Impact of Social Media on Brand and Customer Relationship
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This report examines the influence of social media on development on brand and customer relationship. The report will identify the research problem and develop objectives for the research.
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Running head: RESEARCH IN BUSINESS Research in Business Name of the student Name of the university Author note
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1RESEARCH IN BUSINESS Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................2 2.0 Problem Statement...............................................................................................................2 3.0 Aim, objectives and Research questions..............................................................................3 4.0 Justification and potential output of the research.................................................................3 5.0 Conceptual framework and Hypothesis development..........................................................3 5.1 Social media and its impact on brand image........................................................................3 5.2 Social media on customer relationship of the organization.................................................4 5.3 Hypothesis development......................................................................................................6 6.0 Methodology........................................................................................................................7 6.1 Research Approach and sources of data...........................................................................7 6.2 Proposed data collection and analysis techniques............................................................7 6.3 Organisation of the study.................................................................................................8 6.4 Budget, Project Activities and Gantt chart.......................................................................9 Project activities and schedule...............................................................................................9 References................................................................................................................................12
2RESEARCH IN BUSINESS Topic:Examination of the impact of social media on brand and customer relationship 1.0 Introduction This report examines the influence of social media on development on brand and customer relationship. The competition in the global market has been growing significantly andcompaniesareconstantlylookingfor optionstodevelopstrategiesthathelpsin developing sustainable competitive advantage in the market. Social media has become one of the most crucial area of business for companies working in the global platform. Social media plays an important role in generating meaningful connections between the organisation and the online audience (Balakrishnan, Dahnil & Yi 2014). It has been used effectively by companies to engage with the consumers and gather positive response regarding the brand. Social media enables the consumers to voice their opinion and has developed a two way communication channel (Godey et al., 2016).In recent years, brands have utilized different ways to optimize social media. Moreover, the potential of social media in the upcoming years is huge and companies have to be a part of this trend to survive and compete at the same level with other companies. The growth experience due to advent of social media is very high and it has become essential for the companies to leverage these opportunities in the most effective way possible. This report will propose to evaluate the impact of social media on the customer relationship and branding. The report will identify the research problem and develop objectives for the research. The aim, objectives and research questions will also be discussed in the research. The study will also provide justification for choosing the topic and potential outcomes in this study. Past literature will be reviewed and critically analysed to develop a conceptual framework for the research. The appropriate methodology will be proposed along with the timeline and expected budget of performing the research. 2.0 Problem Statement The automobile companies in Australia has been using social media marketing and significantly changed the way they operate and sell products. Social media has become one of the most important aspect of influencing buyers (Ngai, Tao & Moon, 2015). Moreover, the appearances of the cars have gained significant importance than before and visual outlook has become one of the important factors of purchase behaviour. The process of purchase is also shifting to the online medium. Even past studies have been able to examine the impact of
