How Social Media Marketing Affects Marketing Communication Mix - Research Proposal Example

RESEARCH PROPOSAL How do social media marketing affect marketing communication mix? Research aims and objectives This research aims to find out the factors such as; human, time, content factors, advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing, and personal selling. My aims and objectives for carrying out this research include: To understand better the concept of marketing communication mix and its core elements. To examine the notion of social media and its examples. To scrutinize the impacts of social media marketing to marketing communication mix. Research questions In order to guide my inquiry and shed more light on my research, three questions that are related to each other will be answered. These questions encompass: What is marketing communication mix and what are its core elements? What is social media and how have organizations employed the instrument in marketing? What are the impacts of social media marketing to marketing communication mix? Literature review This part will offer a description and in depth information about a marketing communication mixes, social media marketing, and effects of social media on marketing. Marketing communication mix All companies that deals with the sale of commodities or services employs a marketing communication mix. According to Armstrong and Kotler (2006), the mix comprises of five different elements including advertising, public relations, sales promotions, direct marketing and personal selling. Therefore, in other terms, marketing mix is similar to promotion mix. Each grouping entails certain tools to communicate with clients and they are deemed as promotional efforts to boost brand equity thus, increasing sales, market share and revenues (Beamish and Ashford, 2007). Advertising encompasses the use of advertising mediums which makes a company’s product to become popular among individuals and reach a wider target group (Doole and Lowe, 2008). The advertising mediums usually employed by many companies include Television, Radio, magazines, and newspapers. Most adverts come before, in between or after various TV or Radio programmes. Research indicates that, adverts should be well placed in news papers or magazines and put more emphasis on the benefits of using such products in order to capture the reader’s attention. Personal selling on the other hand is the use of sales persons to sell a product or a service. It is true that, sales persons should be aggressive but should not employ the pressure sales approach in marketing. In contrary, they should employ tactics that are deemed favorable in marketing that will convince the customers to purchase the products. The no-pressure sales approach to marketing is considered as the best marketing tool that can be employed by companies in promoting their products (Armstrong and Kotler, 2006). In many cases, personal selling leads to direct marketing whereby, satisfied customers acts as the company’s advertisers. In their selling, many companies use sales promotions in order to attract customers. Along with the advertising mediums, companies incorporate a sales promotion using a voucher, reduction in prices compared to rival products, and/or an extra product packaged together with the main product for a discount (Micael et al, 2009). Sales promotions are very attractive to customers, and this is deemed as the best marketing tool that can be employed in order to attract targeted clienteles. In most cases, sales promotions allows clients to try products at a discounted rate which makes a company’s products to stand out from the rivals as far as prices are concerned. Companies can also promote their products using public relations. This involves introducing ones products or services to individuals during seminars, and meetings. In some case, companies can produce and issue brochures to target persons in such situations. Generally, companies which make use of a good combination of the above mentioned marketing communication mix are able to reach and cover a wider target group which as a result yield such benefits as increased sales, market share, revenues and profits (Micael et al, 2009). These helps in maintaining the financial stability of a company which makes it stand out from its rivals. In general, the mixture of the communication marketing tools enables a marketer to communicate his message, thus realize his objectives at the same time satisfying the target market. Social media marketing In the recent time, social media marketing has been added to company’s integrated marketing communications. Organizations usually follow integrated marketing communications practice in order to connect and reach their target market (Evans, 2008). In this case, the marketing communication mix elements are coordinated by the integrated marketing communications (Smith and Taylor, 2004). The growth of social media in the current times has affected communications in organizations and companies. For instance, the emergence of internet offers a set of techniques that lets individuals and organizations to build business and social connections, and share information online (Zarrella, 2009). Social media marketing programs normally center on efforts to establish information that draws attention and persuades readers to share it with their social networks (Neil et al, 2010). Through this, corporate information spreads from one user to the other and in most cases, booms as it originating from a third party who is more trusted as compared to the company itself. Social media marketing incorporates various social networking websites including Face book, Twitter, Blogs, YouTube, and Flickr; and cell phones among others (Kabani and Brogan, 2010). Through these programs, individuals can be able to interact with the company’s products or the company itself. Followers are also able to post and repost comments concerning the products or services being promoted, thus, such messages are able to reach more individuals. Effects of social media on marketing Research has revealed that, social media marketing benefits individuals and organizations in a number of ways. Some of these benefits encompass: social media marketing provides- an extra channel for client support, a means to acquire competitive advantage and customer insight, a technique of managing reputation online, and hiring and retention of new clients or business partners (Singh et al, 2009). In the current times, social media has turned out to be a platform which is easily available to individuals with internet access. Through social media, communication in organizations is boosted which as a result increases brand awareness and habitually, improved client service (Zarrella, 2009). In addition, marketing campaigns can also be implemented through social media. This as a result builds brand loyalty, and allows services or products to reach the target audience. Through these, organizations are able to realize their set goals which may include increase in sales, market share, revenues and profits which there after guarantees financial stability. Research methodology One of the most essential components of academics is research. This is described by the Oxford Concise Dictionary as the organized study of both primary and secondary sources of data in an aim to ascertain facts or develop new theories. The main reasons as to why research studies are often conducted include the identification, interpretation and developing systems and methods that will improve human knowledge. However, the manner in which the research process is conducted is the main determinant of end results of that particular research (Experiment Resources, 2008). Researchers often employ a wide array of research methods, but it is important to note that the choice of the research method to be applied determines the method in which the research will be carried out. Collis and Hussey (2009) highlight that there are two key research philosophies underpinning the research method and strategy that will adopted for the research study, positivism and interpretivism. Positivism is a research approach that integrates a deductive approach with a specific amount of quantitative data (LeGouis, 1997). It entails dealing