How Social Media Influences Consumer’s Buying Preferences

This dissertation explores the power of social media in influencing consumer buying behavior towards fashion brands, with a focus on UK-based retailer Marks & Spencer. It covers the concept of social media in the fashion industry, major social media platforms used by UK fashion brands, and the benefits of social media for businesses.

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES
CONSUMER’S BUYING PREFERENCES
1

ABSTRACT
Purpose: The main purpose of conducting the existing research is to carry out
information about the power of social media and role played by it to influence the buying
behaviour of customers towards the brand. This includes the proper in-depth information about
the concept of social media in an organisation and the different purposes that make an
organisation to adopt several social media platforms. It also includes the types of different social
media platforms for attracting large number of customers so that sales of company could be
improved.
Research methodology: The current investigation covers different types of research
methods for the collection and analysis of information so that pre-determined objectives could be
easily attained in a systematic way. This investigation has used quantitative research methods so
that numerical information can be gathered as well as analysed in the same procedure.
Questionnaire has developed by researcher with the purpose of accumulating first-hand data
related to the topic.
Findings: The main findings of the current investigation are that large number of
respondents who are the customers believe that social media helps in influencing their behaviour
towards the products of company. They think that they get great updated information which
helps them in purchasing products as per their preferences and needs.
Conclusion & Recommendations: It is concluded in the current investigation is that
social media is one of the best tools for positively influencing the behaviour of customers
towards the fashion brands of the United Kingdom. There are certain recommendations which
are recommended to chosen company such as using multiple social media channels.
2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am grateful that I have put efforts in the exiting investigation. But, it was not possible to
conduct this investigation without support of many people. I want to show my greater sincere to
all the individuals. I am thankful to my supervisors as well as professors who have helped me in
identifying the topic for the research as well as determining sources to collect relevant and
reliable information. Their constant support and guidance have assisted me in doing the research
in a systematic way so that defined objectives could be met.
I am also grateful to my parents and relatives that they have supported me emotionally
while doing my investigation in an effective and efficient way. I am also thankful to all those
people who have willing assisted me with their abilities.
3

GLOSSARY
Social media: Usage of social media has assisted companies in enhancing customer
service, customer relations, improving brand visibility, improving information accessibility and
sharing. This helps an organisation to reduce the marketing cost and activities of customer
service.
Brand loyalty: It is the term which shows positive association customers attach to a
certain brand or product. Consumers who show brand loyalty are generally devoted to products
and services. This can be seen by their repeat purchases despite efforts of competitors to attract
them.
4

Contents
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...............................................................................................................3
GLOSSARY....................................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................7
Overview of the topic ..................................................................................................................7
Background of the company .......................................................................................................7
Problem statement .......................................................................................................................7
Research questions ......................................................................................................................8
Research aim and objectives .......................................................................................................8
Snapshots of the methodology ....................................................................................................8
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................10
What is the concept of social media in context with UK fashion industry?..............................10
What are the major social media platforms used by UK fashion industry for influencing
customer’s preferences towards the brand?...............................................................................11
How social media platforms have influenced on buying preferences of consumers towards the
M&S?.........................................................................................................................................12
What are the benefits that Marks & Spencer could be gained while customer’s preferences
towards the brand?.....................................................................................................................14
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................17
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS...............................................................................19
Frequency Distribution Table....................................................................................................19
Data Interpretation.....................................................................................................................21
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................31
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................31
RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................................................................................32
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................33
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................36
Questionnaire.............................................................................................................................36
5

6

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Overview of the topic
Social media is an effective platform used by business organisations for promoting as well
as marketing their brand. It is a computer-based technology that helps in sharing thoughts, ideas,
information and data via communities and virtual networks (Bilgin, 2018). In a business context,
social media is the process used by companies for marketing and promoting products as well as
connecting customers to improve word-of-mouth. There are different platforms of social media
such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. These are main platforms that are effective and useful
for business organisations in influencing preference of the customers (Voramontri and Klieb,
2019). There are so many advantages of changing buying preference of customers to the business
organisation such as increase customer base, enhance business performance, increase sales and
profitability and many others.
Background of the company
Within this research, UK fashion industry is used for identifying influences of social media
on buying preferences of customers. Marks & Spencer is a chosen fashion retailer of United
Kingdom. Company was founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in 1884 with purpose
of providing excellent quality in clothing, food and home products. Company is well-known for
its quality product, effective use of promotional strategies and many others (Ebrahim, 2020). It is
not easy for the company to influence buying preference of customers because they want quality
in products and services. For this, social media is an effective way for M&S because it helps
them by providing accurate information regarding their brand to the customers (Wibowo and et.
al., 2020). Thus, use of social media is an important part for the growth and success of M&S
because it helps them in influencing customer’s buying preference towards the brand.
Problem statement
Today, the major problem for retailers is how to influence buying preference of customers.
This is a major problem that negative impacts over the brand image of organisations. In order to
reduce this problem, social media plays an important role. As it facilitates M&S in promoting
and marketing of its products or services on social media (Ioanas, 2020). There are various social
media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and many others. These platforms are useful for
7

