Research Report: Impact of Social Media on ALDI's Performance

This report examines the impact of social media on business performance, using ALDI as a case study. The research begins by establishing the aims and objectives, which include identifying the impact of digital technology and social media on human lives and business. The research methodology employs a qualitative approach, utilizing interpretivism philosophy and an inductive approach. Data collection methods include interviews, questionnaires, and surveys, with both primary and secondary data sources. The report analyzes data on social media platform usage, time spent on social media, and the effectiveness of social media for ALDI. The findings reveal insights into consumer behavior and social media's influence on business performance, concluding with a discussion on validity and a reflective log.

Research skills

Table of Contents
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Aims and objectives of the research project...............................................................................3
Research Methodology................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
Conducting the research .............................................................................................................6
Data analysis...............................................................................................................................8
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
Presentation of research findings..............................................................................................10
Validity of research outcomes...................................................................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
Reflective log............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

TASK 1
Aims and objectives of the research project.
Background: Digital technology has played a huge role in the incessant growth and
progress of human lives. Digital technology has affected every industry be it financial,
manufacturing, education, agriculture and even education. Another by-product of digital
technology has been social media. The introduction of social media changed the way how people
communicate and behave with each other. Social media has played a key role when it comes to
shaping business performance, education, careers, culture, political campaigns and more. Social
media has became an important tool for business marketing and its promotion. The biggest
advantage of using social media as a platform to promote and sell products is its reduced
marketing costs. Also, it has helped the companies to reach a wider audience and then identify
their potential customers. Nowadays, almost all the multi national companies use social media to
enhance their business performance. (Buinac and Lundberg, 2015).
Aim: “To examine impact of social media on firm’s performance: A study on ALDI”
Objectives:
 To identify the concept of digital technology and its impact on human lives.
 To analyse the effectiveness of social media and its drawbacks.
 To identify the relationship between use of social media and its impact on the
performance of business.
Research questions:
 What is the concept of digital technology and how has it impacted human lives?
 How is social media effective and what are its drawbacks?
 What is the relationship between social media and its impact on the business
performance?
Scope: Social media has impacted the performance of a business in one ways than
another. It not only acts as a tool for marketing and promotion for a business but now it has
become a strong platform for various companies to display and sell their products. Social media
services like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube acts like a potential market for both
online buyers and sellers. Another major benefit is that it grants global access to businesses
which means a wider audience to display products to. Day by day, the digital media just keeps on

getting bigger and better. Therefore, it can be said that social media will help businesses to grow
more effectively and efficiently in the near future.
Research Methodology
Research methodology can be determined as a tool which is being used by a business for
making its decisions. It is a specific procedure that is used to identify, select, process and analyse
the Information about a particular topic. Research methodology includes several aspects that
consists of surveys, interviews, publication research and several research techniques which can
include historic and present information both in order to create a research. It have several tools
that includes research philosophy, research approach, research design, data collection, sampling,
data analysis and a ethical consideration. This is tool which can help in determine the impact of
social media on business performance. (Mohajan, 2018)
Research Methods
There are basically two types of research methods which consist of qualitative and
quantitative method. Present research is based on qualitative method of research. It is a type of
research which is primarily exploratory research, that is being used to gain an understanding of
underlying motivation, reasons and opinions. It is based on actual facts and figures which can be
also used in developing ideas and hypothesis for a potential quantitative research. In this
research, researcher has used this method because it is based on actual facts and figures and not
on hypothesis.
Research Philosophy
It refers to the way in which data about phenomenon should be gathered, analysed and
used. There are majorly two types of philosophies which includes Interpretivism and positivism.
Interpretivism is a philosophy which is based on naturalistic approach of data collection that
includes aspects like interviews and observations of significant samples. This philosophy is
usually used with qualitative method of research as they are based on actual facts and figures.
This research is based on Interpretivism philosophy which can be used to determine the influence
of social on performance of a business. (Wu and et.al., 2017).
Research Approach

