Impact of Internet Marketing on Consumer Buying Behaviour in UK Fashion Industry

This report focuses on the impact of internet marketing on consumer buying behaviour in the UK fashion industry, with a case study of Marks & Spencer. The report covers the basic understanding of internet marketing and consumer buying behaviour, the challenges faced by M&S, and the research methodology used to conduct the investigation.

Research Methodology
(Impact of internet marketing on consumer buying
behaviour within UK fashion industry)
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Table of Contents
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW:...............................................................................................................6
To develop basic understanding regarding the internet marketing and consumer buying
behaviour.....................................................................................................................................6
To determine the impact of internet marketing on consumer buying behaviour towards M&S. 7
To examine the challenges that would be faced by M&S while improving their internet
marketing and changing customer’s buying behaviour...............................................................7
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................8
Research design:..........................................................................................................................9
Data collection and analysis:.....................................................................................................11
Sampling:...................................................................................................................................11
Research ethics:.........................................................................................................................11
Validity and reliability:..............................................................................................................12
Research limitation....................................................................................................................12
Time plan...................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14
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ABSTRACT
It is stated that the current research topic is Impact of internet marketing on consumer
buying behaviour within UK fashion industry. Internet marketing plays a significant role if
organisation wants to change the behaviour pattern of their buyers. With the recent time the
trend of online marketing of goods and service has increased a lot. The companies are shifting
their traditional way of advertising to more modern manner. with the help of digital platform,
they are attracting peoples towards their company and changing their perception so that they can
inclined towards them in more effective way. There are so many strategies that can be adopted
by the company so that they can effectively market their product through various social media
sites. Internet marketing the term itself say promoting through neatwork technology. There is
various way of advertising product such as through images, content, videos or audio. The
concept is gaining more importance day by day because of by this they can reach to wider
section of audience at the same time and can use single marketing strategy to influence consumer
behaviour. This main purpose of this report is to gain a detailed understanding about the topic so
that skills can be developed regarding internet marketing. The study uses the quantitative
methodology to conduct the investigation and the source to collect data will be primary data with
the help of Questionnaire. If company use this then they could be benefited by this, helps in
boosting customer engagement, impulsive buying behaviour and many more.
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INTRODUCTION
Internet marketing includes the ways and strategies used by an organisation for marketing
products and services online and by other different digital mediums. It involves a variety of
online tools, platforms and content delivery systems like website design and content, social
media and email marketing. Internet is one of the components that play major role in changing
buying behaviour of customers towards the brand. This holds great significance for increasing
the sales and brand image of the organisation. The selected organisation for conducting whole
research report is Marks & Spencer (Dahiya and Gayatri, 2018).
Relevance of the proposed research
The present investigation has great relevance for in terms of business perspective because
it shows the significance of internet marketing in the modern business world. With this
investigation, businesses can easily learn about the various challenges faced by company to
implement internet marketing so that large number of customers can be attracted.
Proposed study
The current study is proposed to show the effectiveness of internet marketing to change
buying behaviour of customers towards the brand. This report is clearly focused at showing the
significance of internet marketing and its positive influence to gain attention of large number of
customers. This will also show that internet marketing is directly linked to increase in sales of
offerings offered by the organisation (Waheed and Jianhua, 2018).
Justification of the selected topic
In the present investigation the chosen topic is internet marketing and its importance in
changing buying behaviour of customers toward an organisation. It is being identified that with
the help of internet marketing, companies get many number of opportunities and grow to the
whole organisation. There are two perspectives which are attained and they are personal and
professional perspective. In respect of personal perspective, I will get to learn about the latest
trends in the marketing and in this I will get to know about internet marketing. In respect of
professional perspective, I will get to learn about the strategies useful for organisation and this
will be helpful in my professional career.
Value of the research
The current investigation is of great value as it takes out detailed information about the
impact of internet marketing to change buying behaviour of consumers toward the organisation.
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It is of great value for researchers and students who can use this investigation as foundation for
their own knowledge (Pradhan, Israel and Jena, 2018).
Research aim, questions and objectives
Research aim
To identify the impact of internet marketing in changing buying behaviour of consumer
towards the brand: A study on M&S
Research objectives
 To develop basic understanding regarding the internet marketing and consumer buying
behaviour
 To determine the impact of internet marketing on consumer buying behaviour towards
M&S
 To examine the challenges that would be faced by M&S while improving their internet
marketing and changing customer’s buying behaviour
Research questions
 Explain the concept of internet marketing and consumer buying behaviour?
 What is the impact of internet marketing on consumer buying behaviour towards M&S?
 What are the challenges that would be faced by M&S while improving their internet
marketing and changing customer’s buying behaviour?
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LITERATURE REVIEW:
This is that part of the research section which contain all the past publish information related
to the topic chosen by the company. This chapter is very beneficially for researcher as through
this thy get a detailed understanding about the topic which helps them to enhance their
knowledge. The research gap between the past research and present report can be obtained using
this.