3RESEARCH IN BUSINESS social media on consumer buying behaviour but there is lack of evaluation on the impact of social media on developing effective customer relationship and branding. 3.0 Aim, objectives and Research questions The aim of the study is to critically evaluate the relationship between the independent variable social media and the two dependent variables customer relationship management and branding. The research has developed the objective based on the goal and they are as follows: To examine the impact of social media on customer relationship and branding in the automobile industry To recommend suitable strategies to successfully implement social media strategies for better customer engagement and brand development Research Question What is the impact of social media on customer relationship and branding in the automobile industry? 4.0 Justification and potential output of the research Theanalysisofthepastliteraturehaveclearlyshownthatthereisgapin understanding the impact of social media on the companies in the automobile industry and the way they have used social media to develop brand and engage consumers (Valos et al., 2016). The majority of the studies have focused on general impact but there is a huge gap in understanding the way Australian automobile companies have been affected. The potential output of the research is expected to highlight the key ways social media has been beneficial for the companies in the Australian automobile industry. This study aims to bring awareness among the management in different companies about the role of social media in improve ng customer relationship and branding. The study expects to develop a positive relationship between the variables. 5.0 Conceptual framework and Hypothesis development 5.1 Social media and its impact on brand image De Vries andCarlson (2014)stated that the utilization of a wider range of social media platforms affect the potentials of a brand while improving the brand image. The systematic development of the promotional activities of an organization assists in enhancing the rate of
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4RESEARCH IN BUSINESS customerrelationshipthroughsteadycommunicationofthedifferentmodifications. Hajli(2014)stated that the improvements in the communicational practices through the involvement of the social media platforms helps in continuing with the transparency of the operations. The brand image of an organization is reliant on the rate of awareness among the customers which would assist organizations in maximizing the rate of sales revenue. On the other hand,Chen andLin (2015)noted that the utilization of the social media platforms would assist the organizations in demonstrating the USP of the same which supports the initiatives of gaining the competitive edge. The enhanced rate of brand image of the organization is related to the enhanced rate of interactions between the consumers and the company. According toAshley and Tuten (2015), the utilization of the social media strategies would assist the ventures in developing a positive awareness among the customers relating to the product offerings. Moreover, the initiation of a social media strategy would assist in developing the operations of the same while operating in different markets.Therefore, the development of the social media activities of the organizations assist the same in improving the brand image of the venture. Zhang andLuo(2016)stated that the brand recognition and trust are the major factors that assists an organization in achieving the competitive edge while retaining the loyalty of the target consumers. In this relation, the social media strategies assist an organization in circulatingvalidandreliableinformationonthepropositionsformaintainingthe transparency while encouraging the involvement of the customers in the different processes. Ismail (2017)opined that the involvement of the customers in the different processes of the organization assist the same in improving the design of the propositions and the procedures that are commenced by the ventures. Therefore, it might be stated that the enhanced rate of social media utilization would assist an organization in improving a loyal customer base while making the same aware of the competitive propositions of the same while operating in the different markets. 5.2 Social media on customer relationship of the organization Hajli (2014)opined that the enhanced rated of customer interactions assist an organization in developing the line of offerings. The organizations hold interactions with the customerswiththeobjectiveof developingaknowledgeon thepreferencesandthe likenesses of the same.On the other hand, the frequent interactions with the customers
5RESEARCH IN BUSINESS would assist the organization in making the same aware of the different modifications that are being planned by the venture while operating in the different markets. Moreover, it has been noticed that more than 60% of the organizations has developed aproficientsocialmediastrategywhichassistedthesameinimprovingtherateof interactions while adhering to the demand of the customers (Wang & Kim, 2017). On the other hand, the enhanced rate of interactions would assist the venture in developing the operations of the same while inducing frequent innovations. Enhanced R&D operations of the venture would assist the organizations in gaining a competitive edge over the other players in themarkets.However,Balakrishnan,DahnilandYi(2014)arguedthatthenegative promotions and lack of suitable understanding of the target audience might affect the potentials of the venture in retaining the effectiveness of the social media promotions. The lack of suitable understanding of the target audience would affect the capabilities of the