M&S in influencing customer’s preferences that leads to impact in increment of customer base as
well as improving business performance.
Research questions
 What is the concept of social media in context with UK fashion industry?
 What are the major social media platforms used by UK fashion industry for influencing
customer’s preferences towards the brand?
 How social media platforms have influenced on buying preferences of consumers
towards the M&S?
 What are the benefits that Marks & Spencer could be gained while customer’s
preferences towards the brand?
Research aim and objectives
Research aim: The aim of this research is to identify the influences of social media on buying
preferences of consumers towards the brand: A study on Marks & Spencer
Research objectives:
 To develop basic understanding about the social media in context with UK fashion
industry
 To identify the social media platforms used by UK fashion industry for influencing
customer’s preferences towards the brand
 To evaluate the influences of social media platforms on buying preferences of consumers
towards M&S
 To examine the benefits that Marks & Spencer could be gained while customer’s
preferences towards the brand
Snapshots of the methodology
Research methodology is an important part of the dissertation because with the help of this,
researcher can easily gather and evaluate data about the topic (McClure and Seock, 2020). There
are several methodologies that would be used for collecting as well as evaluating information
regarding the influences of social media on buying preferences of consumers towards the brand.
These methodologies are positivism philosophy, deductive approach, cross-sectional time
horizon, quantitative research, questionnaire and 30 customers are selected randomly through
8

probability sampling (Ioanas, 2020). Therefore, these are main methodologies that will be
applied for attaining the research aim and objectives successfully.
9

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review is the section that includes second-hand information about the chosen
topic. This focuses on addressing the research questions with the assistance of published and
used piece of information. This chapter includes secondary sources like books, journals, articles,
newspapers, publications etc.
What is the concept of social media in context with UK fashion industry?
According to Hsiao and et. al., (2020), in today's world fashion industry uses social
media for promoting its latest trends. The invention of several social media channels has
completely changed the manner customers perceive and consume data. There is a shift in the
overall thought procedure of not only the purchasers but also fashion brands and designers.
Fashion industry includes several number of fashion influencers who advocate different styles,
events fashion shows, designers and trends from several parts of the world. More significantly,
social media has helped in improving the ability to connect with large number of people. There
are several opportunities for the fashion companies involving new, established and upcoming as
they could connect and influence at the same time with reactions. Brainstorming sessions of
brands have become proactive and creative at the same time for grabbing the share of success
and profit part (Nash, 2018). Data on fashion is just a click way involving trends, latest products,
Fashion weeks, stories of models, constant exclusions and inclusions of styles and many more.
There are several followers who also contribute in indirect promotion of the products simply by
commenting on the Facebook and Instagram posts. It also includes liking, sharing and loving
posts of the brands. This clearly shows that social media has created a great level of importance
irrespective of name and age of brands. When any new style or trend comes in the market then
this is easily accepted by the customers through social media. It simply provides the wider
exposure to brands through social media.
There are various ways to promote product through several social media platforms.
Companies create proper hashtag for creating the positive impact and which can be used in
different social media channels. In Facebook, companies focuses on creating the balance
between messages and graphics as well as the publishing time. Companies also use Blog for
letting people know about the company's products in a systematic and instant manner.
Companies also make sure that every activity is well-harnessed and well-coordinated (Rocamora,
10

2017). The introduction of social media channels help customers to open doors for large number
of people so that they can engage more and participate more with the brand. Now, social media
has become the important part of the fashion brand's marketing strategies and public relation
strategies. The significance of recruiting social media manager is continuously increasing with
each passing day. The interesting fact is that earlier fashion companies did not have the
allocation of budget for such kind of posts few years back. Social media provides consumers
with the choice of picking between different latest trends and the happiness of shopping with the
assistance of clicks. Companies are very well aware with the fact that more engagement is
created with future and existing customers with the assistance of social media channels. This
increases the sales of the fashion brands and expansion of the overall market. When fashion
companies and brands adopt social media channels then they create positive mind-set among
customers and increasing the profit level.
What are the major social media platforms used by UK fashion industry for influencing
customer’s preferences towards the brand?
According to Casadei and Lee (2020), UK fashion industry uses social media channels
for grabbing attention of the customers so that sales could be increased as well as profit. Fashion
brands use multiple social media channels as per their several features and the objectives that a
brand wants to achieve. Some of the most popular social media platforms used by UK fashion
industry are given below:
Facebook: It is one of the popular social media platforms which has great number of
monthly users and this makes the number one choice among customers as well as fashion brands.
With the feature of Facebook Ads Manager, fashion brands create advertisements that aim users
on specific factors such as gender, age, location, relationship status, job title, level of education,
device usage etc. This platform also assists brand in creating Custom Audiences through the list
of phone numbers and email addresses that company has collected to reach the existing
customers.
Instagram: The other greatest social media platform is Instagram and it assists in
boosting the sales of Fashion brands. This is the platform that has more than a million monthly
active users. This channel also has advertising options as Facebook (Helal, Ozuem and
Lancaster, 2018). It is known as a visual platform that assists fashion brand in showcasing the
personality of business. Instagram hashtags also assist marketers to reach large number of
11

