Investigate the Effectiveness of Social Media for Improving e-commerce Sales in UAE: A Case Study of AWOK

This research investigates the effectiveness of social media for improving e-commerce sales for AWOK, a UAE based e-commerce website. The study aims to provide suitable recommendations for improving the e-commerce sales by using social media. The research will also contribute to the existing literature on the use of social media for e-commerce sales, particularly in the UAE market.

Running head: DISSERTATION
Investigate the Effectiveness of Social Media for Improving e-commerce Sales in UAE: A Case
Study of AWOK
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Acknowledgement
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this study. I
am indebted to my supervisor ……………………. whose guidance, advice and patience have
been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the…………… [Mention your
university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous support have made this
thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local Education
Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation, this research
would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them, whose research work
helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or completed!
Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

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Abstract
The aim of the research is to investigate the effectiveness of social media for improving e-
commerce sales for AWOK, a UAE based e-commerce website. Social media has gained a lot of
attention recently due to the varied functions and features it provides to the users across the
world. The social media platform provides huge benefits to the users in terms of communication,
sharing and supporting the views of the users. At a global platform, e-commerce sector is
considered as one of the economic sector that is receptive to wide range of ideas for mitigating
the issues encountered by the customers. The emergence of e-commerce was seen in the
seventies though the term e-commerce is fairly new to the customers. AWOK is an e-commerce
company headquartered in Dubai, UAE and the company was founded in 2013 by Ulugbek
Yuldashev. The company is an online shopping platform that mark 5 years in 2018. AWOK is
failing to establish a secured connection between the customers and them. As the customers are
unable to relate to AWOK, the impact is being highlighted in the sales of the company. AWOK
is facing potential issues in terms of the sales of the company. The research is significant
because this will help n understanding the potential issues AWOK is currently facing that is
hampering the sales of the e-commerce company. Once the issues have been identified, the
research will help in giving suitable recommendations for improving the e-commerce sales by
suing social media. The literature review chapter sheds light on the use of social media for
various corporate purposes followed by the transition from e-commerce to social media
commerce. The challenges and benefits are also discussed in respect to social media commerce
along with identifying frameworks that has been successful in proving social media as a positive
marketing strategy. the researcher has used positivism philosophy, deductive approach,
descriptive design and interview and survey research strategy. The researcher has used both

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probability and non-probability sampling technique for selecting 100 employees and 10
managers of AWOK. Primary data collection has been used that allowed the researcher to collect
data from a particular population. From the above discussion, it can be concluded that social
media helps in increasing e-commerce sales for the business organizations. The use of internet
and social media has increased over the years since it originated due to the advanced functions
the platform provides in terms of connectivity and communication. In this highly competitive
world, it is all about survival of the fittest for the business organizations. This can be achieved by
the business organizations by maximizing their sales and reaching out maximum customers. For
AWOK, it is important to increase sales for their e-commerce service by using social media
platform effectively and efficiently. The suitable recommendations for improving the issues
encountered by AWOK for improving e-commerce sales by using social media includes making
the customers feel significant and valued, establishing an emotional connection, recruiting the
right employees, providing suitable justifications and preventing online bullying and harassment.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................8
1.0 Overview...........................................................................................................................8
1.1 Problem statement.................................................................................................................9
1.2 Research aim........................................................................................................................10
1.3 Research objectives.............................................................................................................10
1.4 Research questions...............................................................................................................10
1.5 Research hypothesis.............................................................................................................10
1.6 Research rationale................................................................................................................11
1.7 Structure of the dissertation.................................................................................................11
1.8 Summary..............................................................................................................................13
Chapter 2: Literature review..........................................................................................................14
2.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................14
2.1 Overview of social media development internationally......................................................14
2.2 Overview of social media growth in the UAE market........................................................17
2.3 Use of social media for corporate purposes.........................................................................24
2.4 Transition from e-commerce to mobile commerce and social media commerce................26
2.5 Challenges and benefits in using social media commerce...................................................28
2.6 Identify any successful case studies for which social media has immensely helped..........31

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2.7 Identify strategies and frameworks and critically evaluate what model was chosen to prove
that social media a positive marketing strategy to improve businesses.....................................33
2.8 Summary..............................................................................................................................33
Chapter 3: Research methodology.................................................................................................34
3.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................34
3.1 Research outline...................................................................................................................34
3.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................................34
3.2.1 Explaining the use of positivism philosophy................................................................35
3.3 Research approach...............................................................................................................35
3.3.1 Explaining the use of deductive approach....................................................................36
3.4 Research design...................................................................................................................36
3.4.1 Explaining the use of descriptive design......................................................................37
3.5 Research strategy.................................................................................................................37
3.5.1 Explaining the use of survey and interview research strategy......................................37
3.6 Sampling technique and sample size...................................................................................38
3.6.1 Explaining the use of random probability and non-probability sampling technique....38
3.7 Data collection process........................................................................................................39
3.7.1 Explaining the use of primary data collection process.................................................39
3.8 Data analysis technique.......................................................................................................39
3.8.1 Explaining the use of quantitative and qualitative data analysis technique..................40

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3.9 Accessibility issues..............................................................................................................40
3.10 Ethical considerations........................................................................................................40
3.11 Summary............................................................................................................................41
Chapter 4: Data analysis................................................................................................................42
4.1 Survey analysis....................................................................................................................42
4.2 Interview transcript..............................................................................................................72
Chapter 5: Discussion....................................................................................................................82
Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendation.................................................................................85
6.0 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................85
6.1 Linking with objectives.......................................................................................................85
6.2 Recommendations................................................................................................................87
6.3 Future scope of the study.....................................................................................................88
References......................................................................................................................................89
Appendices....................................................................................................................................98
Appendix 1.................................................................................................................................98
Interview questions................................................................................................................98
Appendix 2...............................................................................................................................101
Interview questions..............................................................................................................101

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Internet penetration by region........................................................................................15
Figure 2: Social media development internationally.....................................................................16
Figure 3: Annual growth of social media users.............................................................................18
Figure 4: Population using social media in Middle East...............................................................19
Figure 5: Facebook users in Middle East......................................................................................19
Figure 6: Use of various social media platforms...........................................................................20
Figure 7: Social media usage habits..............................................................................................22
Figure 8: Social media usage habits..............................................................................................22
Figure 9: Use of social media platforms through Arab countries..................................................23
Figure 10: Social media platforms used daily...............................................................................28
Figure 11: Biggest social media challenges business organizations face......................................30

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Overview
Social media has gained a lot of attention recently due to the varied functions and features it
provides to the users across the world. The social media platform provides huge benefits to the
users in terms of communication, sharing and supporting the views of the users. Considering the
various advantages it provides to the users, the business organizations use the social media
platform for business expansion and customer maximization. As commented by Turban et al.
(2017), the relevance of social media in enhancing e-commerce cannot be overlooked due to the
numerous benefits it provides both at national and international platform. It has been seen that
the social media platform serve as an instrument for the business organizations for transferring
information in terms of the existing and old product thereby, allowing the customers to purchase
online.
It has been seen that e-commerce has recently become interesting to different sectors
because it tends to contribute towards the fundamental change in the nature of the business
process management along with delivery of the service by modifying the traditional policies and
procedures (Laudon and Traver 2013). Out of the various significant effects of e-commerce, one
is minimizing the distance between the consumers and the producers in an environment
regardless of the geographical location. In addition to, e-commerce provides an opportunity for
the business organizations to circulate information on a broader scale without consequent
obstacles.
At a global platform, e-commerce sector is considered as one of the economic sector that is
receptive to wide range of ideas for mitigating the issues encountered by the customers. The

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emergence of e-commerce was seen in the seventies though the term e-commerce is fairly new to
the customers. However, with progress several additional applications were provided with e-
commerce services (Ngai, Tao and Moon 2015). Thus, it can be said that the current trend in
terms of the business performance is due to the use of internet and the e-commerce occupies the
middle stage and act as one of the significant economic trends in the business environment.
AWOK is an e-commerce company headquartered in Dubai, UAE and the company was
founded in 2013 by Ulugbek Yuldashev. The company is an online shopping platform that mark
5 years in 2018. The company considers this as an achievement and aim towards providing the
best services to the target audiences in UAE. AWOK, an e-commerce company sells varieties of
product in their online platform ranging from fashion accessories, home appliances, kitchen
ware, camera, mobile and beauty and health products (Ae.awok.com, 2018).
1.1 Problem statement
For both business and customers connectivity plays a significant role. AWOK is failing to
establish a secured connection between the customers and them. As, the customers are unable to
relate to AWOK, the impact is being highlighted in the sales of the company. AWOK is facing
potential issues in terms of the sales of the company. The e-commerce is failing to gain the
commitments from the target audiences due to which the target customers are not finding it
significant to use the e-commerce service by AWOK (Hajli 2014).
As AWOK is an e-commerce, the business is facing issues in terms of secured payment.
The company has received complains in terms of fraud and leak of personal details while making
payments and as a result, the sales of the company have minimized. Money is being debited from
the bank accounts that are used by the customers for paying the price. Thus, lack of belief and

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security is also another problem that has resulted in sales minimization for AWOK (Sivertzen,
Nilsen and Olafsen 2013).
1.2 Research aim
The aim of the research is to investigate the effectiveness of social media for improving
e-commerce sales for AWOK, a UAE based e-commerce website.
1.3 Research objectives
The objectives of the research are:
 To investigate the growth of social media in UAE
 To assess the relationship between social media and e-commerce sales for AWOK
 To critically analyze the issues faced while using e-commerce for AWOK
 To provide suitable recommendations for improving the e-commerce sales for AWOK
1.4 Research questions
The research questions include:
 What is the growth of social media use in UAE?
 What is the relationship between social media and e-commerce sales for AWOK?
 What are the issues faced while using e-commerce for AWOK?
 What are the suitable recommendations for improving the e-commerce sales for AWOK?
1.5 Research hypothesis
The hypotheses of the research are:
H0: Social media has no impact for improving e-commerce sales for AWOK.
H1: Social media has an impact for improving e-commerce sales for AWOK.

