BA Business Management: Digital Marketing & Next plc Consumer Choice

This report evaluates the impact of digital marketing tools on the buying decisions of Next plc consumers. It begins with an overview of Next plc and the identified issue of choosing the right marketing tools to align with organizational objectives. The research objectives include understanding the role of digital marketing, analyzing factors impacting consumer decision-making in the retail sector, and evaluating the impact of digital marketing tools on Next plc customers. The literature review explores the role of digital marketing in increasing leads, helping businesses grow, and analyzing buyer needs. It also discusses psychological, social, cultural, and personal factors influencing consumer decisions. The report further examines how digital marketing tools like email marketing and social media improve consumer spending experiences, provide information satisfaction, and build trust. The research uses questionnaires to gather data and provides recommendations for digital marketing strategies to impact consumer buying decisions positively. This report, submitted to Desklib, provides valuable insights into the intersection of digital marketing and consumer behavior within the retail industry.

Knowledge Exchange Project

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................4
Overview of the company and identified issue......................................................................4
Project background and business case....................................................................................4
2. RESEARCH PROJECT OBJECTIVES......................................................................................5
Clear research objectives........................................................................................................5
Research Rationale.................................................................................................................5
3. LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................................7
What is the role digital marketing?........................................................................................7
What are the factors that impact on decision-making activities of consumers in retail sector?
................................................................................................................................................8
What is the impact of digital marketing tool over the Next plc customers decision-making
process?..................................................................................................................................8
RESARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................12
QUESTIONNAIRE.......................................................................................................................14
INTERPRETATION......................................................................................................................15
........................................................................................................................................................16
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................21
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................24

1. INTRODUCTION
Overview of the company and identified issue
The organisation selected for the current research is Next Plc which is a British
multinational clothing, footwear and home product retailer. The organisation was founded in the
year of 1864 and headquartered in Leicester, United Kingdom. The company is managing near
about 700 stores in the United Kingdom and 200 across the Europe. As of the year 2021 the
company has employed more than 41000 employees and these employees are putting their best
efforts in order to develop market image and customer range for the organisation. Next Plc is
highly emphasised over using digital marketing tools so that to gain attention of their customers
(Alghizzawi, 2019). The company provides economic range clothing and other products to their
customers so that this can be said that Next Plc is having diversified range of customers which is
one of the significant marketing strategy used by the organisation.
The identified issue within the research is that in the current time businesses are needed
to implement marketing channels in such manner that overall success to the business can be
provided. Businesses needs to implement appropriate marketing techniques so that customers can
be attracted and at the same time information related with business offerings can be given
(Alghizzawi, 2019). The problem faced by the organisation is related with choosing appropriate
marketing tool by which they can align with organisational objectives in appropriate manner.
Project background and business case
The current research report is related with examining the evaluation of digital marketing
tool that can be used by the organisation in order to manage their consumers. In retail industry
customers are treated as asset due to the reason of higher dependency over each and every
consumer. So the current research report is going to discuss the impact of digital marketing in
decision making process of the organisation in context of targetting customers (Rathnayaka,
2018). The current research will also entail regarding the impact of digital tools over business
objectives of the organisation as this is being analysed that marketing efforts are helpful for the
organisation to grow and sustain into the market for longer period of time (Alves, Sousa, and
Machado, 2020).
The identified issue within the research is related with taking decisions in context of
marketing aspects. This is examined that digital marketing tools are helpful for the business to

manage customer and to increase market prominence as well. With the help of using digital
marketing tools potential customers can be targetted and approached in significant manner.
Using such efforts appropriate decisions can be taken and this would assist in gaining edge to the
business (Kingsnorth, 2019). In order to gain market edge marketing efforts are needed to be
used by the business so that customer can understood regarding business offerings in such
manner that positive buying decision can be taken.
2. RESEARCH PROJECT OBJECTIVES
Clear research objectives
Research aim
The aim behind initiating current study is to evaluate digital marketing tool affects
buying decision of Next plc consumers.
Research objectives
 To understand the role digital marketing.
 To analyse factors that impact on decision-making activities of consumers in retail sector.
 To evaluate the impact of digital marketing tool over the Next plc customers decision-
making process.
 To recommend strategies pertaining to digital marketing that impacts consumer buying
decision-making.
Research questions
 What is the role digital marketing?
 What are the factors that impact on decision-making activities of consumers in retail
sector?
 What is the impact of digital marketing tool over the Next plc customers decision-making
process?
 What are the recommended strategies pertaining to digital marketing that impacts
consumer buying decision-making?
Research Rationale
The rationale behind the current research is related with examining the role of digital
marketing and its impact for the customers in terms of positive decision making. The current
research is holding significant importance in which with the help of digital marketing customers

