Marketing and Management: Amazon CRM Analysis Report

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of Amazon's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies, employing a deductive approach and interpretivism as the research philosophy. The study utilizes secondary data, focusing on company websites, peer-reviewed journals, and articles to examine CRM techniques and their impact on customer behavior. The research framework is based on Saunders' research onion, including a descriptive research design and qualitative methods, and employs a cross-sectional study to investigate the subject within a 14-week timeframe. The report examines the effects of CRM on consumer risk aversion and the development of innovative products. The findings indicate that Amazon's CRM strategies reduce consumer risk aversion and foster customer-centric innovation. The analysis highlights the importance of understanding customer needs through continuous interaction and feedback, which gives Amazon a competitive edge in the e-commerce sector. The report also discusses limitations, ethical considerations, and the overall success of Amazon in the global e-commerce market, emphasizing the importance of CRM in maintaining strong customer relationships.

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Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This chapter provides a detailed analysis of the overall research process used in
the study. It consists of the methods, approaches and theoretical frameworks used to
develop the overall process of data collection. In this study, Saunders research onion
has been chosen as the framework for designing the overall process of the research
(Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). This research has chosen a deductive approach
and interpretivism as the research philosophy. The study focuses on collecting
secondary data for performing qualitative analysis. As per the time horizon in the
research, cross sectional study has been used as the data has been collected only
once.
3.2 Research Approaches
3.2.1 Deductive Approach
The research approach considers two aspects in the study, one is data and
another is logical reasoning. The logical reasoning aspect determines whether a
deductive approach or inductive approach is suitable for the study. In this study, a
deductive approach has been chosen as the method for evaluating the data gathered. A
deductive approach moves towards specific results from general observations. It implies
that a top down approach has been chosen in this research(Gaur and Kumar 2018).
Initially, theories have been identified based on the customer relationship management
and these theories are narrowed down to develop hypothesis. These hypotheses have
been evaluated using the deductive approach where the deductive approach has
facilitated in understanding the difference in the arguments presented by past authors
and the results identified from the current literature synthesis.
3.2.2 Interpretive
Research philosophy has been described as the process of developing
knowledge based on the assumptions, values and beliefs made in the study. Research
process consists of assumptions at every stage of the study which determines the

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direction of the research. These assumptions determine the way objectives are realised
in the study. These assumptions can be divided into epistemology, ontology and
axiology (Adcock 2015). Epistemology deals with the assumptions regarding human
knowledge, axiology considers the role of personal values and beliefs on the process of
the research and finally, ontology evaluates the realities identified along with their
nature while developing the research design. Credibility of a research philosophy
depends on the consistency of the research process which facilitates in improving the
interpretation of the findings and understanding of the research question. However,
developing and understanding one’s own research philosophy requires significant
knowledge of reflexivity which helps in questioning one’s own thoughts and actions. In
this study, interpretivism has been chosen as the research philosophy which is a
critique of positivist position in terms of subjective approach. In case of interpretivism,
human beings are considered separate entities from physical phenomena. Human
beings can create meanings and these meanings are studied in interpretivism.
Interpretivism has been developed based on the theories of symbolic
interactionism, phenomenology and hermeneutics. It argues that it is not possible to
comprehend human beings and social worlds using similar methods used for physical
phenomena. It implies a relative distinction is required between the studies conducted
between social sciences and natural sciences. This philosophical stance states that
people come different cultural backgrounds at different times which results in dissimilar
meanings so unlike positivist approach, every aspect of social sciences cannot be
generalised using universal laws (Adcock 2015). Organisations are complex in nature
due to the diverse nature of workforce and consumer experience different things in
different ways. Therefore, interpretivism addresses this complexity to understand the
perspective of each individual differently. In this study, interpretivism has been chosen
as the research philosophy as it facilitates in performing subjective study where a
detailed analysis of different aspects of customer relationship management can be
evaluated. Moreover, as the study focuses on understanding the phenomenon and
describe it in detail, subjectivism addresses different perspectives and provides better
results.

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3.3 Research Onion
Research onion has been proposed by Saunders which has divided the
framework into six stages consisting of philosophical stance, approach, design, time
horizon, sampling and choice. These stages help in developing an effective research
methodology which can collect relevant data analyse it (Saunders et al. 2015). These
layers of the research onion are sequential in nature which helps in studying particular
objectives. It consists of the different framework, instruments and methods used to
develop an effective research methodology. In this study, the research has chosen
interpretivism as the philosophical position as it facilitates in performing a subjective
study. In terms of approach, a deductive approach has been chosen as it helps in
testing the existing theories stated in the literature review section. In terms of research
design, the study has chosen a descriptive research design which focuses on explaining
the phenomenon in detail (Saunders et al. 2015). Descriptive research design also
facilitates in using a case study analysis which provides a detailed analysis of the
research context. In terms of research method, the study has chosen a qualitative
research method which focuses on describing the factors instead of performing
statistical analysis. Therefore, factors such as attitude, opinion, and behaviour can be
subjectively assessed using qualitative methods. This study has chosen a mono method
where qualitative research method has been chosen to evaluate the given case study.
This study uses a cross sectional study as the time horizon for the study is fixed and
consist of 14 weeks.
3.4 Data collection (Primary Research or Secondary research)
There are mainly two types of data collection method primary and secondary but
the study focuses on using secondary data. As the study is time bound and has to be
completed within 14 weeks, it is not possible to conduct interviews or survey. Therefore,
the study has focused on collecting secondary data from company websites, peer
reviewed journals, articles and web articles (Palinkas et al. 2015). The study has
followed a thematic analysis and case study analysis where data has been collected
from secondary sources based on themes. These themes are evaluated by identifying
the pattern within the data collected from different journals. Amazon has been chosen