audience. In Instagram fashion brands use Live Video features and Instagram Stories to promote
and advertise products of the company
Snapchat: It is the social media channel that has more than 238 million active users. It is
a good platform for the fashion brands because it helps in sending real-time updates and
promoting appropriate events. It is the platform that helps company to post videos and photos
which remain active on the channel for 24 hours. It creates great opportunities for businesses to
promote timely events like product conference and launches. It also helps marketers in creating
and promoting events at large scale in the shorter time period. Basically, this is the platform
which helps in attracting younger generation because they are more active on this and get
attracted to buy fashion products.
YouTube: Another social media platform used by fashion industry is YouTube. This
channel has more than 2 billion users. It is one of the best social media platforms to highlight the
culture of a company and creating demonstrations and tutorials (Scuotto and et. al., 2017). When
organisation is capable to create content and the best platform for connecting with the users.
Through this channel companies host videos so that customers could attract more with the
products and services. Therefore, it is the best channel to attract customers and promote the
products and services.
How social media platforms have influenced on buying preferences of consumers towards the
M&S?
According to Kalu (2019), social media platforms have occupied a significant position as
a communication technique. People across the globe consider social media for connecting to
other people or companies. People have started using social media such as Twitter, Instagram,
LinkedIn and Facebook for sharing their experience. As a consumer, people share reviews about
the products, information about the service, great advice in relation to food and health, warnings
about different products, ways to use certain products and many more. On social media different
information is available which is consumed by many people (Nash, 2018). This kind of
information has become a source to influence customers as well as their buying behaviour. Many
research have shown that customer rely on the reviews and information on different social media
channels as one of the guides to plan their future purchases. Social media has grown in this
digital world for increasing the reach and creating a positive impact. More purchasers are now on
many social media networks and channels. Customers look for recommendations and reviews.
12

Hence, it is essential to create a prominent online presence on several social media channels. The
latest trend in the procedure of marketing is social media. Social media holds great power in
influencing potential as well as existing customers to make large number of purchases.
Customers require awareness about the brand and its several offerings (Wibowo and et. al.,
2020). When customer starts to narrow down choice, brands need social media influencers for
convincing their choice. A continuous conversation between the brand and customers is quite
essential for keeping the relationship strong. Informative, catchy and attractive content could
glue the consumers to the brand.
Social media has a great influence on customers when they attempt to build awareness
about a certain product. When people face issues, they start looking for solutions. But most of
the times customers do not know which service or product would solve their issues. The major
purpose of every kind of business is influencing behaviour of the customers. When company
does not have a brand presence on social media then brand is missing out on a significant
opportunity for influencing consumer buying behaviour. Social media has given outcome of
evolution of social proof as a higher force for purchasing decisions. Social proof has emerged
because of customers imitate the behaviour of other customers around them or customers imitate
people who influence them. Satisfied customers tend to go about praising the commodities with
shares, likes, comments and reviews on social media. Marketers have made social space
transparent by sharing comments, reviews, tweets, pins and likes of their satisfied customers by
generating brand trust and increasing rates of conversion.
Many social media users of have made their social media account they are interested in.
When customers find discounts, promotions and deals on social media for influencing buying
behaviour. Channels of social media are known as one of the inexpensive platforms that offers
brands instant reach to large number of active users. Companies ensure that target customers sees
products, shares them and likes them on channels of social media which assists in influencing
behaviour of the customers. Customers are more likely to purchase when they get suggestions
from an individual they trust. Popular people and celebrities inspire customers as well as
influence their purchasing behaviour. Customers look for social media and look up to influencers
for advices and recommendations on products and services. A positive influence motivates the
customer to purchase the product. Influencer marketing could operate and work for the fashion
brand by attracting more number of customers. Many marketers have replaced celebrities with
13

Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat influencers. These online influencers are giving unfiltered
feedback on products after consuming it.
Therefore, social media which involves the visuals, promotions, content, influencers and
discounts has the power to positively influence the buying behaviour of customers. The impacts
of social media on customer behaviour could not be avoided by businesses and brands. As per
the conducted studies, it has identified that customer easily get influenced through social media
are 4 times more likely to spend more on their purchases.
What are the benefits that Marks & Spencer could be gained while customer’s preferences
towards the brand?
According to (Fotheringham and Wiles, 2022), Customer preferences are defined as a concept
that helps in determining what type of product a person likes or dislikes of the company.
Knowing and analysing the needs and preferences of the customer is important as it helps the
company in producing a product that is liked by customers. Adapting to the tastes and
preferences of the customers helps in gaining more market share and also helps in understanding
what customers expect and want from the company. Customers are considered as the most
valuable asset for which the company works and builds different marketing strategies for gaining
increased growth and productivity in the competitive market. Marks and Spencer produces
products according to the taste and preferences of the customer which helps in gaining more
customer value and loyalty towards the brand of the company. It is important for the company to
build innovative and creative products in order to gain high competitive advantage over other
rival competitors. No matter how innovative and creative a product is how competitive the
pricing is, if the customers do not feel satisfied and happy with the product than they are not
going to buy that product or service again and will not stick to the product. When company
produce products according to the preferences and wants of the customers they gain more market
share and customer base in the increased competitive market. The benefits gained by putting
customer preferences on top towards the brand of Marks and Spencer are explained below:
 Increase in market share – Customer preferences plays an important role in developing
more market share and healthy sales revenue for the company (Jin, Miao and Park,
2018) . Marks and Spencer needs to focus on developing innovative and creative products
according to the tastes and preferences of the customers in order to gain more market
14