venture in positioning the message for promoting their propositions. Nisar andWhitehead (2016)stated that theutilization of the social media platforms assist an organization in developing a systematic network between the customers and the management. In this relation, the suitable understanding of the demand of the customers assist an organization in strengthening the R&D operations of the same.The enhanced rate of creativity and innovation sin the organization assists in achieving a higher rate of competitive benefit while designing the proposition in different market sections. According to the research ofWang and Kim, (2017)it has been revealed that social media serves as one of the most effective consumer relationship management tool and it also facilitates in analyzing the ways in which social media interactions influences consumers post-purchase decisions. These researchers have also stated that after the consumers have purchased products or services, social media use facilitates them in to share their purchase experience with the social network.Wang and Kim, (2017)indicated that companies can develop positive consumer relationships through social media interactions that resemble “Word-of-mouth (WOM)” within which the companies’ prospective consumers can attain product information from the trusted sources within their social network. Using the social media communication platform the consumers can simply communicate their dissatisfaction and reach a huge fraction of audiences that can facilitate the companies to realize their underperformance based on which they can improve their service offerings. In addition, these researchers also revealed that through frequent social media interactions, attitudes towards
6RESEARCH IN BUSINESS the brands turn out to be highly accessible for the companies’ prospective consumers. Such increase in the attitude accessibility supports consumers’ positive purchasing behavior. Rodriguez, Peterson and Ajjan, (2015)revealed that frequent brand interactions through social media along with high involvement of consumers with positive experiences can reflect higher up as well as cross selling that further develop consumer relationships. These researchers also revealed that consumer interactions develop engagement value fur the organization that can also have a positive impact on the consumer value and retention. In addition, uncertainty concerning the impacts of social media interactions on consumers up selling behavior along with that churn dependents greatly on the past service experience of the consumers.Guesalaga, (2016)indicated that considering organizations uncertainty regarding the revenue as well as cost implications of social media interactions on consumer purchasing behavior. These researchers also evidenced that a major advantage off the social media is that to offers companies with increased opportunities to quickly attain feedback on the businesses current product development as well as marketing strategies. In contrast, it has also been revealed that there is a negative side of such consumer relationship management conducts on social media as the consumers might share some opinion that can affect companies’ reputation within the marketplace.Go and You, (2016)confirmed that the only way to manage the pros and cons of social media is to develop strong consumer relationships on loyalty trust and collaboration. It has also been revealed that leading organizations attain competitive edge in the industry as they realize the function of social media in generating long term consumer relationships. 5.3 Hypothesis development The hypotheses that are to be tested through competition of the current research are indicated below: Social media impact on brand H0: Social media has no positive impact on improving brand image H1: Social media has a positive impact on improving the brand image Social media impact on consumer relationship H0: Social media has no positive impact on improving consumer relationship H1: Social media has a positive impact on improving consumer relationship
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7RESEARCH IN BUSINESS 6.0 Methodology Researchmethodologicalwayofgatheringdataandevaluatingittodevelop knowledge in the research. Research methodology will be developed based on the Saunders research onion but the method will only address the four inner layers in the research. Research goals and objectives are the focus of developing appropriate methods in the research (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). This research has chosen a single research design which will aim to examine the casual relationship between the independent and the dependent variable. In this research, an explanatory research design will be developed which focuses on evaluating relationship between two variables and uses of quantification of data and statistical methods to establish the relationship. The research methodology will describe the methods, instruments and approaches necessary to obtain success in the research. 