Social Media Marketing Effectiveness

This assignment delves into the effectiveness of social media marketing compared to traditional approaches. It requires an analysis of various aspects, including advantages and disadvantages of each method, popular social networking sites, user statistics, and influential marketing strategies. Students are encouraged to research case studies and current trends to support their findings.

Running head: SOCIAL MEDIA AND BUSINESS
The effect of social media on business
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

SOCIAL MEDIA AND BUSINESS
Abstract
Social media has become an integral part of everyone’s life. It is used as a weapon by the
leading business organizations to reach their target market. The scenario of the social and
organizational structure has been transformed due to the emergence of the new media. It has
offered a wide opportunity to business organizations to introduce their brand names to the
rest of the world. It is often evident that many people are nowadays spending most of their
leisure time on internet and social networking sites, which provide a wider scope to business
organizations to promote their brand names. This paper focuses on the effect of social media
on business. It aims to point out the benefits and effects of social media on large, small and
medium businesses. A qualitative research method was used with different techniques of data
collection, such as case study and document analysis. The study results indicated that social
media has broken geographical, cultural and social barriers, as well as defining various
benefits that it provides to business from management to marketing, also expanding
businesses. The research suggests that the use of the social media has become mandatory for
all the organizations in the market so that they can maintain their sustainability in the market.
The companies are using social media as a platform for promoting their products and it has
high power of penetration. Moreover, the cost of the promotion in the online media is less
than the traditional media so all the companies in the market are making use of social media
to create a two-way communication channel. This will help in understanding the need and
wants of the consumers and thus the companies in the market can prepare for the upcoming
trends.
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Acknowledgements
First of all, I thank Allah for enriching me with knowledge, wellbeing and tolerance to finish
this work. Secondary, I would like to acknowledge my family for all their financial and
emotional support throughout my academic life in the UK. I expressly extend this gratitude to
my Dad and my Mom always believing that I could be successful, as it motivated me to
accomplish my objectives.
My brothers and Fiancé were as well concerned with my wellbeing and supported me in
every way possible; also my Saudi friends.
My greatest appreciation to my supervisor; he played a great role in this achievement due to
his constant guidance and motivation in such a professional way that I can confidently say
that it would be impossible to finish this piece of work without his presence.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents.......................................................................................................................4
Chapter 1: Introduction..............................................................................................................8
1.0 Introduction......................................................................................................................8
1.2 Research Aims and Objectives.........................................................................................8
1.3 Research Rational.............................................................................................................9
1.4 Structure of the dissertation...........................................................................................10
Chapter 2: Literature Review...................................................................................................11
2.0 The Purpose of the Literature Review...........................................................................11
2.1 Social Media...................................................................................................................11
2.2 Social networking sites’ review; their scope and current users in small, medium and
large organizations...............................................................................................................12
2.3 Growth of Social Media.................................................................................................14
2.4 The Role of Social Media Marketing.............................................................................16
2.4.1 Increased Brand Recognition..................................................................................17
2.4.2 Improved Brand Loyalty.........................................................................................18
2.4.3 More Opportunities to Convert...............................................................................18
2.4.4 Higher Conversion Rates........................................................................................18
2.4.5 Higher Brand Authority..........................................................................................19
2.4.6 Increased Inbound Traffic.......................................................................................19
2.4.7 Decreased Marketing Costs.....................................................................................19
2.4.8 Richer Customer Experience...................................................................................20
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2.5 Traditional Business and Social Media Business...........................................................20
2.6 Summary........................................................................................................................22
Chapter 3: Methodology..........................................................................................................24
3.0 Introduction....................................................................................................................24
3.1 Research Method............................................................................................................24
3.2 Qualitative Research......................................................................................................25
3.3 Research Approaches.....................................................................................................26
1. Case Studies Analysis:...........................................................................................26
2. Document Analysis................................................................................................27
3.4 Data Collection...............................................................................................................29
3.5 Social media Reviews....................................................................................................30
3.6 Sampling........................................................................................................................31
3.7 Data Analysis.................................................................................................................31
3.7 Summary........................................................................................................................33
Chapter 4: Findings..................................................................................................................35
4.0 Document Analysis:.......................................................................................................35
4.2 Case Study Analysis:......................................................................................................41
4.3 Summary........................................................................................................................45
Chapter 5: Discussion..............................................................................................................46
5.1 Limitation and future research.......................................................................................46
5.2 Critical analysis..............................................................................................................47
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5.3 Implications for the organizations..................................................................................48
5.3 Future implications.........................................................................................................48
Chapter 6: Conclusion..............................................................................................................50
6.0 Conclusion......................................................................................................................50
6.1 Recommendations..........................................................................................................53
7.0 Self-assessment..................................................................................................................55
References................................................................................................................................56
Appendices...............................................................................................................................64
List of Abbreviation
SM- Social Media
SN- Social Network
IRCs- Internet Relay Chats
SNS- Social Network Sites
TA- Thematic Analysis
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List of tables
Title Page. No
Table 1: Benefits of SNS for business 11
Table 2:: The Main Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative and
Quantitative research
20
Table 3: Data Collection 24
Table 4:Social media Remarks 25
Table 5:Thematic analysis 28
Table 6: Examples of Neti 37
List of figures
Title Page. No
Figure 1:Dates of Major Social Network Sites (SNSs) 13
Figure 2:Major Differences between traditional and social media business 17
Figure 3:Coca Cola Facebook Page 35
Figure 4:Rapitron Facebook page 36
Figure 5:Rapitron’s web site 36
Figure 6:Dunkin’ Donuts Twitter page 37
List of Appendices
Title Page. No
Appendix 1: Most Popular Social Networking Sites in 2017 49
Appendix 2: Facebook Users worldwide 49
Appendix 3:Advantages of Social media Over Traditional Media 50
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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Introduction
In the early 2000, one of the major changes and growths in people was the major shift
in the way they connected with the internet. The rise of social media and other social
networking sites helped people to communicate better. More and more people started
engaging with these social media, which pushed them towards giving out their own point of
view, and helped them interact better and understand worldviews. Earlier, when the
newspaper was the only medium for views, there were only a few publishers and ‘journalists’
but now everyone can give their views and express themselves so that the whole world can
see. This whole change of communication came to be known as Web 2.0 business, which
created different kinds of social media sites and many other applications, including
bookmarks, Wikipedia, social curation, etc. Introducing Facebook, Twitter, etc. brought a
new wave in the society, which helped people interact with different people in different ways
and made people connected to this whole wide world.
1.2 Research Aims and Objectives
The research aim is to examine the effects of social media on business. Several
companies to advertise their products and services to expand the business both locally and
internationally have used social media.
The study objectives include:
 To explore and perceive how social media as a key marketing device advantages
businesses and make it outstanding for their customers
 To examine the change in the business with the utilization of social media
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 To examine the use of social media in corporate organizations with a specific end goal
to see how they advance their services and products
Research Questions
 Did social media assist organizations to improve sales these days, compared to
previously when there was no social media?
 How do social media expand business?
 What role does social media marketing play?
 How do social media affect business?
