HI6008: Analyzing Social Media's Role in Contemporary Marketing

This report explores the use of social media as a marketing tool, examining its impact on consumer behavior and business operations. It defines social networks, assesses their reputation in business, and identifies the benefits of using them for marketing functions. The research questions address the meaning of social media, its business benefits, and its application as a marketing tool. The methodology employs a positivism philosophy with a deductive approach, using both quantitative and qualitative data collected through surveys and interviews from supermarket chains in Bristol, England. The data analysis involves statistical methods to interpret responses and validate the study's reliability. The report acknowledges limitations related to sample size and geographical bias, while also addressing ethical considerations for data security and participant confidentiality. Desklib provides access to this report and a wealth of study resources for students.

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Social Media as Marketing Tool
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
2. Project Objectives..................................................................................................................4
3. Project Scope..........................................................................................................................5
4. Literature Review...................................................................................................................6
5. Research Questions................................................................................................................9
6. Research Design and Methodology.....................................................................................10
7. Research Limitations............................................................................................................12
8. Ethical Consideration...........................................................................................................13
9. Time Schedule......................................................................................................................14
10. Conclusion..........................................................................................................................15
11. Reference List....................................................................................................................16
Appendix..................................................................................................................................17
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1. Introduction
Social media has emerged as one of the most important marketing tools as it helps users share
information and other live events with families friends and other colleagues. Companies have
started using this platform as an important operational tool as it helps them connect with their
customers and ensures that they can work strategically to evolve the operations of the
company. Increasing levels of connectivity has ensured that more people use social media as
this connects them to the world and other uses. Organisations have begun making use of this,
as they are able to use the same to increase brand visibility and perception amongst the
customers.
Background of the research project
Marketing strategies are exceedingly important to establish how companies will conduct
business operations. The marketing activities of companies now constitute of social media
advertisements and campaigns. In the United Kingdom alone, internet users have gone up
from 57 per cent to 90 per cent by the year 2017. This has meant that social media
connectivity has been able to provide customers with an important platform for shopping and
engaging with the products and services that companies are offering.
The potential for advertising is great and when companies investigate these patterns, there is
a confirmed chance at growth and an increase in market shares.
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2. Project Objectives
This research tries to understand the ways in which social media influence consumers when
they try to make any purchases. The project objectives have been set out as:
 Understanding what social networks means
 Defining the reputation of social networking sites in terms of any business operations
 Understanding the benefits which can be derived from the use of social networks in the
use of marketing functions
 To recognise how social media can be implemented as a marketing tool.
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3. Project Scope
The learner will try to answer how contemporary market situations are adapting to the rise of
social media as a platform and the exact tools that are being used. The learner has also tried
to understand the reputation of social media tools in terms of marketing and business
decisions taken by companies. This scope includes documenting all processes appropriately
and keeping questionnaires, data analysis and time tables ready for further certification. As
the researcher is a student, they will operate on a limited budget and timeframe.
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4. Literature Review
4.1 Introduction
The marketing landscape has changed drastically over the past few years. Customer
engagement has led companies understanding the trends of the market even more intimately.
Social media has become a conduit for different brands to increase promotions and other
image related variables. Social media has shifted the power on to the hands of the customer
Word of mouth and peer-to-peer transfer of knowledge are important ways in which brand
image and visibility are rising today and social media has played a very important role in the
same. Chi (2011) posited that this has been able to create a connection between brands and
consumers as personal channels were opened for currency transfer and social interactions.
4.2 Types of Social Media Platforms
The number of social media tools in the market are several, namely, Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and SnapChat. Hanna et al (2011) posit that the aggregate benefits offered by
social media ensure that it is one of the most important elements in marketing today. Instant
pictures, live videos and snappy pictures are just some of the benefits that different types of
social media tools that businesses can make good use of. This will not only provide the
companies and businesses with more access to the customer, but also ensure that a company
who engage in the same can gain unique marketing benefits such as celebrity endorsements
and sponsorships.