share and customer base. This helps the company in making customers attach with
product which results in increased productivity and growth.
 Improves customer satisfaction and loyalty – When the customers feel satisfied with
the product it helps in developing more loyalty towards the product brand. These loyal
customers provides repeated business to the company which helps in gaining high growth
and profitability in the competitive market. Marks and Spencer provides quality products
to their customers and has created a strong brand image in the market. This helps in
developing more satisfaction and experience towards the company's brand in the minds
of the customers.
 Boosts brand popularity and reputation – Customer satisfaction and loyalty towards
the brand of the company which helps in boosting the brand reputation in the market.
Marks and Spencer needs to focus on improving customer satisfaction by reviewing the
customer feedback on a regular basis which helps in gaining more market share (CKunz
and et. al., 2017). Customers directly gets attracted by the products that offer more value
and are beneficial to them and this helps in increasing the brand loyalty towards the
company brand.
 Repeated purchases – When customers are more inclined and attached towards the
brand of the company it helps in increasing its sales and revenue in the competitive
market. As compared to new customers, repeated customers tends to spend more money
and will more likely to buy and try new products of the same brand. Repeated customers
are a benefit to Marks and Spencer as it helps in increasing the customer base and loyalty
towards the quality products that the company produces in the market.
 Increased sales and revenue – When companies produces products according to the
tastes and preferences of customers than it helps the company in increasing sales and
profitability in the market. This helps in Marks and Spencer in building strong brand
image in the minds of customers which results in high sales of company quality products
in the market. So the company must focus on implementing better promotion tools in
order to attract more customer for buying the quality products and services (Holmlund
and et. al., 2020).
15

 Increases customer engagement – Quality products and services to the customers helps
in gaining more share in the market and more customer base for better growth and
productivity (Kanakaratne, Bray and Robson, 2020). By promoting products with the
help of social media platforms helps in attracting and retaining customers for buying
products of the company from the market. This helps Marks and Spencer in gaining more
customer in the company as they spend most of their time on social media so it will raise
the engagement of customers towards the company brand.
Thus, it is essential for the company to produce and manufacture products according to the tastes
and preference of the customers because this helps the company in gaining more loyalty among
customers which results in high growth and success in the competitive market.
16

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is the association of such methods which are related with
examining information which is needed within the research (Rinjit, 2020). Some of the major
research methodologies are elaborated as under:
Research philosophy: Research philosophy is the belief which is used within the
research for the major objectives of accumulating data within the research and to analyse the data
(Cr, 2020) This is regarded as the foremost layer within the research onion method. There are
three methods within research philosophy such as epistemology, ontology and axiology. For the
research epistemology research philosophy is chosen in which positivism is taken as the main
stream (Goldman, 2018). This method will assist the researcher in evaluating data in numerical
manner so that reliability can be maintained.
Research Approach: Research approach is such steps which are used within evaluation
of research using collected information (Žukauskas Vveinhardt and Andriukaitienė, 2018).
Research approach is of two types such as inductive and deductive. For the current research, the
researcher has taken deductive approach so that research findings can be developed in statistical
manner (Alase, 2017). The main reason of choosing deductive research approach is that this
helps in carrying out the research in numerical manner.
Research Strategy: Research strategy is categorised as the methodology which helps the
research to be executed in effective and efficient manner (Wulfmeyer and et. al., 2018). There
are various research strategies such as grounded theory, action research, survey, action research
and many others. In this research, the researcher has taken survey research strategy so that to
manage the research in appropriate manner (Rong and et. al., 2020). In the terms of research
survey questionnaire is used as the tool of research strategy in which close-ended questions are
asked in order to maintain reliability of the research.
Research Choice: Research choice is one of the major research methodology which is
used to collect information over research topic (Salite and et. al., 2016). There are three types of
research choice such as mono method, mixed method and multi-mixed methods. For the current
research, mono method is taken so that research can be executed in more suitable manner. The
research is based on quantitative research which means that statistical information is added
within the research (Jain, Kothari and Kumar, 2016).
17

Data Collection: Data collection is the research methodology which facilitates the
researcher in collecting information within the research (Dweck, 2019). Data collection is of two
types such as primary and secondary data collection methods. In the terms of current research the
research has chosen both the methods of data collection such as primary and secondary so that
research can be executed by covering all the dimensions. For taking primary information,
questionnaire is framed so that raw information can be gathered (Zhou and et. al., 2018). On the
other hand, in terms of secondary data collection methods books and journals are used so that to
gather in-depth information within the research.
Sampling: Sampling is considered as another major research methods which helps in
choosing certain number of respondents within the research (Androutsopoulos, 2017). There are
two types of sampling methods such as probability sampling and non-probability sampling.
Under the current research probability sampling is used in which 30 respondents are taken those
are customers of Marks & Spencer.
Time Horizon: Time horizon is considered as the time frame in which research is
required to be finished (Glaser and Strauss, 2017). There are two types of time-horizon such as
longitudinal and cross-sectional. In the current research cross-sectional time horizon is used so
that various dimensions can be used within research (Alvi, 2016).
18