It is a procedure which consist of the steps of broad assumptions to a detailed method of
collection of data, analysis and interpretation. There are mainly two types of research approach
that comprises of inductive and deductive approach of conducting a research. In the present
research, researcher has used inductive approach which involves learners detection that helps in
easy analysing of qualitative data that leads to reliable and significant findings. This approach is
being used by the researcher because it is based on actual facts and figures which helps to
determine valid findings for analysing the impact of social media on performance of a business.
Research Design
It refers to the framework of methods and techniques that are being chosen by the
researcher fro combining various components of research in a reasonably logical manner which
helps in determining the valid findings. There are two main types of research designs that are
descriptive and exploratory designs. Descriptive research design is a scientific method of
research that involves observing and describing the behaviour of a sample without influencing
the sample in any way. In the present research, descriptive design is being used for determining
the influence of social media on business performance.
Data Collection
It can be described as the method of collecting and measuring information on targeted
variables in an established system that allows an individual to answer relevant questions and
evaluating the outcomes from gathered information. There are two methods of collecting the data
that includes primary and secondary methods of data collection. For conducting this research,
researcher has used both the methods of data collection so that valid outcomes can be made and
determine the impact of social media on performance of a business.
Sampling
It refers to procedure which is used in statistical analysis in which observations take place
of a predetermined number of samples. There are several methods of sampling, while in the
present research random sampling method is being used by the researcher. Random sampling is a
method in which samples are being selected by chance which reduces the chances of bias in
choosing the samples as all the individuals are given a equal chance to be opted. In the present
report 20 samples are being used for analysing the data.

Data Analysis
It refers to the process in which data is being evaluated with the help of analytical and
statistical tools for discovering useful information and helps in making the decisions in a
business. There are several methods of analysing data, while in the present research, researcher
has used thematic method of analysing data. Thematic analysis is used with qualitative method
of research, this is being used by the researcher so that valid outcomes can be made and
determination of influence of social media on business performance can be done.
Ethical Consideration
Ethical consideration can be refers to the norms and standards for conducting the research
are right or wrong. Present research is being done originally by the researcher without forcing
any of the samples to answer in favour of researcher. (Laudon and Traver, 2016).
TASK 2
Conducting the research
It is imperative to collect data and information in order to conduct research. The data can
be collected through primary or secondary sources.[Conducting the research. 2017],
<https://libguides.wustl.edu/research> Selection of source entirely depends on the objective of
research study. (Jones, Borgman and Ulusoy, 2015).
Primary data: It is the data collected originally by the researcher. The researcher personally
collects the information as per their preference. Primary data is more reliable as compared to
secondary data but it is more expensive and time consuming. Methods for collection of primary
data are
 Interviews: The researcher in order to get detailed information about the impact of social
media on business, conducts in-depth interviews with its target audience that helps him to
get accurate and original information. With the help of interviews, the researcher also
receives some additional information that he might not be looking for but is productive to
him.
 Questionnaire: A questionnaire is another important research tool that helps the
researcher in getting all the potential information from the respondents. The researcher
collects the potential information from the company's manager in order to identify the

impact of social media on businesses performance. The researcher has used questionnaire
as a source of primary data for conducting his study.
 Surveys: Surveys are an important tool for collecting information from a given
population. This gives the researcher a complete information regarding the opinion of a
population. (Iankova and et.al., 2018.)
Merits of Primary data
 The degree of accuracy in primary data is very high because the researcher himself
collects the information which gives him freedom to gather some additional data as well.
 The information collected through primary data is very relevant and authentic mainly
because it is collected at the time of research itself.
Demerits of Primary data
 Collection of primary data can be a lengthy process. It not only consumes a lot of time
but also requires huge expenditure as well.
 The researcher needs to have expertise in collection of primary data. He must have the
adequate skills and knowledge that are imperative for collection of primary data.
Secondary data: The secondary data is a data which is collected by someone else but it serves
the purpose for researcher's project. It is already available and there is no specific method to
collect secondary data. It can be collected from various sources like
 Business journals: The business journals can be an important source of secondary data for
researcher as he can find complete information related to his topic 'impact of social media
on business' in various journals and reports.
 Internet: Internet is a wide place and it can help the researcher in finding several data
related to the concerned topic. The information available online can be productive and
useful for the researcher. Moreover, it is very easily available and it saves researcher's
time and efforts. (Sarlis and et.al., 2017).
Merits of secondary data
 There is a lot of information available through secondary data. Moreover, it is also
beneficial for the researcher as it becomes easy for them to collect data that has already
been published.
 In some topics, the data can be collected only through secondary sources. In such
situation it becomes essential for the researcher to collect secondary data.