To develop basic understanding regarding the internet marketing and consumer buying
behaviour
As per the viewpoint of Kisiołek, Karyy and Нalkiv (2021), internet marketing plays a
significant role in increasing the brand awareness and reputation of business. Internet marketing
generally includes the strategies which for market products and service online. It includes
varieties of online platform such as content delivery system, online platforms and various tools
such as social media, email marketing and content marketing. The main motive of internet
marketing is to drive more qualified traffic and reach to maximum number of audience. Internet
marketing helps in building relations with consumers and also reflects the move away from mass
marketing. It also helps in reaching to wider market due to which the sale and profitability of
business increases. Through internet marketing, company can personalise their offer by
developing a profile of their purchasing history and preferences. Internet marketing helps in
building strong relationship with consumers which helps in increasing customer retention levels.
Consumer buying behaviour is a process of taking action before buying a product or
service. It mainly includes engaging with social media posts, consulting search engines and
varieties of other actions. There are various factors which influence the consumer buying
behaviour such as cultural factor, social factor, personal factor and psychological factor. The
different types of consumer buying behaviour are consumer buying behaviour, habitual buying
behaviour, variety seeking behaviour and dissonance-reducing buying behaviour. It is important
for company to understand the consumer buying behaviour as it helps to understand how buyer
feel, think and decide while working and also determine how best to market their products and
services. Through consumer buying behaviour, company can understand the expectation of
consumer and also they can make customer to buy a product or services (Pradhan, Israel and
Jena, 2018).
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To determine the impact of internet marketing on consumer buying behaviour towards M&S
As per the opinion of Dahiya and Gayatri (2018), there is a huge impact of internet
marketing on consumer buying behaviour towards organisation as it helps in increasing the
profitability and productivity of business and also saves the time of people by visiting at physical
store.
Boost customer engagement is one of the impact which is created on consumer buying
behaviour through internet marketing. Due to the digital marketing, customer interact with
company and look for their products and services on different social media or e-commerce
platforms. It is important for Marks and Spencer to focus on engaging their customers on search
engines, websites and social media platforms. Customers generally have power to choose brand
and build reputation.
Impulsive buying behaviour is also an impact of internet marketing on consumer
behaviour. It is made directly before making actual purchase or it can be said that spontaneous
decision which is made at moment. While using social media platform, consumers can make
impulsive buying behaviour while reviewing the products. Sometimes they also pre-plan their
purchases and also chooses their products which they wish to buy. Marks and Spencer must use
social media platforms and third party websites in order to promote their featured deals which
also influences the behaviour of consumers.
Higher customer expectation: Customer expectation increases when Marks and Spencer think
of using internet marketing for their goods and services. consumer re expecting more innovation
in content, image, message or videos they used to attract the buyers. Internet marketing lays a
very vital role buyers are expecting more from the organisation and this is getting increased day
by day. With the digital marketing bars are getting higher and the buyer are comparing the
marketing technology used with the competitor and then they make their buying decision. The
patience level of the buyers is so less that they want fast service from the company (De Mooij,
2019).
To examine the challenges that would be faced by M&S while improving their internet
marketing and changing customer’s buying behaviour
According to Vakulenko and et. al (2019), Marks and Spencer they have encounter with
many challenges when they try to improve their internet marketing strategy so that they can
change their buying behaviour. The foremost issue that they face is standing first in the roe. In
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recent time many of the organisation is using online marketing to promote their products and
services. The competitions are increasing such that to reach their buyers is becoming difficult. So
Marks and Spencer faces the problem of getting lost in the volume available in the internet. The
next challenge that they face is choosing the right customer for their brand so that they can
change their buying behaviour. Targeting the right audience is becoming difficult because the
internet users are enhancing day by day. There needs are changing on frequent basis so changing
their perception with online marketing towards their brand and increasing their image with the
competitors is problematic for Marks and spencer. One of the other challenge they also face is
generating leads while turning the behaviour of the buyers. There are so many social media
platform Marks and Spencer uses so to remain consistent in one digital channel and generating
leads from there is an issue. Because they can’t rely one site to market their product and change
their buyer’s perceptions. Next another problem that occurs while improving their internet
marketing and changing customer’s buying behaviour is developing correct budget on the
platform and strategy that they are going to use. There are so many analytics tools that can be
used by marketers. So to decide how much to spend on one is an issue. The vital challenge that
they face while advertising products is of security risk. In today’s environment the threat of
leaking confidential information is so high that buyers can get false news of the company and
this could influence then to make a bad perception toward the organisation (Grewal and et. al,
2020).
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This section in the proposal will consist of information about the different methodology and
approaches that would be selected by the researcher to collect the type of data and how they will
investigate so that aim and objective can be achieved. In this section, the examiner will discuss
about the onion framework of Saunders et al.
Research methodology:
Research methodology is the section which plays a very vital role in the whole research.