1.3 Research Rational
Social media to a large extent is increasing its horizon and it is a pillar for motivating
a large number of consumers, manufacturers, and marketers use it as a vital source of
important information and dissemination. The use of social media and the internet as a whole
has significantly transformed the consumer choice. In the past, marketers have worked on the
assumption that many consumers began with a big number of brands in mind and narrowed
their choices methodologically up to the point they decide on the product to buy. Consumer’s
relationships after purchase are then based on a brand that focused on the use of the product
and also the service itself. However, social media has developed over numerous times and
era. It has been characterized in different ways by different academics, researchers and
authors. Some have also argued that the evolution of social media stems from the early forms
of interpersonal communications through emails. Others accept that it evolved solely from
recent forms of social interactions on social media sites.
Moreover, various reviews (Erkan & Evans, 2016), (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2014)
have focused on the systems administration and socialization parts of social media, moreover
to their effect on shopper acquiring practices. Despite these different arguments, the extant
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academic literature on the effects of social media on businesses is a topic that is rather sparse.
However, not a lot of reviews have focused on the effect of social media on organizations. In
this way, this study looks into how the growths of social media, particularly social networks
have become a crucial form of communications with businesses, and also the emergence of
virtual communities. This study will focus on the impact and effect of social media on
business. Since, social media is a dynamic stage for the development of a business; hence,
this topic is very intriguing for directing further research.
1.4 Structure of the dissertation
This thesis is organized consecutively in several parts; the outline of these chapters is
highlighted below.
Introduction: This part gives a short introduction and highlights the aim and objectives of
the research, justifies the reason behind doing this study and also points out the examination
questions.
Literature Review: With a specific end goal to achieve, different authentic and reliable
resources are inspected in this chapter.
Methodology: This section gives a point by point data and research strategy that is utilized as
part of a request to extricate significant data. Moreover, it gives reasons for choosing the
specific methods.
Findings: Data findings that are recovered through the research strategy are examined and
translated with a specific end goal to accomplish important data to drive proper conclusions
for the research study.
Discussion: This section gives some limitations of the study which may provide fruitful
avenues for future research.
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Conclusion: This area incorporates the main results of the research in a recapitulated format.
Besides, some valuable suggestions are additionally proposed.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.0 The Purpose of the Literature Review
The literature review provides an understanding of the initial views of the scholars,
educators, researchers, and others about the topic of interest; in this case, the effect of social
media on businesses. Based on the proposal, the interest will be on highlighting the
information about the social networking sites and their use in small, medium and large
businesses. The growth of social media will also be an area of interest, as well as the role that
social media marketing plays
2.1 Social Media
Social media can be parsed into the two words, which comprise it. The first one is
‘media’ and refers to the communication of thoughts or data through publications/channels.
The second one is ‘social’; it suggests the connection of people inside a gathering or group.
Both together, social media refers to a publication platform which is created by the
interpersonal interaction of people through the particular medium or tool (Neti, 2011).
Moreover, Evans et al., (2012) defines social media as ‘a planning of uses on the Web
that allows individuals to communicate, interface, and exchange data’. These applications
give an approach to teach each other on items and are administered through electronic means.
They likewise empower customers to discover new things, advance thoughts, push a political
motivation, and apply outside impact on associations, organizations, and governments. Social
media is separated into a few sub-components such as social networking sites and social
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media sites (Melanie, 2013). The concentration in this study will be on the social networking
sites.
2.2 Social networking sites’ review; their scope and current users in small, medium and
large organizations
In recent years, the use of social networking sites has taken another direction as it has
increased tremendously. Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn have rapidly proved
their potential to small and medium organizations. The social networking sites have provided
an extensive connectivity between the organizations and their associates, thus creating a great
impact on the business reputation. The usefulness of social media has been outlined as the
only marketing tool that has replaced the traditional marketing approaches and tools (Safko,
2012). The author also emphasizes the benefits that social media offers the small and medium
organizations such as the reduction in costs and IT skills in undertaking the organization’s
operations to reach the target market.
Social networking sites have broken the geographical and hierarchical communication
barriers by providing an extensive platform for sharing, learning and exchanging information,
which has enabled the business to develop a community of common interest. A social
network site, as depicted by Scaife, is described as a virtual collection of persons within a
given platform who have user profiles that can be shared with others. However, the inclusion
of web-based services that provide the required connection for the sharing of the resources
has been emphasized (Scaife, 2014). On the other hand, Ellison, (2007) provide another
version of describing social networking sites but conclude by outlining the attributes of
having a connection that is used by an eligible individual within the system to the
community. At this point, the social networking sites are typically referring to social media.
There are many social networking sites across the globe– more than 100 – though out
of these only fifteen social media sites are commonly embraced (eBizMBA, 2017), including
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Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Myspace, Skype, and WhatsApp (see appendix 1).
Facebook has just hit 2 billion users in this month of July 2017, which allows people across
the world to share. Facebook has given businesses a link to communicate with their
customers and, best of all, it has provided guides for marketing their products and creating
the best customer experience, which improves the reputation of the company (see appendix
2).
Twitter is another micro-blogging service that has almost 1.2 billion users as at 2015.
The Twitter platform does allow its users to write and read messages of up to 140 characters
in length. These messages are referred to as tweets. The platform has been embraced by
small, medium and large organizations by the fact that it has replaced the complaints and
compliments boxes. The platform does not provide a friendly line of sharing videos and
images like Facebook. According to Curran, O’Hara & O’Brien, (2011) the Twitter social site
is great to the point that it enables businesses to communicate and connect with their clients
in real time. The scenario of the broadcasting business gives the best understanding, as radio
stations and television station presenters share tweets with their viewers and listeners, making
the shows live and interesting (Fischer & Reuber, 2011).
LinkedIn is a well-known network platform that is specifically described as being for
professionals. This platform has enabled its members to connect and share with companies
and professionals. Businesses have learned of potential skilled personnel via the LinkedIn
platform, which guarantees the business success as it links to the potential service providers.
A user sets a public profile with professional and academic achievements listed alongside
skills. A company can easily detect the personnel they require based on their public profiles.
At the same time, a company owner may like a profile that provides their background details
and the professionally related information they are interested in, according to their line of
operations (Elad, 2016).
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Google+ and Hangouts have gone to another level in connecting individuals across
the globe. Google+, which was created in 2011, has an estimate of more than 70 million
users. The best feature of this social media platform is that it provides a training course for
companies and businesses to create a page from which sensitive interactions are prompted
between legitimate associates of the business. In support of that, the Google Company
embraced Google+ by introducing Hangouts, which has been fully integrated with Gmail
accounts, allowing users to share resources and brainstorm any concept and ideas as
projected. There are many social media sites, but these are just a few that have been
embraced by various small, medium and large businesses (Amerland, 2014).
Table1: Benefits of SNS for business
The table below shows Benefits of SNS’s for business; thus, these benefits differ from one
SNS to another
SNS
Benefits
Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Google+
Low cost market strategy * * * *
Improve your ranking in search * *
Reach different demographics and ages * * * *
Receive customer feedback * *
Free advertising * * * *
Find job candidates who can make a significant
contribution to the business *
2.3 Growth of Social Media
The human concern about interaction and communication over long distances began
centuries ago. In the past, humans relied on being social animals for communication as they
always sought to strengthen their relationships. However, face-to-face interactions were
hindered, and thus humans had to seek a creative solution to the issue. In 1792, the invention
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of the telegraph enabled the sharing of messages, which were delivered over long distances
much faster than before. The limitation was that the messages were a little short; however, it
marked a revolutionary manner of conveying information and news (Hendricks, 2013)
In 1890 and 1891, the discoveries of telephone and radio were observed respectively,
and these technologies are still in use now. However, they have become more sophisticated
than their predecessors have. These telephone lines and radio signals enabled people to share
details; for instance, the sending of greetings via radio programs was a famous mode of
interaction. In the 20th century, after the creation of the first supercomputer in the 1940,
scientists began to develop networks of computers, which saw the birth of the internet, such
as CompuServe in the 1960. By 1970, networking technology had improved, and Usenet
enabled users to share information via virtual newsletters (Riese, 2016).