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
Frequency Distribution Table
Q1) Do you use social media for purchasing products from the Marks
& Spencer?
Frequency
a) Yes 25
b) No 5
Q2) What is the major social media platforms used by UK fashion
industry for influencing customer’s preferences towards the brand?
Frequency
a) Instagram 8
b) Facebook 11
c) Twitter 7
d) YouTube 4
Q3) Do you think Instagram is a main social media platform that have
attracted you towards M&S?
Frequency
a) Yes 23
b) No 7
Q4) How social media platforms have influenced on buying
preferences of consumers towards the M&S?
Frequency
a) Positive 18
b) Negative 4
c) Neutral 8
Q5) How does social media platform help you to change your
perspective regarding certain products of Marks & Spencer?
Frequency
a) By seeing posts of company regarding products 8
b) By looking at blogs of influencers 4
19

c) By continuously checking reviews and feedback 5
d) By easily expressing own requirements and preferences to the brand 7
e) By getting detailed information about the products as well as brand 6
Q6) Do you think Marks & Spencer should include more number of
social media influencers because you can connect more with them
regarding fashion products?
Frequency
a) Yes 22
b) No 5
c) Prefer not to say 3
Q7 What is the main benefit that Marks & Spencer have gained with
your positive responses towards the brand?
Frequency
a) Greater customer base 5
b) Positive reviews 7
c) Higher sales 4
d) More traffic on websites 8
e) Brand awareness 3
f) Spreading more positive words about the product 3
Q8) Do you think when brands like Marks & Spencer uses social media
then it helps you to choose best product out of given different
alternatives?
Frequency
a) Yes 18
b) No 4
c) May be 8
Q9) What is the main challenge that can be faced by you if company
does not use social media channels consistently for promoting its
products?
Frequency
20

a) Lack of updated information about the products 8
b) Not able to compare different brands 9
c) Increased time and cost 6
d) Lack of recognising real-time trends 7
Q10) As one of the customers of Marks & Spencer, what do you want
to see more from the brand on its different social media channels?
Frequency
a) Blogs 4
b) Live updates 7
c) Videos of the products and outlets 6
d) Live videos of brand ambassadors with products 9
e) Posts and pictures of the products 4
21

Data Interpretation
Question 1: Social media for purchasing products from the Marks & Spencer
Q1) Do you use social media for purchasing products from the
Marks & Spencer?
Frequency
a) Yes 25
b) No 5
a) Yes b) No
0
5
10
15
20
25
25
5
Interpretation: From the above mentioned data, it is analysed that there are total 30
respondents. Out of these respondents, 25 respondents have answered yes that social media is
used by customers to purchase products from Marks & Spencer. They use social media because
it accommodates in getting information about the latest trends. The rest 5 respondents have said
no that social media does not assist in buying products because it makes customer confused as
they get to see several number of alternatives at the same time.
Question 2: Social media platforms used by UK fashion industry for influencing customer’s
preferences towards the brand
Q2) What is the major social media platforms used by UK fashion
industry for influencing customer’s preferences towards the brand?
Frequency
22

a) Instagram 8
b) Facebook 11
c) Twitter 7
d) YouTube 4
a) Instagram b) Facebook c) Twitter d) YouTube
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
8
11
7
4
Interpretation: With the above assembled information, it is interpreted that 8 participants
have said that Instagram is one of the major social media platforms which is used by the fashion
industry of the United Kingdom to influence preferences of customers towards the brand because
it has large number of users and brand wants to attract as many customers towards the product.
The other 11 respondents have answered that Facebook is the other significant platforms because
this platform has users who belong from each age group. This age group includes adults,
teenagers, older people etc. This basically influences every age group to buy fashion products
from the brand. Another 7 participants have said that Twitter is the other social media platform
because in this people generally provide their views and opinions regarding products, services or
anything. This helps customers to provide chance to think about before buying the products from
the brands of the United Kingdom. The rest 4 respondents have said that YouTube is the best
23

social media platform because it helps in getting proper videos about the different products of the
organisation.
Question 3: Instagram is a main social media platform that have attracted you towards M&S
Q3) Do you think Instagram is a main social media platform that
have attracted you towards M&S?
Frequency
a) Yes 23
b) No 7
a) Yes b) No
0
5
10
15
20
25 23
7
Interpretation: From the above assembled information through graph, it is evaluated that
23 respondents have answered yes that social media have attracted customers towards Marks &
Spencer because it consistently posts pictures and videos of the organisation so that customers
could know more about the specifications of the products. The other 7 respondents have said no
that it is not an effective social media platform because it has reviews which sometimes
negatively impact preferences of the customers. Therefore, majority of respondents believe that
Instagram is the best platform that assist in attracting existing customers as well as grabbing
attention of potential customers.
Question 4: Social media platforms have influenced on buying preferences of consumers
towards the M&S
24

Q4) How social media platforms have influenced on buying
preferences of consumers towards the M&S?
Frequency
a) Positive 18
b) Negative 4
c) Neutral 8
a) Positive b) Negative c) Neutral
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
18
4
8
Interpretation: With the above accumulated data, it is evaluated that 18 respondents have
said that social media positively influences buying behaviour of customers because it helps
customers to get updated information about products as well as their features. Customers also get
to know about the opinions and views of other customers regarding the product which holds
major importance in influencing them to buy that particular product. The other 4 respondents
have said that social media negatively influences the buying preferences of the customers
towards the brands like Marks & Spencer because customers get to see multiple reviews of
customers which can be sometimes positive and negative. It depends upon the mindset of
customers that they are positively or negatively influencing with those reviews on social media
platforms. The remaining 8 participants have said that there is neutral implication of social media
in influencing purchasing preferences of customers towards the company.
25