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as the case study in the research so the majority of the focus will be on journals and
web articles on customer relationship management in Amazon.
3.5 Justification of the approach
The study has focused on using secondary data collection method instead of the
primary data collection method as primary data collection is time consuming and has
high cost associated with it. On the other hand, secondary data is collected from
government reports, web information, academic journals and articles which is relatively
easier to access in the study. The cost of collecting secondary data is low and majority
of the data sources are free. Moreover, it saves a lot of time as the current study has a
span of only 14 weeks (Johnston 2017). The sample size for secondary sources are
larger and new insights can be generated from previous analysis. However, secondary
is not specific to the needs of the study and the data has to be filtered to obtained that is
mainly relevant to the study. Furthermore, there is lack of control on the quality of the
data as it has been collected by other personnel and as it is written from the perspective
of another personnel, it may result in bias. Moreover, secondary data collected may be
out of date so in order to ensure high quality of the data all the data collected has been
taken from journals and web articles published after 2015.
3.6 Hypothesis
H01: CRM does not have any significant effect on risk averseness of the consumers in
Amazon
H11: CRM reduces the risk averse behaviour of the consumers in Amazon and helps
them in taking a realistic approach
H02: CRM does not any impact on developing innovative and meaningful products
H12: CRM has positive impact on developing innovative and meaningful products and
guides Amazon to remain customer centric
The first hypothesis is based on the Traditional Function Risk Theory which aims
to understand the relationship between CRM and its impact on the risk averseness of
the consumers. Consumers always want to reduce the amount of risk they face

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significantly so CRM can be used to provide them with ideal choices which reduces their
risk factor. Even though, various authors have provided positive opinion regarding this
theory but contradictory statements and arguments have been presented. On the other
hand, the second hypothesis aims to measure whether CRM can be used to new
innovative products or not. Some authors suggest being consumer centric results in
better understanding of consumer requirements which further helps in developing
technologies to address the gap in the market.
3.7 Limitations
The major limitation of the study is that secondary data analysis has been used
and the time span of the study is 14 weeks. Therefore, the study unable to conduct
interview or survey. The study required primary data analysis to improve the quality of
the data collected and perform a mixed method analysis (Saunders et al. 2015). The
use of primary data will help in performing both statistical analysis and qualitative coding
for developing better results in the study. Moreover, study required a use of sequential
explanatory research which would provide better results. The study required more time
and budget to develop better results which can be addressed in future studies.
3.8 Ethical Consideration
The study has adhered to the guidelines provides the university and followed the
data protection act of 1998. In this study, as only secondary data has been collected so
there is no requirement for anonymity and privacy. However, the study has avoided the
three cardinal sins of research: plagiarism, fabrication and falsification (Saunders et al.
2015). The data collected consists of citations of the authors so that credit is given to
them for their contribution to the study. None of the data collected has been
manipulated or has been omitted to achieve the desired result in the study.
3.9 Time Allocation
This is a cross sectional study and the overall time span of the study is 14 weeks.
A cross sectional study has been used due to the shortage of time and the budget
constraints of the research project (Saunders et al. 2015).

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4.0 Findings and Analysis from the hypothesis
The analysis of the findings suggests that CRM reduces the risk averse
behaviour of the consumers in Amazon and helps them in taking a realistic approach.
CRM provides better interaction with the consumers which helps the consumers in
making better choices. The consumers are able to avoid the risk by interacting with the
company and choose the product that cater to their personal needs in the market.
Similarly, CRM has positive impact on developing innovative and meaningful products
and guides Amazon to remain customer centric. The customer centric approach of
Amazon helps the consumers in choosing products that are solely focused on
addressing the market gap. The company can easily predict the needs of the
consumers and develop personalised products to address their specific needs.
Customer relationship marketing has been used as a tool by Amazon to improve the
quality of the service offered by them.
5.0 Conclusion
The secondary analysis of the data collected has been successful in addressing
the objective of the study. The study has conducted an in-depth analysis on the
customer relationship marketing strategies to understand the arguments presented by
different authors in the past. The use of customer relationship marketing in Amazon has
been analysed effectively and the results suggest that feedback from the consumers
and continuous interaction helps the company in understanding the present needs and
possible future needs. It helps the company in gaining competitive advantage in the
ecommerce segment. The analysis of the success of Amazon showed that Amazon is
the market leader in the ecommerce segment and the company holds the majority of the
share in the global market. Therefore, in the near future the organisations are expected
to improve the quality of their CRM approaches to maintain healthy relationship with
their respective consumers. Amazon need to develop new strategies for engaging their
consumers effectively which would further improve the quality of the service offered by
them. Moreover, the consumer should focus on consumer journey map to provide better
service at all touch points.

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References
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