In the 1980, social media became more sophisticated due to the commonality of
computers, and this saw the use of internet relay chats (IRCs), until in 1997 when a social
media site was developed called Six Degrees. The site prompted users to upload a profile and
make many friends who were users as well. Blogging came into existence in 1999, which
created the social media sensation. This invention of blogging resulted in the explosion of
sites like MySpace and LinkedIn, which gained prominence early in the 2000. The social
sites, Flickr and Photo Bucket, brought attention to image- and video-sharing, which later
saw the creation of YouTube in 2005.
At this point, social media had taken its own pace.In 2006, Facebook and Twitter
were available across the globe, and they have remained the most popular social networks.
These sites so far left some niches and the likes of Tumblr, Spotify, Foursquare and Pinterest
have penetrated to fill certain social networking niches (Hendricks, 2013). Therefore, social
media is growing greatly by providing a better interactive platform, proving that the world
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appears flat, by making it like a small village that can be navigated within the shortest time
possible in a day (see figure1).
Figure 1: Dates of Major Social Network Sites (SNSs)
Source: (Boyd & Ellison, 2007)
2.4 The Role of Social Media Marketing
Social media plays a critical role in present considered digital world as far as business
marketing is concerned. The use of appropriate social media tools and a better understanding
of how to achieve the desired results by business people give social media marketing a huge
potential to increase sales. However, some people consider social media as being a passing
marketing interest due to its rapid emergence, and hence unprofitable, statistics show that
most business owners acknowledge the positive influence this quick-growing online
marketing platform has brought to their businesses (De Vries, Gensler & Leeflang, 2012).
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According to Hopke and Hestres (2017), 92% of advertisers agreed that social media
marketing was important for their businesses in 2014, with 80% pointing out how their
efforts increased traffic to their websites. Social Media Examiner clarifies that currently, 97%
of marketers are participating in social media marketing, but 85% of participants are not that
sure of what social media tools best suit their businesses to the extent of achieving even better
results. Statistics from the two sites show how the world has accepted the new marketing
platform. Social media marketing keeps on growing almost every day. There are therefore
various reasons that make this new marketing platform more popular among entrepreneurs.
They include but are not limited to increased brand recognition, improved brand loyalty,
more opportunities to convert, higher conversion rates, higher brand authority, increased
inbound traffic, decreased marketing costs, better search engine rankings, richer customer
experience, and improved customer insights.
2.4.1 Increased Brand Recognition
Social media networks are regarded as the new channels for business brand voices
and content. Apart from making businesses more easily accessible for new customers, social
media marketing makes businesses more familiar and recognizable for legitimate customers.
For instance, uploading videos or photos of a particular business brand on the Facebook page,
a Facebook user could come across the company’s product for the first time and hence be
interested and go for it. Constant viewing of the company’s product brand on various online
sites can make a customer have a detailed look at the product, hence become convinced to do
business with the company (Neti, 2011). Therefore, the more marketers constantly upload
their company’s brand videos and photos online, the more their products are viewed by both
new and existing customers, hence bringing out increased recognition of the brand among the
target group.
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2.4.2 Improved Brand Loyalty
According to Convince & Convert publication, a study found out that 53% of US
companies who are keen on brand development on social media gain more loyalty to their
brands. The report published by the Texas Tech University shows that brands engaging on
social media channels tend to have higher loyalty from their customers (Vries, Leeflang, &
Gensler, 2012).
2.4.3 More Opportunities to Convert
Every business post a marketer makes on social media site brings about an
opportunity for customers to convert. The blog posts, images, videos or comments a marketer
shares are a real chance for customers to react. This action could lead to the customer visiting
sites, hence leading to conversion from positive responses. It should be noted that the more
posts and image or video uploads made on the social media platform, the more people get to
view them, hence the more conversion.
2.4.4 Higher Conversion Rates
There are different ways in which social media marketing brings about higher
conversion rates. The humanization element is the most significant way in which the
marketer’s posts get higher conversion rates. On social media marketing, brands are more
humanized by interacting in social media channels. A higher number of social media
followers helps in improving trust and credibility in the company’s brand. This symbolizes a
social proof. Therefore, by building a marketer’s audience in social media, the conversion
rates on such marketers’ existing traffic gets improved. This popularizes the brand among the
audience, hence is a score for the company.
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2.4.5 Higher Brand Authority
The use of social media marketing creates a higher brand authority, whereby the
company’s representatives get to interact regularly. This shows new customers how the
company is responsible to its customers. The moment the old users post positive experiences
with the company on social media, new audience individuals will be eager to follow the
company’s link for more detailed updates, hence the more valuable and authoritative a brand
becomes (Vries, Leeflang, & Gensler, 2012).
2.4.6 Increased Inbound Traffic
Social media marketing has provided an advertising platform that is not confined to
any geographical region. The channels have done away with the limitations that were brought
about by the inaccessibility of some other parts of the world due to poor infrastructure. Good
use of relevant social media marketing tools will lead to greater website traffic on the
marketers’ account. The traffic comprises customers from different continents of the world,
hence boosting the company’s product worldwide. Every social media profile a marketer
adds creates another channel that links back to the marketer’s site and all the contents
syndicated on those profiles brings about another opportunity for the new visitors (Faria &
Elliot, 2012). Therefore, the more quality contents a marketer syndicates on social media, the
more inbound traffic is generated, and hence more leads leading to more conversions.
2.4.7 Decreased Marketing Costs
Use of social media marketing is not as expensive as other marketing campaign types.
This is because signing up for accounts on social media marketing tools such as Facebook
and Twitter is free. The cost of paying search engine machines is not as much as the cost
involved in printing out billboards and paying the local authority to post such billboards.
Social media marketing is cheap and covers a very big target population within a short
period, unlike outdoor advertisements and personal selling (Evans, 2012).
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2.4.8 Richer Customer Experience
Direct communication between the marketer and the customer strengthens their
relationships. Social media marketing plays a role in ensuring instant clarifications and
assistance from the marketer. For instance, if a customer discovers an abnormality in a certain
product, the information will be posted on the official marketers’ site, hence the issue will be
addressed instantly and publicly. In such a case, the marketer will be able to apologize to the
public. Hence customers will feel valued and appreciated (Evans, 2012). Similarly, the
marketer will use the social media online platform to thank all those customers who post
compliments about their brands. The richer the customer experience a business enjoys, the
more customers such businesses get, hence their rapid growth.
2.5 Traditional Business and Social Media Business
There is a conflict between many analysts about the efficiency of traditional media
and social media. According to Turhan, (2013) traditional media plays major role in
introducing any business organization among their potential consumers. On the other hand,
Chaffey, (2016), claims that the arrival of new media and social media has changed the
structure of the business. As opined by (Barnas, 2013), social media covers a huge
geographic area, which is one of its major strengths. In recent times, almost everyone has
been able to avail themselves of social media and have their own social media account. Thus,
it helps business organizations to reach their target market via social networking sites. All the
leading business organizations are investing heavily in social media marketing. By using this
new tool of new media, business organizations can reach every corner of the world.