The theories and hypothesis that is made by the investigator is tested by this part. Research
methodology can be defines as a systematic process which is used to gather, identify, analysis
and interpret the topic that is selected by researcher. This chapter is used to test the validity and
reliability of theories and hypothesis. Research methodology is of two types: Quantitative and
Qualitative. Qualitative methodology is used when researcher wants to gain an in-depth
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knowledge of the study. The information gathered are in the form of words so that they can
emotions and sentiments. Quantitative methodology is used when the examiner wants factual
information. The type of data that is covered in this is of numbers, figure and facts. As per the
requirement of the current topic the investigator will be selecting Quantitative methodology to
collect data (Snyder, 2019).
Research design:
This is the framework by which the investigator chose the market technique and method
which they can use to gathered and analysis the information. Experimental, Descriptive and
Exploratory are the kinds of research design. Descriptive is used when to evaluate and identify
the information which is in numbers, experimental when there are two or more variables either of
quantitative or qualitative nature and explanatory is used when they are in words and is of
qualitative nature. In this research topic descriptive design will be selected because the examiner
wants numerical information which can be measured quickly and easily.
This section will have following steps that will cover the onion framework of Saunders.
Research philosophy: The very first layer of onion formwork is Research philosophy. It
can be defines as a set of principles and belief about the ways of collecting and evaluating the
information. Ontology, Epistemology and Apology are the kinds of research philosophy. In the
present investigation Epistemology philosophy is being chosen. Further it is of three types that is
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positivism, Interpretivism and realism. Positivism is works when numerics data is to be obtained,
Interpretivism philosophy is based on quantitative data and realism is used when analyses is
based on human mind perception. As per the study researcher would use Positivism philosophy
because data is of quantitative nature.
Research approach: This is the second layer of the Saunders onion research methodology
framework. Research approach is used when examiner wants to test the validity of the collected
data. there are two kinds of approaches that can be used by scholar to test the information.
Deductive and inductive are the approaches. Deductive approach is used when information is of
Quantitative nature and the validity is check of existing theory and hypothesis. Inductive
approach is used when data is of qualitative nature and researcher made new theories and
hypothesis to check the reliability. As in the current research the examiner will collect
quantitative methodology so the approach that will be selected is deductive approach (Kumar,
2018).
Research strategy: The third coating of the onion methodology is Research strategy.
There are variety of strategy that can be used by the investigator to collect information form
wider section. survey, action research, experiments, case study and literature review and many
more are the ways to obtained information. Survey is selected when the information need to be
collected from wider section. Experimental strategy is used when data is to be obtained from real
life situation, case study is used when relationship is to be measured etc. Asper the current topic
examiner would select survey strategy because information need to be obtained from large
audience at a single time.
Research choice: Another layer of the framework is choice. In this part scholar made
choice between the type of data that they want to conduct their research in accurate manner. The
investigator has given three choices to made their decision these are Mono method, Multi
method and Mixed method. Mono method works when either quantitative or qualitative data is to
be collect. Here only single type of information is gathered. Mixed method works when both the
data is to be collected that is quantitative and qualitative. The last multi is used when both the
information is collected multiple time. Both the information is collect for at least two time. In
this report the researcher will chose mono method because the type of data they want is of single
type that is Quantitative.
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Time horizon: The last layer of this section is time horizon which is used to know the
exact time in which data need to be gathered. There are two types of time horizon that is Cross
sectional and longitudinal. In cross sectional data is gathered at a single point of time and in
Longitudinal multiply time the information is gathered for the topic. In current research the
researcher would chose cross sectional time horizon because it will help them to obtained data at
single point and in shorter time period (Novikov and Novikov, 2019).
Data collection and analysis:
Data collection: It is the method used to collect appropriate information from different
source for the topic selected. The two source through data can be gathered is Primary and
secondary sources. Primary data collects the first hand data which is not used earlier by any of
researcher. it is the fresh data and all the information consist is fresh. Secondary data is used
when existing information need to be obtained. The data is used by various other examiner
multiply times. Different sources of second hand data are books, journal, articles, magazine,
online site, government website etc. As per the investigation the kind of data that is to be
collected is primary data because researcher want fresh data so that gap can be find between the
past and present report and the topic and the research instrument that is used by them will be
questionnaire.
Data analysis: Frequency distribution and thematic are two tool to analyse the data. As the
information is of numeric in nature the researcher will use frequency distribution method
(Daniel, Kumar and Omar, 2018).
Sampling:
In the present investigation probability sampling would be used and in that random
sampling will be selected because participants will be selected in fairly manner. the respondent
will be 30 customers of Marks and Spencer.
Research ethics:
Every investigator need to follow some beliefs and values. The norms that need to be
follow are honesty, integrity, objectivity, openness, respect to intellectual property and many
more.
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Validity and reliability:
The above information is reliable as that data is collected through Questionnaire and it is
valid because it is based on numerical information.
Research limitation
There is some limitation while conducting this research as the resources are limited as well
as there is not enough knowledge regarding the topic.
Time plan
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implications for learning and teaching. International Journal of Research & Method in
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advertising. Sage.
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Kumar, R., 2018. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage.
Novikov, A.M. and Novikov, D.A., 2019. Research methodology: From philosophy of science to
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Vakulenko, Y., and et. al, 2019. Service innovation in e-commerce last mile delivery: Mapping
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