4.3 Decision making process for businesses
Social media offers various tools to a company that they can use to take more driven business
decisions. Google AdWords, Facebook Ads and Twitter Ads are just of the very popular
content that can be used by companies to ensure that they are able to market products more
effectively while ensuring that the consumer is able to engage with services in ways that are
more intuitive. Mangold and Faulds (2009) posit that the emergence of this platform has
enabled a hybridisation of the promotion mix model. This is because consumers are able to
engage with their customers in a more direct manner and customers are themselves able to
talk to one another. This means that there is an indirect promotion of products and services.
Social media can provide companies with eased operational processes that will ensure that
they are driven by the need to achieve a marketing advantage. Companies can also use social
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media to continue with branding and use customer feedback to better their service and
offerings. Social media will also help the companies gain consumer insights, which will
cause for more data driven engagement which will ensure that digital marketers are able to
track the ways in which the consumer is responding to the products that they are putting out
(Busalim, 2016).
An improved customer services will also be facilitated with social media, as companies will
be able to use mediums such as Twitter (Pappas et al., 2017). Businesses can connect with
their customers while reviews left on their product pages will ensure that the companies are
able to gain an insight about how their product is performing. Negative perceptions about
products will be reviewed and products will be changed and updated as per the requirements
of the consumer as stated by Schivinski et al. (2016).
4.4 Benefits for businesses
The company will be able to extend out their reach to more customers as they use social
media tools to expand their business reach. Engaging with customers will ensure that the
businesses will be able to experience higher rates of demands. This will provide them with
the ability to increase offerings and the range of offerings as well as customers will be
attracted to the products and services and also the ways in which these are offered across a
variety of different platforms (Zhang et al., 2016).
Provide a rich customer experience is important for companies as this essentially lets them
hold onto their customer base and increase market share in a structural manner. A majority of
customers nowadays go to social media providers for help, usually expecting instant returns
and also demanding all the clock round support. Companies who are able to provide this
essentially do well in the market as stated by Schultz et al. (2011).
Companies can also track competitors when they use social media. Social media entail
making most kind of information public. Thus, other competitors are likely to put this
information out as Tweets or on their Facebook pages. Current market offerings and
inventory size and load is usually tracked and tallied against this.
4.5 Literature Gap
Some of the pertinent areas that could have been explored in further details are customer
perceptions and customer response to the social media operations of any company. This
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would ensure that there was an all-encompassing view of the way in which social media
helps companies in their business and marketing operations.
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5. Research Questions
The researcher will look to answer certain research questions that will provide a more critical
view of social media and the way it helps a business in their business and marketing
operations. The research questions that will be answered are:
 What does social media means and an exploration of its reputation amongst businesses?
 What are the business benefits that can be derived from the use of social media?
 How can social media be used as a marketing tool?
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6. Research Design and Methodology
6.1 Research Philosophy
There are different types of research philosophies that can be employed in the process of
conducting a study. It is necessary to use the positivism philosophy in this study as it enables
a logical and rational method of carrying out work. Positivism will ensure that the research
can be conducted in such a way that quantitative aspects of a study can be understood. The
use of data is very important as it illustrates the different figures that provide a base for
conducting research work (Sarantakos, 2012). To understand a marketing concept such as
social media use, this study is integral to decipher market operations and how businesses and
customers, alike, behave.
6.2 Research Approach
There are two kinds of approaches that are used in a research, the deductive and inductive
ones. In this study, the learner will employ the deductive approach as they will be used the
different models and theories of contemporary marketing. The deductive approach is perfect
in terms of this as it deals with theoretical and data driven information.
6.3 Data collection
This research will be done with the use of primary data, while both the quantitative and
qualitative methods of research will be employed (Neuman, 2013).This will ensure that the
data collected is functional and the analysis is done in a comprehensive manner. A survey
will be created and send out to employees of two major supermarket chains located in Bristol,
England. In terms of qualitative research, two managers each of the supermarket chains will
be interview to provide ideas about social media and its use in influencing sales and other
business operations. The data will be analysed using different sets of data and tables that will
provide a market perspective about how social media is influencing the marketing operations
of different organisations across the United Kingdom.