Traditional media is restricted in some sections of the society; for example, the educated class
of society mainly uses newspapers. At the same time, it is more time-consuming than social
media. One has to wait for the newspaper to publish or television news to telecast to access
any specific news. The arrival of social media has made it easy for the news lovers to get any
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new news or happening. Social media has provided another opportunity to business
organizations to convey their message in an entertaining way with sound and pictures, and
that has grabbed the attention of large numbers of the audience (Ashley and Tuten, 2015).
Schmaltz, in his blog, “From traditional business to social business” outlines what it
means when a business demands a social media strategy (Schmaltz, 2011). The article gives
an overall description of how the traditional business is aimed at producing and getting the
products to market without taking care of who buys it, and who will buy the next product that
is in the production phase. Indeed, in traditional business, the view of the social web is a
miracle since there is a mindset of doing a given activity. It does not mean that marketing no
longer exists with traditional business; other approaches are considered.
Traditional businesses will distance themselves from their customers, as they believe
in remaining in the ivory towers where their businesses are believed to stay. Businesses have
considered the introduction of call centers as an option to shield themselves from customer
complaints. It can be noted that the traditional business does embrace the use of print and
digital channels very much to do their marketing and that marks the end of their transition.
Tubbs, (2014), emphasizes the social business is all about interaction. The business is ever
convincing and attracting customers, since it knows it is after their money, and it will remain
committed to giving an advanced customer experience. Whenever negative feedback is
uploaded, the social business will acknowledge and address the matter transparently and
honestly; this has been the great thing about the social business. The marketing of new
products is enduring since they no longer believe in their business ivory tower (Culnan,
McHugh, & Zubillaga, 2010). The social business will ever embrace the likes of Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn and all corresponding social media tools.
Figure 2: Major Differences between traditional and social media business
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Source: ( Burrow & Fowler, 2015)
According to Burrow & Fowler, (2015), there are major differences between
traditional and social media businesses. On the one hand, social media allows the audience to
provide feedback to the company. Furthermore, it allows the audience to share the
information with other consumers; however, traditional media does allow companies to talk
to an audience, but it usually does not allow the audience to respond or offer any direct
feedback (see appendix 3).
2.6 Summary
Social media has an effect on businesses, and the researcher has deliberately chosen
the positive related attributes of social media to the businesses. The literature review has
outlined the possible understanding of what lies behind social media in the success of and
growth of small, medium and large organizations. The possible understanding of the social
media development has been defined with the aim of understanding how the world has
improved as far as communication is concerned. The review has extended towards giving
details about the role that the social media do play in business marketing. It is enticing that
the mentioned aspects show why the business should extend their efforts of embracing social
media.
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Furthermore, it can be deduced that social media trends depend on the technology
advancement and the research that developers undertake to refill the niches. The key
interesting aspect of the review is how the business is investing in various approaches so as to
reach their target audience, regardless of the geographical, cultural or social barriers. The
social media has broken these barriers, as depicted from the discussion by the various
benefits that social media provides to business from management to marketing and other
related sections. Social media will remain no matter what, and businesses will ever seek to
obtain the best from it in regard to meaningful marketing.
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Chapter 3: Methodology
3.0 Introduction
In order to gain a great understanding of the effects of social media on business,
different techniques were used in data collection. This chapter discusses the research
approaches, sampling,and data collection techniques that were employed.
3.1 Research Method
In order to validate the research, it is important for the author to choose a type of
research, which is known as research methodology (Kothari, 2004). Qualitative research and
quantitative research are the two famous methods that approach data generation (Tashakkori
& Teddlie, 2003). Both these research approaches are broadly used in most research, such as
scientific research, agricultural research, management, human resources subjects and other
areas. It is most important for any researcher to select a suitable method which can provide
the purpose; however, there are many positives and negatives associated with each research
method (see Table 2). Therefore, it is very important to choose a proper approach, which can
improve the present research, and give a new methodology which will not only improve the
current research study but will also provide new credible findings which can lead to a
consistent result with a positive outcome. Thus, a qualitative research approach will be used.
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Table 2:The Main Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative and Quantitative research
3.2 Qualitative Research
A qualitative research method was taken to serve the purpose of the study. In order to
excavate more into the problem, a qualitative approach is selected so that the researcher could
gather the data. To get a widespread understanding of a research problem, qualitative
research demands a process of investigation. The researcher builds a total and complicated
picture, which has been shaped using the most important sources. While organizing
qualitative research, the researcher usually answers all the questions logically by using
defined measures. Mainly this procedure includes how the questions of the research are to be
answered, data collection and the result of the production. The principal reason for this
approach was to produce results that are significant beyond the closed borders of the study
(Patton, 2001).
Qualitative research is measured to be investigative in character and is helpful when the
researcher lacks the knowledge of the essential variables to examine. This has never been
approached by using a group of people, as the subject is new. There are different types of
questions, which require different research methods (Tongco, 2007). This means that a
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qualitative research method was more suitable for this study because the researcher intended
to understand the concept. Not all studies involve components that can be measured using
numerals and analyzed through statistical processes. As in this case study, some research
problems can be easily evaluated by using subject measures. Moreover, the major concern of
the researcher is the elements of how, why and what. This subjective research is the major
aim of the qualitative research design.
3.3 Research Approaches
The qualitative research approach is widely used, as discussed previously, in order to find
valuable information for more discussion and analysis. In this section, the principal data
generation methods are picked
1. Case Studies Analysis:
A case study is one of qualitative research approaches, which gives information to
analysts to consider difficult situations within the subject (Yin, 2013). A case study comes in
handy when the exploration talks about the ‘how’ of the topic and emphasizes the relevant
study and the important part of it (Victor, 2014). This data generation method picked by
numerous researchers because they require understanding of the complex situation.
According to Guest, Namey, & Mitchell (2012), a case study as a data generation method
helps the researcher to comprehend the issue and after that give an answer, this is one of the it
main advantages. Thus, a case study is chosen and it will examine the interaction of different
businesses with their customers on Web 2.0 platforms and evaluate their effectiveness.
A case study relies on several sources of evidence and various data collection techniques.
According to Yin (1994), there are six major resources of evidence: documents, interviews,
physical artifacts, document, observation and archival records. In this research, the
observation of businesses through social media sites is selected.
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Observation: In order to observe how different businesses utilize web-based social
networking sites and advertise on them, the researcher opened up various social media
accounts such as Facebook and Twitter.
Observation literally requires focusing on different strategies used by businesses.
According to Smith, Thorpe, & Jackso (2015), observation helps in raising the exploration’s
capacity to get a handle on concerns, interests, traditions, practices and convictions of the
phenomena. Moreover, observations help a researcher in building an implicit learning based
on two perspectives: his own perspective and the perspective of the phenomena. The
researcher utilized distinctive social media accounts to watch how various businesses used
the platforms; most of the data collection and analysis used in the study was aimed at
answering the question in the study, namely how businesses interact with their customers on
social media sites.
Before going on board with the systematic review it is important to understand the meaning
of document analysis and the context of the whole thing.
2. Document Analysis
A document analysis is another form of qualitative research, which gives a form and
meaning to the topic of the written material and gives an overall view (Given, 2008).