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1.6 Research rationale
The research is significant because this will help n understanding the potential issues
AWOK is currently facing that is hampering the sales of the e-commerce company. Once the
issues have been identified, the research will help in giving suitable recommendations for
improving the e-commerce sales by suing social media. It is important for the business
organizations to make enough sales in order to generate profit and earn revenue. This study will
help AWOK use the social media platform effectively for improving the sales (Laroche, Habibi
and Richard 2013).
In addition to, the research is significant because this helps in understanding the use and
growth of social media platform around the world thereby, predicting the extensive use of it both
professionally and personally. The business environment of UAE is different compared to other
nations in the world. Thus, this research will help in understanding the exposure, use and growth
of different social Medias in UAE. As a result, AWOK will be able develop strategies by
keeping in mind the use and exposure of social media in UAE and using it to improve their e-
commerce sales accordingly. Additionally, ability to understand payment related issues will help
AWOK to improve them thereby, strengthening their position in the market by gaining
competitive advantage and sustaining in the highly fierce and intense e-commerce sector (He,
Zha and Li 2013).
1.7 Structure of the dissertation
The entire structure of the dissertation is categorized into five distinctive chapters.
Introduction, literature review, research methodology, data analysis, conclusion and
recommendations are the five chapters that form the overall layout of the dissertation.

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Chapter 1: Introduction
This lays the foundation of the entire dissertation, as this chapter provides a background
of the research along with discussing the selected organization. Based on this, the research
problem is identified followed by formulation of research aim, objectives and hypothesis that is
provided in the later chapters. Lastly, this chapter justifies the significance of conducting this
research by referring to the identified problem.
Chapter 2: Literature review
The key feature of this chapter is that this identifies the independent and the dependent
variable of the dissertation and discusses their concept and the factors. In addition to, this chapter
analyzes the impact, challenges and opportunities of both the variables.
Chapter 3: Research methodology
This chapter sheds light on the available methodological tools that can be used for
gathering relevant information and data for the selected topic. Followed by defining the
methodological tools, this chapter justifies the selection of the specific research methodologies
for this research along with highlighting the accessibility issues as well as the ethical
considerations.
Chapter 4: Data analysis
Followed by the previous chapter, this chapter emphasizes on analyzing the data that has
been collected by using appropriate techniques followed by representing the data using
appropriate tools.
Chapter 5: Discussion

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This chapter discusses in detail the results of the data analysis in accordance with the
secondary resources provided in the study.
Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendation
This is the final chapter of the dissertation that deduces an overall conclusion by
highlighting the identified gap in the study followed by the issues faced by the company due to
the gaps and the benefits of mitigating the gaps. In addition to, based on the identified gap, this
chapter provides suitable recommendations as well as the future scope of the study.
1.8 Summary
Thus, in this chapter, it can be summarized that the use of social media has increased over
the years due to the various advantages it provides to the users. Taking into account the
impeccable use of the social media, the business organizations use the social media platform for
expanding their business by improving their sales. Thus, considering the huge number of active
users over social media, the business organizations use it for improving the sales. AWOK is a
UAE based e-commerce that is facing issues in terms their sales and aim towards improving its
sales by using social media platform effectively.

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Chapter 2: Literature review
2.0 Introduction
In this chapter, the researcher identifies the independent and the dependent variables
based on which the entire chapter has been shaped. The identification of the variables provided
an opportunity for the researcher to investigate the development of the use of social media in
UAE that is highly conservative and the majority of the population is restricted to use social
media largely and freely. In addition to, this chapter sheds light on the use of social media for
various corporate purposes followed by the transition from e-commerce to social media
commerce. The challenges and benefits are also discussed in respect to social media commerce
along with identifying frameworks that has been successful in proving social media as a positive
marketing strategy.
2.1 Overview of social media development internationally
The use of internet has grown over the years due to the various advantages the
technology has been bake to provide to the world population. The use of internet has been
facilitated globally and over the years the use of internet has increased drastically internationally
(Bolton et al. 2013).

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Figure 1: Internet penetration by region
(Source: Kardefelt-Winther 2014)
The above figure highlights that the Northern, Western, North America and South Europe
has the highest and largest internet penetration, that is, 74%-94% users compared to the world
population.
Social media are termed as computer-driven technologies that promote the establishment
and sharing of information, ideas, career, marketing and promotion through virtual communities
and networks. As mentioned by Hays, Liu and Kapteyn (2015), social media are interactive web
2.0 internet based applications that has seen huge growth since the past decade. For example, the
social media users have more than 100,000,000 registered users globally that is continuously
increasing. Since 2004, the growth of the social media has been near exponential. For instance,
before 2004, Facebook only had 1 million users. However, 2011 highlighted huge growth and
preference of Facebook that it has 1 billion registered users and the CEO of the company has
taken step to connect 5 billion people globally (Valenzuela 2013). The majority of the global

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population is present in social media due to various advantages the platform has been providing
along with continuously updating themselves. Internationally, countries are diverging in respect
to the use of social media for various purposes such as communication, business promotion, and
marketing, reaching out to customers and making global expansion.
Figure 2: Social media development internationally
(Source: Seidman 2013)
The above figure suggests that there are 4.021 billion internet users globally in 2018 that
is aid to have increased by 7% each year. The figure also highlights that according to 2018; the
social media has 3.196 billion users globally that is also said to increase by 13% each year. The
number of people phone around the world is 5.135 billion that increased by 4% per years out of
which 39%, that is, 2.958 billion are active social media users with penetration up to 5% since
2017 (Bicen and Uzunboylu 2013). From 2010 to 2012, Twitter has also highlighted a steep
growth as well as Google+ highlighted the biggest and maximum growth in 2013.

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As discussed above, the use and benefits of social media is impeccable that has lead to
the faster development and up gradation of the technology in order to provide better functions
and opportunities for the users. Google has been one of the major platforms that have provided
several advantages to the people around the world. For instance, considering the status of Google
10 years back and now, it can be seen that it has come a long way in terms of development
(Auger 2013). This shows the growth of social media internationally and social media has been
used as a channel for offering help, connecting with people and expanding business along with
reaching out to the target customers. According to Shen and Bissell (2013), the extensive growth
of social media internationally has given rise to tough competition for the business organizations,
as they have to develop the best and most efficient social media framework for improving their
e-commerce sales. Failure to do so has huge disadvantages on the business organizations, as they
lose competitive advantage.
2.2 Overview of social media growth in the UAE market
United Arab Emirates is the third most populated country in the Arab Gulf region and is
ranked 4th based on the number of internet users the country possesses. Considering the type of
country UAE is in terms of security and privacy, it can be said that the number of social media
users in the country is least (Aral, Dellarocas and Godes 2013).

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Figure 3: Annual growth of social media users
(Source: Wolfsfeld, Segev and Sheafer 2013)
The above figure also suggest that the increase of social media since January 2017 has
increased by 17% where Saudi Arabia has the maximum year-to-year rise of social media users
since January 2017, that is, 32%. Countries like India, Ghana and Indonesia have also showed
increased usage of social media, as the technologies in the countries is improving that is making
social media easily accessible to the population. However, on the other hand, United Arab
Emirates highlights the minimal increase of social media user that is below 5% (Wolfsfeld,
Segev and Sheafer 2013).
Various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, SnapChat and
LinkedIn has been used in United Arab Emirates.

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Figure 4: Population using social media in Middle East
(Source: Hawkins and Vel 2013)
This figure highlights that UAE ranks second among the Middle East countries in terms
of using the various media platforms (Hawkins and Vel 2013).
Figure 5: Facebook users in Middle East
(Source: Al-Jenaibi 2013)

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The figure above highlights the substantial decline of Facebook by 20% in the Middle
East. In UAE, Facebook has been successful in maintaining the first position for three
consecutive years. However, on the contrary, 2012 highlighted slight decline of Facebook in
UAE, that is 76.84% in 2012 from 88% in 2011 but again increased to 78.52% in 2013 (Al-
Jenaibi 2013).
Figure 6: Use of various social media platforms
(Source: Goodrich and De Mooij 2014)
The aforementioned figure validates the data that has been discussed below. Compared
to the rest of Gulf countries, UAE has showed significant increase in terms of the user population
of Twitter from a minimal 2.72% in 2011 to 6.65% and 13.6% in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
On the other hand, YouTube which is also a well used social media has seen dropped to third
position in 2013 in spite of having being the second most used social media platform in UAE in
2011 and 2012 by 4.02% and 11.66% respectively (Goodrich and De Mooij 2014).

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WhatsApp is the most well-known and widely used social media platform around the
world. In UAE, WhatsApp has been one of the most popular social media platforms, as it is
widely used by the population for daily and regular communication (Aral, Dellarocas and Godes
2013). In spite of its popularity, some of the significant features of WhatsApp were disabled in
UAE. The feature of WhatsApp video calling was introduced in 2016 globally but the UAE
population or the users were restricted from using this feature due to certain regulatory issues.
Both WhatsApp and Snapchat calls have been blocked in the UAE along with FaceTime (Al-
Badi 2014). However, in 2017, the population and users of social media in the UAE enjoyed
video and voice calling features of WhatsApp briefly after the restrictions were withdrawn but
the government imposed the restrictions within a span of few hours again. Also considering the
impact of supposed terrorism in UAE, Twitter had deleted more than 125,000 accounts linked
with ISIS terrorist since mid 2015 thereby, resulting in significant declination of the users in the
region (Stefanidis et al. 2013). Thus, the above information suggests that the use of social media
in the UAE has been turbulent with various ups and downs.