6.4 Sampling technique
A random sample will be chosen (probability sampling) of which 100 responses will be used
to form a base for the quantitative data analysis. These responses will be expected from the
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super market chains, while the four managers will form the sample for qualitative data
analysis.
6.5 Data Analysis
As probability sampling has been, the data analysis will ensure that processes and procedures
are analysed in an equitable manner. Each data sample will also be analysed in a way that
ensures that data is interpreted providing for an understanding of how the responses shape up
to answer the initial research questions. Graphs and tables will provide a numerical context of
how the work is being carried, thus statistically explaining the marketing objectives that a
company aims to achieve when they set out their social media needs.
The reliability and validity of this work will be validated, as results will be consistent. A test
and retest reliability will be administered by the researcher as they will administer data
analysis validation in a structured manner to evaluate how the variability of the study holds
over a period of time (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson, 2014).
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7. Research Limitations
The research is limited as the data sample is not big enough to over-generalise about social
media gains that can be brought about in the marketing departments of different
organisations. As employees are only being selected from two major supermarket chains
located in only one geographical area, there may be some biases in terms of data and
perceptions that are provided.
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8. Ethical Consideration
The data that has been collected must be secure. The participants’ identity and affiliations
must be protected. Participants must not be unnecessarily coerced into answering any
questions and they should be allowed to quit the study at any time they wish. The data must
be protected as per the norms of the data protection act 1998. Any secondary sources that are
used must be cited as per the norms of the university ethics committee.
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9. Time Schedule
Research Specifics Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
Understand the
research problem
Conduct primary
research about the
issue
Conduct literature
review
Understand
research gaps
Collect primary
data
Analyse the data
Relate qualitative
data and draw up a
summary about the
same
Relate quantitative
data and draw up a
summary about the
same
Draw up a valid
conclusion
Submit project
Table 1: Research timetable
(Source: Created by the learner)
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10. Conclusion
Social media has rapidly evolved over a few years and has significantly improved marketing
techniques and operations over the past few years. The researcher hopes that the data will be
able to provide an understanding of the considerable amount of influence exerted by social
media over the marketing processes of organisations and companies. The decision making
process of companies now rest upon the ways in which social media can be managed and
how the same allows for a greater amount of engagement with the customer. A strong social
media presence ensures that the company will be able to influence consumers and provide
better operational processes for the industry.
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11. Reference List
Busalim, A.H., 2016. Understanding social commerce: A systematic literature review and
directions for further research. International Journal of Information Management, 36(6),
pp.1075-1088.
Chi, H.H., 2011. Interactive digital advertising vs. virtual brand community: Exploratory
study of user motivation and social media marketing responses in Taiwan. Journal of
Interactive Advertising, 12(1), pp.44-61.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Larson, R., 2014. Validity and reliability of the experience-
sampling method. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 35-54). Springer
Netherlands.
Hanna, R., Rohm, A. and Crittenden, V.L., 2011. We’re all connected: The power of the
social media ecosystem. Business horizons, 54(3), pp.265-273.
Neuman, W.L., 2013. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Pearson education.
Pappas, I., Mikalef, P., Giannakos, M. and Pavlou, P., 2017. Value co-creation and trust in
social commerce: An fsQCA approach.
Sarantakos, S., 2012. Social research. Palgrave Macmillan.
Schivinski, B. and Dabrowski, D., 2016. The effect of social media communication on
consumer perceptions of brands. Journal of Marketing Communications, 22(2), pp.189-214.
Schultz, F., Utz, S. and Göritz, A., 2011. Is the medium the message? Perceptions of and
reactions to crisis communication via twitter, blogs and traditional media. Public relations
review, 37(1), pp.20-27.
Zhang, K.Z. and Benyoucef, M., 2016. Consumer behavior in social commerce: A literature
review. Decision Support Systems, 86, pp.95-108.
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Appendix: Gantt chart
Figure 1: Gantt chart
(Source: Created by the learner)
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