can be targetted in such manner that benefits can be attained. The current research is associated
with dual perspective such as personal and professional. In the context of personal perspective
the research would lead into increasing different skills such as communication skills,
presentation skills, analytical skills and many other. On the other hand, in terms of professional
perspective the current research would develop differential edge for the researcher by which
future researches can be conducted by the researcher in appropriate manner.

3. LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review is that section of the research which helps the researcher to gain additional
information about the topic by using various secondary sources. This part contain past publish
data related to the topic so that deeper knowledge can be acquired. The data is collected from
various sources such as books, journal, articles and online sites. Literature review chapter also
helps the researcher to know the gap between past researches so that they can conduct the present
research in more systematic and appropriate manner (Behera, and et. al, 2020). Thus, this section
is so vital for the investigator in order to conduct their investigation in accurate manner.
What is the role digital marketing?
As per the view of Alves, Sousa and Machado (2020), digital marketing is the process of
promoting the goods and services of the company through the use of internet and many network
devices. In this online marketing of the brands are being done so that they can connect with the
buyers with digital technology. In the era of digitalisation the use of digital marketing has
increased a lot which help the organisation to interact with large audience. Some off the role of
digital marketing are as follow:
Increasing leads: The foremost role played by digital marketing is to generate leads for the
company so that they can enhance their sale. Through the use of Internet Company advertise the
goods and services in various social media site which help the organisation to generate leads by
attracting various buyers towards the company product. By seeing the goods and service in the
social media consumer interact with the organisation and than purchase goods from it. This
helps them to generate leas and increase the sale of the business (Kim and Moon, 2021).
Helps business to grow: Another vital role of digital marketing is assisting the company to
grow. With the help of digital marketing company reach to their target customer and enhance
their sale. This helps them to earn more revenue and profit for the company. This profit is further
used by the company in expanding their business or diversifying their product line. With the help
of online marketing various opportunities can be gained by the organisation which help them to
completive with the rivalry in strong manner and develop their business.
Helps in analysing the needs of the buyers: One of the significant roles that are played by
the digital marketing is analysing the need of buyers in the market so that they can develops their

product according to their wish. This will help the organisation to manufacture and product the
goods as per their need and increase their sale (Febriyantoro and Arisandi, 2019).
What are the factors that impact on decision-making activities of consumers in retail sector?
As per the view of Lăzăroiu and et. al (2020), there are four factors which impact the
decision making activity of the consumer. These factors has act as catalyst for making buying
decision by the buyers.
Psychological factor: Psychology of human is the major factor in the consumer buying
behaviour. They are further divided into sub parts which are motivational, perception, learning
and attitude and belief. It is very important for the retail sector to motivate the buyers towards
their brand and for this they need to adopt various strategies. Perception of the consumer also
assists in decision making so for the brand it is vital to build positive perception of the consumer
(Gursoy, 2019)
Social factor: Buyers live in the society and they get influence by the people living
around them. Human in the community try to imitate other individual in the society. So it is very
important for the company to produce those products which is accepted in the society. Their
family, groups, friends affect the buying process of the buyers. Not only this role and status of
the person also affect the decisions making process of the customer in the retail industry.
Cultural factor: There are many belief, attitude, values that are being followed by the
buyers. When a person belongs to specific community than their behaviour also gets influenced
by the culture they are being grown up. The social class of the consumer determine their buying
decision (Lin and et. al, 2019).
Personal factor: The most important factor that impacts the buying decision of the
customer is personal factor. Their age, income, occupation. Lifestyle impact the buyer’s a lot.
Personal factor of one person is different from the other person. What is the need of a child may
not be the needed of young person. So the personal factor also acts as a determinant in decision
making process.
What is the impact of digital marketing tool over the Next plc customers decision-making
process?
According to Dahiya and Gayatri (2018), using various digital marketing tool such as
email marketing, social media, online promotion, mobile service and many more positively
impact the Next plc towards the customer decision making process. Next plc need to adopt right