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Figure 7: Social media usage habits
(Source: Dwivedi, Kapoor and Chen 2015)
The aforementioned figure highlights that more than half of the users use social media in
UAE for connecting with the people whereas watching videos, sharing of information, pictures
and listening to music are additional usage of social media (Dwivedi, Kapoor and Chen 2015).
Figure 8: Social media usage habits
(Source: Guta and Karolak 2015)
Thus, from the above statistics it can be deduced that chatting is the most common
activity for which the UAE uses social media rather than other activities (Guta and Karolak
2015).

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Figure 9: Use of social media platforms through Arab countries
(Source: Hamade 2013)
The figure above highlights the use of various social media platforms among all the
countries in the Arab world including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen
and many more. This graphs above highlights that 90% of the population of UAE are using

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Facebook followed by 82% users for WhatsApp, 56% Instagram, 51% Twitter and 50%
YouTube (Hamade 2013).
The use of social media has both positive and negative impact on the society and the
business environment of United Arab Emirates. As mentioned by Jussila, Kärkkäinen and
Aramo-Immonen (2014), in terms of the positive impact of the society of UAE, the use of social
media helps in connecting people by reducing the distance, instant opportunity of sharing
information, platform for learning new things, offer and information features. However, as
argued by Moorhead et al. (2013), the negative impact of using social media in the UAE includes
family fragmentation, risk of being exposed, misleading information and penalization and
punishment considering the conservative nature of the society. On the other hand, the use of
social media allows the business organizations to allow faster growth, revenue generation
directly, marketing and advertising thereby, improving corporate image. However, on the
contrary, lack of adequate human resources, formal business strategy risks the stability and
growth of the business (Aral, Dellarocas and Godes 2013).
2.3 Use of social media for corporate purposes
The use of social media platform has increased over the years due to its various
advantages it offers for the individuals as well as the business organizations. The business
environment has intensified due to increased competition among the business organization in
order to ensure revenue maximization by business growth and attracting customers. As
mentioned by Schaupp and Belanger (2013), the users of the social media platform have been
increasing over the years both due to technological advancements and the benefits it provides
virtually. For example, the business organizations are able to inform the target customers about
the various offers and discounts through the social media regardless of the location and time.

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The social media platform are used for various corporate purposes for connecting with
people, sharing photos, videos and other medias followed by sharing of feedback and ideas. In
addition to, other corporate purposes for which social media are used includes discovering and
sharing new contents, finding and reviewing businesses, providing online shopping
opportunities, publishing online content and anonymous communication (Aral, Dellarocas and
Godes 2013). Keeping in mind the various requirements of the business organizations, they use
different social media platform differently for different corporate purposes.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are used by the
population for connecting with people and brands online. As mentioned by Kaplan and Haenlein
(2016), social media platforms are termed as relationship platforms that provides an opportunity
for the business organizations and the people to connect online thereby, sharing ideas and
information. The use of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are beneficial for the business, as this
helps in market research, creating brand awareness and relationship building. However, as
argued by Tiago and Verissimo (2014), presence of different business organizations and their
offers in the social media platforms makes it difficult to engage and retain customers.
Other media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube are also used by the
business organizations for expanding business. According to Laroche, Habibi and Richard
(2013), social media platforms such as Instragram, Snapchat and YouTube are used mainly for
sharing photos, videos and doing live videos. The aforementioned social media platforms are
useful for the business organizations, as the companies are able to engage the target audiences by
creating brand awareness and leading the generation. Media sharing network provides an
opportunity for the business organizations and the people to find a place for sharing media in
virtually such as photos and videos. While the majority of the relationship network provides the

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option of texting, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube helps in sharing image or videos along with
texts such as captions, mentioning or referring to other users and adding filters.
In addition to, media platforms like reddit, Quora and Digg are used for corporate
purposes such as finding, discussing and sharing of news, information and opinions. These
networks are considered as excellent platforms and resources for market research, gather in-
depth customer knowledge and develop business strategies accordingly (Tsimonis and
Dimitriadis 2014).
2.4 Transition from e-commerce to mobile commerce and social media commerce
The world has seen transition from e-commerce to mobile commerce to social media
commerce over the years by considering the issues of the population and using technology as the
solution of it. According to Laudon and Traver (2013), e-commerce is defined as electronic
commerce that signifies purchasing and selling of goods and services or transmitting data or
funds over an electronic platform or network, that is, internet. The primary business transactions
that occur over the internet highlights business-to-business, consumer-to-consumer, business-to-
consumer and consumer-to-consumer. The year 1960 saw the emergence of e-commerce when
the business organizations started the use of electronic data interchange for sharing business
documents with other countries (Chiu et al. 2014). Since the origin, an increase in the number of
individuals sharing electronic documents was noticed in 1980 followed by the rise of eBay and
Amazon in 1990 thereby, revolutionizing the entire e-commerce industry. It has been predicted
in 2017 that business-to-business e-commerce will top $1.1 trillion in the US by 2021 accounting
for 13% of the entire business-to-business sales in the nation (Chiu et al. 2014).

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The use of mobile phones has increased drastically over the years that lead to the origin
of mobile commerce (m-commerce) and the term was coined by Kevin Duffey in 1997 at the
launch of the Global Mobile Commerce Forum (Chong 2013). Mobile commerce is defined as
the efficient delivery of e-commerce capabilities in the hand of the customers directly anywhere
through wireless technology. Mobile commerce has gained immense popularity, as this allowed
to continue various commercial transactions wirelessly for buying and selling products along
with online banking, information delivery and bill payments (Chong 2013). The entire mobile
commerce industry is worth US $230 billion where Asia represents half of the market and has
reached US $700 billion in 2017. In 2013, almost 29% of the mobile users started shopping
online using their mobile phones. Walmart has suggested that 40% of all the visits to their
internet shopping were from mobile phones. According to BI intelligence, currently mobile
commerce made up 11.6% of e-commerce and is predicted to increase by 45% by 2020 (Lu
2014).
The increased use of mobile phones gave rise to the access of social media among the
population. According to Van Dijck (2013), social media commerce is a subset of electronic
commerce that includes the use of social media thereby, supporting social interaction for
assisting online purchasing and selling of products and services. The term social media
commerce was introduced by Yahoo! in November 2005 and the concept was developed by
David Beisel for denoting user-generated content on the e-commerce sites. Considering the huge
presence of the world population the in social media, social media commerce has gained huge
popularity, as the individuals are able to communicate, share feedback, photos and videos. It is
easier for the business organizations to expand business by conveying their products and offers
to the customers through social media (Tuten and Solomon 2017).

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2.5 Challenges and benefits in using social media commerce
Considering the current business environment around the world, the use of social media
has increased and highly preferred. The business organizations uses social for e-commerce as it
provides them an opportunity to engage more customers and reach out markets that are not
possible to reach physically. As mentioned by Ventola (2014), one of the most important benefits
of using social media commerce is increased revenue. The business organizations are able to
build online communities in the social media platform followed by advertising their products or
service. Thus, the business organizations are able to benefit themselves without creating any
channels. However, as criticized by Moorhead et al. (2013), use of social media commerce helps
in creating increased brand awareness by humanizing their brand that eventually leads to
increased revenue.
Figure 10: Social media platforms used daily
(Source: Rutsaert et al. 2013)

29DISSERTATION
The above figure highlights how frequently the individuals around the world visit the
various social media platforms. By considering the daily use of social media platforms by the
people around the world, the business organizations use this platform to raise brand awareness
among the target customers thereby, increasing revenue (Rutsaert et al. 2013).
As commented by Chung and Koo (2015), the use of social media commerce also opens
up opportunities for sharing by the business organizations regardless of the location. For
instance, the use of social media commerce allows the business organizations to share
information about new product launch, offers and discounts without any restriction thereby,
increasing the business expansion opportunity. However, as argued by Dreher (2014), the use of
social media provides an opportunity for the business organizations to track their competitors
and provide offers to the target customers accordingly.
Apart from the benefits, the use of social media for business imposes certain threats that
affect the overall revenue of the business.

30DISSERTATION
Figure 11: Biggest social media challenges business organizations face
(Source: Gou, Zhou and Yang 2014)
The above figure highlights the five biggest social media challenges faced by the
business organizations (Gou, Zhou and Yang 2014). As mentioned by Rapp et al. (2013), lack of
adequate financial resources make it difficult for the business organizations. However, as argued
by Leonardi, Huysman and Steinfield (2013), lack of adequate human resources along with
financial resources is also a significant challenge for the business organizations while they use
social media commerce. Lack of personal communication affects the level of attraction and
interaction between the customers and the company thereby, ensuring consumer loyalty. The

31DISSERTATION
business organizations have limited scope of convincing the customers. The customers tend to go
for the products or services of the business organizations that seem more virtually and visually
attractive to them. As a result, building loyal influencers and followers is extremely challenging
while using social media commerce (Dunwoody and Peters 2016).
The business organizations operate on strict business strategies that are developed by
considering the organizational mission and vision. But the scenario is different while using social
media for business. According to (Yadav et al. 2013), the use of social media commerce lacks
formal strategy thereby, making it difficult for the business organizations to adhere to strategies
and operations that ensures increased revenue. In addition to, the use of social media commerce
also makes it difficult for the business organizations to track results, keep up with the changing
features and selecting appropriate channels. However, considering today’s highly competitive
business market, business organizations prefer to use social media commerce due to its several
advantages.
2.6 Identify any successful case studies for which social media has immensely helped
The social media commerce has helped different e-commerce companies for boosting
sales by reaching out to the customers irrespective of the place and time. The case study of
Utopeia’s and Reliance Fresh is one of its kinds, as this shows how social media commerce was
used for increasing the consumption of fresh vegetables thereby, boosting their sales (Lighthouse
Insights, 2018). The company was nominated under the category of “Best Offline-Online
Integrated” for LI Digital Awards 2017. Though Reliance Fresh tried their best to provide the
essentials to the Indian market at the best price, the company was unable to break the traditional
shopping habits of the Indian market. The major problems identified by Reliance Fresh were that
cheaper and fresh vegetables ware available in the outer market and the rapidly perishable life of

