropriate information and also aids assistance to researcher to meet these
need & requirement of investigation and execute it in proper manner (Fasae and Adegbilero-
Iwari, 2016).
Research choice in reference of investigation, there are two methods which is accessible for
researcher for meeting requirement of investigation. These are determined as a qualitative as well
as quantitative. Both these kind of methods are important choices that is adopted by investigator
to achieve aim as well as objective in timely manner. In present investigation, qualitative
research is applied by investigator for accomplishing goal in timely manner.
Time origin this is determined as a significant factor in investigation as there are various
factors which are adopted by organisation to accomplish goals and meet requirements related to
investigation. To assess and meet requirements as well as criteria related to time, there is a use or
adoption of cross sectional method. Therefore, it aids assistance to investigator in execute
investigation as per need in timely manner (Miller, 2017).
Data collection can be considered as a process that is applied by organisation for
assessing and meet requirement and desire of investigation. In present investigation, there are
two kind of method that is secondary as well as primary. Thus, it is assess that secondary data is
collected by using books, publication, articles and many more. By using primary source the data
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is gathered by using questionnaire, observation and so on. Therefore, in this report, they adopt
both this kind of data for completing investigation in a proper manner (Ge, Gu and Zhang, 2017).
Sampling
Sampling is considered as a probability as well as non probability of choosing or
selecting sample. In sampling, the sample must be selected from whole population. There are
two types of technique of sampling which is determined as a probability as well as non
probability but for this, the investigator focuses on selecting or choosing probability sampling
that help in selecting sample in less time period. Therefore, the random sampling will be adopted
in investigation for completing investigation in more appropriate manner. The sample size for
given investigation is related to data collection in research is 30
Research instrument
It is important concept which involves various instrument like questionnaire, Focus
Group, interview as well as on. This is significant for this research because they focus on
choosing questionnaire as per topic of research. Therefore, the questionnaire is chosen for
present investigation because it consume less time in comparison to other instrument (Lee and
Hong, 2016).
Research philosophy
The philosophy of research is determined as a belief regarding the way in which they
focus on collecting and assessing data which is given by investigator. Philosophical perspective
is significant because it will aids assistance in assessing function of investigating that is
improved by them in its techniques. There are two type of philosophy of research for
investigation. The researcher focuses on choosing interpretivism in their research philosophy
(Geissinger and Laurell, 2016).
Research approach
Qualitative approach is adopted by investigator in this kind of research. Thus, the
approach of research focuses on making appropriate strategy during the period of time. The
technique of research provides support to investigator in getting a solution of problem in more
appropriate manner. It helps in assessing the superior strategy for solving this kind of problem in
better way.
Ethical approval form
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Ethical approval form is collected by investigator and stored in laptop once investigation
in finished.
Chapter 4: Results and Findings:
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION
This is determined as a part of data analysis which introduces process related to assessing
collected data by using techniques of research. The frequency distribution analysis is determined
as a technique which is adopted for assessing collected quantitative data & information in an
appropriate manner (Kozinets, 2019). It is determined as a technique that is helpful for
conducting investigation in systematic manner & in given time. The table of frequency
distributions for present investigation is going to be mentioned below:
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q1) Do you have understanding about the social media in context to business?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2) According to you, does social media impact on the buying behaviour of consumers?
a) Yes
b) No
Q3) What benefits Marks & Spencer gain by using the social media within an
organization?
a) Increased exposure
b) Generate leads
c) Growing Business Partnerships
d) Improved ranking system
Q4) As per your perspective, how social media impact on the buying behaviour of
consumers within Marks & Spencer organization?
a) Positive impact
b) Negative impact
Q5) What are the different social media tools used by Marks & Spencer to gain the
attention of consumers?
a) Twitter
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b) Face book
c) Instagram
d) LinkedIn
Q6) On the basis of your opinion, does social media develops negative impact on the
mindset of people regarding buying the specific products or services?
a) Yes
b) No
Q7) what are the various kinds of buying behaviour of consumers?
a) Complex buying behaviour
b) Dissonance-reducing buying behaviour
c) Habitual buying behaviour
d) Variety seeking behaviour
Q8) What are the various factors affecting on the buying behaviour of consumers?
a) Personal factors
b) Psychological factors
c) Cultural factors
Q9) What are the different social media platforms company can be used to provide them
information about the new products and target them?
a) Photo sharing
b) Social networking
c) Video sharing
d) Podcasts
Q10) What are the different issues faced by the Marks & Spencer while using social
media in its business?
a) Growing Business Partnerships
b) Consumer behaviour
c) Issues related with security
d) Not enthusiastic
Q 11) What are the different ways company should adopt to enhance its social media
marketing?
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a) Identify Right Social Media Channel
b) Create Brand's Story Use Social-Friendly Images