observable social reality that will generate law like generalizations as the end product of the research, similar to what is often produced by the natural and physical scientists. The major assumption about positivism as noted by Remeneyi et al, (1998:32), is that the researcher is independent and is not affected, and neither does he affect the subject of the research. On the other hand, interpretivism is basically concerned with the manner in which human beings understand the world (Gartell, et al, 1996). The underlying assumption about interpretivism according to Hussey and Hussey (1997) is that the consideration of the human beings in their social context generates a greater opportunity that will aid the understanding of the perceptions human beings have regarding their own activities. The paradigm that will be adopted for this study is positivism, as it contains significant assumptions regarding the manner in which researchers view the world (Saunders et al, 2007). This approach will also enable the research results to be applied externally; basically outside the study framework as since the results are often reliable and unbiased (Wayne and Stuart, 2004). In addition, as a researcher, I will be detached from the research, and thus will have no influence on the data collected for this research. This research study will employ a research strategy known as the case study and according to Robson (2002: 178); this strategy entails an empirical investigation of a specific contemporary occurrence within its real life context through the application of numerous sources of evidence. Furthermore, the case study strategy will facilitate an in-depth understanding regarding the fall down of the Nigerian Stock Market (Guba, and Lincoln, 1994). The case study is normally closely associated with the interprevist perspective, and thus this study will triangulate case study with survey. The major benefit concerning the triangulation is that the survey will generate more data as opposed to the case study strategy that often lays more emphasis on a smaller scale (Myers, 2000). It is also important to note that research methodologies can either be qualitative or quantitative. The quantitative methodology applies numerical data, while the qualitative methodology applies data that cannot be quantified (Ranjit, 2005). Each of these methodologies contains its own strengths and weaknesses. This research will however employ both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, in order to attain a convergence of the results (Green et al. 1993). The results that will be obtained from the quantitative methodology will validate the results obtained from the qualitative study hence making the research more credible and reliable. The application of the two methods offer better opportunities for answering the research questions thereby providing reliable inferences (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003, Creswell, 2003.). Research method This research study will specifically focus on the use of secondary data. According to Saunders, et al, (2007), this refers to data that had already been gathered for other reasons, possibly analyzed and stored. This data is often cheaper and can be easily obtained. In addition, secondary data is time saving and offers a basis for comparison, since the data that will be obtained in this research can as well be compared with the already existing information (McCaston, 1998). There are three major types of secondary data, Documentary, survey or census and those that are obtained from multiple sources. Documentary data incorporates data that has already been collected for other reasons. This includes public documents, organization documents and both published and unpublished reports. It also involves non-written sources such as video and audio tapes, radio and television. Census or survey data is basically obtained from census exercises or market research, recurring and on-going surveys and ad hoc surveys. This often generates quantitave data. The multiple sources of secondary data can either be described to be geographically based as it provides information that is associated with country or regional reports as well as community profiles, or time-series based considering industry reports and government publications. This data will be collected through online surveys and questionnaires by the use of facebook and surveymonkey.com. Anticipated method of analysis and findings Data analysis is described as a process that seeks to develop explanations, describe facts, test hypothesis and identify patterns. It basically aims at exploring the data that has been collected to provide in depth explanations in order to establish facts. This process helps in highlighting crucial information that will facilitate the decision making process. Some of the methods that could be used in data analysis include content analysis, thematic analysis, theoretical sampling and the grounded theory among others. Content analysis is a research technique that is applied in the systematic, quantitative and objective description of the communications manifest content (Kotler, 2003). Thematic analysis deals with data involving the application and creation of codes to data, while the grounded theory aims at developing in depth understanding of theories relating to social phenomenon. This theory was developed by Glaser and Strauss in 1967 and is closely associated with thematic analysis. In this research the method that will be applied for data analysis is the axial coding. This method is based on the grounded theory and refers to a method of relating codes, or rather concepts and categories to each other by combining both deductive and inductive thinking. This method will facilitate the identification of the relationships existing between the different categories of data (Corti and Bishop, 2005). The quantitative data regarding issues such as sales promotion could be statistically analyzed and be interpreted using charts and graphs (Dillon, et al, 1994). Ethical considerations This research will mostly make use of quantitative data. This information is readily available to the public with no moral or ethical intrusion. The information will be obtained from voluntary participants, who will be provided with full information about the procedure and the threats they may encounter by participating in the research, hence they will have an informed consent. In addition, the anonymity and the confidentiality of the participants will be protected, except for the case where the respondent permits identity disclosure. Research ethics is concerned with questions about the formulation and the clarification of the research topic, data collection and processing, and the manner in which the research findings are reported. Saunders et al., (2007) considers research ethics as the correctness of the researchers’ behaviors with regard to the subjects of the research work. Conclusion This research proposal has focused on how social media marketing affect marketing communication mix. The mix which comprises of five different elements including advertising, public relations, sales promotions, direct marketing and personal selling is similar to promotion mix. The proposal has offered the aims of the study, research questions, and a literature review on social media and marketing communication mix. The research will use positivism research methodology; employ secondary data and quantitative data analysis methods. The respondents will be voluntary participants and thus information will be available without any form of moral or ethical intrusion. References Armstrong, G., Kotler, P. 2006, Marketing: an Introduction. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Beamish, K, and Ashford, R. 2007, Marketing planning, 2007-2008 (4th ed), London: Butterworth-Heinemann. Corti, L. and Bishop, L. 2005. 'Strategies in Teaching Secondary Analysis of Qualitative Data' FQS 6(1) Available at http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/509 Creswell, J. 2003. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. Dillon, R., Madden, T. and Firtle, H. 1994. Marketing Research in a Research Environment, California: Irwin. Doole, I and Lowe, R. 2008. 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