The Role of Social Media as a PR Tool - Research Proposal Example

The Role of Social Media as a PR Tool: The Case of VIVA Telecommunication Bahrain Introduction This study explores the importance of social media as a public relations tool in VIVA Telecommunications’ business strategy, particularly in terms of raising awareness of the organization in Bahrain and achieving competitive advantage. The company is relatively new having been launched in 2010. It is positioning itself as a provider of fresh and innovative approach to mobile telecommunications services (VIVA 2014). It is also contending with fierce competition from BATELCO and Zain Bahrain. Social media is expected to figure prominently in VIVA Telecommunications ability to articulate the messages and the initiatives that would enable the company to achieve its organizational objectives, particularly in introducing the organization and its initiatives as well as its products and services. The choice of the social media platform as a component of the public relation strategy for VIVA is based on strong grounds. It does not only bring together friends, families, colleagues and acquaintances together but also strangers in remarkable number through its networking characteristic (CIPR, p. 3). It is important to note that, in Bahrain, Internet is available to 961,228 users or about 77% of the entire population (IWS 2014). The statistics place the country as a regional Internet leader, besting most countries in the Middle East in terms of subscription, usage and freedom of access. This underpins how the social media enjoys strong popularity in the country, figuring prominently in recent upheavals such as the 2013 unrest (Khalifa & Bennett 2013). Depending on the point of view, such role could be positive or negative. But, for the purposes of this paper, this role is most certainly beneficial. It highlights the potency of social media as a communication tool and its ability to persuade or influence VIVA’s market to action. This proposal is divided into four parts: the objectives of the study, the literature review, methodology and the method of analysis. The first section outlines four proposed research goals. The literature review section cites and analyzes the available sources that cover the theoretical and empirical work on social media and its capability as public relations tool. The materials used include secondary and primary sources, consisted of documents published by the organization as well as books, journals and online content. The Methodology section proposes the use of a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches to the study. It includes proposed techniques in the data gathering and data analysis such as face to face interview, focus group interview and a survey. Finally, the method of analysis proposes the use of the qualitative the technique called thematic analysis with the factor analysis model as an alternative. This proposal also cites several ethical issues and how the researcher intends to address them. Objective of the study For the purpose of the study, the following goals will be pursued: Outline the definition of social media and explore its theoretical model; Explain how social media can be used as a PR tool, including specific techniques and cases to support it; Identify challenges, limitations and future trends in the context of VIVA’s PR strategy and organizational objectives; Analyze the social media strategy of competitors such as BATELCO and Zain; and, Develop or recommend a public relations model or strategy for VIVA based on social media platform. Literature Review As a relatively new development, there are still few prior studies – at least those backed by empirical evidences – that investigate social media in the marketing context. This is given the fact that this practice is widely adapted by companies today not just in their marketing and public relations initiatives but also as part of the general business strategy. For general insights on social media and how it can be applied to public relations and business strategy, Lardi and Fuchs (2013) provided enough materials to satisfy theoretical requirements. For instance, they developed the Social Media Framework, which is made up of stages that are designed to enhance and complement an organization’s commercial objectives. Their work also offered the principles behind social media and its marketing strategy derivatives. Lardi and Fuchs offered the analogy, for example, while this study should be classified as a social media strategy, one wherein the platform contributes to business goals or addresses challenges as opposed to a simple social media marketing strategy, with the sole focus of marketing a product or a service (p. 19). There are also several studies that involved qualitative analyses of cases such as Drury (2008), who explored the viral videos phenomenon and how marketing could capitalize on this content. There are also Fraser and Dutta (2008) and Zimmerman and Shalin (2010). The former focused on several campaigns involving social media for marketing and branding purposes. Excellent case studies include in-depth analyses of Procter and Gamble’s “Miss Irresistible” campaign, a social media campaign developed to promote Crest toothpaste. Zimmerman and Shalin focused on MySpace. Their documented several success stories of individuals and organizations that used the platform for marketing purposes. All these works contribute to a growing literature that gradually depict social media as a highly complex phenomenon, diversified by demographics variables, lifestyle profiles, social characteristics and other factors and issues. A problem cited in literature regarding social media-based marketing or PR initiatives involve the amount of data. Anderson’s research highlighted this when he coined the term “information challenges”, which referred to the sheer number of users and the data they generate, which could prove gargantuan to analyze just so practitioners could discover market desires, motivations and behavior. Building on this subject, Brennan and Schafer (2010) developed a way to address challenges entailed with social media-generated data. They pointed to the capabilities of predictive softwares and CRMs to automate the process. Golden (2010) in her work, contributed further in this vein when she attempted to classify research areas so that there is some form of system in the manner by which researchers and academics explore the social media research theme. Materials available that specifically explore the link between social media and public relations include those works by Wright and Hinson (2008), Eyrich et al. (2008) and Curtis et al., (2010). The first two studies were qualitative investigations with the aim of determining