tool to market their goods and service on various sites and networks. The various impact of
digital marketing over Next plc is as follow:
Improve consumer spending experience: The first impact of digital marketing tool is
improving the customer spending experience in greater sense. At the level of purchase by using
various methods Next plc has made it easier for the customer to order, purchase and make
payment. They help the buyer to save their time and money which helps them to build customer
decision towards their brand (Behera and et. al, 2020)
Information satisfaction: Another impact of digital marketing over customer buying
decision is providing satisfactory information to the buyers. Through online marketing Next plc
provide satisfactory information to their clients about the product. They get to know each and
every thing about the goods and service they are using. This impact the brand by generating
leads and changing customer buying decision towards their company.
Building trust: One of the vital impact of digital marketing tool over the customer
decision process of Next plc is building trust. Next plc make sure to enhance the loyalty and trust
among the employee by sending them email and other information which helps them to attract
more new buyers. At the time of sale they message their buyer via email or text message which
helps them to gain more trust of the buyers and make purchasing decision for the goods and
service of their product (Chang and Wang, 2019).
To recommend strategies pertaining to digital marketing that impacts consumer buying decision-
making.
As per view point of Rathnayaka (2018), Marketing is important aspect which is used by
individual for the purpose of running their business and increase the productivity. The use of
marketing is to promote their products and services in changing environment so that each
function could be perform effectively. In business environment there are many strategies and
planning which are used to introduce the different types of products and services which can help
to develop the organizational productivity. If organization is able to make use of effective digital
marketing then it will be opportunity to grow their business by managing all functions and
activities. Digital marketing is main aspects which are uses to bring new technology and
innovation for the purpose of maintaining higher performance. In context to Next plc, digital
marketing is marketing is used by employer to influence the number of people to provide the

products and services as per customer demand which can help to accomplish business goals. The
types of digital marketing strategies are explained below:
Search engine optimization – SEO is the process of improving the sites to increase its
visibility for relevant researches. It has seen that when any organization wants to grow and
become top most company then make the use of SEO as it helps to influence the number of
people and supports to increase the organizational productivity. Moreover, SEO is the process of
improving website so that it ranks highly in search engine results. The aim is to direct more
traffic to any website from members to target audience. In relation to next Plc, SEO can be used
by employer as effective marketing strategy which could help to develop the organizational sales
and productivity effectively (Chang, and Wang, 2019).
Pay per click strategy – This is another powerful and cost effective strategy in relation
to digital marketing which is used by organization for the purpose of keep aware people
regarding organizational products and services. PPC is the paid form of advertising which relies
on auction based system. In this, people bid on keywords which they wants to ads to show up for
ad triggers and manage the all activities. The company provides money to those people who click
their sites as it helps to increase the number of views and supports to develop the organizational
performance. In relation to Next Plc, management is having major role as they make the use of
PPC strategy by setting the key words and supports to bring new ideas which can help to
accomplish the business goals.
Content marketing – This is another go-to online strategy which is more in today’s trend as
people wants new and attractive content buying any products and services. This also influence
the consumer buying decision as they feel good and satisfied after reading the content which is
designed by organization. In context to Next Plc, management is having major role who allocate
the work between their staff as they develop new content which can help to influence the number
of people and supports to develop the organizational productivity. The managers of such
organization conduct the analysis and post influencing content that can help to improve the
business productivity and profitability.
E-mail marketing – This is one of the most cost-effective online marketing strategies
available, that are used to sending information from one another person. This is important for
each organization to understand what people wants and then provide the kind of products and
services as it helps to increase the organizational sales as well as productivity. This marketing

focuses on retaining existing customers, as well as gaining new ones. This could be excellent
technique which can be used to building brand awareness, keeping their company top of mind,
and encouraging repeat purchase by influencing people and they make buying decisions.
Social media marketing – This could be explained as internet marketing for growing
business is social media. This is important for each organization to offer their products and
services via internet channel such as social media as it can help to connect between employer and
customers. The primary purpose of social media marketing is to raise brand recognition and
conversions while also establishing and maintaining a positive reputation for your organisation.
As a result, social media marketing focuses on providing educational and promotional content as
well as communicating with people across several channels. This provides all details regarding
products to their regular customers which encouraged making buying decisions. In context to
Next plc, managers and leaders are playing an important role as they analysis the environment
and introduce the products as well as via using social media that can help to reach the targeted
customers and encouraged to make buying decisions. Social media is defined as online platform
in different ways such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, snap chat and others where company can
put their information regarding particular products and services as it helps to develop
organizational products and services.
Video marketing – This could be explained as another digital marketing strategy for
businesses looks to drive revenue. As environment is changing where people select products and
services after watching videos and images as it build awareness between people and supports to
improve the organizational profits. The managers of Next Plc, uses video marketing for creating
informational and valuable videos for its target audience. The management should have proper
information about what kind of video should be post and how details about products and services
are introduced between people as it helps to develop organizational productivity.
Voice search optimization – This is one of the newest internet marketing strategies
adopted by companies for the purpose of creating voice content that could help to manage all
functions and activities. The intention is to earn from their website by introducing different types
of products and services. This is important for each organization to understand what people
wants and how they could be satisfied to their customers which can help to develop the
organizational productivity. In context to Next plc, voice search optimization strategy is used by
employer in their industry as it helps to earn the featured snippet for keywords relevant to target