Limitations of secondary data
 Secondary data lacks authenticity. Sometimes the researcher fails to identify the actual
author of the article or a report. Also, sometimes the secondary data available is too old
and therefore it loses its relevancy. (Godey and et.al., 2016. )
Data analysis
Theme 1: Social media platform used by consumers
Facebook 10
Twitter 6
Instagram 2
YouTube 2
Interpretation: From the above study, it can be interpreted that out of the four most powerful
social media tools, nearly half of the people use Facebook the most followed by six people using
Twitter while there are equal number of users for both Instagram and YouTube. Therefore,
Facebook can be the most productive for company's success.
Theme 2: Number of hours spent on Social media in a week
Less than 2 hours 4
Between 5-6 hours 6

Between 6-10 hours 8
More than 10 hours 2
Interpretation: From the above table, the researcher has analysed that majority of the people
spent around six to ten hours on social media sites every week while only two people spent more
than ten hours a week on social media. Hence, the company can be rest assured that people do
use social media for more than an hour every day.
Theme 3: Did ALDI company informed people about its products and services through social
media sites.
Strongly agree 10
agree 4
disagree 4
Strongly disagree 2

Interpretation: The researcher interpreted that majority of the people found about the company's
products and services through social media platforms. Only a handful people did not found out
about the company through social media. Thus, the company can increase its presence on social
media sites in order to increase its market share.
Theme 4: Does people's buying behaviour gets influenced by reviews received on social media
Yes 12
Not 2
Not sure 6

Interpretation: From the above table it can be interpreted that reviews and feedback on
social media does affect consumer's buying behaviour mainly because twelve out of twenty
people voted for this. Only two people stated that it doesn't affect their behaviour. Hence, it is
imperative for ALDI company to provide good quality products in order to receive positive
reviews and feedback.
Theme 5: Is the conversation made through social sites satisfactory?
Yes 7
No 7
Not sure 6
Interpretation: The interpretation made through the following study is that conversations and
interactions made by the company towards its potential customers are satisfactory to just seven
people while the other thirteen are either confused or not in agreement.
Theme 6: Does ALDI company gives satisfactory response on the questions raised ?
Yes 14
NoMohajan, H.K., 2018 6
Interpretation: The above table interprets that the company does give satisfactory response to its
customers as stated by fourteen people. Although, the other six people do not agree with the

same therefore the ALDI company has not been completely successfully in providing
satisfactory response and they must improve it to get 100 percent positive results.
Theme 7: Do you agree that comparison can be done through social media sites?
Strongly agree 8
agree 6
disagree 2
Strongly disagree 4
Interpretation: From the above table, it can be interpreted that majority of the people agree with
the fact that social media does play an important role in comparing different products and
services of different companies which is obvious because majority of the people are aware about
the latest happenings through social media and it is a potential tool for comparison.
TASK 3
Presentation of research findings
The above study has helped the researcher in finding out that social media does play an
important role when it comes to promoting a business or expanding it. The researcher
successfully found out that people use Facebook the most as a potential tool for purchasing
goods and services. Majority of the people spent 6 to 8 hours a week on social media which
means that an average person uses social media for an hour every single day. This is a good news