32DISSERTATION
the vegetables. As a result, Reliance Fresh had to show competitive advantage to the people in
terms of pricing along with changing their entire behavior around purchasing and consuming
vegetables (Lighthouse Insights, 2018).
Reliance Fresh used different ideas to increase the purchase and vegetables out of which
the use of social media was one of them that acted as the turning point. The company used
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for engaging the target customers. Reliance Fresh in association
with Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi held the question and answer program over the social media
platform (Lighthouse Insights, 2018). The videos reached 6 million in less time along with 59
million eyeballs with 42k reactions. In terms of YouTube statistics, around 800,000 people
watched the videos due to which the Reliance Fresh channel experienced a whopping 227%
increase and gained over 1200+ new subscribers (Lighthouse Insights, 2018).
Case study by Hansa Cequity for Westside also highlights the use of social media for
communicating with different set of target customers using Facebook’s power targeting tool that
helped in achieving a considerable increase in the season’s sale. The problem identified was long
queues, lack of trail rooms and out of stock garments. Thus, social media platforms such as
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter were used for improving the sales drastically
(Lighthouse Insights, 2018). Westside created a promotional video in YouTube before launching
the activity that gave people a feel of shopping alone in the store like a boss. Results highlight
that 29% sales increment was noticed during January 2015 compared to July 2014 sales. Over 1,
00,000 people connected via Facebook resulting in over 3,000 Facebook fans, 200 views over 2
days in YouTube, 11% increase in Instagram fans and 9% increase in Twitter followers
(Lighthouse Insights, 2018).

33DISSERTATION
2.7 Identify strategies and frameworks and critically evaluate what model was chosen to
prove that social media a positive marketing strategy to improve businesses
Different business organizations used various social media platforms for marketing their
products and services that eventually helped them to improve their business. Frooti is one of the
largest and oldest selling mango flavored drink in India that started in 1985 (Lighthouse Insights,
2018). Though the drink was immensely populated since it began, the sales dropped as the
company failed to surprise the customers and provide them with something new. Thus, Frooti
renewed its positioning, chaged the packaging but however, was able to connect with the
customers. This is where the company took the help of digital platform and social media for
connecting with the audiences. Frooti used Twitter as the main conversation platform that
allowed the company to let the people around the world know about their plans (Lighthouse
Insights, 2018). Frooti also used social listening that helped in engaging the customers in real-
time conversation by responding to their statements and queries. The campaign in social media
had an amazing result and Frooti achieved an estimated 3.22 million impressions from just only
6780 mentions 4330 users apart from television and PR driving additional conversations
(Lighthouse Insights, 2018).
2.8 Summary
Thus, in this chapter, it can be summarized that the use of social media is extensively
used around the world due to several advantages it offers for the business organizations. In this
chapter, the researcher has been successful in providing an overview of the use of social media
globally followed by the growth of social media use in UAE. Research suggests that the use and
growth of social media in the UAE is slower compared to the rest of the regions in the world due
to increased security and privacy the government of the country has on the population.

34DISSERTATION
Chapter 3: Research methodology
3.0 Introduction
This chapter sheds light on the various types of methodological tools that can be used
while commencing with the research work. After defining each of the tools, the researcher
explains the use of specific research methodologies for this particular research that has been
selected based on the research aim and objectives. The use of appropriate and suitable research
methodologies allowed the researcher to gather relevant information and data thereby,
maximizing the quality of the work. In addition to, the researcher specifies the issues
encountered while carrying out the research along with ethical considerations that has been
followed strictly.
3.1 Research outline
Considering the research topic, the researcher has used positivism philosophy, deductive
approach, descriptive design and interview and survey research strategy. The researcher has used
both probability and non-probability sampling technique for selecting 100 employees and 10
managers of AWOK. Based on the aforementioned credentials, primary data collection has been
used that allowed the researcher to collect data from a particular population, that is, the
employees of AWOK and collect recent data in terms of the challenges and the
recommendations. Thus, both quantitative and qualitative data analysis technique has been used.
3.2 Research philosophy
Interpretivism, pragmatism and positivism are the three types of research philosophies
that are used while commencing with a research. Pragmatism highlights the combined
characteristics of both positivism and interpretivism philosophies. The perceptions and opinions

35DISSERTATION
of different individuals regarding a particular topic are considered in intrepretivism philosophy
thereby, lacking accuracy and validity. In the case of positivism philosophy, the researcher is
able to implement scientific approach for analyzing the data thereby, ensuring data accuracy and
validity (Neuman 2013).
3.2.1 Explaining the use of positivism philosophy
Positivism philosophy has been used for this work that is justified because the researcher
has been able to use a scientific approach for investigating the effectiveness of social media in
improving e-commerce sales in UAE. The use of positivism philosophy has provided an
opportunity for the researcher to refer to different data and information in terms of the past and
present e-commerce sales of AWOK in UAE market (Mackey and Gass 2015). Also, the use of
positivism philosophy has ensured that the information provided in the work is authentic and
accurate. Investigating the effectiveness of social media in improving e-commerce requires the
reference of valid statistics and figures that has only been possible due to the use of positivism
philosophy. The use of pragmatism philosophy would have complicated the work, as it
highlighted the implementation of both the philosophies and the use of interpretivism philosophy
would have lacked data accuracy and authenticity (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015).
3.3 Research approach
Deductive and inductive are the two types of research approaches that are used while
proceeding with a research work. New theories and concepts have to be developed in terms of
the research topic based on the observations that has been made for inductive approach. Thus,
the use of inductive approach has the chance of developing incorrect theories and concepts if the
observations made are incorrect. Additionally, the use of inductive approach is time-consuming
and lacks reliability (Lewis 2015). On the other hand, the name itself suggests deducing a

36DISSERTATION
conclusion from the existing theories and concepts. In the case of deductive approach, the
researcher has to refer to already existing kinds of literatures and support the observations that
have been made (Vaioleti 2016).
3.3.1 Explaining the use of deductive approach
Deductive approach has been used for this work that is justified because this has allowed
the researcher to refer to already existing kinds of literatures, theories and concepts of
effectiveness of social media and its impact on improving e-commerce sales in the UAE. As a
result of deductive approach, the researcher has been able to transform general information into
specific information by making proper alignment. In addition to, the use of deductive approach
also allows the researcher to compare and contrast the data presented in the existing information
thereby, supporting own findings and arguments in terms of effectiveness of social media and its
impact of enhancing e-commerce sales (Silverman 2016).
3.4 Research design
The three types of research designs are descriptive, explanatory and exploratory research
designs that are used while commencing with research. The name exploratory itself suggests
exploring. The use of exploratory design provides an opportunity for the researcher to explore
the potential issues in the research thereby, identifying the main reason. On the other hand,
explanatory design highlights explaining the factors. Thus, the use of explanatory research
design explains the reason of the issues that has been explored (Flick 2015). Descriptive research
design highlights the combined characteristics of both explanatory and exploratory designs.

37DISSERTATION
3.4.1 Explaining the use of descriptive design
Descriptive has been used for this research that is justified because this allowed the
researcher to both explore the potential issues in the current e-commerce sales in UAE as well as
explain the issues in details. The use of descriptive design as provided an opportunity for the
researcher to explore the current issues in the UAE market and its impact on the e-commerce
sales. Additionally, this also helped in explaining reason of the sales issues for AWOK and
explaining the effectiveness of social media in improving the e-commerce sales for AWOK. This
has helped in analyzing critically the various factors that has resulted in the developing the issues
for AWOK in terms of their e-commerce sales (Panneerselvam 2014).
3.5 Research strategy
Case study, interview, action research and survey are the four types of research strategies
used while proceeding with a research work. The concept of case study research strategy
highlights the concept of referring to case studies that has information similar to the research
topic and can be used as secondary resources for supporting own findings and arguments (Smith
2015). On the other hand, the action research emphasizes on predicting the future occurrences of
the phenomenon present in the research work. Survey research strategy refers to collection of
data from a large and specific population whereas interview emphasizes on collecting data from
individuals by communicating personally (Bauer 2014).
3.5.1 Explaining the use of survey and interview research strategy
Both survey and interview research strategy has been used for this research that is
justified because this allowed the researcher to collect data both in large scale as well as at an
individual level. The use of survey research strategy allowed the researcher to select the entire
employee population of AWOK and gather data from them. In addition to, the use of interview

38DISSERTATION
research strategy also provided an opportunity for the researcher to collect data from the
managers of AWOK for investigating the effectiveness of social media that will help in
enhancing e-commerce sales in the UAE market (Roberts 2013).
3.6 Sampling technique and sample size
Out of the various sampling techniques, random probability and non-probability sampling
techniques are mostly used. Random probability sampling technique is defined as the sampling
technique that provides equal chances for all the individuals within the selected population to be
a part of the data collection process (Gale et al. 2013). On the other hand, the non-probability
sampling technique is defined as the sampling technique in which the researcher selects the
individuals by judging their suitability in accordance with the research topic and aim (Reynolds
2014).
3.6.1 Explaining the use of random probability and non-probability sampling technique
Both random probability and non-probability sampling technique has been used for this
work that is justified because this allowed the researcher to provide equal chances to all the
employees of AWOK to be a part of the survey for investigating the effectiveness of social
media for improving e-commerce e-commerce sales in UAE. On the other hand, the use of
survey allowed the researcher to select few managers of AWOK and communicate with the
personally for developing a deeper insight and gather relevant data. For this research, 100
employees and 10 managers of AWOK were surveyed and interviewed respectively (Dang and
Pheng 2015).