expectations such as from organizations and public relation practitioners. This mapped out the general attitude of organizations and decision makers with regards to social media-based PR strategy/campaign. An important aspect in these literature is the favorable impression of these stakeholders, which indicates an actual experience of efficacy or success in campaigns within the organization. The research conducted by Curtis et al., offered better insights to this study because it investigated the adoption of social media of nonprofit organizations for public relations. It is quite specific because the research subjects are NGOs, with clearly defined goals. This work, however, did not include empirical results that would shed light to the question whether social media has quantified impact on specific public relations campaigns. All in all, the body of literature is focused on theorizing about the social media phenomenon. Even in the moral general contexts of marketing and business strategy, the evidences are more about perceptions, expectations and not about tangible positive outcomes. The information available, however, is extremely helpful to this study because the objective is to rationalize a public relation strategy for VIVA Telecommunications that is based on social media. Methodology This study will employ both qualitative and quantitative method of research. First, an exploratory interview will be conducted with VIVA Telecommunications’ CEO. An alternative to this interview is a focus group interview involving the CEO with the team involved with public relations or marketing in the organization. A structured interview will be developed to guide a roundtable discussion. A question will be asked and each participant is allowed to respond to the question as well as to each other’s response. This researcher will encourage a conversation only referring to the structured questions to guide where it is going. The result from the focus group interview will form an integral part of the discussion, findings and recommendations of this study. But – along with a comprehensive literature review - it will also inform the development of the survey questionnaire. The literature review will include the mentioned resources in this proposal, as well as other texts from journals, books and the documents made available from VIVA Telecommunications. The survey will have a target population of 50-100 public relations/marketing practitioners as respondents. All the respondents are based in Bahrain, all members of Bahrain Public Relations Association. The sampling method will follow Hall’s probability sampling model wherein a respondent is considered as a sampling frame in order to determine the list of volunteers. The sampling method will be undertaken “by reference to a table of random numbers or generated by a computer using a random number generator” (cited in Poggie, DeWalt and Dressler 1992). Method of Analysis The methods of analyses are varied considering the fact that the study will use both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. For the interviews, for instance, the cognitive interview test method is employed. This entails recorded clarifications and the repeat of questions and answers. According to Fink et al. (2009, p.71), this method shows problems, differences in interpretation, ambiguous questioning and lack of information. A review of the interviews within this qualitative model is expected to reveal a clearer and more accurate data from the interviews, including certain information that cannot be revealed in quantitative analysis such as the confidence rating, response latency and other variables that may be gathered using thematic codes. The data gathered from the survey will be analyzed qualitatively. The descriptive statistical analysis will be employed on the assessment of literature. Then either a factor or thematic method of analysis will be used for the questionnaire data. The former model entails the collection of evidences from the quantitative data and puts them in a logical sequence, which then allows for the visual illustration of causes and effects (Reese, 2002, p. 105). Thematic analysis, on the other hand, will segment the data into “thought units” or codes so that themes and their significance are identified (Nilson, 2009, p. 233). This study will ensure that the research investigation and methods conform with ethical standards. Specifically, in order to avoid bias or abuse in the use of collective several ethical principles will be followed. The most important of these is the guarantee of confidentiality and the privacy of the respondents. This researcher will make sure that the respondents are informed about the nature of the research and how the data to be collected will be used. This researcher will also take pains to protect the data gathered and, if possible, maximize their- and the research process’ positive impact. References Clark, P 2010, Stormy Skies. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited. CIPR 2012, Share This: The Social Media Handbook for PR Professionals. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Curtis, L, Edwards, C, Fraser, K, Gudelsky, S, Holmquist, J, Thornton, K and Sweetser, K, Adoption of social media for public relations by nonprofit organizations. Public Relations Review, vol. 36, 2010, pp.90-92. Eyrich, N, Padman, M and Sweetser, K 2008, PR practitioners’ use of social media tools and communication technology. Public Relations Review, vol. 34, 2008, pp. 412-414. Fink, A, Lausen, B, Seidel, W and Ultsch, A 2009, Advances in Data Analysis, Data Handling and Business Intelligence. Berlin: Springer. Internet World Stats (IWS) 2014, Middle East: Bahrain. IWS. Available from < http://www.internetworldstats.com/middle.htm> [24 February 2014]. Khalifa, R and Bennett, D 2013, Bahrain on edge ahead of opposition-called protest. USA Today. Available from [23 February 2014]. Lardi, K and Fuchs, R 2013, Social Media Strategy. Zurich: vdf Hochschulverlag AG. Nilson, L 2009, To Improve the Academy: Resources for Faculty, Instructional, and Organizational Development. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Poggie, J, DeWalt, B and Dressler, W 1992, Anthropological research: process and application. New York: SUNY Press. Reese, C 2002, Accident/Incident Prevention Techniques. London: CRC Press. Solis, B and Breakenridge, D 2009, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press. VIVA 2014, VIVA: About Us. Viva Telecommunications. Available from http://www.viva.com.bh/node/66. [24 February 2014]. Wright, D and Hinson, M 2008, How Blogs and Social Media are Changing Public Relations and the Way it is Practiced. Public Relations Journal, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 1-21. Read More