According to Patton (2015), a document analysis is a form of background research, which
reviews the documents in order to help understand the previous researches, to improve or
increase the current knowledge. Journals, books, internet sources, articles and many more are
the principal sources of document analyses. The principal motivation behind this exploration
is to comprehend the effect of social media on business. Along these lines this information
era technique is chosen for this exploration, with the author conducting a detailed document
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analysis in the literature review section for increasing the present understanding in a
conclusive way.
Using document analysis for data generation has several advantages and disadvantages.
According to Patton (2015), document analysis gives appropriate reports that can enhance the
current learning, while the main disadvantage is the massive amount of information available,
which is difficult to process, in order to understand which data is useful for the examination
procedure and where more abilities are required.
The document analysis is conducted through a systematic review. A systematic literature
review was selected as the appropriate research approach. A systematic research review is a
summary of the literature. The individual conducting a systematic research review uses a
precise and reproducible approach to systematically explore, critically evaluate, and
synthesize on a particular issue. The researcher is interested in the mixture of the results of
related multiple primary studies. A systematic literature review is appropriate for obtaining
the concurrent view of different researchers who have conducted studies in the same topic.
The approach provided a reliable point of view by reviewing the evidence through
systematically identifying, selecting and critically appraising relevant primary research.
Relevant data was extracted and analyzed to arrive at a conclusion. The systematic literature
review was conducted on existing literature ( Bernard & Bernard, 2012).
The approach of the research relied upon the use of a clear and rigorous process with the
aim of reducing bias. The approach involved various steps. The first step is to break down the
research questions to form the base of search strings used in the literature search. Then a
practice is produced to describe definitions, search strategy, approach to combination and
addition and omission of criteria. A methodical search is then conducted in order to retrieve
studies from websites and educational databases. At the primary stage, all studies which are
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relevant to the research are included (Mackenzie & Knipe, 2006). The next step involved
screening of all the studies for relevance by using predefined addition and omission
principles. The program was carried out in detail to make sure of balance while comparing
the results of the studies. A number of sources were included in the final analysis after the
completing of the screening process. The methodological principles were applied delicately
to guarantee that the quality data arrives at the research findings. The quality of the reviews
was improved by the inclusion of greater width, transparency and objectivity of studies.
3.4 Data Collection
The research-collected data was sufficient to answer the research questions presented
in chapter one of this dissertation. Two techniques were employed in combination with
multiple sources of evidence regarding the subject at hand.
Table 3: Data Collection
Case study analysis: Data collection was carried out by selecting two platforms (Facebook and
Twitter) for three different companies in different countries, and observing and evaluating the
study
Document analysis: Data collection was carried out by reviewing and summarizing each source by
multiple reviewers. Tables were used to show summaries of the body of evidence collected from
different sources. The tables were used to capture descriptive data that was used to develop
summaries. The quality of the studies was then assessed to enable the identification and
documentation of the threat to validity. The information was useful in determining the criteria for
inclusion of the sources for research purposes. A structured format was followed in reporting the
study results (Goodwin & Goodwin, 1996).
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3.5 Social media Reviews
The table below shows the previous most recent research that has done in the social media
with findings that have been used.
Table 4: Social media Remarks
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3.6 Sampling
This study consists of secondary analysis of various journals and papers form other
authors. The analysis method used in the findings is the thematic analysis, so there will no
sampling. Sampling is a method, which is used, in the primary analysis of the data so in this
scenario sampling will not be used.
3.7 Data Analysis
The qualitative method of data analysis was utilized. Specifically, the researcher used
the thematic content analysis technique (TA). Data analysis was as descriptive presentation of
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qualitative data. The literature was reviewed and distilled to form a list of common themes to
give expression to the unity across the literature. The researcher used a table to summarize
information. The importance of developing the tables was to show summaries of the body of
evidence collected from different literature. The tables captured descriptive data that was
used to develop themes, with only peer-reviewed materials used in deriving findings (see
table 5). The secondary data from various journals and reports have been amalgamated to
validate the existing theories in the field of research. The research is using the deductive
approach which will validate the existing theories in the project.
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Table 5: Thematic analysis
3.7 Summary
The study uses the qualitative research method, which is also known as interpretive
research. This method relies on verbal descriptions of a specific social context. Qualitative
research means non-numeric, and it involves the use of qualitative data, data on participants’.
In the case of this study, it is all about establishing the impact of social media on business.
This qualitative approach is studied because it aims to establish knowledge through studying
human behavior relating to social media use in impacting business aspects. Since this is about
aiming to understand the effects of social media on business, it takes a phenomenological
approach in using observations, document analysis and case study analysis as techniques of
data collection. Thus, these approaches under qualitative research were most suitable for this
study, for they enabled the researcher to have a good understanding of the social concept.
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The case study is a method that enabled the researcher to collect data from a different
situation similar to the studied phenomenon. The case study is effective for this research for it
helps to examine the interaction of various businesses with their customers who use the social
media platforms. The case study is effective since it provides resources of evidence and
different techniques for data collection; observation method is one of them. The researcher
observes the behavior of social media users and their impact on businesses. The observation
was all about examining how businesses make use of social networking sites and also
advertise on them. These social networking sites include Twitter and Facebook. Through
observations, the researcher managed to learn how the perspectives of the phenomena applied
on how businesses use the platform.
Document analysis a form of background research, was also used as the researcher
reviewed documents to help understand the work of previous researchers and improve or
increase the current knowledge the data collection was accomplished by reviewing and
summarizing the sources, which were done by multiple viewers. Finally, the thematic content
analysis (TA) was utilized and that helped to capture the descriptive of the data from which
themes were developed
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Chapter 4: Findings
In order to answer the research questions, two different types of approaches have been
used: case study and document analysis, as explained previously. Each approach uses
different questions.
4.0 Document Analysis:
4.0.1 How does social media expand the business?
Social media provides new growth opportunities for businesses. As a result, in the
marketplace, businesses are harnessing the power of social media to grow. Businesses using
multiple touch points of social media achieve different goals, including sales and profit
growth. Social media enhances the chances of repeat purchases, brand loyalty because it
provides feature-rich content, functionalities and a trusted, and secure open environment that
promotes customer engagement. The platforms allow for a broad selection, discovery,
availability, and convenience. As a result, social media allows businesses to penetrate the
market (Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy, & Silvestre, 2011).
Social media platforms also act as an easy way to reach a target and engage an
audience. Businesses can use social media pages to explain how products and services can
solve customer problems. A company without social media engagements makes it difficult to
reach its target audience. Secondly, social media has allowed businesses to escape the risk
and expenditure of owning physical business premises. Physical stores are geographically
restricted and reaching customers through social media allows businesses to reach and sell to
people dispersed in different locations all over the world. Additionally, social media allows
businesses to operate 24/7 (Vries, Leeflang, & Gensler, 2012). Also, social media sites are
cheaper to operate and allow businesses to reach a wide range of people compared to
conventional media.
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Social media platforms used by different Businesses including Facebook, Twitter, and
YouTube. In order to grow the business, content must target consumers. This can be done by
launching ads that target people living in different countries, states or cities. The aim is to sell
goods and products by choosing the target audience who are willing to buy products and then
determine their interest. The content must be interesting to all audiences who relate to it. This
significantly increases a company’s brand awareness. Social media activities have a
considerable impact on purchase intentions and create value through activities. As a result,
the business expands.
4.0.2 Does social media assist organizations to improve sales these days compared to
previously when there was no social media?