39DISSERTATION
3.7 Data collection process
Primary and secondary are the two types of data collection process that are used or
gathering information while proceeding with a research. The primary data collection process is
defined as the gathering relevant data from recent population whereas the secondary data
collection process is defined as the gathering of data from a variety of secondary resources
(Walliman 2017). The different types of secondary resources are books, journals, articles and
other internet facilities.
3.7.1 Explaining the use of primary data collection process
Primary data collection technique has been used for this research that is justified because
this has enabled the researcher to collect data from a particular population thereby, gathering
recent and raw data for investigating the effectiveness of social media that will help in enhancing
e-commerce sales in UAE. The researcher has selected the current employees and the managers
of AWOK to investigate the effectiveness of social media (McCusker and Gunaydin 2015)
3.8 Data analysis technique
The two types of data analysis techniques that are used while analyzing the collected data
for the research are qualitative and quantitative data analysis technique. Quantitative data
analysis technique is defined as the technique of analyzing the data in terms of the numbers,
averages and percentages. On the other hand, qualitative data analysis technique emphasizes on
analyzing the collected data by interpreting the recording and maintaining the quality of the work
(Mukhopadhyay and Gupta 2014).

40DISSERTATION
3.8.1 Explaining the use of quantitative and qualitative data analysis technique
Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis has been used for this research that is
justified. This is because the use of quantitative data analysis technique has allowed the
researcher to determine the viewpoints of the employees of AWOK by considering the number
of responses. The data of the quantitative analysis will be presented using excel graphs, charts
and tables. On the other hand, qualitative analysis allowed interpreting the interview verbatim of
the mangers for investigating the effectiveness of social media that helped in improving e-
commerce sales for AWOK in the UAE market (Daudt, Van Mossel and Scott 2013).
3.9 Accessibility issues
For this research, data collection encountered some challenges thereby, resulting in
potential accessibility issues. As interview was one of the research strategies that have been used,
the data collection process was time-consuming and difficult to interpret by ensuring the quality
of the data. The researcher had o listen to the entire interview recordings and then interpret the
verbatim appropriately. Also, coordinating and aligning the results of the survey and the
interview was difficult thereby, deducing a common conclusion. Having only close-ended
questions in the survey restricted the employees share their true opinions and determining the
authenticity of the response by the respondents were also challenging.
3.10 Ethical considerations
One of the most significant research ethics is ensuring data confidentiality. The
researcher has to ensure strict data confidentiality in terms of the identity of the participants and
the data collected from them. The researcher is strictly prohibited from disclosing the details
without the consent of the individuals (Ritchie et al. 2013). Also forcing the individuals to be a
part of the data collection is against the research ethics. The individuals have to participate in the

41DISSERTATION
data collection process willingly. One of the best methods to ensure willing participation of the
individuals is by signing the consent forms by them (Ketefian 2015). Another significant ethical
consideration while carrying on research is data manipulation. The researcher is bound the
present the data in its original form and support it with valid findings and arguments without
manipulation. In addition to, the researcher has to collect data from authentic resources thereby,
ensuring quality and authenticity of the work. Furthermore, the researcher has to use the data and
information collected only for academic purpose but not for any commercial purpose (Phelan
and Kinsella 2013).
3.11 Summary
Thus, in this chapter, it can be summarized that the researcher has been successful in
using the appropriate research methodologies and collecting relevant data and information for
investigating the effectiveness of social media that will improve e-commerce sales for AWOK in
UAE. The use of the aforementioned research methodologies has provided an opportunity for the
researcher to investigate the current perception of e-commerce sales for the AWOK in UAE and
the challenges encountered followed by methods of overcoming and improving the e-commerce
sales.

42DISSERTATION
Chapter 4: Data analysis
4.1 Survey analysis
What is your gender?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Male 55 55.0 55.0 55.0
Female 45 45.0 45.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
How often do you use the internet per day?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
1-2 times 6 6.0 6.0 6.0
3-4 times 11 11.0 11.0 17.0
5-6 times 46 46.0 46.0 63.0
More than 6
times 37 37.0 37.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

43DISSERTATION
The above frequency table shows that most of the male respondents use the internet
almost 5-6 times in a day that helps them in getting all the necessary information regarding the
products that are being sold by the company.
What is your gender? * How often do you use the internet per day? Cross
tabulation
Count
How often do you use the internet per day? Total

44DISSERTATION
1-2 times 3-4 times 5-6 times More than 6
times
What is your
gender?
Male 3 6 27 19 55
Female 3 5 19 18 45
Total 6 11 46 37 100
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square .514a 3 .916
Likelihood Ratio .515 3 .916
Linear-by-Linear
Association .028 1 .867
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 3 cells (37.5%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is 2.70.
The Chi-Square test helps in finding out the relationship between the dependent and the
independent variables. The result of the test has come to be .916 whereas the minimum value of
the test had to be 2.70. This shows that there is no statistical relationship between the gender of
the customers and the average usage of the internet on a daily basis. It can therefore be stated
that both the genders that is male and female customers used the internet 5-6 times on a daily
basis.
Which age group do you belong to?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Below 18
years 9 9.0 9.0 9.0
19-24 years 8 8.0 8.0 17.0
25-30 years 50 50.0 50.0 67.0
31 and above 33 33.0 33.0 100.0

45DISSERTATION
Total 100 100.0 100.0
Are you aware of the online shopping sites?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Yes 92 92.0 92.0 92.0
No 8 8.0 8.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

46DISSERTATION
The above frequency table shows the relationship between the age group of the customers
and their awareness regarding the shopping sites that are present on the internet. It can be seen
that most of the customers who belong to the age group of 25-30 years have agreed to the fact
that they are aware of the online shopping sites that help them in purchasing the products online.
Which age group do you belong to? * Are you aware of the online shopping
sites? Crosstabulation
Count
Are you aware of the online
shopping sites?
Total
Yes No
Which age group do
you belong to?
Below 18
years 9 0 9
19-24 years 8 0 8
25-30 years 45 5 50
31 and above 30 3 33
Total 92 8 100

47DISSERTATION
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 1.803a 3 .614
Likelihood Ratio 3.140 3 .371
Linear-by-Linear
Association 1.047 1 .306
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 4 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is .64.
The result of the Chi Square test has come to be .614 whereas the minimum value for the
test had to be .64. This shows that there is no statistical association between the age group of the
customers and their awareness with respect to the online shopping sites. It can be stated that the
customers who belong to the other age groups are also aware of the shopping sites that are
present online in the UAE market.
Which age group do you belong to?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Below 18
years 9 9.0 9.0 9.0
19-24 years 8 8.0 8.0 17.0
25-30 years 50 50.0 50.0 67.0
31 and above 33 33.0 33.0 100.0

48DISSERTATION
Total 100 100.0 100.0
Do you shop from the sites?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Yes 84 84.0 84.0 84.0
No 16 16.0 16.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

49DISSERTATION
The frequency table shows the relationship between the age of the employees and the fact
that they shop from the sites that are available on the internet. It can be seen that most of the
customers who belong to the age group of 25-30 years have agreed to the fact that they shop
from the online sites that are available.
Which age group do you belong to? * Do you shop from the sites?
Crosstabulation
Count
Do you shop from the
sites?
Total
Yes No
Which age group do
you belong to?
Below 18
years 9 0 9
19-24 years 6 2 8
25-30 years 41 9 50
31 and above 28 5 33
Total 84 16 100

50DISSERTATION
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 2.363a 3 .501
Likelihood Ratio 3.726 3 .293
Linear-by-Linear
Association .340 1 .560
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 2 cells (25.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is 1.28.
The result of the test has come to be .501 whereas the minimum value of the test had to
be 1.28. This shows that there is no statistical relationship between the age of the customers and
the fact that they shop from the online sites. Thus it can be stated that the customers belonging to
different age groups also avail the option to shop from the online sites.
What is your monthly salary (AED)?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
5000-10000 3 3.0 3.0 3.0
10001-15000 17 17.0 17.0 20.0
15001-20000 50 50.0 50.0 70.0
20001 and
above 30 30.0 30.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
Do you shop from the sites?

51DISSERTATION
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Yes 84 84.0 84.0 84.0
No 16 16.0 16.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

52DISSERTATION
The above frequency table shows the relationship between the monthly salary of the
customers and their views regarding whether they purchase goods from the online sites. It can be
seen that most of the customers who have a monthly salary of 15001-20000 AED have agreed to
the fact that they shop products from the online sites.
What is your monthly salary (AED)? * Do you shop from the sites? Cross
tabulation
Count
Do you shop from the
sites?
Total
Yes No
What is your monthly
salary (AED)?
5000-10000 2 1 3
10001-15000 13 4 17
15001-20000 42 8 50
20001 and
above 27 3 30
Total 84 16 100
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 2.191a 3 .534
Likelihood Ratio 2.093 3 .553
Linear-by-Linear
Association 2.137 1 .144
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 4 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is .48.
The result of the test has come to be .534 whereas the minimum value of the test had to
be .48. This shows that the test value is more than the expected count, which suggests that there

53DISSERTATION
is a statistical relationship between the salary of the customers and their willingness to purchase
the products from online sites. It can therefore be stated that the customers who have a monthly
salary of 15001-20000 AED are able to spend more on the online sites and purchase the
necessary goods and products.
What is your gender?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Male 55 55.0 55.0 55.0
Female 45 45.0 45.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
Use of electronic media helps in reducing cost than the traditional
system
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly Agree 20 20.0 20.0 20.0
Agree 48 48.0 48.0 68.0
Neutral 27 27.0 27.0 95.0
Disagree 2 2.0 2.0 97.0
Strongly
Disagree 3 3.0 3.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

54DISSERTATION
The above frequency table shows the relationship between the gender of the customers
and the use of electronic media that results in decreasing the cost of the company than the
traditional system. It can be seen that most of the male customers have agreed to the fact that the
use of internet results in drastically decreasing the cost of the company.