audience and business. The customers who are loyal to Next Plc to use the voice search
technique to learn about particular product and services as helps to manage all functions and
activities (Dahiya, and Gayatri, 2018).
From the above it has analysed that digital marketing is effective way that can be used by
Next plc, for the purpose of running their business by influencing number of people. The
managers of such organization analysis the environment and comes to know which products and
services would influence number of people and develop organizational productivity. The
strategies of digital marketing are PPC, social media, content marketing, voice search
optimization, Video call, and email marketing that is used to build awareness between people as
it manage all functions and supports to introduce the kind of products as well as services. This
can helps to reach the targeted customers and maintain higher performance.
RESARCH METHODOLOGY
A research methodology is a tool for locating, selecting, analysing, and processing
information about a specific topic. It enables the reader to assess the topic's validity and
dependability.
Research philosophy – This is all about different way which is used to collect the data from
different sources. This could be explained as principle set that are uses to manage all functions
and activities. The consider part are interpretivism and positivism. In relation to current research,
interpretivism philosophy is used by researcher to complete their research.
Research approach – This could be explained as broader method which is used by
individual for the purpose of conducting research and managing all functions effectively. The
main aim of researcher to conduct the analysis and comes to know how digital marketing is used
by researcher to influence the number of people and supports to develop organizational
performance. This consider positivism and interpretivism approach. In relation to current
research, interpretivism approach is used by researcher to complete their research in certain
period of time (Lin, and et. al, 2019).
Research strategy – This could be defined as planning which is uses by investigator to
bring new information and maintain higher performance. The management should be analysis
the all planning and strategies which are formulated by researcher in order to perform all
functions and activities. Experiment method, survey, interview, and questionnaire and others
which can help to manage all information effectively. In relation to current research,

Questionnaire is used by researcher that can help to arrange all workings effectively. There are a
number of advantages to using a literature review as a research strategy. These include: assisting
in the gathering of secondary and in-depth data, not requiring a lot of time, a cost-effective
technique, facilitating the development of valid conclusions, and assisting in the attainment of
research goals and objectives through research questions. Survey is another approach employed
in this project. A survey is an excellent approach for gathering numerical data in a timely and
systematic manner. This questionnaire is made up of closed-ended questions that are linked to
the topic.
Research methodology – There are two types of research such as qualitative and
quantitative. Both types are choices are essential but for conducting present investigation,
qualitative and quantitative choice will be a selected choice because it assists in collecting
reliable data from available sources. Quantitative information is taken out with the help of
questionnaire and qualitative information is gathered from books, articles etc. These are essential
because with the help of these, researcher can easily collect deeper data. Therefore, quantitative
research and qualitative research is effective as well as efficient method.
Time Horizon: The time horizon focuses on required time for completing the particular
project. There are mainly two types of time horizon such as cross sectional and longitudinal. For
this research, the chosen time horizon is cross sectional as it is used when investigation is
generally concerned with study of specific phenomenon at particular time. Time is important for
researcher because it facilitate in completing each activity significantly (Febriyantoro, and
Arisandi, 2019).
Data Collection: for conducting research, having relevant and valid information regarding
particular topic as it bring all functions and manage it properly. Data collection is the main
activity of gather data so that right decision could be made effectively. The main sources of data
collection are primary and secondary. The primary method is uses while collecting information
from first hand sources such as questionnaire, interview, and others. The information are
collected from second hand sources such as article, journal, and magazine and others that can
help to develop the business performance and productivity. From the above, primary method has
been used by researcher to exchange their knowledge as it supports to develop the organizational
performance by influencing number of people and improve the business productivity.