UK Retail Industry: How Influencer Marketing Drives Sales at H&M

This project proposal investigates the role and functions of influencer marketing in promoting sales within the UK retail industry, with a specific case study on H&M. The research aims to understand influencer marketing's concept, determine its functions within the UK retail sector, and examine its importance in boosting H&M's sales. It addresses the problem of high costs associated with influencer marketing and potential negative impacts from negative reviews. The study employs a positivism philosophy and deductive approach, utilizing surveys and systematic literature reviews to gather data. Quantitative research methods will be used, with data collected from 40 H&M employees through probability sampling. The research explores the meaning of influencer marketing in the UK retail context, its effective roles and functions, and how it assists H&M in promoting its clothing products through endorsements and product reviews.

Project Proposal
(Role and functions of Influencer
Marketing in promoting sales of the UK
retail industry )

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Background of the topic
Marketing is one of the practices used by retail companies and brands to promote their
offerings. It is directly linked with engaging more number of customers so that sales of the
company could be increased (Piehler and et. al., 2021). Retail brands of the United Kingdom are
showing great dependence over influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is one of the social
media marketing techniques which are used by UK retail brands for product placements and
endorsements with the help of different influencers. Thus, the study will be carrying out detailed
data about influencer marketing to increase sales of the retail brands.
Research aim, objectives and questions
Research Aim
To identify the role and functions of Influencer Marketing in promoting sales of the UK
retail industry: A study on H&M
Research Objectives
 To develop basic understanding about the influencer marketing in context with the UK
retail industry
 To determine the role and functions of Influencer Marketing within the UK retail industry
 To examine the importance of influencer marketing in promoting sales of H&M
Research Questions
 What is the meaning and concept of influencer marketing in context with the UK retail
industry?
 What are the effective roles and functions of influencer marketing in the UK retail
industry? How influencer marketing helps the H&M in promoting sales of its clothing products?
Research Problem
The major research problem determined in the current investigation is that influencer
marketing is beneficial for the company however, it is not an easy task to approach them. In the
modern time, these social media influencers charge great pay for endorsing different offerings of
the brand (Kim and Kim, 2021). In some cases, influencer marketing may create negative impact
over the sales of the company because of negative reviews of the different offerings and the
products.

Significance and rationale of the research
The current study holds great importance because it is based upon great practical practice.
Influencer marketing is one of the elements in the marketing because it is directly linked with the
success and development of the retail brand (Srivastava, 2021). So, this report is including the
different roles performed by influencer marketing to gain attention of customers and to increase
the sales.
The other major purpose of doing the existing study is to showcase the requirement of
influencer marketing in competitive environment (Ki and et. al., 2020). This report also shows
that with the assistance of influencers, retail companies increase their reach and engage more
number of customers.

LITERATURE REVIEW
What is the meaning and concept of influencer marketing in context with the UK retail
industry?
As per the view of Jun and Yi (2020), influencer marketing has become mainstream form
of social media marketing for UK retail organisations and brands. In this retail companies
approach different celebrities and famous influencers with the purpose of endorsing their several
offerings. It ultimately results in collaboration between influencers and brands. Influencers have
direct connection with the customers which create an opportunity for UK retail companies to
increase their sales.
What are the effective roles and functions of influencer marketing in the UK retail industry?
According to the opinion of Schmuck (2021), influencer marketing by retail industry of
the United Kingdom performs various functions and roles. Influencers approaches by the brands
make direct contact with the customers through their social media accounts. They conduct
several giveaways and go live to make customers familiar with the offerings of the retail brands
and companies. These influencers share their own experience by using offerings of the company
to existing as well as potential customers so that they can purchase more and increase the sales.
How influencer marketing helps the H&M in promoting sales of its clothing products?
According to the opinion of Howard (2019), influencer marketing assists H&M to
promote the sales of the clothing products. Influencers approached by H&M are provided with
different clothing products and then these influencers provide detailed information to customers
by making videos and posting photos on their social media accounts. These influencers also give
honest reviews to customers about the quality of the product so that customers can be easily
influenced to purchase them. Thus, with the help of influencer marketing, H&M experiences
great number of sales and increases the level of profitability. This also assists company to gain
great competitive advantage.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Philosophy: The philosophy is divided into two sub-forms which are:
positivism and interpretivism philosophy (Moskvitcheva and Viaut, 2021). In this study,
positivism philosophy will be selected so that statistical content can be evaluated and analysed.
Research Approach: The approach is another research method that facilitates in
measuring data. This is categorised in two forms: inductive and deductive approach. Investigator
will utilise deductive approach because it only concentrates on facts and figures which have
numerical term.
Research Strategy: In the research, there are many strategies which are survey, action
research, interview, systematic literature review, observation etc. Investigator will be employing
survey to gather data that numerical terms and figures (Saini and Singhania, 2018). On the other
hand, researcher will also be depending upon systematic literature review and in this only
secondary sources will be used.
Research Choice: The choice is classified into quantitative and qualitative research
choice. Investigator will be selecting quantitative choice to accumulate statistical content about
the proposed research topic.
Data Collection: This is divided into two types which are: primary and secondary data
collection method. With the help of primary method, only first-hand insights are accumulated
about the proposed investigation's topic (Märzinger and Österreicher, 2020). Questionnaire will
be made as primary source to collect data. On the other hand, secondary method will help in
recording used and published content about the topic. Some of the secondary sources are: books,
journals, newspapers, articles etc.
Sampling: Researcher will be using probability sampling to recruit responders in the
proposed study. This will give equal chance to each chosen responder because it follows random
strategy. 40 employee from H&M will be recruited to collect insights.
Gantt Chart: It is the time scheduling tool made to complete each task and activity in a
timely manner. The graphical representation of the chart is shown below:

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Howard, G. S., 2019. The present and future of methodology and statistics in psychology. The
Humanistic Psychologist, 47(1), p.26.
Jun, S. and Yi, J., 2020. What makes followers loyal? The role of influencer interactivity in
building influencer brand equity. Journal of Product & Brand Management.
Ki, C. W .C and et. al., 2020. Influencer marketing: Social media influencers as human brands
attaching to followers and yielding positive marketing results by fulfilling
needs. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 55, p.102133.
Kim, D. Y. and Kim, H. Y., 2021. Trust me, trust me not: A nuanced view of influencer
marketing on social media. Journal of Business Research, 134, pp.223-232.
Märzinger, T. and Österreicher, D., 2020. Extending the Application of the Smart Readiness
Indicator–A Methodology for the Quantitative Assessment of the Load Shifting
Potential of Smart Districts. Energies, 13(13), p.3507.
Moskvitcheva, S. and Viaut, A., 2021. The Need for Minority Languages in Borderland
Conditions: Field Research Methodology. In Strategies for Knowledge Elicitation (pp.
63-83). Springer, Cham.
Piehler, R and et. al., 2021. Traditional or ‘instafamous’ celebrity? Role of origin of fame in
social media influencer marketing. Journal of Strategic Marketing, pp.1-13.
Saini, N. and Singhania, M., 2018. Determinants of FDI in developed and developing countries:
A quantitative analysis using GMM. Journal of Economic Studies.
Schmuck, D., 2021. Social media influencers and environmental communication. In The
handbook of international trends in environmental communication (pp. 373-387).
Routledge.
Srivastava, M., 2021. Mapping the influence of influencer marketing: a bibliometric
analysis. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.