Question 5: Social media platform help you to change your perspective regarding certain
products of Marks & Spencer
Q5) How does social media platform help you to change your
perspective regarding certain products of Marks & Spencer?
Frequency
a) By seeing posts of company regarding products 8
b) By looking at blogs of influencers 4
c) By continuously checking reviews and feedback 5
d) By easily expressing own requirements and preferences to the
brand
7
e) By getting detailed information about the products as well as
brand
6
a) By seeing posts of company regarding products
d) By easily expressing own requirements and preferences to the brand
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
8
4
5
7
6
Interpretation: From the above assembled significant data, it is analysed that 8
respondents have said that social media platforms help in changing their perspective regarding
particular products of Marks & Spencer because they get to see posts of the products
continuously which makes customers updated. The other 4 respondents have said that customers
get to see blogs of influencers which influence them to buy that particular product. Another 5
26

respondents have answered that by continuously checking feedback and reviews customers
easily change their perspective regarding products because this makes them in taking right
decision as per their preference. The other 7 respondents have said that by easily expressing own
preferences and requirements to the brand so that they can buy apt product that could fulfil their
needs and requirements. The rest 6 participants have said that social media assists customers to
get detailed information about the brand as well as products because company focuses on
building social presence.
Question 6: Marks & Spencer should include more number of social media influencers
Q6) Do you think Marks & Spencer should include more number of
social media influencers because you can connect more with them
regarding fashion products?
Frequency
a) Yes 22
b) No 5
c) Prefer not to say 3
a) Yes b) No c) Prefer not to say
0
5
10
15
20
25 22
5
3
Interpretation: As per the above assembled information it is analysed that 22 respondents
have said yes that Marks & Spencer must focuses on including social media influencers with
27

large number of followers as well as less low followers because in this modern world customers
get attracted towards those products which influencers use, prefer and suggest to customers. The
other 5 respondents have said no that social media influencers should not be included by brands
because in some cases when they influencers get paid advertisements and customers wrongly get
influenced. Therefore, the remaining 3 respondents have said that they do not want to answer this
particular question because they believe that social media influencers is the new concept in the
fashion brands.
Question 7: Main benefit that Marks & Spencer have gained with your positive responses
towards the brand
Q7 What is the main benefit that Marks & Spencer have gained with
your positive responses towards the brand?
Frequency
a) Greater customer base 5
b) Positive reviews 7
c) Higher sales 4
d) More traffic on websites 8
e) Brand awareness 3
f) Spreading more positive words about the product 3
28

a) Greater customer base
c) Higher sales
e) Brand awareness
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
5
7
4
8
3 3
Interpretation: With the above mentioned data, it is interpreted that 5 respondents have
answered that greater customer base is the main benefit that company has gained with positive
responses towards the brand because more number of customers get attracted. The other 7
respondents have said that positive reviews is the other benefit which is gained by the brand
because this make customer attracted towards the brand. Another 4 respondents have said that
higher sales is the other greatest benefit because it assists brand to have larger number of
customers to improve the number of sales. The other 8 participants have said that with the
positive responses of the customers towards the brand help in generating large traffic. Another 3
respondents have said that brand awareness is due to positive responses of customers because it
assists in knowing more about the brand. The rest 3 respondents have said that company gets
more positive words about the product with the positive responses of the customers because
satisfied customers give positive word-of-mouth.
Question 8: Brands like Marks & Spencer uses social media
Q8) Do you think when brands like Marks & Spencer uses social
media then it helps you to choose best product out of given different
alternatives?
Frequency
a) Yes 18
b) No 4
29

c) May be 8
a) Yes b) No c) May be
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
18
4
8
Interpretation: With the above mentioned data, it is analysed that 18 respondents have
said yes that brands like Marks & Spencer uses social media then it helps customers to choose
best product out of given different alternatives because it includes the views and opinions of
people that provide relevant comparison between different products. This assists customers to
purchase product out of given different alternatives. The other 4 respondents have said no that
social media does not assist in selecting best product because it confuses people regarding
available alternatives. The remaining 8 participants have answered that they are not sure about
whether social media assists customers to choose best product from the multiple alternatives.
Question 9: If company does not use social media channels consistently for promoting its
products
Q9) What is the main challenge that can be faced by you if company
does not use social media channels consistently for promoting its
products?
Frequency
a) Lack of updated information about the products 8
30

b) Not able to compare different brands 9
c) Increased time and cost 6
d) Lack of recognising real-time trends 7
a) Lack of updated information about the products
c) Increased time and cost
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 8
9
6
7
Interpretation: With the above mentioned information it is analysed that 8 respondents
have said that lack of updated information about the products is one of the main challenges faced
by customers if company does not use social media platforms because customers do not get apt
information about the products and services. The other 9 respondents have said that not able to
compare different brands is the other main challenge because when companies do not provide
information then customers do not get apt knowledge to compare. The other 6 respondents have
said that increased cost and time is the other major challenge because customers have to put their
time to research about the products that could fulfil their needs and requirements.
Question 10: Brand on its different social media channels
Q10) As one of the customers of Marks & Spencer, what do you
want to see more from the brand on its different social media
channels?
Frequency
a) Blogs 4
31

b) Live updates 7
c) Videos of the products and outlets 6
d) Live videos of brand ambassadors with products 9
e) Posts and pictures of the products 4
a) Blogs
c) Videos of the products and outlets
e) Posts and pictures of the products
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
4
7
6
9
4
Interpretation: With the above mentioned information, it is interpreted that 4 respondents
have said that blogs is one of the elements that they want to see more from the brand because it
includes in-depth details about the products and services. The other 7 respondents have said that
live updates is the main element that customers want to see because it assists in getting updated
news of the products. Another 6 respondents have said that videos of the products and outlets is
the other element because this helps in attracting customers. The other 9 respondents have said
that live videos of brand ambassadors connect people with the brand in a systematic way. The
rest 4 respondents have answered that posts and pictures of the products are the other significant
element that attracts customers with the brand.
32