c) Use Instagram for Posting Ads
d) Utilize the Power of Employee Advocacy
Q12) Recommend ways to improve social media presence to attract large number of
consumers and gain competitive advantages.
Theme: understanding about the social media in context to business
Q1) Do you have understanding about the social media in context to
business?
Frequency
a) Yes 16
b) No 14
16
14
Frequency
a) Yes
b) No
Interpretation: On the basis of above given graph, it is analysed that there are 16
subordinate who have idea regarding the social media in reference of organisation. In addition to
this, there are 14 subordinate who do not have an understanding regarding social media in
reference to organisation.
Theme: 2: social media impact on the buying behaviour of consumers
Q2) According to you, does social media impact on the buying behaviour Frequency
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of consumers?
a) Yes 13
b) No 17
13
17
Frequency
a) Yes
b) No
Interpretation: On given graphical representation, it is analysed that social media
platform imposes direct effect on purchasing behaviour of user. Therefore, there are 13
subordinates who believes that social media imposes direct effect on buying behaviour of user
during particular phase of time period. In addition to this, there are 17 subordinates who do not
agree with the concept that social media effect on purchasing behaviour of user during particular
phase of time period.
Theme: 3: benefits Marks & Spencer gain by using the social media within an organization
Q3) What benefits Marks & Spencer gain by using the social
media within an organization?
Frequency
a) Increased exposure 10
b) Generate leads 6
c) Growing Business Partnerships 4
d) Improved ranking system 10
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10
6
4
10
Frequency
a) Increased exposure
b) Generate leads
c) Growing Business
Partnerships
d) Improved ranking
system
Interpretation: On given graphical representation, it is analysed that the Marks and
Spencer achieve benefited by adopting social media within business organisation. Therefore,
there are 10 subordinates who believe that increase exposure is determined as a primary benefit
that is adopted by organisation due to social media marketing occurs within business
organisation. In addition to this, there are 6 subordinates who believe that generate leads is the
primary benefit which is achieved by organisation by using social media platform within
business organisation. Apart from this, there are 4 subordinate who believe that growing business
partnership is determined as a primary benefit that is adopted by business organisation due to
having a social media platform. And remaining 10 subordinate believe that increase ranking
system is considered as a primary benefit that is adopted by organisation due to having social
media platform.
Theme: 4 how social media impact on the buying behaviour of consumers within Marks &
Spencer organization
Q4 As per your perspective, how social media impact on the buying
behaviour of consumers within Marks & Spencer organization?
Frequency
a) Positive impact 17
b) Negative impact 13
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17
13
Frequency
a) Positive impact
b) Negative impact
Interpretation: On the basis of above given graph, it is analysed that social media
imposes direct effect on the purchasing behaviour of user within business organisation. There are
17 subordinate who agree that the social media imposes positive effect on the purchasing
behaviour of consumers towards business organisation during the period of time. In addition to
this, there are 17 subordinates who believe that social media imposes negative effect on
purchasing behaviour of user t towards business organisation during the period of time.
Theme: 5: the different social media tools used by Marks & Spencer to gain the attention of
consumers
Q5) What are the different social media tools used by Marks &
Spencer to gain the attention of consumers?
Frequency
a) Twitter 10
b) Face book 5
c) Instagram 5
d) LinkedIn 10
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10
55
10
Frequency
a) Twitter
b) Face book
c) Instagram
d) LinkedIn
Interpretation: On the basis of above given graphical representation, there are various
social media tools which is adopted by business organisation to attract attention of user.
Therefore there are 10 subordinate who believe that Twitter is determined as an effective social
media tool adopted by organisation in order to attract large number of user at Marketplace. In
addition to this, there are 5 subordinates believe that Face book is determined as effective tool
adopted by organisation in order to gain attention of user. Apart from this, there are 5
subordinates who believe that Instagram is determined as a social media tools which is adopted
by business organisation to gain attention of user. In addition to this, there are 10 staff member
who believes that LinkedIn is determined as a factor social media is adopted by business
organisation in order to gain attraction of user towards organisation during particular phase of
time period.
Theme: 6: social media develops negative impact on the mindset of people regarding
buying the specific products or services
Q6) On the basis of your opinion, does social media develops negative
impact on the mindset of people regarding buying the specific products
or services?
Frequency
a) Yes 13
b) No 17
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13
17
Frequency
a) Yes
b) No
Interpretation: It can be interpreted from the above made discussions that while it was
questioned to 30 respondents about the impact of social media products on the consumer mind
set there were a comeoplet different response from the selected respondents. Such as 13 out of 30
respondents had a positive view point where they agreed that yes in some instance social media
can have a negative impact on the overall mind set of people while they are making their
purchase decisions. On other hand remaining 17 out of 30 respondents had a negative view point
on this perspective.
Theme: 7 the various kinds of buying behaviour of consumers
Q7) what are the various kinds of buying behaviour of
consumers?
Frequency
a) Complex buying behaviour 10
b) Dissonance-reducing buying behaviour 5
c) Habitual buying behaviour 5
d) Variety seeking behaviour 10
22