55DISSERTATION
What is your gender? * Use of electronic media helps in reducing cost than the traditional
system Cross tabulation
Count
Use of electronic media helps in reducing cost than the
traditional system
Total
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Disagree
What is your
gender?
Male 15 24 15 1 0 55
Female 5 24 12 1 3 45
Total 20 48 27 2 3 100
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 7.407a 4 .116
Likelihood Ratio 8.724 4 .068
Linear-by-Linear
Association 4.154 1 .042
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 4 cells (40.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is .90.
The result of the test has come to be .116 whereas the minimum value of the test has to be
.90. This shows that there is no statistical association between the gender of the customers and
their views regarding the use of electronic media that results in decreasing the cost for the
company. Thus it can be stated that customers of both the genders feel that using the electronic
media will help the company in reducing its cost to a significant manner rather than using the
traditional system.
What is your gender?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent

56DISSERTATION
Valid
Male 55 55.0 55.0 55.0
Female 45 45.0 45.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
The products of the company caters to all the needs
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly Agree 19 19.0 19.0 19.0
Agree 44 44.0 44.0 63.0
Neutral 28 28.0 28.0 91.0
Disagree 7 7.0 7.0 98.0
Strongly
Disagree 2 2.0 2.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

57DISSERTATION
The frequency table shows the relationship between the gender of the customers and their
views regarding whether the company addresses their needs with respect to the products. It can
be seen that most of the male customers have agreed to the fact that the company provides the
products that they are seeking from the online shopping platform.
What is your gender? * The products of the company caters to all the needs Cross
tabulation
Count
The products of the company caters to all the needs Total
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Disagree
What is your
gender?
Male 13 25 13 4 0 55
Female 6 19 15 3 2 45
Total 19 44 28 7 2 100
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 4.730a 4 .316
Likelihood Ratio 5.519 4 .238

58DISSERTATION
Linear-by-Linear
Association 2.989 1 .084
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 4 cells (40.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is .90.
The result of the test has come to be .316 whereas the minimum value of the test has to be
.90. This shows that there is no statistical association between the gender of the customers and
that customers be it male or female are of the viewpoint that the company provides all the
necessary goods that they want when they are using the online platform for shopping.
What is your gender?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Male 55 55.0 55.0 55.0
Female 45 45.0 45.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
Use of social media helps in attracting more customers
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly Agree 24 24.0 24.0 24.0
Agree 27 27.0 27.0 51.0
Neutral 37 37.0 37.0 88.0
Disagree 6 6.0 6.0 94.0
Strongly
Disagree 6 6.0 6.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

59DISSERTATION
The frequency table shows the relationship between the gender of the customers and their
views with respect to the use of social media that helps them in being attracted towards the
company and its products. It can be seen that most of the male customers are neutral that is they
neither agree nor disagree with the fact that the social media helps them in being attracted
towards the company.

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What is your gender? * Use of social media helps in attracting more customers Cross
tabulation
Count
Use of social media helps in attracting more customers Total
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Disagree
What is your
gender?
Male 17 15 16 4 3 55
Female 7 12 21 2 3 45
Total 24 27 37 6 6 100

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Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 4.891a 4 .299
Likelihood Ratio 4.986 4 .289
Linear-by-Linear
Association 1.942 1 .163
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 4 cells (40.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is 2.70.
The result of the Chi Square test by Pearson has come to be .299 whereas the minimum
count that was expected from the test had to be 2.70. This shows that the test result is greater
than the minimum vale and that there is a statistical association. Therefore it can be stated that
the customers neither agree nor disagree with the fact that the use of social media helps the
company in attracting them towards the company.
Which age group do you belong to?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Below 18
years 9 9.0 9.0 9.0
19-24 years 8 8.0 8.0 17.0
25-30 years 50 50.0 50.0 67.0
31 and above 33 33.0 33.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
It creates an opportunity to communicate with the company
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Strongly Agree 19 19.0 19.0 19.0

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Agree 34 34.0 34.0 53.0
Neutral 38 38.0 38.0 91.0
Disagree 5 5.0 5.0 96.0
Strongly
Disagree 4 4.0 4.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

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The above frequency table shows the relationship between the age group of the customers
and their views with respect to the use of social marketing that helps in increasing the level of
communication with the company. It can be seen that most of the customers who belong to the
age of 25-30 years have stated that they neither agree nor disagree with the fact that the use of
social media helps in increasing the level of communication with the company.
Which age group do you belong to? * It creates an opportunity to communicate with the
company Cross tabulation
Count
It creates an opportunity to communicate with the
company
Total
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Disagree
Which age group
do you belong to?
Below 18
years 1 5 2 1 0 9
19-24 years 1 1 5 1 0 8
25-30 years 12 18 13 3 4 50

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31 and
above 5 10 18 0 0 33
Total 19 34 38 5 4 100
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 17.344a 12 .137
Likelihood Ratio 20.141 12 .064
Linear-by-Linear
Association .047 1 .828
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 14 cells (70.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is .32.
The result of the test has come to be .137 whereas the minimum value that was expected
had to be .32. This shows that there is no statistical association between the particular age group
of the customers and their views regarding whether it helps in increasing the communication
levels with the company. Therefore it can be stated that the customers belonging to other age
groups are also of the view that the use of social media may or may not help in increasing the
communication level with the company.
Which age group do you belong to?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Below 18
years 9 9.0 9.0 9.0
19-24 years 8 8.0 8.0 17.0
25-30 years 50 50.0 50.0 67.0
31 and above 33 33.0 33.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

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The complaints are handled properly by the company
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly Agree 20 20.0 20.0 20.0
Agree 37 37.0 37.0 57.0
Neutral 28 28.0 28.0 85.0
Disagree 9 9.0 9.0 94.0
Strongly
Disagree 6 6.0 6.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

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The frequency table shows the relationship between the age group of the customers and
their views regarding the complaints that are handled by the company in a successful manner. It
can be seen that most of the customers in the age group of 25-30 years have agreed to the fact
that the company is concerned with the issues that are raised by the customers and tries to solve
it at a faster rate.
Which age group do you belong to? * The complaints are handled properly by the
company Cross tabulation
Count
The complaints are handled properly by the
company
Total
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Disagree
Which age group
do you belong to?
Below 18
years 2 2 3 2 0 9
19-24 years 2 2 2 2 0 8
25-30 years 6 22 12 5 5 50
31 and
above 10 11 11 0 1 33

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Total 20 37 28 9 6 100
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 15.724a 12 .204
Likelihood Ratio 18.442 12 .103
Linear-by-Linear
Association 1.866 1 .172
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 14 cells (70.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is .48.
The result of the test has come to be .204 whereas the minimum value that was expected
had to be .48. This shows that there is no statistical association with the age group and that
customers of all group feel that the company handles their complaints in a better manner.
Which age group do you belong to?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Below 18
years 9 9.0 9.0 9.0
19-24 years 8 8.0 8.0 17.0
25-30 years 50 50.0 50.0 67.0
31 and above 33 33.0 33.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
The use of social media helps in addressing your needs as well
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Strongly Agree 16 16.0 16.0 16.0

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Agree 39 39.0 39.0 55.0
Neutral 24 24.0 24.0 79.0
Disagree 15 15.0 15.0 94.0
Strongly
Disagree 6 6.0 6.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

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The frequency table shows the relationship between the age of the customers and the use
of social media that helps in addressing their needs. It can be seen that most of the customers
belonging to the age group of 25-30 years have stated that they agree to the fact and the company
sees that their requirements are all met.
Which age group do you belong to? * The use of social media helps in addressing your
needs as well Cross tabulation
Count
The use of social media helps in addressing your
needs as well
Total
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Disagree
Which age group
do you belong to?
Below 18
years 1 3 3 2 0 9
19-24 years 2 1 4 1 0 8
25-30 years 9 20 8 8 5 50
31 and
above 4 15 9 4 1 33
Total 16 39 24 15 6 100
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 10.316a 12 .588
Likelihood Ratio 11.278 12 .505
Linear-by-Linear
Association .162 1 .687
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 13 cells (65.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is .48.

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The result of the test has come to be .588 whereas the minimum value that was expected
had to be .48. This shows that there is a statistical association between the age and their view
regarding the use of social media that helps in addressing their needs. Therefore it can be stated
that the customers belonging to the age of 25-30 years have agreed to the fact that social media
allows the company in addressing their needs in a proper manner.
Which age group do you belong to?
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Below 18
years 9 9.0 9.0 9.0
19-24 years 8 8.0 8.0 17.0
25-30 years 50 50.0 50.0 67.0
31 and above 33 33.0 33.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
The products are delivered within the stipulated time period
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly Agree 24 24.0 24.0 24.0
Agree 40 40.0 40.0 64.0
Neutral 22 22.0 22.0 86.0
Disagree 6 6.0 6.0 92.0
Strongly
Disagree 8 8.0 8.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

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The frequency shows the relationship between the age of the customers and whether the
products are delivered at a stipulated time period by the company. It can be seen that most of the
customers of the age of 25-30 years have agreed to the fact that the company delivers the
products within the stipulated time.

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Which age group do you belong to? * The products are delivered within the stipulated
time period Cross tabulation
Count
The products are delivered within the stipulated
time period
Total
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Disagree
Which age group
do you belong to?
Below 18
years 0 5 3 1 0 9
19-24 years 5 1 2 0 0 8
25-30 years 8 23 7 4 8 50
31 and
above 11 11 10 1 0 33
Total 24 40 22 6 8 100
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 25.243a 12 .014
Likelihood Ratio 30.026 12 .003
Linear-by-Linear
Association .697 1 .404
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 14 cells (70.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is .48.
The result of the test has come to .014 whereas the minimum value that was expected had
to be .48. This shows that there is no statistical association and that the customers belonging to
the other age groups are also of the feeling that the products are delivered within the stipulated
time as agreed by the company.

