Research Methodologies: M&S Advertising Impact on Buying Behavior

This report investigates the role of advertising and its impact on consumer buying behavior, focusing on Marks & Spencer (M&S). It utilizes quantitative research methods to analyze how advertising strategies influence consumer perceptions and purchasing decisions. The research aims to understand the concept of advertising within the retail industry, examine the specific strategies employed by M&S, determine the significance of advertising on consumer behavior, and evaluate the impact of these strategies on customer buying patterns. The literature review discusses various advertising strategies and their effects on consumer behavior, while the research methodology outlines the approach used to collect and analyze data, ensuring validity and reliability. The report also addresses ethical considerations relevant to the research.

Research Methodologies

ABSTRACT
The above research was executed on the topic of the role of advertisement and its impact
on buying behaviour of the customers. The purpose of this report is to enhance the understanding
related with advertising and its impact over the buying decision. This has been analysed that
advertising plays essential role within the organisation and this assists in gaining higher customer
edge. In the current report quantitative research methods are used so that statistically results can
be acquired. This has been carried out from the research that using advertisement,
communication can be developed within the organisation so that growth opportunities can be
inhaled and at the same time growth aspects can be added.

Contents
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................6
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Advertisement is a systematic framework and a form of marketing communication which
helps an organisation to convey the proper detail of their products and services to the target
audience. The commercial enterprise can promote or sell their products and services with the
help of proper advertising techniques (Hackley and Hackley, 2021). Due to this they are able to
maintain the brand position in their industry. It is very important for an organisation to develop
effective advertising techniques as it can enhance their sales, knowledge of their customers and
competitors. The demand made by the customers of a specific products can be examine by the
process of advertisement. It is widely used by the company to educate the people regarding the
product and services they are offering (Nyambane and Muiruri, 2021). The main focus behind
the advertisement is that it influence the consumer perception for the product and services which
can help them to make a attempt of buying that good.
Background
In this report the chosen organisation is Marks and Spencer which is a British
multinational company headquartered in United kingdom. The company was founded in the year
1884 by Michael marks and Thomas Spencer. It is a form of public limited company. They
operate their business operation across the globe due to this M&S is a leading company in the
retail fashion sector. It is a first British company to hit the profit mark of 1 billion dollar. More
than 80 thousand employees are present in the work force of Marks and Spencer's. The main aim
of marks and Spencer is to provide most appropriate and upgraded product and services to their
customers that can completely satisfy their needs and demands (Feschenko, 2019). They have
more than 900 stores situated in more than 30 countries across the globe. The management of
Marks and Spencer successfully deals in various sector such as cloths, beauty products, home
products and food items. In current time period the management of company has collaborated
with the group Ocado due to this they are able to sell their food products and services through
online platforms.
Problem statement
In today's world, advertisement has lots of advantages which can help an organisation to
attain the high level of growth in future (Kim, 2020). In case of Marks and Spencer, if they don't
use this they will have to face various issues such as they are not able to introduce new product
and services in the market. Whenever the company wants to deliver upgraded products they can

use advertisement techniques in order to convey the proper information to their target audience.
Through advertisement an organisation is able to increase the goodwill in the mind of their
customers (Jiang, Dan and Jie, 2020). But if they don't make the use of advertisement than it will
be very difficult for them to convey the complete information regarding the product that can
enhance their goodwill.
Purpose of the research
The purpose behind this research is to enhance the advantage of advertisement in the
society with the help of various scientific theories, concepts and ideas. Through this research an
organisation can identify issues which occurs in the future regarding the negative image of their
products and services (Mousavi and Naami, 2018). The purpose is to track and analyse the
performance of their product and services they offer in the market.
Research Aim
 Explain the concept of advertisement within retail industry?
 What are the different advertisement strategies adopted by Marks & Spencer to influence
consumer buying behaviour?
 What is the significance and role of advertisement over consumer buying behaviour
within Marks & Spencer?
 What is the impact of advertisement strategies adopted by Marks & Spencer in
influencing buying behaviour of customers?
Research Objectives
 To understand the concept of advertisement within retail industry
 To examine different advertisement strategies adopted by Marks & Spencer to influence
consumer buying behaviour
 To determine the significance and role of advertisement over consumer buying behaviour
within Marks & Spencer
 To evaluate the impact of advertisement strategies adopted by Marks & Spencer in
influencing buying behaviour of customers