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above gathered information that social media plays a very crucial
role in promoting the products and services of the company for attracting more customers. Social
media is used by most of the people in their daily lives and that is why it is important for the
company to promote products online platforms for achieving more market share. Social media
helps the company in increasing brand awareness and in generating more leads for buying its
quality products. Social media offers several benefits in because of changing customer
preferences like increase in customer base, improves performance of business and profitability of
the company. It has been evaluated that social media also helps in changing the attitude and
perspective of customers towards using and purchasing that particular of the company product.
The company makes use of various channels of social media to promote the products and
services to the customers such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, You-tube etc. as this helps the
company in influencing customers towards buying their product. As most of the people spent
most of their time on social media and this helps the company in building more market share and
customer base. The company make the use of innovative and creative posts for improving the
performance of the company and to receive more popularity in the competitive market. Social
media has provided high growth and share in the market which helps the company high success
and growth in the competitive market. Customers wants and demands are changing with the
change in market trends and situations which forces the company to produce products by
catering to their needs and expectations. By adopting social media platforms for increasing the
reach of product in the market the company uses different online platforms for increased growth
and revenue in the market. Facebook helps the company in gaining more customer base as the
fashion industry focus on creating adds by considering age of different people in segments in
order to attract all types of customers. Instagram is another social media tool that helps in
increasing customers by posting creative content and by using Live video features and Instagram
stories to promote the products and services of the company. Snapchat is also used by the
company to post videos and photos of products and services which helps in attracting young
individuals as they remain more active and are more attracted by the fashion products. Online
platforms give customers a chance to give honest reviews about the product that they feel after
33

using it and also influences their purchasing power to buy products. Thus, social media has
created a great influence on customers in understanding the product specifications and
characteristics and this helps the company in achieving high growth and productivity in the
company.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Social media has created a strong influence on changing the buying decision of the
customer as it helps in attracting more customers by checking innovative and creative posts.
Thus, it is recommended to the company that they must use social media to promote products
and services offered by them in order to gain more market share. These recommendations are
explained below:
 The fashion industry must use social media influencers which helps in attracting more
customer base because now a days most of the people use social media platforms.
 The company must post innovative and eye catching content on social media such as
Facebook, Instagram etc. for influencing the buying decisions of the customer.
 They must organise interesting and giveaways contests which provides exciting
discounts and offers so that customers gets attracted and buy the products as this helps in
increasing their engagement.
 By sharing more video content will help the company in increasing more market share
and customer base as people are more interested in watching video content.
This will help in gaining improved brand image and reputation in the competitive market which
results in more growth and improved performance of the company. The company must focus
creating consistent, quality posts and share valuable information that will attract the right
customers towards buying the quality products.
34

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alase, A., 2017. The interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA): A guide to a good
qualitative research approach. International Journal of Education and Literacy
Studies, 5(2), pp.9-19.
Alvi, M., 2016. A manual for selecting sampling techniques in research.
Androutsopoulos, J., 2017. Online data collection. In Data collection in sociolinguistics (pp.
233-244). Routledge.
Bilgin, Y., 2018. The effect of social media marketing activities on brand awareness, brand
image and brand loyalty. Business & management studies: an international
journal, 6(1), pp.128-148.
Casadei, P. and Lee, N., 2020. Global cities, creative industries and their representation on social
media: A micro-data analysis of Twitter data on the fashion industry. Environment and
Planning A: Economy and Space, 52(6), pp.1195-1220.
Cr, K., 2020. Research methodology methods and techniques.
Dweck, C.S., 2019. The choice to make a difference. Perspectives on Psychological
Science, 14(1), pp.21-25.
Ebrahim, R.S., 2020. The role of trust in understanding the impact of social media marketing on
brand equity and brand loyalty. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 19(4), pp.287-308.
Fotheringham, D. and Wiles, M.A., 2022. The effect of implementing chatbot customer service
on stock returns: an event study analysis. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
pp.1-21.
Glaser, B.G. and Strauss, A.L., 2017. Theoretical sampling. In Sociological methods (pp. 105-
114). Routledge.
Goldman, A.I., 2018. The Journal of Philosophy. Freedom of Speech, pp.283-301.
Habibi, M.R., Laroche, M. and Richard, M.O., 2016. Testing an extended model of consumer
behavior in the context of social media-based brand communities. Computers in Human
Behavior, 62, pp.292-302.
Helal, G., Ozuem, W. and Lancaster, G., 2018. Social media brand perceptions of
millennials. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.
Holmlund and et. al., 2020. Customer experience management in the age of big data analytics: A
strategic framework. Journal of Business Research, 116, pp.356-365.
Hsiao and et. al., 2020. How social media shapes the fashion industry: The spillover effects
between private labels and national brands. Industrial Marketing Management, 86,
pp.40-51.
Ioanas, E., 2020. Social media and its impact on consumers behavior. Jurnal Analisa
Kesehatan, 1(1), pp.1-1.
Ioanas, E., 2020. Social media and its impact on consumers behavior. Jurnal Analisa
Kesehatan, 1(1), pp.1-1.
Jain, N.K., Kothari, T. and Kumar, V., 2016. Location choice research: Proposing new
agenda. Management International Review, 56(3), pp.303-324.
Jin, H., Miao, Y. and Park, S.T., 2018. A Case Study of Marks and Spencer lost China. Journal
of Industrial Convergence, 16(2). pp.15-23.
35

