Social Media Advertising - Research Proposal Example

Social Media Advertising 1.0 Title Efficacy of Social Media Advertising in relation to Mainstream Media Advertising 2.0 Research Questions i. HOW social media can impact businesses? ii. WHY businesses choose to use social media advertisement? 3.0 Literature Review Wright, Khanfar, Harrington, and Kizer (2010) conducted a research to establish the extent to which the effects of social media trends last on advertising. They found that most Americans are bombarded with numerous advertisements everyday thus making them unresponsive to conventional modes of advertisement. Mass advertisements such as television and billboards consume millions of dollars yet consumers ignore them more often. In this respect, the researchers explored holistic marketing concepts where they assessed the longevity of social media marketing trends on consumers. Specifically, the scholars explored social media opportunities, trends, and mobile marketing in regards to the potential impact of such trends on advertising. Since social media has revolutionized way of life of most people, especially the Americans, it also provides the best marketing platforms that last longer in consumers’ minds than mass media advertising. Indeed, the authors reiterate that social media trends evolve continually and advertisements in this platform can have lasting effects on the social media users. Wittenberg (2009) conducted an interview with Leon Wittenberg to get his views on the possibility of social media in building a global market. Since Leon Wittenberg is a consultant at Sogo, which is a social media consultancy company, his experts were considered professional and well informed in the study. One of the major questions that the researcher sought to be answered was the efficacy of social media in building a strong consumer base. When compared to traditional modes of advertising that have starting and ending point within which marketing campaigns must fall, social media advertising can be timeless as long as the advertiser is able to meet the social media users. The researcher found out that social media could indeed help a company to build a global market because it bridges geographical, financial, and time gaps. A study by Parsons (2013) confirms that most corporate entities have recognized the role played by social media in helping them to reach their consumers. The scholar specifically delves on Facebook in order to determine the influence of a company’s Facebook page on its consumers. In essence, the author scrutinizes how various organizations employ social media in marketing and advertising their products/services. The scholar focuses on Facebook by evaluating the content of the official Facebook pages belonging to 70 global brands. Most companies identify their loyal consumers by examining if such consumers ‘like’ them. The number of Facebook ‘likes’ that a company has on it fun page may also determine the popularity of the company and/or the products that it is selling. Khang, Ki, and Ye (2012) conducted a fourteen-year study where they explored the trends and patterns of social media research. Fundamentally, the scholars delved on four major disciplines that included communication, advertising, public relations, and marketing. During the period that span from 1997 to 2010, they borrowed heavily from the academic and practical arenas in order to master all the social media aspects that enabled them to establish the relationship between social media and business management. In their findings, the scholars discovered that the number of studies related to social media is on the rise, implying that social media can have significant impact on business processes. Many scholars have conducted research pertaining to social media usage and the impact of the same on advertising, public relations, marketing, and communication. A significant number of the studies have focused on social media usage and advertising. It means that social media provides an ideal platform through which organizations can advertise their products and services. Okazaki and Taylor (2013) surveyed the present social media status and its potential impact on international advertising. The main purpose of the study was to establish the theoretical challenges of social media and future directions in relations to international advertising. The methodology of the study entailed exploring extensive literature related to personal extensibility, image transferability, and network capability as the three main theoretical foundations. The study used the three theoretical foundations to examine media advertising and the future implications. Findings drawn from the study indicated that personal extensibility, image transferability, and network capability enable the comprehension of the merits and demerits of social media usage in advertising. Although the study had the limitation of scanty research in international social media advertisement, it provided useful avenue and information that needs further research in order to fill the gaps that exist. Spotts, Purvis, and Patnaik (2014) embarked on a study to find out how conversations taking place in digital platforms, such as the social media, strengthen super bowl advertising. Fundamentally, the authors examined the interactive relationship that exists between brand television advertising and conversations that take place in the social media. The period of investigation was during the National Football League Super Bowl championship games that took place in the United States from 2011 to 2012. Since the Super Bowl boasts as the most watched television broadcast in the U.S. it attracts many social media conversations, especially prior to its commencement. The results of the study indicated that social media conversation that took place before and on the day of the game, particularly for the advertised products, increased the engaged of the audience. In this case, the television