LITERATURE REVIEW
As mentioned by Sally Laurie 2018 , advertisement is a kind of communication process
which takes place between an organisation and a company. It is generally a non-personalized
type of communication conduct by the business enterprises through various ways in order to
deliver the details of their products and services to a large customer base (Chang, Wang and
Arnett, 2018). It is used by the business enterprises to communicate with their present and
prospective customers. Advertisement helps the company to provide the worthy information of
their products and services. Advertisement is indispensable for both the sellers and the buyers.
However, it is more important for the sellers (Putri, 2021). In the modern age of large scale
production, producers cannot think of pushing sale of their products without advertising them.
Advertisement supplements personal selling to a great extent. Advertising has acquired great
importance in the modern world where tough competition in the market and fast changes in
technology, we find fashion and taste in the customers.
According to Stephen Adshead and et.al, 2019 , advertising strategy is kind of strategic
framework which helps an organisation to enhance their sales of products and services by
attracting new customer base. A business organisation also adopt this techniques in order to give
the more benefit and advantages to their existing customer which can help them to make more
purchase. Various kind of strategies can be adopted by the company such as content advertising.
With the help of this technique an organisation can directly influence the the customer buying
behaviour with the help of various channels. The main focus of this advertising method is that it
have the complete focus on showing the brand and the amount of quality their product and
services can be make in the customers life. Another strategy of advertising is pull advertising in
case of Marks and Spencer they can use this strategy as it will ficus on maintaing their high
brand image in the mind of their customer’s. If the company of Marks and spencers wants to
introduce new and upgraded product they can use push advertising method to get success
regarding the new variety of product (Davankova, 2020). Social aids are also a good advertising
strategy as it will help the company to deliver the information of their products and services to
their customers in the form of ads which they can display by collaborating with various social
media platforms. The management of company can also use the influencer marketing technique
as it will help them convey their information to large customer base present across the world
because the big influencers have the popularity and power to influence their fans to buy a

product or services which is made by the company there are promoting. Last but not the least,
discount and promotion are also one of the most important advertising tool which can help an
organisation to change the customer buying behaviour. SEM is also one of the most well-
renowned advertising technique in the world of digital market, as it allow an organisation to
directly target users those have high purchasing power by conducting a research. In addition, it is
a very useful strategy, as it will assist the management of Marks and Spencer's to capture various
audience present across the world.
As per the opinion Ramzan sama, 2019 , for conducting advertisement it needs lots of
man-force such as artists, painters, writers, designers and many other entities that are able to
done this practice successfully. Thus, it can increase the employment opportunities as activities
related with advertisement need human resources on every stage to work creatively, efficiently
and constructively. Due to this it can generate employee opportunities to large section of people
of different sector. One of the main role of advertisement is that it can increase the standard of
living. In case of Marks and Spencer advertisement helps them in launching numerous variety of
products and services in their selected market (Urshila, 2018). Hence, the customer will aware
about the products offers by them and can raise their standard of living by making a purchase of
that product or services. It can increase the demand which in result can help the company to raise
their production level to the next level. Every product offers in the market have unique and well-
defined characteristics as compare to the products offer by other rivals of same industry. Because
of this it is very necessary of an organisation to give the complete information of their product an
services to their customers which can able them to influence the target audience to make a
demand. IN this way, they are able to find the most appropriate consumer base where they are
operating by this they can increase their profitability. It is very important of an organisation to
reach out to the most proper customer base as it will decide their continuity in the future.
According to Patricia Baudier, 2022, advertisement plays a major role in order to change
the consumer buying behaviour pattern regarding the companies product and services. This
process highly affects the target audience perception of making a purchase of particular product
and services. Advertisement is one of the most important promotional tool which can be adopted
by the company to create the awareness of their products and services in the mind of their
potential customers to take most effective decision of purchase (Rubtcova and Pavenkov, 2018).
Whenever, the customer watches an advertisement of specific brand than it will develop likeness