6.1 Research Approach and sources of data This research uses a deductive approach to analyse collect data. Deductive approach is the method of testing the existing theories mentioned in the literature review section. The deductive approach facilitates in developing predictive models based on secondary data analysis. The study is based on secondary data collection and the research will collect quantitative data from different secondary sources (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). However, in order to collect secondary data on social media and its influence of customer relationship and consumer behaviour, it is essential to identify the companies that have been successful in implementing social media in their marketing strategies. The research will evaluate different company websites, analyse the social media handles of reputed automobile brands and examine the annual reports of the companies to collect raw data on the social media expenditure of these companies and its impact of revenue generation. 6.2 Proposed data collection and analysis techniques The data will be collected from 5 automobile companies in Australia that have excelled in the use of social media marketing. The research will analyse the annual reports to identify the expenditure of social media marketing and over revenue generated. Moreover, the social media measures will also be taken into consideration to examine the response of the consumers towards the company attempts to develop better relationship and brand. There are mainly two types of sampling methods and they are probabilistic and non- probabilistic sampling. In this research, convenience sampling will be used to choose
8RESEARCH IN BUSINESS companies having adequate data on the social media expenditure along with revenue and profit margin. The main aim of the research to examine the relationship between social media, branding and customer relationship.The research is expected to a developed a positive relationship. In this research, social media is the independent variables and brand and customer relationship are the dependent variable (Palinkas et al., 2015). The research will use statistical tools and techniques like SPSS and Ms Excel to gather data and analyse it. Inferential statistics will be used in the research to collect data and analyse it effectively. Initially, Pearson’s correlation analysis will be performed to develop the nature, degree and direction of relationship among the variables. On the other hand, the research uses regression analysis to develop a predictive model for future trend analysis and perform ANOVA test. The ANOVA test develops the F statistics which is compared to the p values. If the F value is less than 0.05 which is the p value, the null hypothesis is rejected in the research. 6.3 Organisation of the study The organisation of the overall research paper is as follows: The first chapter is introduction which provides a detailed analysis of the major theme and purpose of conducting the study. It will provide an overview of the research problem and the way the problem is being addressed in the research. The second chapter is literature review which critically evaluates the past literature on the same research topic to analyse and illustrate the gap in the literature. The gap identified will be addressed by developing effective methods of data collection and analysis. The third chapter in the research is the research methodology which highlights the different methods, instruments and frameworks to be used to gather and evaluate data for knowledge development. The fourth chapter in the research is findings and data analysis which will analyse the collected data using statistical tools and techniques. The findings will be compared with the literature review to provide valid discussion The final chapter is conclusion and recommendation which will provide conclusion by linking the objectives with the results. Valid recommendations will be provided for the companies that are still in the nascent stage of implementing social media in brand and customer relationship development.
9RESEARCH IN BUSINESS 6.4 Budget, Project Activities and Gantt chart The budget of the proposed research is $3000 for completing the research within the given period of time as highlighted in the Gantt chart. The overall budget has been fragmented into different areas as follows: The data for the literature review requires registering and purchasing of research papers, peer reviewed journals, textbooks and statistical data from various websites. This part requires $1000. Data collected from different secondary sources requires $500 to collect all relevant data Finally, in order to analyse the collected data the research will use statistical tools and techniques which requires $500. PurposeEstimated Amount Literature review$1000 Secondary data collection$500 Data analysis$500 Project activities and schedule Task NameDurationStartFinish research plan47 daysWed 01-05-19Thu 04-07-19 Selecting the Topic8 daysWed 01-05-19Fri 10-05-19 Research suitable project topics3 daysWed 01-05-19Fri 03-05-19 Discussion with professor2 daysMon 06-05-19Tue 07-05-19 topic finalization3 daysWed 08-05-19Fri 10-05-19 Milestone 1: Topic Chosen0 daysFri 10-05-19Fri 10-05-19 Secondary data collection7 daysMon 13-05-19Tue 21-05-19 Search for articles, peer reviewed journals and web articles2 daysMon 13-05-19Tue 14-05-19 choose the sources that are relevant2 daysWed 15-05-19Thu 16-05-19 research layout designing3 daysFri 17-05-19Tue 21-05-19 Milestone 2: Secondary data collected0 daysTue 21-05-19Tue 21-05-19 Literature review6 daysWed 22-05-19Wed 29-05-19 Critical examination of data collected2 daysWed 22-05-19Thu 23-05-19 annotated bibliography preparation1 dayFri 24-05-19Fri 24-05-19 preliminary literature review development3 daysMon 27-05-19Wed 29-05-19 Milestone 3: Literature review completed0 daysWed 29-05-19Wed 29-05-19