advertisements were the ones responsible for magnifying the conversations of social media that increased the audience’s attention to the advertised brands. Primarily, the study established the existence of a close relationship between the social media conversations and T.V. advertisements. In fact, the interaction between the two communication platforms was reciprocal. It implies that both media platforms can promote the engagement of audience to a particular brand if they work in tandem, which is the usual case. Pfeiffer and Zinnbauer (2010) conducted a research to establish how the conventional media enhances social media. Most marketing executives are faced with the challenge of efficient allocation of marketing budgets. They highlight the widespread discourse that has been going on between the trade-off of classic communication and online channels. Classic communication consists of print, television, and radio while the online channels of communication include search engine marketing and display advertising. The authors agree that online channels, which represent the social media marketing channels, reap more benefits of direct accountability since the cost is calculated against the number of clicks. The scholars submit a marketing mix modeling case study in an effort to affirm the value of both communication channels. The authors investigate the impact of both online communication channels and the conventional communication channels in addition to assessing other external factors are significant to the usage of such channels, especially the online channels. In their bid to establish the value of advertisement through the social media, Van-Tien Dao, Nhat Hanh Le, Ming-Sung Cheng, & Der Chao (2014) investigated the precursors of the value of social advertisement. The study examined the impact of the advertising value on the intention of online purchase in transitional economies in Southeast Asia. The authors also assessed the moderating impact of various social networking sites on the connections between values of social media advertising and the predictors. The scholars conducted their study in Vietnam, since the country was an ideal representative sample of the Southeast Asian transitional economies. The findings of the research indicated that credibility, informativeness, and entertainment, which are the core beliefs of social media advertising, have positive impact on the presumed social media advertising value by the consumers. Subsequently, the beliefs influence the intention of the consumers’ online purchase. Furthermore, the effects of entertainment and informativeness of advertisements on the value of advertising were frailer than the same beliefs on content community websites. However, both social media types presented no significant difference in their advertising value in relation to the impact of advertising. It will be possible to draw managerial and theoretical implications based on the results of the study. Minton, Lee, Orth, Kim, & Kahle (2012), carried out a survey on the role of social media in sustainable marketing. The increased demand and spending for sustainable research necessitated the study, especially when it comes to cross-cultural and social media research. The respondents of the study came from South Korea, Germany, and the United States and their total number was 1,018. The respondents completed their online surveys about the usage of Twitter and Facebook in regards to sustainable behavior. Fundamentally, the authors incorporated Kelman's (1958) functional motives in their studies because they resemble the three major philosophies of psychology. The findings revealed that involvement motives resulted in green transportation use and recycling behaviors. However, the involvement motives resulted into organic food purchase and views that were against materialism, especially in Germany and the United States. South Korea took the lead as far as sustainable behaviors in recycling and social media usage was concerned, followed closely by Germany. The authors concluded that due to complexity of motives, careful assessment of the same is necessary, especially from the advertisers, who have the ambition to embrace green advertisements over various social media platforms. 1.1 Methodology This section will deal with the theoretical analysis of the samples collected through systematic data collection and analysis techniques. In essence, the chapter will highlight all the methods used in the study in order to arrive at accurate and conclusive findings and recommendations. The three major areas under this section will include the methodology research methods, and sampling strategy. 1.2 Methodology  The research will use the quantitative technique through collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. Quantitative methods will be more suitable than qualitative method because there is adequate data that can be used to draw more accurate results and findings. The overall approach of the methodology will be to use both primary and secondary materials to carry out a survey. A positivist approach will be the best stance because many scholars have conducted research about social media and its impact on various aspects of the society (Gill & Johnson 2010, p. 52). Whereas an interpretivist approach aims as coming up with new findings through unique approaches, a positivist approach aims at confirming or reinforcing already existing claims or research findings. In essence, a positivist approach will rely heavily on secondary data although some primary data will be necessary. On the other hand, an interpretivist approach will use primary data. It implies that an interpretivist approach is more suitable for academic areas with little or no research but a positivist approach is suitable for areas like social media research. In this regard, the research will be more of deductive than inductive. A deductive research is concerned with the testing of theory that already exists, an inductive approach to research aims at the generation of additional and unique theory from the data that has been collected (Hennink, Hutter, & Bailey 2010, p. 34). 