for the brand and then eventually make a decision of purchase (Rosenbaum-Elliott, 2021). The
major advertising is helps an organisation to create positive attitude towards the brand in the
mind of their customers. In case of Marks and Spencer it is very crucial for them to identify their
consumer behaviour as it allow them to get the knowledge and wants of their consumers present
in their specific market. Through advertisement it is very easy for an organisation to identify
factor related to consumer such as what they buy, why would they make a purchase, when and
where they buy and how often they buy and many other elements (del Mar García‐De los
Salmones and Perez, 2018). Consumer research is the kind of methodology which can help an
organisation to study the consumer prospective regarding the product and services.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The process of identifying and analysing information in a scientific manner is known as
research technique. This component is the most crucial in the investigation since it assists in the
collection and measurement of data in order to achieve the inquiry's goal and purpose in a sound
manner. Research technique also aids the researcher in obtaining answers to their two main
questions: what data will be collected and how will it be analysed (Mahuika and Mahuika, 2020).
The validity and reliability of the facts are also evaluated by the readers so that the research can
be carried out according to their ideas. The research methodology is further broken down into
other components, which are detailed below:
Research Approach: The research methodology is a method for helping the researcher
in properly testing hypotheses and theories. The type of data acquired by the researcher is used to
evaluate the hypothesis and theories. They are divided into two categories: deductive approach
and inductive approach. The idea is evaluated using a deductive approach based on quantitative
evidence. The inductive technique, on the other hand, uses qualitative data to assess theories. The
researcher employed a logical strategy in this investigation (Hutt and Speh, 2021). The benefit of
using it is that it will evaluate current hypotheses rather than creating new ones. It also makes it
easier for researchers to understand the relationships between variables.
Research Strategy: A research plan is a step-by-step method that guides the
investigator's ideas and thoughts so that correct data may be obtained. This also assists the
researcher in carrying out the investigation in a methodical manner. Surveys, systematic
literature reviews, action research, case studies, and a variety of other methodologies are utilised
to gather data. In this study, the researcher has used a survey research strategy (Huynh and et. al,
2018). The key advantage is that it will assist in the collection of large amounts of data. This
strategy allows the investigator to contact a larger population in a single session. It is also one of
the most cost-effective strategies for gathering data, according to the theory.
Research philosophy: It is a collection of ideas and beliefs that describe the type of
information that must be gathered and analysed in relation to the topic. Positivism and
interpretivism are the two categories of research philosophy. Interpretivism looks at qualitative
data while positivism looks at objective data. The positivist philosophy was chosen by the
researcher in this study (Säfsten and Gustavsson, 2020). It was chosen since it will analyse
quantitative data in a generalised style. It also gives the researcher valuable freedom to collect

large amounts of data where they see fit. Another advantage is that it displays the trend and
pattern of employee motivation, which aids the organisation in raising staff morale.
Research choice: The researcher can choose between quantitative and qualitative research
methods. Quantitative research is information presented in the form of numbers and figures.
Qualitative research is described as data that is expressed in words and statements. Quantitative
data is being used to perform the investigation in the current case (Thomas, 2021). The benefit of
doing so is that it allows business to collect numerical data in less time and at a lower cost.
Another advantage is that gathering numerical data from a huge population is much easier, and
accuracy can be maintained adequately. The researcher can easily count and measure this
information.
Time horizon: It's the timeline that displays how much time was spent gathering useful
information. It's split into two sections: cross-sectional and longitudinal. The framework with a
cross-sectional time horizon is one that obtains information in a shorter amount of time (Fidahic
and et. al, 2020). A longitudinal time framework, on the other hand, collects data over a longer
period of time. The research uses a cross-sectional time horizon in accordance with existing
topic. The advantage is that it will collect data according to the scenario and can collect data
from various factors.
Research Tools
Data collection: The process of gathering reliable data for a study is known as data
collecting. The two types of data sources are primary and secondary. Primary data is information
collected directly from the source by the researcher. This is new information that was collected
directly from the respondent without any judgement (Gribbin, 2019). Interviews, questionnaires,
and other methods of collecting primary data are some of methods available. Secondary data, on
the other hand, is information that has been acquired by someone else but is used by a large
number of individuals (McKenzie, 2021). Books, journals, web sites, articles, and other
secondary data sources are only a few examples. Both primary and secondary data collection
methods are used in this study. The data analysis section uses primary data, whereas the
literature review component uses secondary data. The questionnaire was used to collect primary
data, and the online portal was utilised to collect secondary data.
Data analysis: The scientific process of inspecting, organizing, and interpreting raw data
is known as data analysis. This strategy extracts important information from raw data in order to