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4.2 Interview transcript
Do you think that the use of social media has increased in UAE in the past 10 years?
Manager 1: “I think the use of internet has increased over the past decade but if compared to the
rest of the world, it is still low. I presume this is because of the increased restrictions the country
has in terms of using internet.”
Manager 2: “I think social media has gripped the world population successfully and UAE is one
of countries where the use of internet and social media has increased. I think this is because of
the added advantage the platform provides to its users.”
Manager 3: “Yes, I agree that the use of social media has increased in the UAE in the past 10
years but I also agree that the growth of social media is less compared to the rest of the world.”
Manager 4: “I do not think the use of social media has reached its complete potential in the
UAE because of the restriction the country have imposed on accessing social media. However, it
is still ranked 4th based on the number of internet users in the entire gulf region”
Manager 5: “I think the use of social media in the UAE has increased because it is the fourth
country in the Gulf region to have the most number of social media users. However, I feel the
numbers are still less due to privacy and security reasons of the country.”
Manager 6: “If I go by the recent record, I think the use of social media has increased by more
than 10% in 2017 at a global platform but for UAE the increase is below 5%. So, I think use of
social media has increased but slowly.”

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Manager 7: “UAE ranks second among the Middle East countries in terms of using the different
social media platform. But I think if compared to the global platform, the growth of social media
is still less.”
Manager 8: “The use of social media has increased over the past decade in the UAE. I can say
this because Facebook in UAE has been successful in maintaining the first position for three
consecutive years.”
Manager 9: “I think UAE has seen increment in terms of the use of social media because as far
as I know significant increase in respect to the active users of social has been noticed.”
Manager 10: “I think the use of social media has increased in the UAE over the past decade
because above 90% of the people use Facebook, more than 80% use WhatsApp and more than
56% use Instagram.
Has the use of social media helped in improving e-commerce in UAE?
Manager 1: “Yes, social media has helped in enhancing e-commerce in the UAE. More e-
commerce is using social media for reaching out the potential customers successfully. I think
social media provides better opportunities for the customers as well as the e-commerce websites”
Manager 2: “Yes, the use of social media has helped in improving e-commerce in the UAE, as
due to this the business organizations are able to reach out customers without any physical
intervention.”
Manager 3: “As known the nature of the society UAE has, going out for shopping for the female
population is not always feasible. So, the use of social media has allowed the business
organizations to reach out customers in spite of physical absence.”

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Manager 4: “Due to the use of social media, it is possible for the e-commerce to make the target
audience aware of the discounts, offers, new as well as existing products. As a result, the e-
commerce is improved.”
Manager 5: “The customers have shared positive feedback about the use of social media for the
e-commerce service used by AWOK. The feedback shared by the customers highlighted that the
use social media allow them to be aware of the products, services and offers according to their
convenience.”
Manager 6: “Considering the huge number of feedback that we have received after the use of
social media for the company, I can definitely say that it has helped in improving the e-
commerce.”
Manager 7: “Though I agree that the use of social media has improved the e-commerce service
for the company, I think the negative feedback has also hampered the e-commerce service to a
certain extent. For instance, the customers do not fail to write negatively if something dissatisfies
them if we intend to compensate it. Due to that, some of the customers tend to have second
thoughts before availing our e-commerce services.”
Manager 8: “I also think that e-commerce has improved due to the use of social media, as we
have been able to communicate with the customers more effectively and provide services and
products according to their needs.”
Manager 9: “Yes, our e-commerce has improved due to the use of social media but the the
negative feedback provided by the customers openly o the social media platform has also
compromised with the success to a certain extent.”

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Manager 10: “Yes, the use of social media has improved our e-commerce services largely, as
we are able to connect with wide range of customers and be aware of their needs and demands
and take necessary steps for fulfilling them.”
Do you think social media and e-commerce sales have an impact on each other?
Manager 1: “Yes I think both social media and e-commerce are related to each other. Social
media is one of the most suited platforms for reaching out to the target audiences more
effectively. We are able to know about the customer needs and demands more efficiently
thereby, improving our e-commerce services.”
Manager 2: “Supposedly yes but I would say that the use of social media is an effective
platform that allows us to connect with the customers. Considering the digitalization of the
world, use of social media allows us to reach out customers irrespective of time and location.”
Manager 3: “The question of being related sounds irrelevant to me because we use social media
as a communication platform as a need by considering the modern requirement of the business
world. The emergence of internet and social media gave rise to this concept. I would define this
as a need because we used to connect with the customers before as well when social media
lacked popularity.”
Manager 4: “According to me, e-commerce needs social media more and has greater impact
compared to the opposite. This is because social media is a platform that is used for sharing and
communicating and the e-commerce uses this platform to reach out to potential customers and to
understand their needs and demands and provide them convenient shopping.”

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Manager 5: “I think social media has greater impact on e-commerce due to the various
advantages the virtual platform offers in terms of customers, sales and convenient shopping.”
Manager 6: “I feel e-commerce has no impact on social media but social media has huge impact
on the e-commerce. The e-commerce organizations are able to reach out wide range of customers
and ensure wider exposure thereby, giving them competitive advantage.”
Manager 7: “I agree that social media has an impact on the e-commerce because it offers several
advantages to the customers. Social media is beneficial for our e-commerce, as this highlights
increased brand awareness and improved brand loyalty. As a result, we are able to offer
improved customer satisfaction.”
Manager 8: “I feel social media has greater impact on the e-commerce. The use of social media
is a platform that offers us to promote our company in minimal cost. This promotional platform
is stress free and highly profitable for us as well as highly effective.”
Manager 9: “The impact of social media has greater impact on the e-commerce but e-commerce
has no impact on social media. For instance, spending few hours every week has helped us
increase our brand visibility by almost 90% thereby, offering better experience to the
customers.”
Manager 10: “Social media has huge impact on e-commerce as this allow us to increase our
visibility for the target customers in the UAE and allow the customers to contact us anytime.
What are the main issues that AWOK has faced in terms of attracting customers and
generating sales by using social media platform?

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Manager 1: “In spite of the advantages social media offers for AWOK, it has also imposed
some challenges for the company. Due to the virtual nature of social media, lack of emotional
connection is one of the major challenges we face while communicating with the customers. The
customers are unable to relate to us and we are also unable to provide personal touch to the
customers.”
Manager 2: “I think the most challenging issue AWOK faces for using social media for their e-
commerce services is lack of emotional connection. Due to the virtual nature of the platform, we
cannot ask our executives to communicate with the customers empathetically and closely. As a
result, we have faced issues in establishing satisfied and loyal customer base in the UAE.”
Manager 3: “For AWOK, the major issue that I have encountered for using social media for
improving the e-commerce services is in adequate human resources that are involved for
communicating with the customers. As majority of the operations are performed in the virtual
platform, we do not involve numerous human resources. As a result, lack of emotional bonding
is noticed.”
Manager 4: “The issue faced by AWOK for using social media is that the customers feel highly
disconnected due to lack of emotional bond and connection. Though we are able to build large
customer base we are unable to ensure loyalty from the customers. As the customers lack
sufficient emotional connection, they tend to look for alternatives frequently.”
Manager 5: “The level of transparency social media provides is another issue. I have seen
customers post their negative feedback and concerns in the social media page that affects the
customers badly. The negative comments and feedback shared by the customers give rise to

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questions in the mind of the customers of whether they are using the right e-commerce services
or not.”
Manager 6: “The social media needs to creative and engaging content for attracting the
customers. In AWOK I have noticed lack of qualified personals that are required for managing
the social media presence of the company. Nevertheless, I have noticed the company is not
spending adequate resources in hiring individuals that can make the presence of the company
impactful. So, AWOK is having boring and repetitive content on their social media page that is
failing to attract the customers.”
Manager 7: “For me the major issue AWOK faces for using social media platform is the risk of
unwanted behavior on the social media page such as bullying and harassment. For example, once
I encountered a scenario where a customer complained about our product and one of our female
executives was attending the customer. I saw the customer harassing and bullying the female
executive on the social media page that I think was inappropriate for the company.”
Manager 8: “I have noticed that the company is not adequate qualified personals for handling
the online platform. So, monitoring and managing the social media page of the company daily is
a major issue for the company. Lack of daily monitoring has made the social platform page
unattractive and boring.”
Manager 9: “I think social media platform results in inadequate emotional connection due to
which establishing loyal followers and influencers is an issue for AWOK. Additionally, the
company is lacking individuals that can make the online social media platform engaging and
attractive. As a result, AWOK is losing customers and the sales of the company are being
compromised.”

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Manager 10: “The e-commerce business environment is highly competitive and it is important
for AWOK to keep up with the changes effectively. However, I have seen the company fall back
in keeping up with the changing features of the market as well as the technological
advancements. I assume both the issues are due to lack of adequate qualified personals to handle
such situation within AWOK.”
How do you think the use of social media platform will help AWOK improve the e-
commerce sales?
Manager 1: “For the issue that I have highlighted, it can be mitigated by establishing a strong
emotional bonding with the customers on the virtual platform. I think this can be done
successfully by AWOK by making the customers feel highly significant and of topmost priority.”
Manager 2: “I think it is important for AWOK to establish an emotional connection with the
customers successfully. I think this can be done by listening to customers closely and interacting
with the patiently. This will make the customers feel valued and significant for AWOK and they
will return for us again and again.”
Manager 3: “For the issue that I have highlighted, it can be mitigated by recruiting adequately
qualified individuals that have sound knowledge about how to use social media for improving
the sales of business and attracting customers. The company can achieve this by spending
resources for conducting appropriate recruitment process.”
Manager 4: “I think giving prompt reply to the customers that post their concern on the social
media platform is one of the ways of establishing positive and strong emotional bond with the
customers. If AWOK is able to make the customers feel valued and important, the company will
be successful in achieve desired results in terms of successful bond with the target customers.”