Kalu, F., 2019. The Impact Of Social Media Influencer Marketing On Purchase Intention From
An Irish Male Millennial’s Perception: A Case Study Of Irish Fashion
Industry (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin, National College of Ireland).
Kanakaratne, M.D.S., Bray, J. and Robson, J., 2020. The influence of national culture and
industry structure on grocery retail customer loyalty. Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services, 54. p.102013.
Kunz and et. al., 2017. Customer engagement in a big data world. Journal of Services Marketing.
McClure, C. and Seock, Y.K., 2020. The role of involvement: Investigating the effect of brand's
social media pages on consumer purchase intention. Journal of retailing and consumer
services, 53, p.101975.
Nash, J., 2018. Exploring how social media platforms influence fashion consumer decisions in
the UK retail sector. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International
Journal.
Nash, J., 2018. Exploring how social media platforms influence fashion consumer decisions in
the UK retail sector. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International
Journal.
Rinjit, K., 2020. Research methodology.
Rocamora, A., 2017. Mediatization and digital media in the field of fashion. Fashion
Theory, 21(5), pp.505-522.
Rong and et. al., 2020. The mechanisms and treatments for sarcopenia: could exosomes be a
perspective research strategy in the future?. Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and
muscle, 11(2), pp.348-365.
Salem, S.F. and Salem, S.O., 2021. Effects of social media marketing and selected marketing
constructs on stages of brand loyalty. Global Business Review, 22(3), pp.650-673.
Salite and et. al., 2016. Sustainability from the transdisciplinary perspective: An action research
strategy for continuing education program development. Journal of Teacher Education
for Sustainability, 18(2), p.135.
Scuotto and et. al., 2017. The performance implications of leveraging internal innovation through
social media networks: An empirical verification of the smart fashion
industry. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 120, pp.184-194.
Stephen, A.T., 2016. The role of digital and social media marketing in consumer
behavior. Current opinión in Psychology, 10, pp.17-21.
Voramontri, D. and Klieb, L., 2019. Impact of social media on consumer
behaviour. International Journal of Information and Decision Sciences, 11(3), pp.209-
233.
Wibowo and et. al., 2020. Customer behavior as an outcome of social media marketing: The role
of social media marketing activity and customer experience. Sustainability, 13(1),
p.189.
Wibowo, A. and et. al., 2020. Customer behavior as an outcome of social media marketing: The
role of social media marketing activity and customer experience. Sustainability, 13(1),
p.189.
Wulfmeyer and et. al., 2018. A new research approach for observing and characterizing land–
atmosphere feedback. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 99(8), pp.1639-
1667.
Zhou and et. al., 2018. A survey on network data collection. Journal of Network and Computer
Applications, 116, pp.9-23.
36

Žukauskas, P., Vveinhardt, J. and Andriukaitienė, R., 2018. Philosophy and paradigm of
scientific research. Management culture and corporate social responsibility, 121.
37

APPENDIX
Questionnaire
Q1) Do you use social media for purchasing products from the Marks & Spencer?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2) What is the major social media platforms used by UK fashion industry for influencing
customer’s preferences towards the brand?
a) Instagram
b) Facebook
c) Twitter
d) YouTube
Q3) Do you think Instagram is a main social media platform that have attracted you towards
M&S?
a) Yes
b) No
Q4) How social media platforms have influenced on buying preferences of consumers towards
the M&S?
a) Positive
b) Negative
c) Neutral
Q5) How does social media platform help you to change your perspective regarding certain
products of Marks & Spencer?
a) By seeing posts of company regarding products
b) By looking at blogs of influencers
c) By continuously checking reviews and feedback
38

d) By easily expressing own requirements and preferences to the brand
e) By getting detailed information about the products as well as brand
Q6) Do you think Marks & Spencer should include more number of social media influencers
because you can connect more with them regarding fashion products?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Prefer not to say
Q7 What is the main benefit that Marks & Spencer have gained with your positive responses
towards the brand?
a) Greater customer base
b) Positive reviews
c) Higher sales
d) More traffic on websites
e) Brand awareness
f) Spreading more positive words about the product
Q8) Do you think when brands like Marks & Spencer uses social media then it helps you to
choose best product out of given different alternatives?
a) Yes
b) No
c) May be
Q9) What is the main challenge that can be faced by you if company does not use social media
channels consistently for promoting its products?
a) Lack of updated information about the products
b) Not able to compare different brands
c) Increased time and cost
39

d) Lack of recognising real-time trends
Q10) As one of the customers of Marks & Spencer, what do you want to see more from the
brand on its different social media channels?
a) Blogs
b) Live updates
c) Videos of the products and outlets
d) Live videos of brand ambassadors with products
e) Posts and pictures of the products
40