10
55
10
Frequency
· a) Complex buying
behaviour
· b) Dissonance-
reducing buying behaviour
· c) Habitual buying
behaviour
d) Variety
seeking behaviour
Interpretation: it can be interpreted from above made analysis that while it was questioned to
30 respondents about the different kinds of customer behaviour. 10 out of 30 had a view point
that there is complex buying behaviour, other 5 out of 30 dealt that there is dissonance of buying
behaviour, 5 out of 30 had a view point that there is instances of habitual buying behaviour and
apart from this remaining 5 out of 30 respondents had a view point that many customers are
seeking for higher variety that may affect their purchasing decision in long run.
Theme: 8 the various factors affecting on the buying behaviour of consumers?
Q8) What are the various factors affecting on the buying behaviour of
consumers?
Frequency
a) Personal factors 10
b) Psychological factors 10
c) Cultural factors 10
Interpretation: it can be said from the above discussed graph that when it was questioned to 30
respondents about the different factors affecting present buying behaviour of customers. 10 out
of 30 respondents had a view point that they are getting influenced by personal factors; other 10
out of 30 had a view that they are affected by Psychological factors. Further remaining 10 out of
30 had view point that their buying behaviour is also affected by various cultural factors.
23

10
10
10
Frequency
a) Personal factors
b) Psychological factors
c) Cultural factors
Interpretation:
Theme: 9: the different social media platforms company can be used to provide them
information about the new products and target them
Q 9) What are the different social media platforms company can
be used to provide them information about the new products and
target them?
Frequency
a) Photo sharing 10
b) Social networking 6
c) Video sharing 6
d) Podcasts 8
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10
6
6
8
Frequency
a) Photo sharing
b) Social networking
c) Video sharing
d) Podcasts
Interpretation: it is interpreted from the above mentioned graph that while it was questioned to
30 respondents about the way various social media platforms are used by organisations for the
purpose using social media platform in order to share information. 10 out of 30 respondents had
a view point that they are willing to use it as a source of photo sharing. Other 6 out of 30 felt that
social networking is one such tool that can be used for the purpose of social networking that is
interacting with various other social media users. Apart from this the other 6 out of 30
respondents had a view point that there can be use of different social media platforms, for the
objective of video sharing across such platforms. Further remaining 8 out of 30 respondents had
a view point that they are willing to use these platforms for the purpose of developing effective
podcasts.
Theme: 10: the different issues faced by the Marks & Spencer while using social media in
its business
Q 10) What are the different issues faced by the Marks &
Spencer while using social media in its business?
Frequency
a) Growing Business Partnerships 10
b) Consumer behaviour 10
c) Issues related with security 6
d) Not enthusiastic 4
25