Social media has assisted many organizations to improve sales. Social media is far-
reaching and presents a type of convenience to consumers. Consumers use social media to
search for product information, purchase, evaluate and use goods and services more
effectively and efficiently compared to traditional channels. Businesses use the various tools
and trends of social media sites to their benefit. For instance, businesses utilize applicable
hash tags on sites. Utilizing the right tags makes a brand more noticeable to a much larger
audience. Sites like Facebook likewise ensure that businesses take advantage of their
targeting options (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). At the point when the business focuses on the
correct audience, its gets more hits. While it is clear that not every visitor is a customer,
building a thorough base provides the business with more opportunities to sell (Malthouse,
Haenlein, Skiera, Wege, & Zhang, 2013).
Recognize available opportunities are one of the most common ways to expend
business sales with social media. This involves watching the market for shifts in patterns and
giving careful consideration to the specific target market. It is important that businesses
market straight to a viable, interested audience and do not simply place advertisements out,
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hoping they stick. Businesses can utilize elements such as conversations and graph search to
follow trends (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).
Customers tend to be honest on social media. By monitoring for mentions, the
business can learn what customers really say about the business. As the business gains more
insights into how people feel about its products and services, it can improve on various areas.
Thus, a business can increase its sales with social media by engaging the brand with social
media (Kim & Ko, 2012). The idea is to foster relationships, develop interest, and attract
more people into the business sales funnel. Businesses increase sales by creating a solid
brand image, building a fan following, and giving the niche a real reason to stick with the
brand (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).
4.0.3 What role does social media marketing play?
To remain competitive, businesses conduct their social media marketing activities
through social media. Most businesses have benefited from social media marketing by
developing a dedicated social media marketing strategy. The more utilization of social media
by companies, the greater the propensity for implementation of expansive and deeper scope
of business activities. This provides consumers with a wide selection of products to choose
from. The consumer can easily look for product information, duration, access location,
frequency of usage and experience (Neti, 2011).
Marketing likewise has impact on purchase intentions. Businesses generally direct
different marketing activities. With a specific end goal to win consumers, companies create
value through activities for example assemble purchasing and price incentives. These
activities affect consumer interest and eventually, their inalienable observation. How
consumers see a product, effects purchase intentions. Visual content, including photos or
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videos, are the best advertising systems at snatching regard to promote, connect, and acquire
new (Evans, 2012)
The effectiveness of social media in marketing is that it encourages conversations and
interaction as communication is two-way. Unlike conventional channels used by businesses,
social media supports two-way communication between the consumer and the business.
Consumers also enjoy rapid responses to questions and queries. This is the basis of marketing
as consumers are easily attracted by responsive businesses. On the other hand, businesses get
real-time data from marketing activities. Feedback from social media sites is often
immediate, compared to other conventionally used data sources. Businesses take advantage
of the real-time data provided by social media platforms to determine the success of services,
products, and launches. Its immediacy provides feedback into existing marketing activities
that help adapt and fine-tune current offerings (Fischer & Reuber, 2011).
A good understanding of what is in-demand and appropriate for the target audience is
a considerable advantage against competitors. Social media content must have the power to
attract and turn visitors into potential customers. A marketing strategy should give way to
multiplatform conversations on different social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook.
Social media marketing becomes successful when driven by consumers rather than the
business itself. On the other hand, poorly designed platforms or content-poor social media
sites make a lousy social media-marketing hub and may lose customers. Good social media
platforms have informative content that draws an audience in, whether in the form of videos,
testimonials, or social media links (Vries, Leeflang, & Gensler, 2012). Often, social media
marketing is mainly focused on raising awareness and maintaining brand image rather than
on driving people to the business. Businesses may engage with an audience on a more
personal level by using different languages, to engage bilingual consumers during marketing
efforts.
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4.0.4 How is business affected by social media?
Social media has significantly affected businesses. Businesses have needed to modify
their operational systems with a specific end goal to adjust the advent of social media. It
affects business of all sizes in diverse ways by forcing them to make their brands more
personal, talking with clients in new ways and market their products in an unexpected and
different way. Social media applications and websites permit users to make groups online to
share content, including personal messages, for example videos, ideas, information about
themselves and pictures.
The capabilities of social media provide businesses with new opportunities to realize
their marketing strategies. When social media started, businesses relied on word of mouth,
television commercials, and fliers sent through the mail. However, these marketing strategies
are still essential; organizations can now use social media to constantly update consumers
about new product arrivals, exclusive promotions and sales. People can connect with the
business on social media to stay ahead of new developments (Culnan, McHugh, & Zubillaga,
2010).
Additionally, social media influences how businesses communicate with their clients.
Today, numerous clients like to communicate with businesses using their online networking
profile. Customers may send private messages through online platforms. Customers give both
negative and positive feedback about customer service or products. On the off chance that a
customer posts some information on the web, it might influence the opinion of different
consumers who are on the business' online networking.
Social media has an effect on social rhythms, practices, and schedules in society, such
as eating hours, opening hours, working hours, and other standardized calendars. The
communication environment where consumers get information has an effect on their
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purchasing choice. Consumers’ social and physical environments have critical impact on their
purchase intentions and can have a tremendous effect in their motives and desire to purchase
a product. Consumer referrals play a central role on purchase decisions. Certainly, social
media carries and spreads word-of-mouth between different users, like no other channels
have been able to do until now. Experiential marketing also affects consumers' perceived
value. Marketing, therefore, influences purchase intentions (Malthouse, Haenlein, Skiera,
Wege, & Zhang, 2013).
Customers also use social media to obtain information about products and pricing.
The impact of social media on obtaining information is an important attribute that has an
impact on purchase decisions. Consumers use company social media platforms to purchase
goods. Online shopping saves consumers time. Normally, consumers would be required to
queue in shopping malls. In general, social media saves time and energy, simplifies the
shopping link and reduces the problems in the process of shopping. Consumers will also need
to compare information on many products while shopping.
Social media also affects the branding aspect of businesses by influencing how clients
see a business's brand. In the past, customers viewed businesses as impersonal entities.
Nevertheless, web based social networking opened up another level of communication.
Consumer engagement on a business’s social media platform influences how other potential
customers perceive its brand (Chaffey, 2016). A business that constantly engages with
customers in a particular age group is likely to be associated with customers in that age
group. Due to the capabilities offered by online networking, businesses are continually
finding better approaches to actualize marketing strategies. As a result, social media is a place
where businesses create genuine engagements with long-term customers. This ensures that
businesses utilize multiple social media platforms, including Twitter, Google+, Instagram,
Facebook, LinkedIn and others to test distinctive ads (Vries, Leeflang, & Gensler, 2012)
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4.2 Case Study Analysis:
Coca-Cola on Facebook: Coca-Cola is a multinational company that embraces an interesting
history. Its current growth since 1886 when it was formed impressive. It was formed by John
Pemberton as well as sold at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta; Coca-Cola has developed to turn
out to be a global trademark for a drink (Coca Cola, 2017). In the present day, Coca Cola has
more than 125 years of record; it is one of the most, recognized brand names for beverages
and soft munchies around world (Feloni, 2016). There are no Coca Cola stores so the
beverages are manufactured, processed and sold by partners. The organization’s principal
purpose appears to be managing the trademark.