accurately achieve the goal and purpose. The two data analysis tools are frequency distribution
and thematic. Thematic measures non-numerical information and frequency distribution analyses
numerical data (Ribeiro-Navarrete, Saura, and Palacios-Marqués, 2021). The frequency
distribution approach was chosen by the researcher in this study. The reason for this is that it will
make evaluating quantitative data easier. When compared to thematic, this strategy is relatively
simple to use. Graphs, tables, and charts are used to display the information.
Sampling: Sampling is the process of extracting a sample from a big group of people.
Probability sampling and non-probability sampling are the two types of sampling. Probability
sampling is utilised in this study because it gives each participant an equal chance of being
chosen. (Hutchison, 2020). The sample size for this study is 30 employees from Marks &
Spencer.
CONCLUSION
From the above research it has been analysed that advertisement is one the of important
activity which should be practice by the company in order to promote their products and services
to large number of audience. Through they can enhance their business productivity level by
increasing the overall production because the enhancement of demand and services made by
their customers regarding their products and services. Furthermore the chosen organisation is
report is Marks and spencers which is one of the most famous fashion retail brand across the
globe. Later on, in this report study of various philosophers related to the concept, role and
importance related to advertisement are included in this report.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Chang, Y., Wang, X. and Arnett, D.B., 2018. Enhancing firm performance: The role of brand
orientation in business-to-business marketing. Industrial Marketing Management, 72,
pp.17-25.
Davankova, V.A., 2020. ADVERTISING TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS. In Colloquium-
journal (No. 9-6, pp. 50-50). Голопристанський міськрайонний центр зайнятості=
Голопристанский районный центр занятости.
De Canio, F. and Fuentes-Blasco, M., 2021. I need to touch it to buy it! How haptic information
influences consumer shopping behavior across channels. Journal of Retailing and
Consumer Services, 61, p.102569.
del Mar García‐De los Salmones, M. and Perez, A., 2018. Effectiveness of CSR advertising: The
role of reputation, consumer attributions, and emotions. Corporate Social Responsibility
and Environmental Management, 25(2), pp.194-208.
Dobscha, S., 2019. Handbook of research on gender and marketing. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Feschenko, E., 2019. The role of advertising in the system of integrated marketing
communications.
Gribbin, D., 2019. The Role And Application Of Advertising. In Business in Japan (pp. 68-76).
Routledge.
Hackley, C. and Hackley, R.A., 2021. Advertising and promotion. Sage.
Hänninen, M., Kwan, S.K. and Mitronen, L., 2021. From the store to omnichannel retail: looking
back over three decades of research. The International Review of Retail, Distribution
and Consumer Research, 31(1), pp.1-35.
Hutt, M.D. and Speh, T.W., 2021. Business marketing management: B2B. South-Western,
Cengage Learning.
Jiang, Z., Dan, W. and Jie, L., 2020. Distinct role of targeting precision of Internet-based
targeted advertising in duopolistic e-business firms’ heterogeneous consumers
market. Electronic Commerce Research, 20(2), pp.453-474.
Kim, J.S., 2020. National Culture and Advertising Sensitivity to Business Cycles: A
Reexamination. Journal of International Marketing, 28(4), pp.41-57.
McKenzie, B., Burt, S. and Dukeov, I., 2018. Introduction to the special issue: technology in
retailing. Baltic Journal of Management.
Moliner-Velázquez, B., Fuentes-Blasco, M. and Gil-Saura, I., 2019. Effects of value and
innovation on brand equity in retailing. Journal of Brand Management, 26(6), pp.658-
674.
Mousavi, S.M. and Naami, A., 2018. The mediating role of the brand preference in bank
advertising and brand loyalty. Revista Publicando, 5(15 (2)), pp.858-875.
Nyambane, M.S. and Muiruri, P.M., 2021. Role of Advertising Strategies on Product
Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Rwanda: A Case of Rwaspices Ltd. Journal of
Marketing and Communication, 4(2), pp.21-26.