10
10
6
4
Frequency
a) Growing Business
Partnerships
b) Consumer behaviour
c) Issues related with
security
d) Not enthusiastic
Interpretation: From the above mentioned various different aspects it can be summarized that
while it was questioned to 30 respondents about the different issues or challenges that are faced
by Marks and Spencer that is 10 out of 30 respondents felt that there can be use of growing
business partnerships. Other 10 out of 30 felt that there is need to analyse the changing customer
behaviour. Further, 6 out of 30 had a view point that there is requirement to focus on different
issues that are related with the overall security issues that arises mainly because of the personal
information that is sometimes public on such social media platforms. Apart from this remaining
4 out of 30 respondents had a view that there is no presence of enough enthusiasm that may
affect the present issues faced by organisation.
Theme: 11: the different issues faced by the Marks & Spencer while using social media in
its business
Q 11) What are the different ways company should adopt to
enhance its social media marketing?
Frequency
a) Identify Right Social Media Channel 10
b) Create Brand's Story Use Social-Friendly Images 10
c) Use Instagram for Posting Ads 5
26

d) Utilize the Power of Employee Advocacy 5
10
10
5
5
Frequency
a) Identify Right Social
Media Channel
b) Create Brand's Story
Use Social-Friendly Images
c) Use Instagram for
Posting Ads
d) Utilize the Power of
Employee Advocacy
Interpretation: From the above mentioned aspects when it was questioned to 30 respondents
about the different strategies that have to be used by organisations for the purpose of enhancing
their present social media presence for their customers. 10 out of 30 respondents had a view
point that it can help in identification of right channels of social media. From other 30
respondents 5 had a view that it can help in utilisation of the power that is related with employee
advocacy. Other 5 out of 30 respondents had a view point that this strategy can be adopted where
they can use different instagram posts for the objective of posting advertisements. From
remaining 10 out of 30 felt that this strategy can be used for the purpose of utilizing it as part of
employee advocacy.
27

CHAPTER 4: Results and findings
Discussion of findings
Based on above made analysis there are several findings that are based on the way social media
business can posses an impact on the overall functioning of various business organisations as
mentioned below:
Social media marketing can be used as an effective strategy for the purpose of enhancing the
present sales across organisations. Especially in case of retails sector this trend is very helpful in
the process enhancing the presence of organizations. For marks and Spencer this has a benefits in
terms of increasing brand awareness as it helps in approaching customer in a more unique and
creative manner. Social media marketing is very helpful in the process of enhancing the brand
awareness. It leads to enhancing the present manage of traffic and increasing it tremendously on
website.
Social media marketing is a very important tool for creating of brand recognition for marketers
and Spencer as well as a tool for effective brand building as compared to other competitors in the
market. It leads to generation of conversations across a brand that leads to people willingly
getting aware and making analysis of the pros and cons of each associated brands through their
effective social media strategies.
There are various social media marketing tools that includes Instagram, you tube, pinterest,
facebook that are the commonly available platforms to be used for the purpose of enhancing the
present sales and approaching of customers on a more unique way. Sometimes apart from the
benefits social media marketing leads to generation of several issues such as there can be
difficulty in dealing with landscape of digital payments and the high amount of competition.
Sometimes the various competitors may be using attractive strategies of social media marketing
that can be a threat in the course of affecting business organisations in terms of reducing their
present level of sales.
Contributions
There are some of the contributions that are made by the present dissertation. Such as it is
going to help in having the way social media marketing strategies are affecting the present
functioning of business organisations that are part of the rail industry, there are some of the
28