The rise of Web 2.0 is an instance of how the peripheral setting changes and as a
result they are working to progress in the foods and beverage industry. The younger
generation are more active and spends more time on social media therefore, Coca-Coca is
doing their best to build its existence on social media in favor of promoting their brand
image. The organization has an impressive number of likes (100 million likes). They have
therefore been able to adapt to the changing market hence illustrating that an organization
should strategize on their social media platforms (see figure 3)
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Figure 3:Coca Cola Facebook Page
Coca-Cola succeeded with regards to keeping up its brand image with the younger
generation also effectively adjusted to the changes in the external environment. Thus, Coca-
Cola is a decent case of how organization’s business strategy is powerfully intertwined with
its social media strategy
Rapitron-Electronic on Facebook: Rapitron is one of the electronics companies in Algeria
which manufactures TVs, DVDs, LCDs and much more. It is a comparatively small and new
organization, having been built up in 2010 and as of now engaging around 80 staff. It has
achieved much as it supplies to 30 cities in Algeria and across borders as well (Rapitron
Electronics). However, their social media presence is wanting and that might be the reason
for their slower growth
The company’s Facebook page is followed by 2724 (see Figure 4). The last picture of
their products posted on Facebook was in March, showing their absence. However, the
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company’s presence should be improved in order to conduct some competition on Facebook
and other platforms
Figure 4:Rapitron Facebook page
The company does not sell directly to customers and does not have an online store,
but only a website and traditional stores. However, Rapitron’s strategy should be changed–
more awareness should be raised about the organization’s online store and its product
availability.
Figure 5:Rapitron’s web site
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Dunkin’ Donuts on Twitter:
Dunkin’ Donuts is an American worldwide donut organization and cafe situated in
Canton. It was founded in 1950 by William Rosenberg. The company serves over five million
guests a day in 33 countries. In September 2007, the company joined and started the use of
Twitter along with other applications on social media platforms. It can be claimed that the
company has achieved a greater level of success, as more than 57 thousand users are
followers of its account. Dunkin’ Donuts is a good model of how an organization’s business
strategy is powerfully intertwined with its social media strategy (Dunkin Donut).
Figure 6: Dunkin’ Donuts Twitter page
Other examples of companies that have become involved in social media were mentioned by
Neti (2011) in his article and shown in the table below.
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Table 6: Examples of Neti
4.3 Summary
The case study and document analysis as explained above were instrumental in the
analysis of the findings and answering the research questions. The results indicate that social
media marketing is more efficient that other traditional media that also play a similar role. It
has forced businesses to alter their business strategies, which in return improves their
performance in their respective markets. These data were supported by case studies
conducted for Coca-Cola’s use of Facebook Rapitron-Electronic and the use of the social
media, and Dunkin Donuts on Twitter. The analyses in addition to document reports enabled
the researcher to effectively answer the questions. Findings state that social media impacts
positively on businesses in the sectors of marketing, administration, customer service and
procurement as well. Social media is thus a useful platform that can help elevate a business to
another level of performance.
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Chapter 5: Discussion
5.1 Limitation and future research
According to Oates (2006), each examination has some limitations while conducting
exploration, and these limitations impact the examination results due to those parameters or
components not being included, which would result in better serving the purpose of the
examination.
In this research, data collection was carried out by reviewing and summarizing each
source by multiple reviewers, who give the study strength in obtaining data of high quality.
Due to the fact that the researcher employs purposive sampling, there is a high tendency to
researcher bias. This is because the purposive sample is created based on the researcher’s
judgment, not based on good defense when alleviating possible biases. For instance, the
researcher will easily become biased when compared to other probability sampling
techniques that aim to reduce biases. However, the subjective, judgmental component of
purpose sampling is its major disadvantage, since such judgments are poorly considered and
ill conceived. Also, judgments are not based on clear criteria whether through an expert’s
elicitation, theoretical framework or other types of accepted criteria.
Also with the non-probability and subjective-based nature of the sampled unit –
whether case studies, selection of people or organizations, or other types – used in this
purposive sampling criteria, it becomes difficult to defend the sample’s representative nature.
That means that it becomes difficult to convince readers that the judgments they have used
for selecting the sample of this study are the appropriate ones derived analytically,
theoretically, logically or via generalization.
Future studies should not only focus on how social media impacts businesses in
general, but should specialize in determining how businesses are provided with serious
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opportunities in terms of cost and sales advantages, and also for sharing and communication
advantages.
5.2 Critical analysis
There are lot of implications that are attached to the findings of this research and as
this a deductive research this research will only validate the existing theories. However, this
research provides us a new dimension about the impact of the social media on the business
and buying behavior of the consumers. Social media has influenced both the organizations
and the consumers at the same time. The organizations have accommodated social media
marketing in to their business model. The organizations are making use of the innovative
processes to grab the attention of the consumers so that they can maintain their sustainability
in the market. The use of innovation has become a necessity for all the organizations
otherwise; they will not be able to maintain their competitive advantage in the market.
Two types of products are being purchased at the online media platform, one is the
tangible product and other is the intangible product. There are particular products, which are
suited to being promoted and sold at an online media. This shows that the organizations who
have a better product can capitalize more on the social media platform so the unique selling
proposition developed by each company is an important factor. The demographics of the
consumer are also important factor as the buying behavior of the consumers varies. The male
consumers have different impact form the social media platform and women have different
impact form the social media platform. However, it is seen that the consumers below the age
of 30 are more active on the social media platform. However, all the consumers in the social
media platform does not impact the business; one part of the consumers are the online
insiders who have lot of impact on the businesses as they are the frequent buyers and they
influence other consumers to buy the products which they feel have provide them with the
desired experience. The other part is the social clickers who are active heavy users of the
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social media platform but they have different purposes and more interested in research and
news. Moreover, the social media platform has impacted the consumer buying decision
process and changed the trends of the recent purchases in the past few years. The use of
physical stores has diminished and more companies are relying to the online stores for
generating revenue and gain competitive advantage in the market.
5.3 Implications for the organizations
The tradition media is almost dead and the organization will have to accommodate the
social media marketing in to the business model of the organizations so that they are bal to
maintain their competitive advantage in the market. The organization are focusing more on
the social media platform as they will be able to create a two way communication channel
with the consumers and customized their products depending on their needs. The market
trends keep on changing at a rapid rate and the companies in the market will have to adapt to
these changes. Thus, the organizations are keeping themselves as active as possible on the
social media platform so that they can provide the consumers with the information about the
various products they are offering. The social media has provided both the organizations and
consumers with a level of transparency and accessibility where they can freely share any
information and feedback.
5.3 Future implications
The future trends suggest that the sue of social media will increase significantly and
the companies will have to make shift from the conventional mass marketing to the social
media marketing in order to survive in this market. The cost of marketing in the online
platform is much less than the traditional media and so most of the companies are in a
transition phase where they are trying to incorporate social media in to their respective
organizations. In the upcoming years, the market scenario will change as the companies are
rapidly changing their structures and preparing for the next web phenomenon, which will
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have an enormous impact on the businesses and their respective consumers. The research
suggest that globalization has connected businesses and consumers from all over the world in
a common platform and the number of consumers are increasing with the popularity of social
media and micro blogging sites. Thus, it can be determined in future the use of traditional
form of media will be discarded and the companies will be using the social media to perform
all their promotion activities, as it will reduce their cost of marketing significantly.
