Research Proposal on The Effectiveness of Using Social Media as a Promotional Tool: A Case Study of PlayStation Games

This research proposal aims to understand how social media is helping the promotion of sales of video games focusing on the case study of Sony PlayStation Fifa 2019 games. The study will analyze the role of social media in the promotion of the sales of Sony PlayStation Fifa 2019 games and the biggest influences of the Sony PlayStation Fifa 2019 games promotion on the minds of children under the age group of 13-19.

Running Head : RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Proposal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Background of the Study :......................................................................................................2
Statement of the problem:......................................................................................................2
Research aim and objectives:.................................................................................................3
The research Questions:.........................................................................................................3
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................3
The social media promotion...................................................................................................3
Social media strategies...........................................................................................................4
Effects of social media marketing on children.......................................................................4
Research Methodology...............................................................................................................4
Data collection method:.........................................................................................................5
Gantt Chart.................................................................................................................................5

2RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Topic- Research proposal on The effectiveness of using social media as a promotional
tool. A case study of play station games. ( FiFa 2019 game specific)
Introduction
Background of the Study:
Through the past few years, people have experienced the way the business is
conducted and the way people interact. The rapid growth of the internet , computers, the e-
commerce have a huge impact on the way the business organizations operate in the market.
The introduction of the social media platforms have accelerated the processes of businesses
impacting on general people. The use of technologies has also increased the e-commerce
activities and the companies like eBay, Google, Amazon, Microsoft are benefitting rapidly
(Tuten and Solomon 2017). The popularity of social media has made it the hottest medium
for the organizations to generate value for their business. Almost every business utilizes the
social media as an effective promotional tool by doing social media campaigning and
advertising.
Statement of the problem:
The PlayStation games have a bigger impact on the society and the young members of
the society. It is one of the three big consoles in America in the recent years. The PS, Xbox
and Wii try their best to become best which is causing the other two to step up fast. This
competition has caused it expand in every country and capture the maximum of people’s
lives. The main problem with this digitalization is that, kids are being addicted to the game
being unaware of the surrounding and people(Gentile et al. 2016). Moreover, here are also

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some severe health risks such as vision problem, brain tissue damage due to the prolonged
exposure to the radiation.
Research aim and objectives:
The aim of the study is to understand how social media is helping the promotion of
sales of video games focusing in the case study of Sony PlayStation Fifa 2019 games.
The research objectives are:
1. To understand the way social media is helping in the promotion of the PlayStation
games in the Australian context.
2. To find out the way the PlayStation games are leaving impact on the society and
psychology of the users.
The research Questions:
1. What is the role of social media in promotion of the sales of Sony PlayStation Fifa
2019 games?
2. What are the biggest influences of the Sony PlayStation Fifa 2019 games promotion
on the minds of children under the age group of 13- 19 ?
Literature Review
The social media promotion
The social media is one of the effective tools in the marketing world. The businesses
are using the platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn to succeed fast and enhancing
their brand recognition (Fuchs 2017). In the digital marketing, social media plays a major
role in the entire marketing strategy depending on the nature of the business and the target
audience as suggested by Ashley and Tuten (2015). It has been used in the past as a tool to

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increase the customer loyalty and enhance the purchase through the customer retention.
However, there are clear examples on the way social media is utilized for the generation of
the brand awareness via viral content or the paid advertising on Facebook. The relationship
of people with the social media has evolved and leveraged the power of the marketers (Tuten
and Solomon 2017).
Social media strategies
The model for the social media strationegy is established on the three contributing
factors such as the brand, the social media goals and the audience. According to Gibson
(2015), the combination of the three components give rise to the “ hitlist” or the value adding
content of the customers. It is such a popular channel for promotion because it has a
transparent and two –way potential for the interaction.
Effects of social media marketing on children
The promotion of the video games has both the positive and negative impacts.
According to Király et al. (2017), the social media marketing creates connection among
people and increases the social skills and the imagination. The organizations are rapidly
profiting due to the marketing at social media platforms. However, there are negative impacts
too such as the aggressiveness among the children are increased (Gentile et al. 2016). It
makes the children hanker for buying the product that is marketed and leaves life-long effects
on their psyche.
Research Methodology
In this particular study, the positivism as a research philosophy will be used because
it will help to investigate the problem statement in the most logical manner. The analysis will
be based on the facts. As far as the research design is concerned, the analytical research

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design will be used in this study in order to gain an in –depth idea of the existing marketing
and promotional theories.
Data collection method (source):
This research study will be based on both the primary and the secondary data
collection sources. The primary data will be collected through the survey and the interviews.
On the other hand, the secondary data collection will be based on the available printed
documents, journals and books. It is expected that both types of sources will be highly useful
for this particular study.
Sampling method
In this study, random sampling will be used for gaining deeper understanding of the
topic. The interview will be conducted on 50 employees from Sony to know how they market
their product (game ) on social media and survey will be conducted on 100 parents in
Australia having children under the age group of 13- 19. The data collected through the
quantitative and the qualitative method will be analysed and transformed into charts and
graphs to present a pictorial view.
Data Analysis
It is the process of systematically applying the statistical and the logical techniques
for describing, illustrating and evaluating data. The collected data will be analysed and the
findings will be transformed into the graphs, charts, tables for the pictorial representation and
better understanding. The data analysis will draw unbiased inference.
Gantt Chart
Activities 1st
to 3rd
4th
to 10th
11t
h to
14t
h to
18th
to 21st
22
nd to
24th
Week

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Week week 13th
Week
17th
Week
Week 23rd
Week
Selection of the topic 
Data collection from
secondary sources
 
Creating layout 
Literature review   
Analysis and
interpretation of
collected data
  
Findings of the data  
Conclusion of the
study

Formation of draft  
Submission of final
work


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References
Ashley, C. and Tuten, T., 2015. Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory
study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1),
pp.15-27.
Chang, Y.T., Yu, H. and Lu, H.P., 2015. Persuasive messages, popularity cohesion, and
message diffusion in social media marketing. Journal of Business Research, 68(4), pp.777-
782.
Fuchs, C., 2017. Social media: A critical introduction. Sage.
Gentile, D.A., Swing, E.L., Anderson, C.A., Rinker, D. and Thomas, K.M., 2016. Differential
neural recruitment during violent video game play in violent-and nonviolent-game
players. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 5(1), p.39.
Gibson, R.K., 2015. Party change, social media and the rise of ‘citizen-
initiated’campaigning. Party politics, 21(2), pp.183-197.
Király, O., Tóth, D., Urbán, R., Demetrovics, Z. and Maraz, A., 2017. Intense video gaming
is not essentially problematic. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 31(7), p.807.
Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R., 2017. Social media marketing. Sage.