Social Media and Mobile Search Marketing in Saudi Arabia - Research Proposal Example

? The Social Media and Mobile Search Marketing In Saudi Arabia Aims How cancreate an independent model of how mobile search &social media can be leveraged to survey business environments to drive product innovation? Research Problem to Be Studied & Why It Is Important For This Theory Marketing and Customer care management is an integral part of any business that desires to become a success. Today’s companies encounter cutthroat competition to establish and maintain their position as market leaders in various sectors of the economy (Spivak, 2001). One of the distinguishing factors is the reputation of a company among its customers, which can either make or break the business (Hillman et al, 2008). With the increasing use ofInternet applications in doing business, online customer care is now also at the forefront. Therefore, it is crucial that companies invest in tried and tested strategies for Internet based customer care (Wayne, 2009). Bad systems lead to poor performance by companies as customers fail to receive the necessary attention(Professional Development Limited, 2012). According to John (2009), a company’s customer care strategy has to be automated inreal time while they make use of the latest technology more. With a population of about 25.7 million people, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has about 8.4 million users of Internet technology with over 44.8 million phone accounts in the mobile industry. Statistics indicate that only about 38% of the population within the country has access to the Internet although 54% of these users are categorized as very active in their use of the Internet (Ader, 2008). This is in contrast to the United Kingdom and United States Internet users where only about 43% along with 42% respectively of their users are actively involved. This implies that the businesses in Saudi Arabia utilizing the internet for advertisement and communication purposes for the next three years will have a competitive advantage over those who do not invest in its use (Vithal&Jansen, 2009). The chances of success in performing Internet marketing are so high in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is because it is currently estimated that over 38% of the population using the technologies make their purchases online (Hillman et al, 2008). According to reports released recently, there are approximately over three million Saudi Arabian Internet users who spent over three billion dollars in making purchases through ecommerce in the year 2010 (Bartlett, 2001). The biggest selling products were electronics which came second to the sale of software products during the year 2010 (Hillman et al, 2008). This implies that businesses who had invested in the internet during the year made big profits as a result of their investment activities. Hotels and airports also recorded booming online business, as they were the top earners for online businesses in the kingdom (Borysowich, 2010). Currently, reports indicate that there are signs that these values will continue rising within the next few years. This is because more people in their populations are joining the Internet and the service providers have also upgraded their systems (Hillman et al, 2008). For instance, the STC Company within the country has upgraded her broadband levels of penetration from 4% to 22% in the remote areas of the nation which were previously not able to access the service (Ader, 2008). This means that there is great support for similar businesses from the providers as they will be able to reach and trade with more citizens along with non-citizens in a more effective manner (Vithal and Jansen, 2009). The marketers participating or rather using the Internet should therefore begin developing their campaigns in the service. This is in view of the infrastructural developments going on and the profitable nature of ecommerce within the country (Hillman et al, 2008). There are predictions made that suggest that Internet spending is going to be on the rise as more of the wealthy people in the nation get faster access to the Internet. This is in addition to the improvements being made in payment gateways to facilitate safer and faster transfers of funds. It is therefore the ideal moment for investors willing to invest in the sector to start exploring safe avenues and businesses to indulge in (Borysowich, 2010). The use of the Internet within the Saudi Arabian population has led to an increased awareness of their rights and has also helped reduce the oppression against their women. For example, a campaign was started in the country using YouTube videos to sensitize the people on the right of a woman to drive. This was after the site highlighted the plight of a woman who was arrested on two separate occasions for driving and put into custody despite her driving safely (Ader, 2008). The aired clip raised a great stir within the population and this is a good example of just how influential the Internet is within the country. The Internet has been widely used across many family lines and countries to connect people and businesses, which makes it a suitable tool for marketing products to the population (Vithal and Jansen 2009). The presence of major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and AOL implies that the users of the Internet within the country have and will continue consuming a wide variety of commodities and services (Borysowich, 2010). Their experiences in utilizing the Internet will be made more exciting when the service providers have completed upgrading their systems speed along with bandwidths. This may proceed for a period of one and a half years meaning that by the end three years are over the internet users will be more and revenues from trade will have almost tripled (Ader, 2008). In the current world, it is no longer an option for businesses to make the social media components of their marketing strategies (Cochran, 2007). Despite the projected growth in ecommerce within the kingdom, the authorities have imposed one of the strictest legislations on the Internet’s use (Ader, 2008). This is to control the contents of communication since the country’s ruling regime is one of the most conservative in the world. The authorities usually access all the websites within the nation via a national regulatory service (Galbraith and Kazanjian, 2002). Therefore, businesses that plan to invest in ecommerce within the country should be very careful on the type of content they transmit. This is because failure to comply with the country’s legislations could result in imprisonment terms or the banning of their websites and business activities (Vithal and Jansen 2009). On the other hand, the number of Saudi Arabian people who had accounts in twitter was increased 104% from 2008 to 2009 which is around 5 million users moreover,Saudi Arabia has the 30th rank of % of Face book users (face book Statistic, 2012). Research Question Do the regulations on the Internet’s use in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia affect the use of technology and the revenues collected from their users’ activities? The answering of the research question will assist the marketer in knowing, How to engage with customers and drive loyalty through the social media in Saudi Arabia? How to utilize the latest social networking platforms? How to draw more people to a website, and turn browsers into buyers due to lack of confidence in online sales in Saudi Arabia? How can establish motivational factors for both businesses and prospects and therefore developing a framework which could help companies to develop their mobile social engagement strategies?  