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Manager 5: “We cannot stop the customers to post anything negative but we need to be efficient
and clever enough to handle such negative feedback on the social media page. This can be
handled by the executives of the company by acknowledging their fault and providing
justification of the failure followed by compensating the loss. Also, the customer care executives
have to be polite and empathetic enough while handling such situations.”
Manager 6: “AWOK needs to hire qualified personals with higher level of knowledge and
ability to use social media platform for improving e-commerce service by making the posts on
the social media page of the company highly engaging and attractive. This will help AWOK to
develop impactful and attractive social media content and attracting customers and increasing
sales successfully.”
Manager 7: “Harassment and bullying on the official social media page of the company can be
mitigated by developing a special section those will deal with similar instances. The customer
care executives can block such users or also report it to the social media page where the
harassment and bullying is happening.”
Manager 8: “AWOK needs to hire qualified personals with higher level of knowledge and
ability to use social media platform for improving e-commerce service. Additionally, the
company can provide training the existing employees adequately so that they can handle the
social media page of the company successfully. This will save AWOK from spending financial
resources on recruiting and training the new employees.”
Manager 9: “I think this can be done by listening to customers closely and interacting with the
patiently. This will make the customers feel valued and significant for AWOK and they will
return for us again and again.”

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Manager 10: “I think recruiting adequately qualified individuals that have sound knowledge
about how to use social media for improving the sales of business and attracting customers.”

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Chapter 5: Discussion
This chapter discusses the effectiveness of social media for improving e-commerce sales
for AWOK in UAE by considering the data and information provided in the literature review and
the data analysis from the interview and the survey. The survey and the interview analysis
highlights that social media plays a crucial role for improving e-commerce sales for all the
business organizations. So, the use of social media has helped in improving e-commerce sales for
AWOK in the UAE that has limited access to internet and various social media platforms due to
the societal and governmental rules.
From the survey data analysis it can be said that both the male and the female customers
use social media more than 5-6 times on a daily basis. The purpose of using internet can vary on
the individual need of the male and the female customers. Such increased use of internet on a
daily basis is due to various advantages the social media platforms provide to the users. One of
the reasons of increased use of internet on a daily basis is shopping using the online platform.
The use of internet is provides the opportunity for convenient shopping for the customers in
terms of time, location and physical feasibility.
Even the interview from the managers highlights that in the United Arab Emirates the use
of social media and internet helps in improving the e-commerce. Internet is a computer mediated
technology that provides an opportunity to connect and communicate as well as follow and share
feedback. From the aforementioned discussion, it can be said that the use of social media
platforms help in improving e-commerce sales for WOK despite of the restriction the country
imposes in respect to the use of internet facilities and social media access.

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The information presented in the literature review suggests internet and social media
platform has gained huge popularity over the past decades that have facilitated the use of the
computer mediated technology in all aspects of life by individuals from different age groups.
Though an individual needs to be above a certain age group for opening an account on the social
media websites, this rule is often broken as the individuals open account in the social media
platform with false age. This is both beneficial and problematic for the individuals though the
business organizations use this as an advantage of attracting customers from different age
groups.
It is important for AWOK to target audience of a specific income group because the
ultimate goal of the company is to increase sales. It is essential for the customers to earn a
minimum amount in order to spend for shopping. The survey results highlight that the customers
with salary of 15001-20000 AED tend to spend more on online sites for purchasing the necessary
goods and products. Also, the interview result highlights social media has an impact on the e-
commerce sales but the opposite is not true. This is because social media is a platform that
provides an opportunity to share, communicate and connect and the business organization use the
social media platform for sharing, communicating and connecting with the target audience for
increasing sales.
Age is another crucial factor that facilitates the use of social media, as the older
generation finds it less reliable in terms of purchasing things in the online platform. The survey
result highlights that the individuals belonging to a specific age group are more active in social
media that makes it easier for the business organizations to communicate and attract them.

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From the different findings from the survey and the interview, it can be discussed that the
use of social media platform is indeed a golden opportunity for the business organizations for
attracting customers and increasing sales. However, AWOK faces some challenges that makes it
difficult for them to attract customers and increase the sales but aim towards developing
strategies with the intention of overcoming them.

86DISSERTATION
Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendation
6.0 Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that social media helps in increasing e-
commerce sales for the business organizations. The use of internet and social media has
increased over the years since it originated due to the advanced functions the platform provides
in terms of connectivity and communication. In this highly competitive world, it is all about
survival of the fittest for the business organizations. This can be achieved by the business
organizations by maximizing their sales and reaching out maximum customers. For AWOK, it is
important to increase sales for their e-commerce service by using social media platform
effectively and efficiently. However, increasing sales effectively is an issue that is identified in
this study for AWOK in spite of using the social media platform. Though the principle reason is
unknown, it is assumed that lack of emotional connection, personal communication; human
resources along with transparency of the platform, lack of skilled individuals and combating with
the frequent changes in the technology are the major reasons AWOK is finding it difficult to
increase sales effectively and efficiently. Thus, it is important for AWOK to improve the use of
social media platform for attracting customers thereby, improving e-commerce sales in the UAE.
6.1 Linking with objectives
Objective 1: To investigate the growth of social media in UAE
Section 2.2 of the literature review is linked with this objective and interview question 1
are in the data analysis is linked with this objective. The literature section highlights that the use
of social media has grown extensively in the UAE. The different social media platforms used
include Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. However, government still

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imposes some restrictions on the use of the various social media platforms in the country.
Additionally, the interview from the managers also highlights the increased use of social media
over the past decade in the UAE.
Objective 2: To assess the relationship between social media and e-commerce sales for
AWOK
Section 2.3 and 2.4 of the literature review aim towards accessing the relationship
between social media and e-commerce sales along with the survey questions 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,
12, 13, 14 and 15 and interview questions 2 and 3. From the information gathered in the
literature review and the data analysis, it can be said that relationship between the two variables
are positive and dependent. Social media is a platform that facilitates sharing, communicating
and connecting with individuals around the world regardless of the location and time. Thus, the
e-commerce is dependent on the positive and efficient use of social media for connecting and
communicating with the target audience thereby, increasing sales.
Objective 3: To critically analyze the issues faced while using e-commerce for AWOK
Section 2.5 in the literature review and interview question 4 analyzes the potential issues
that are faced by an e-commerce generally. As known, social media is a virtual platform that
restricts the business organizations from communicating with the customers personally. As a
result, convincing the customers and gaining their trust is often challenging. In addition to, the
information provided in the literature review section and data analysis highlights that inadequate
human resources and qualified personals also makes it difficult to use social media for improving
e-commerce sales.

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Objective 4: To provide suitable recommendations for improving the e-commerce sales for
AWOK
Section 2.6 and 2.7 of the literature review and interview question 5 are linked with this
objective. The literature review section highlights case studies of e-commerce organizations that
have been able to use social media successfully for improving sales in their respective business
environment. Additionally, these sections also talk us through the strategies that can be used by
the e-commerce organizations for improving their sales.
6.2 Recommendations
Based on the identified problems, the suitable recommendations for improving e-
commerce sales are furnished below:
Making the customers feel significant and valued
AWOK needs to make the customers feel important and valued by continuously checking
on them and communicating with them on the social media platform.
Establishing an emotional connection
AWOK can build emotional connection successfully to the customers by listening to the
customers and reacting to their needs and demands promptly.
Recruiting the right employees
AWOK will have to recruit technologically qualified employees for handling and using
social media effectively and efficiently for improving sales.
Providing suitable justifications

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As negative comments are visible clearly on the social media platform, AWOK will have
to justify the comments politely and keeping in mind that they have to maintain a positive image
in the eye of the target customers over the social media platform.
Preventing online bullying and harassment
In order to prevent online bullying and harassment, AWOK needs to report such hideous
crime on their social media platform and take necessary actions promptly thereby, making the
customers feel safe and secured.
6.3 Future scope of the study
Based on the current study, it can be said that this study emphasizes specifically on the
customers between 25-30 years with a monthly income of 15001-20000 AED. Therefore, in the
future, study can be conducted by considering and emphasizing on customers of different age
groups and different monthly income. In addition to, this study emphasizes the use of social
media for improving sales in the UAE only but fails to consider the global scenario. Taking into
account the increased use of social media by the business organizations at the global platform,
this study can be conducted in the future by considering to improve e-commerce sales in
different countries followed by comparing the effectiveness of social media media among the
countries.

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Appendices
Appendix 1
Interview questions
Demographic factors
1. What is your gender?
Male
Female
2. Which age group do you belong to?
Below 18 years
18-24 years
25-30 years
31 and above
3. In which sector do you work?
Private
Semi-private
Government
4. What is your monthly salary (AED)?

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5000-10000
10001-15000
15001-20000
20001 and above
Internet usage
5. How often do you use the internet per day?
1-2 times
3-4 time
5-6 times
More than 6 times
6. How much time do you spend in surfing the internet?
Less than 30 minutes
About an hour
More than 1 hour
7. Are you aware of the online shopping sites?
Yes
No
8. Do you shop from the sites?

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Yes
No
Objective questions
1=Strongly Agree, 2= Agree, 3= Neutral, 4=Disagree, 5=Strongly Disagree
9. Use of electronic media helps in reducing cost than the traditional system
1 2 3 4 5
10. The products of the company caters to all the needs
1 2 3 4 5
11. Use of social media helps in attracting more customers
1 2 3 4 5
12. It creates an opportunity to communicate with the company
1 2 3 4 5
13. The complaints are handled properly by the company
1 2 3 4 5
14. The use of social media helps in addressing your needs as well
1 2 3 4 5
15. The products are delivered within the stipulated time period
1 2 3 4 5

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Appendix 2
Interview questions
1. Do you think that the use of internet has increased in UAE in the past 10 years?
2. Has the use of internet helped in improving e-commerce in UAE?
3. Do you think social media and e-commerce sales have an impact on each other?
4. What are the main issues that AWOK has faced in terms of attracting customers and
generating sales?
5. How do you think the use of social media platform will help AWOK improve the e-
commerce sales?