The Impact of Social Media on Brand Loyalty of E-commerce Business - A Case Study on Souq, UAE

STUDENT ID :1820430
UNIVERSITY OF WOLVERHAMPTON Case Study

Acknowledgment
I would like to thank everyone who has assisted me through this entire process of the research. I
am extremely grateful towards my supervisor Ms. Sufia Munir. Her patience and guidance
through my entire study is what helped me complete it. I would also like to sincerely thank to all
staff members and students of the University of Wolverhampton for their unending support,
which has made my thesis research possible.
I am in debt of all the individuals who participated in the study for their time and help. Their
support helped me in completing my research. I am also grateful to all the people whose previous
research work has helped me in executing this paper correctly.
Last but not least, I would like to give thanks to my family, whose support and encouragement
pushed me to do better and finish this study. Without your presence, I would not have been able
to achieve completion of this project.
Pravin Mathew
University of Wolverhampton, UK.
MBA, International Business Management.
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Abstract
Presentation Title : The Impact of Social Media on Brand Loyalty of E-commerce Business
Research focus : A case study on Souq,UAE
Student Level : Masters
Year : 2019
Language : English Language
Name of Supervisor : SufiaMunir
This research aims to inspect the effect and influence of social media on the operations of the e-
commerce business called Souq. It has been difficult for the business to achieve brand loyalty
through the use of social media. This has happened because of an increase in market competition
and a change in the trends of competition. Using social media for promotion purposes can be an
effective tool to reach out to cutomers. But Souq has been unable to produce content for their
social media that would attract customers. This is because the company is lacking a clear vision
for their brand which could attract new customers or convince the existing ones to stay. Souq is
registered as a United Arab Emirates based English-Arabic e-commerce site, which is the largest
e-commerce platform that operates in UAE and is owned by Amazon. The net estimated value of
the e-commerce site is $580 million for which Amazon undertook it. The platform was founded
in 2005 and was undertaken on 28th March 2017. The significance of the research lies in the fact
that it will help researchers help in understanding the correlation between social media and
creating brand loyalty, in this case, for Souq. The rationale behind the research is to investigate
and analyze the influence that social media creates on customers’ purchase habits and how it
could affect Souq’s endeavour at creating brand loyalty on the e-commerce site in United Arab
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Emirates. The results would show if customers’ repetition could determine factors behind brand
loyalty.
Analysis of a research to be effective, it is dependent on the research techniques. The sample size
that was chosen for this research is 50 people. The methods have been justified and it will help
effectively help clarify the purpose of this study.
The results of the data analysis shows that social media affects brand loyalty in customers and it
is the same case for Souq. The responses received from customers of Souq implies that social
media acts as an effective platform and it does put a positive effect in developing brand loyalty.
The analysis was done through correlation and regression on the responses collected from the
consumer of Souq. The results obtained shows strong association between the variables. In
comparing social media marketing and brand loyalty, the value obtained is 803, which is more
than 0.7 and signifies positive association. The p-value obtained is 0.00, which is less than 0.05
and signifies that influence of social media on brand loyalty and marketing on customers for
Souq.
Keywords: Social media, Brand loyalty, E-commerce, customers, personal relationships,
consistency
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER-1: INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................10
1. Overview.............................................................................................................................10
1.2 Problem statement...........................................................................................................11
1.3 Research aim...................................................................................................................12
1.4 Research objectives.........................................................................................................12
1.5 Research questions..........................................................................................................12
1.6 Research rationale...........................................................................................................13
1.7 Structure of the dissertation............................................................................................13
1.8 Summary.........................................................................................................................15
CHAPTER-2: LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................................................18
2.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................18
2.1 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................................18
2.2 Concept of social media marketing.....................................................................................19
2.3 Factors affecting social media marketing............................................................................19
2.4 Concept of brand loyalty.....................................................................................................20
2.5 Factors affecting brand loyalty............................................................................................21
2.6 Opportunity of social media marketing in e-commerce business........................................22
Basic considerations:.............................................................................................................23
2.7 Benefits of social media marketing in e-commerce business..............................................24
2.8 Challenges faced in social media marketing of e-commerce business................................26
2.9 Benefits of brand loyalty in e-commerce business..............................................................27
2.10 Challenges faced in maintaining brand loyalty of e-commerce businesses......................29
2.11 Impact of Social Media marketing on e-commerce business brand loyalty......................30
2.12 Methods of ensuring effectiveness of social media marketing for e-commerce...............32
2.13 Research Gap.....................................................................................................................33
2.14 Summary............................................................................................................................33
CHAPTER-3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...........................................................................35
3.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................35
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3.1 Research outline...................................................................................................................35
3.2 Research onion.....................................................................................................................35
3.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................................36
3.2.1 Rationalizing the application of positivism philosophy...................................................37
3.3 Research approach...............................................................................................................38
3.3.1 Rationalizing the application of deductive approach....................................................39
3.4 Research design...................................................................................................................39
3.4.1 Rationalizing the application of descriptive design......................................................40
3.5 Research strategy.................................................................................................................41
3.5.1 Rationalizing the application of survey research strategy............................................42
3.6 Sampling technique and sampling size................................................................................42
3.6.1 Rationalizing the application of random probability sampling technique....................43
3.7 Data collection technique....................................................................................................44
3.7.1 Rationalizing the application of primary data collection technique.............................45
3.8 Data analysis technique.......................................................................................................45
3.8.1 Rationalizing the application of quantitative data analysis technique..........................46
3.9 Ethical considerations..........................................................................................................46
3.10 Research limitations...........................................................................................................46
3.11 Summary............................................................................................................................47
Chapter-4: DATA ANALYSIS.....................................................................................................49
4.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................49
4.1 Descriptive analysis.............................................................................................................50
Chapter-5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................76
5.0 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................76
5.1 Recommendations................................................................................................................77
5.2 Implication of the study.......................................................................................................78
5.3 Reflection on the study........................................................................................................78
5.4 Limitations...........................................................................................................................79
5.5 Future scope of study...........................................................................................................79
References......................................................................................................................................80
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Appendix -1...................................................................................................................................86
1. Question Title.............................................................................................................86
2. Question Title.............................................................................................................86
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21. Question Title.............................................................................................................94
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Structure of the dissertation...........................................................................................12
Figure 2: Conceptual framework...................................................................................................14
Figure 4: Research philosophies....................................................................................................28
Figure 5: Research Approach........................................................................................................29
Figure 6: Research design..............................................................................................................30
Figure 7: Research strategy...........................................................................................................32
Figure 8: Sampling technique and sample size..............................................................................33
Figure 9: Data collection process..................................................................................................34
Figure 10: Data analysis technique................................................................................................35
Figure 11: Gender..........................................................................................................................39
Figure 14: Monthly salary.............................................................................................................42
Figure 16: Satisfied with social media marketing advantage........................................................44
Figure 17: Product authenticity offered by Souq...........................................................................45
Figure 18: Customer oriented program undertaken by Souq.........................................................46
Figure 19: After sales service of Souq...........................................................................................47
Figure 20: Response rate received after applying for a complaint................................................48
Figure 21: Mobile application related to Souq..............................................................................49
Figure 22: Effectiveness of customer relationship strategy in retaining loyalty...........................50
Figure 23: Satisfied with feedback suggested by consumers........................................................51
Figure 24: Satisfied with product prices........................................................................................52
Figure 25: Re-purchasing products from Souq..............................................................................53
Figure 27: Response quality satisfaction for consumers from Souq.............................................54
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