The dependent variables are the use of Internet technology and revenues collected whereas the independent variable is the regulations imposed by the government in the country. The conditions for establishing the correlation that exists between the variables are favorable. This is because the service providers don’t experience any obstacles in their activities of expanding and upgrading their networks (Cochran, 2007). However, the market in Saudi Arabia is changing every day. I keep on updating my knowledge in this area. I expect also marketing mobile and mobile social media is going to be social shopping in the customer’s area. Knowledge That Form the Basis for the Research Question The country’s legislations concerning the use of the Internet will form the major body of knowledge that will be utilized on the research. It will be used for the purpose of establishing the effect it has on the Internet’s use along with the impacts of going against it (Ader, 2008). The other body of knowledge that will be applicable to the research will include statistics on various service providers and their operations. Reports detailing the revenues collected from using the Internet in comparison to other trade activities will also be applicable in establishing the effect of restricting its use in the society (Kouzes and Posner, 2005). However, there are several ways to strengthen sales, for exampleDell gave the user who members in Twitter, promotionthat exclusive offer 15% discount. As result, Dell claims that they made just from Twitter $1 million in sales. Research Methodology The methodology to be utilized in the study will be both qualitative and quantitative, which will help to fact find and formulation of the solution. The qualitative methods used in collecting data will include questionnaires, and online polls (Varies, 2009). There will be two types of questionnaires issued; one for the customers and the other for the online customer care staff memberswhich will be administered personally to them. Each and every respondent who receives the questionnaires will be expected to fill it. On other hand, the qualitative methods that will be used will include statistical procedures are used to analyze the raw data (Hanley and Spash, 2003). The answers collected will then be coded for analysis by scoring the responses. I plan to conduct structured personal interviews with the managers andemployees in Middle East of those companies. I will also distribute questionnaires among the participants who may also include literary persons like professors at social media. Finally make survey online for Saudi Arabian people who use the social media. I shall conduct a comparative research based on results received from companies which incorporated the use of latest social media strategies and those which did not. I shall collect data and statistics and shall organize them in charts and tables. The whole research will take around one year. Gain Access and Permission to Gather Data Access to some of the company’s information is restricted whereas in others it is not. The accessibility to restricted data such as those owned by the government of Saudi Arabia will be gained through seeking security clearances from the authorities in charge. This will be done through the issuing of formal requests made in accordance to the law (Schwaibe, 2003). The other information on various company operations will be accessed from their websites and databases on issuing an informal request to use it. The requests made will be for the personal information required when carrying out my research. The activities of accessing another party’s confidential information will have to comply with the kingdoms law at all costs (Kloppenborg, 2003). In addition, there are around 5 companies that working as marketing consulting in Saudi Arabia I can cooperate with them in gettingsome data to help in this research. Plan of action for carrying out the study. ACTIVITY DURATION PROJECT PROPOSAL April 2012-September 2012. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT January 2013- June 2013. DATA COLLECTION July 2013-December 2013. DATA ANALYSIS January 2014-July 2014. PROJECT PRESENTATION September 2014. References Ader, H. J.et al. (2008).Advising on research methods: A consultant's companion. Huizen, The Netherlands: Johannes van Kessel Publishing. Bartlett, J. E.et al. (2001).Organizational research: Determining appropriate sample size for survey research. New York: Information Technology, Learning and Performance Journal. Borysowich, C. (2010).Managing customer care projects. Retrieved on March 21, 2012 from http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/enterprise-solutions/managing-customer-care-projects-38634. Chambers, R L, and Skinner, C. (2003). Analysis of Survey Data, New York: John Wiley & Sons. Cochran, W.G. (2007). Sampling Techniques (Third ed.) New York: John Wiley & Sons. Face book Statistics, Face book Statistics by countries. Viewed on 23 March 2012, form http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/saudi-arabia. Galbraith, J., and R. Kazanjian (2002) Strategy Implementation: Structure, Systems andProcess. 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: West Hanley, N and Spash, C (2003). Cost Benefit Analysis and the Environment. Cambridge: Edward Elgar. Cambridge University Press. Hillman, A., et al. (2008). Corporate Political Strategies and Firm Performance.Strategic Management Journal. John, A. (2009). GoodmanStrategic Customer Service: Managing the Customer Experience to Increase Positive Word of Mouth, Build Loyalty, and Maximize Profits. NewYork: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Kloppenborg, T., et al. (2003).Project Leadership. Vienna: Management by concepts INC. Kouzes, J.M., and B.Z. Posner (2005). TheLeadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations. New York: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Professional Development Limited.The Importance of Customer Care. Retrieved onMarch 21, 2012 from: http://www.techstore.ie/Business-Training/pages/Why-is-Customer-Care-Important.htm Schwaibe, K. (2003). Information Technology Project Management. 4th Edition. Massachusetts: Thomson Course Technology. Spivak, W. (2001).How ImportantIs Customer Service On the Internet?CRN. Retrieved on March 21, 2012 from: http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/18836385/. Varies, K. D. (2009). High Performance Teams: Lessons from Pigmies, Organizational Dynamics. London: Prentice Hall. Vithal. R and Jansen, J.. (1997). Design Your First Research Proposal. Lansdowne:Juta and Company Ltd. Read More