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10RESEARCH IN BUSINESS Research methodology and Analysis10 daysThu 30-05-19Wed 12-06-19 Selection of the Appropriate Research Techniques4 daysThu 30-05-19Tue 04-06-19 Validate the methods3 daysWed 05-06-19Fri 07-06-19 Check for reliability3 daysMon 10-06-19Wed 12-06-19 Milestone 4: Research methods selected0 daysWed 12-06-19Wed 12-06-19 Data collection from secondary sources7 daysThu 13-06-19Fri 21-06-19 collect data from websites4 daysThu 13-06-19Tue 18-06-19 Data analysis using SPSS and other statistical tools3 daysWed 19-06-19Fri 21-06-19 Milestone 5: secondary data collected and analysed0 daysFri 21-06-19Fri 21-06-19 Conclusion of the Study9 daysMon 24-06-19Thu 04-07-19 Formation of Rough Draft4 daysMon 24-06-19Thu 27-06-19 Discuss with the lecturer2 daysFri 28-06-19Mon 01-07-19 Submission of Final Work3 daysTue 02-07-19Thu 04-07-19 Milestone 5: Project concluded0 daysThu 04-07-19Thu 04-07-19
11RESEARCH IN BUSINESS Gantt chart
12RESEARCH IN BUSINESS References Ashley, C., &Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory studyofbrandedsocialcontentandconsumerengagement.Psychology& Marketing,32(1), 15-27. Balakrishnan, B. K., Dahnil, M. I., & Yi, W. J. (2014). The impact of social media marketing medium toward purchase intention and brand loyalty among generation Y.Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences,148, 177-185. Balakrishnan, B. K., Dahnil, M. I., & Yi, W. J. (2014). The impact of social media marketing medium toward purchase intention and brand loyalty among generation Y.Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences,148, 177-185. Chen, S. C., & Lin, C. P. (2015). The impact of customer experience and perceived value on sustainablesocialrelationshipinblogs:Anempiricalstudy.Technological Forecasting and Social Change,96, 40-50. De Vries, N. J., & Carlson, J. (2014). Examining the drivers and brand performance implicationsofcustomerengagementwithbrandsinthesocialmedia environment.Journal of Brand Management,21(6), 495-515. Go, E. & You, K.H., (2016). But not all social media are the same: Analyzing organizations’ social media usage patterns.Telematics and Informatics,33(1), 176-186. Godey, B., Manthiou, A., Pederzoli, D., Rokka, J., Aiello, G., Donvito, R., & Singh, R. (2016). Social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: Influence on brand equity and consumer behavior.Journal of business research,69(12), 5833-5841. Guesalaga, R., (2016). The use of social media in sales: Individual and organizational antecedents,andtheroleofcustomerengagementinsocialmedia.Industrial Marketing Management,54, 71-79. Hajli, M. N. (2014). A study of the impact of social media on consumers.International Journal of Market Research,56(3), 387-404. Hajli,M.N.(2014).Theroleofsocialsupportonrelationshipqualityandsocial commerce.Technological Forecasting and Social Change,87, 17-27.
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13RESEARCH IN BUSINESS Ismail, A. R. (2017). The influence of perceived social media marketing activities on brand loyalty: The mediation effect of brand and value consciousness.Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics,29(1), 129-144. Ngai, E. W., Tao, S. S., & Moon, K. K. (2015). Social media research: Theories, constructs, andconceptualframeworks.InternationalJournalofInformation Management,35(1), 33-44. Nisar, T. M., & Whitehead, C. (2016). Brand interactions and social media: Enhancing user loyalty through social networking sites.Computers in Human Behavior,62, 743-753. Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research.Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research,42(5), 533-544. Rodriguez, M., Peterson, R.M. & Ajjan, H., (2015). CRM/social media technology: impact on customer orientation process and organizational sales performance. InIdeas in Marketing: Finding the New and Polishing the Old(636-638). Springer, Cham. Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016).Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John Wiley & Sons. Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., & DeVault, M. (2015).Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons. Valos, M. J., Haji Habibi, F., Casidy, R., Driesener, C. B., & Maplestone, V. L. (2016). Exploring the integration of social media within integrated marketing communication frameworks:Perspectivesofservicesmarketers.MarketingIntelligence& Planning,34(1), 19-40. Wang, Z. & Kim, H.G., (2017). Can social media marketing improve customer relationship capabilitiesandfirmperformance?Dynamiccapabilityperspective.Journalof Interactive Marketing,39, 15-26. Wang, Z., & Kim, H. G. (2017). Can social media marketing improve customer relationship capabilitiesandfirmperformance?Dynamiccapabilityperspective.Journalof Interactive Marketing,39, 15-26.
14RESEARCH IN BUSINESS Zhang, M., &Luo, N. (2016). Understanding relationship benefits from harmonious brand community on social media.Internet Research,26(4), 809-826.