4.2 Research methods The research proposal intends to rely on primary data to establish the relevance of social media in advertising, particularly in regards to traditional advertising. Since huge amounts of data and theory exist in the area of social media advertising, especially from previous scholarly research, the research proposes to make use of both new and available data through appropriate data collection techniques. The research will use various data collection methods including questionnaires, personal interviews, reporting, and direct observations (Lim 2013, p. 89). Whereas reports are readily available in various academic and research libraries, personal interviews and questionnaires will require some fieldwork. It means that some challenges will show up during data collections. Some of these challenges include uncooperative respondents, dishonesty in the respondents, difficulty in finding the most suitable respondents, and financial constraints. Nonetheless, the data collection methods listed above will be reliable and will deliver accurate results. The main source of data will be the market, consumers, and government agencies that will be very instrumental as far as the provision of primary data is concerned (Hennink, Hutter, & Bailey, 2010, p. 77). 4.3 Sampling strategy The research will use probability sampling where simple random sampling strategy will be the most suitable. It will be the most suitable because the study will be viewing both batch and historical data. The probability of the sample will have to match the population unit in order for random sampling to be effective. Random sampling has the advantage that it eliminates the tendency of bias using a representative sample. In the research, Minitab or random number will be assigned to every unit within the population. For instance, data from social media will be sampled randomly from all the social networking sites. The research will assess 6oo people from various agencies, a third of whom will emanate from the public. Perception and response of the consumers will form the basis of the advertisement efficacy in relation to the mainstream media (Lim 2013, p. 113). 5.0 Ethical issues  Since every scholarly research requires high ethical standards, the research will strive to abide by all the ethical codes of conduct in order to protect its integrity and professionalism. For example, the research will be mindful of public, their privacy, and interest in order to prevent any litigation that may arise out of privacy infringements. The research will adopt the principle of anonymity and confidentiality in order to abide by the ethical codes of conduct. In addition, the research will use samples draw from children or other vulnerable members of the society. The research will seek the consent of appropriate authorities if it will need to use critical information from governmental and non-governmental agencies such as the National Health Service (NHS) (Jeffrey 2014, P. 69). 6.0 Timescale The study will cover a period of approximately 7 to 10 months in order for all the sections to be successfully completed. Reference List Geçti, F and Dastan, I 2013, ‘The Impact of Social Media-Focused Information & Communication Technologies on Business Performance via Mediating Mechanisms: An Exploratory Study on Communication and Advertising Agencies in Turkey,’ International Journal of Business and Management, vol. 8, no. 7, pp. 106-115. Gill, J & Johnson, P 2010, Research Methods for Managers, Sage Publications, London. Hennink, M, Hutter, I, & Bailey, A 2010, Qualitative Research Methods, SAGE Publications, London. Jeffrey, C 2014, Research on professional responsibility and ethics in accounting, Emerald Publishing, United Kingdom. Khang, H, Ki, E, and Ye, L 2012, ‘Social Media Research in Advertising, Communication, Marketing, and Public Relations, 1997-2010,’ Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 279-298. Lim, W M 2013, Research methodology: a toolkit of sampling and data analysis techniques for quantitative research, Grin Verlag, New York. Minton, E, Lee, C, Orth, U, Kim, C, & Kahle, L 2012, 'Sustainable Marketing and Social Media', Journal of Advertising, 41, 4, pp. 69-84, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 January 2015. Okazaki, S and Taylor, C R 2013, ‘Social media and international advertising: theoretical challenges and future directions,’ International Marketing Review, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 56-71. Parsons, A 2013, ‘Using Social Media To Reach Consumers: A Content Analysis Of Official Facebook Pages,’ Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 27-36. Pfeiffer, M, & Zinnbauer, M 2010, 'Can Old Media Enhance New Media? How Traditional Advertising Pays off for an Online Social Network', Journal of Advertising Research, 50, 1, pp. 42-49, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 January 2015. Spotts, H, Purvis, S, & Patnaik, S 2014, 'How Digital Conversations Reinforce Super Bowl Advertising', Journal of Advertising Research, 54, 4, pp. 454-468, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 January 2015. Van-Tien Dao, W, Nhat Hanh Le, A, Ming-Sung Cheng, J, & Der Chao, C 2014, 'Social media advertising value', International Journal of Advertising, 33, 2, pp. 271-294, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 January 2015. Wittenberg, L, 2009, ‘Using social media to build a global market - An interview with Leon Wittenberg of Soho - Social Media Consultancy LTD,’ Journal of Digital Asset Management, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 274-285. Wright, E, Khanfar, N M, Harrington, C and Kizer, L E 2010, ‘The Lasting Effects of Social Media Trends on Advertising,’ Journal of Business & Economics Research, vol. 8, no. 11, pp. 73-80. Read More