major contributions that are made by the present topic such as marks and Spencer will be able to
analyse the way various social media strategies are contributing towards achievement of higher
sales in marks and Spencer. There are different methodologies that are applied in the course of
present research work such as it has helped in evaluating various methods that includes
qualitative and quantitative which have assisted in the course of achieving the overall laid aims
and objectives of this report. Apart from this questionnaire lead to collection of primary
information from the respondents that is employees who are actually working in the organization
that lead to creation of a authentic base of information in the course of research work.
Recommendations
There are some of the recommendations that are drawn in context of present research work
as mentioned blow:
 Creation of a business strategy: It is very important that for retail sector
organisations there is need for creation of a effective social media marketing
strategies. Without a basic strategy of enhancing sales, profitability or productivity
percentage in quantitative terms no social media marketing strategy can be
successful in a particular course of a organisation functioning. Hence, it is very
necessary to have a base strategy on which the whole social media marketing
strategy will be based on case of retail sector organisations.
 Use of correct social media platforms: Many times organisations make a mistake
on terms of cooing a wrong social media marketing platform. This might lead to a
comeoplet difficult scenario to reach to the eact target market. In such situations it
becomes quite essential to have a proper strategy that can lead towards having a
suitable approach to reach to the right target market. In case of marks and Spencer,
the organisation is willing to expand their sales of retail products like c;otes,
accessories, handbags, shoes because presently they ar already having the required
amount of sales in their food sector. So for this purpose the millennia generation is
the right target market and for this it is recomened that snapchat and Instagram are
the two major platforms that very attractive for the millennial generation in the
present changing market.
 Use of social media listening: It is suggested that social media listening is another
way of keeping a on the competitor’s policies. With the changing dynamic
29

environment competitors social media strategies have to be analysed in detail and
the way it is affecting competitors have also to be evaluated so that organisation
might reach to relevant conclusion and forecast for future strategy formulation
purposes.
Chapter 5: CONCLUSION
In the present report there has been analysis of the way social media marketing is helping
various organisations in achievement of higher competitive advantage. This is one of the most
effective strategies that can be applied in courser of organization functioning. There can be
timely competitive analysis that can be conducted for the objective of achievement higher
competitive advantage as compared to other competitors in the market. There is requirement to
make detailed evaluation of the external environment to formulate suitable objectives. A social
media marketing is a basic summary of the plans that are to be achieved in course of business
functioning. So it can be summarized from above made discussions that there are different ways
that can be used by organisations’ for the purpose of enhancing their social media presence
depending upon situational context various methods are to be used. These sources are very
helpful in increasing the present customer base and having a high amount of competitive
advantage in the changing scenario of external environments.
Chapter 6: Reflection
In present report I have been working on making analysis of the way social media marketing
strategies are affecting the business functioning. I got an opportunity to work in the ways social
media marketing strategies is affecting the present business functioning. I faced some of the
issues such as there was lack of time period and other resources that has affected my way of
working in this project. So I decided to use Gantt chart as a tool to analyse the way total
available time period can be divided in smaller chunks that can help in managing of each task of
the whole research report in a more effective manner. So, I worked on my present
communication and management skills that have been improved to a lot extent through this
research work. Further was allotted a task of managing the whole team that was also very helpful
in the course of understating the way team collaboration techniques are applied in real business
situations. There were issues of communication channels across business organisations that I
30

dealt by using formal channels of communication so that overall issues can be resolved at earlier
stages only and it does not affect the overall functioning of whole team.
31

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