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Chapter 6: Conclusion
6.0 Conclusion
Indeed, the rise of social media and other social networking sites has helped people to
communicate with each other from anywhere, anytime, effectively. This paper sought to find
out the effect that social media has had on the business world. The history of social media
and the evolution of the same were also examined in this paper, to gain a good background on
which to base the discussion. The four research questions helped to address the main research
topic effectively, as the research was conducted to address whether social media helped to
improve sales compared to times before social media existed, how social media expands
business, the role of social media marketing, and the way social media affects business. The
social media platforms examined include Facebook, Twitter, Social Curation, Wikipedia, and
bookmark.
Social media is increasing its coverage to a large extent, and nobody can deny the fact
that it has become the pillar for motivation for a large number of consumers, manufacturers,
and marketers, who use it as a fundamental source of confirmation and dissemination. From
this discussion, we can also agree that the advent of social media has changed the decision
process for consumers. For instance, as examined above, consumers begin with a large
number of brands in mind before they narrow them down to a specific product that they want
to buy. This research adds some crucial insights into the effect of social networks in
businesses, as well as the emergence of virtual communities.
To ensure that there was a valid base to start the discussion, literature has been
examined, and this helped to shed light on what has been done so far regarding the effect of
social media on businesses, and what remains to be done. Through the review of the
literature, an examination of social networking sites and their impact on small, medium, and
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large businesses was accomplished. According to Evans (2012)social media is a plan of the
uses of the web that enables people to communicate, interface, and exchange data. Numerous
literature confirmed that social media empowers clients to discover new contemplations,
advance thoughts, advance their political ambitions, and leverage external effects on
relations, organizations, and governments. Additionally, we can use social media for
administration and instructional purposes via electronic means.
Social media, which is divided into two sub-components – social media sites and
social networking sites has had a huge impact on marketing. Especially for businesses, the
social media marketing platform is very popular. There are numerous advantages that social
media marketing offers to these enterprises, such as increased brand recognition, improved
brand loyalty, the availability of many opportunities for conversion, higher conversion rates,
high brand authority, increased inbound traffic, richer customer experiences, improved
customer insights, decreased marketing costs, and better search engines, among others. All
these areas have been discussed in detail in the paper. The one key strength of social media,
according to Chaffey (2014), is that it covers a huge geographical area, and with so many
people not having accounts or occasionally using social media sites, businesses can reach a
wide array of customers.
The wide coverage of social media has brought in a new test and advantage to
businesses that traditional media did not offer. Traditional media platforms, like newspapers,
were restricted to the educated class of society, besides being time-consuming. Another vital
point is that social media has offered another opportunity for enterprises to convey their
messages in an entertaining way using sound and pictures, and as a consequence, they have
managed to grab the attention of a large audience. The customer many times does not have to
travel and directly interact with the customer care office, because there are call centers that
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work 24/7 and, even without a human agent, the client can get the information they want
from computerized messages.
Various techniques were used in the methodology phase with the intention of gaining
a vast insight of the impacts of social media on business. A qualitative research technique
was utilized to serve the purpose of the study. By so doing, the researcher made use of
reliable and scholarly sources to answer the research questions logically. The qualitative
research method helps to produce results that are significant beyond the closed borders of the
study (Patton, 2001). By using this methodology, the researcher got to understand the concept
of social media and the effect it has on businesses. Also, the qualitative research approach
was used to find the appropriate data that was then used for further analysis and discussion.
The case study analysis approach was also leveraged to examine and understand the
interaction of various businesses and their clients on the Web 2.0 platforms, and to evaluate
their effectiveness.
The researcher also used observation to note how various businesses take advantage
of the web-based social networking sites and advertise on them. The various social media
accounts were examined in the process. As the observation was taking place, the researcher
was keen on the strategies being used by businesses as he also sought to answer the research
questions. Document analysis –a form of background research – was also used as the
researcher reviewed documents to help understand the previous researchers to improve or
increase the current knowledge. The data collection was accomplished by reviewing and
summarizing the sources by multiple reviewers. Finally, the thematic content analysis (TA)
was utilized and that helped to capture the descriptive data from which themes were
developed. Tables were used to summarize the information before TA was applied to analyze
the content.
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The findings from this research work have been summarized in Chapter 4: Findings.
The case study analysis and the document analysis as explained above were very useful in the
analysis of the findings and answering the research questions. The findings have shown that
social media platforms have helped to improve sales through better marketing as compared to
traditional media. It has forced businesses to alter their business strategies, and this has
brought huge returns in their performance. This was backed up by the case study analyses
done on Coca-Cola Company and its use of Facebook, Rapitron-Electronic and the use of
social media, and Dunkin Donuts on Twitter. These analyses, along with the documents
analysis, helped to respond to the research questions effectively. Because of these findings, it
is true to say that social media has had a positive impact on businesses from marketing, to
administration, to ease of procurement and customer services. Social media is thus a useful
platform that can help elevate a business to another level of performance.
6.1 Recommendations
From this research paper and the above discussion, it is clear that though much has
been done, more still needs to be done in this social media era. Since many businesses have
turned to social media for advertisement of their products and services, as well as to ease
administration tasks, it will depend on how well a business uses the platform because there is
now much competition among businesses. There is a need for organizations to look for better
ways of using these social media platforms to ensure that they remain on top of the graph in
performance. An organization that uses these platforms well will stay at the top and make
more profit compared to those that do not use them well. It is also recommended that these
organizations recruit people with knowledge of business information technology and business
intelligence, because these professionals will help to propel the organizations to another level.
It is also vital for the businesses to use a mix of various social media sites and networks to
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several potential clients. If all these recommendations are paid attention to by businesses, it
will be possible for them to reap the benefits of the social media era.
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7.0 Self-assessment
The dissertation is based on qualitative research, which uses specific data collection
methods to come up with reliable data. Expressly, it requires setting aside time and gaining
knowledge to be able to start studying the subject of the project. Consequently, experiencing
this sort of research has helped me to pick up information about these research types, which
will be valuable to me in future educations as it has afforded me the skills of noticing gaps in
a body of literature and of choosing an area of research. Moreover, investment of energy in
understanding and experiencing research methodology procedure caused challenges in
management of time.
It is fulfilling to know that I have showed progress in such a way that I have the
ability to tackle certain perspectives at one occasion. I am now able to manage my time
appropriately, depending on the activities at hand. My reading and analytical skills are also
on another level as I discovered new strategies from the study .It was also helpful to do all
these procedures in an academic way following certain procedures that, in one way or the
other, regulate the learning process.
Since this is about aiming to understand the effects of social media on business, the
research was able to utilize the right data collection methods. Thus, these methods under
qualitative research were most suitable for this study, as they enabled the researcher to have a
good understanding of the social concept.
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Appendices
Appendix1:Most Popular Social Networking Sites in 2017
Source: (Kallas , 2017)
Appendix2:Facebook Users worldwide
Source: (The Statistics Portal, 2017)
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Appendix3:Advantages of Social media Over Traditional Media
According to (Burrow & Fowler, 2015), Social media has many important advantages over
traditional media for marketers which are shown in the table bellow
Community Concept Trust Sources Promote Dialogue Promote Sharing
Source: ( Burrow & Fowler, 2015)
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Recommendations
from friends
‘Endorsing the
message’
Interaction
Shared ideology
interests or
beliefs
‘Viral Marketing’
‘Conversation
with audience’
Links to other
social media sites
‘Buzz worthy
content’