Social Media Use in Advertising - Research Proposal Example

Research Design Social media use in advertising Name Course Tutor Date Social media use in advertising Research Question Today the conception of Social Media remains one of the top agenda for several business managers. According to Kaplan & Haenlein (2010, p.57) consultants as well as policy makers try to come up means whereby companies can make beneficial usage of applications like Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Second Life. Forrester Research claims that 75 percent of Internet users joined and used some popular Social Media sites in 2008. With many people now joining social sites, most companies have now turned to this platform to advertise and even sell their products. The research question of this study thus is; how effective is social media advertising? Methodology With increased competition in business arena, marketing managers are now turning to social media advertising to increase the customer awareness about their products (Jha Vinit, 2012, p.108). To do this they must first carry out market research on how effective social media advertising can be. Bryman & Bell (2007) argue that market research is regarded as a continuing process which revolves around determining the relationship between consumers and how they respond to a particular business or product. Online marketing research is now a very good platform to reach many people (Fricker & Schonlau, 2002, p.347). Based on that information this research also uses survey following its many advantages with regards to reaching the masses. However, since the research is about social media advertising, the survey can take the form of the online platform. A small Online questionnaires are formulated and posted on several different websites, blogs and social sites targeting internet surfers. The question must also be straight forward, with answers given in percentage; i.e. 20%, or 80% effective. This survey is to be conducted in the around IP addresses in the target markets, that is Australian and New Zealand. Even though this population is large, it will act the sample population. A total of 100, 000 Australians and 100, 000 Aussies are targeted in this survey. With no uncertainty, young people are frequently keener about adopting new technologies compared to adults and turn out to be the most users. Therefore, the responded may consist of mostly young people than the adults. Another survey also will be conducted through sending questionnaires to the emails (Crain, 2011, p.14). This email will target the students of Victoria University of wellington and University of Melbourne. This research will be stratified with 250 bachelor’s students, 250 master students and 50 PHDs selected in each university. This will define the sample population, which both the youth and the old chance to participate. Lester, Forman & Loyd (2005, p.123) contend that the main rationale of the survey is to recognize the activities and involvement of the respondent in social media sites, and how this influences their purchase decisions. In the actual sense the outcome is to determine how effective social media can reach many people and influence their final buying decision. Online market survey via internet provides many advantages in which are still underexploited (Fricker & Schonlau, 2002, p.351). The online market research itself presents organizations a clear-cut growth in terms of technology application and for the company to exploit its major potential effectively. According to Ofcom (2008) social networking has turned out to be a common communication tool for people of all ages. For many individuals it has turned into an important part of their daily-to-day life, presenting new and different means of communicating with other people across the globe. As such, targeting this large number is crucial. This technique of collecting data is an effective way of obtaining information required to express opinions, views and characteristics of consumers on factors which influence their decision to buy products (Ofcom, 2008). The method is also significant since it puts particular focus on the sample population, in which their views can be used to represent a large population of customers from different places in the world. Graeff & Harmon (2002, p.202) claim that conducting an online survey in this perspective also help get first hand answers the internet surfers themselves on how they are convinced by the online advertising platform to actually buy a product. Because of the popularity of the internet usage, applying it to issue surveys easily and easily has become increasingly common (Jha Vinit, 2012, p.109). Due to that, it is easy to obtain several responses from an extensive range of demographic. The survey can also be distributed to the public on social media sites and in local dailies, and by means the application of a ‘snowballing’ approach employing email distribution. Additionally, the online survey method is known to have less bias than other research designs, for instance, comprehensive case study (Eysenbach & Till, 2001, p.1104). Online surveys remain an ideal choice for business people who prefer conducting their personal research, and online survey platform enable these business managers to carry out market research at a portion of the normal cost. In a nutshell, it can be done with low cost budget; the company can pay when someone clicks an answers the question. The online research is done over just a click of a button and surpasses the concern of considering global boundaries (Fricker & Schonlau, 2002, p.359). Another good thing about online survey is that the time frame required to complete this research is on two-thirds averagely shorter than the normal research technique (Ofcom, 2008). Every good thing normally has their disadvantages, and on that note online survey also have their shortcomings. Respondents might not feel persuaded to offer accurate and honest responses. Data errors because of questions non-responses could exist (Eysenbach & Till, 2001, p.1105). Another limitation is that a number of the respondents who decide to respond to the online survey question could be varying from the people who decide not to respond, therefore resulting in bias. Ethical considerations This study is carried out in compliance with the International Code of Market and Social Research. This code emphasizes on maintaining the confidentiality of the users of market research and the public (Bryman & Bell, 2007. Thus, for the rationale of this study is that researcher formulate the questions and answers in a responsible and proper manner and adhere to the fair competition principles. The privacy guideline ought to be put as a link to the company site informing research respondents how their private information is applied, secured and any conditions under which it could be revealed to the third party (Eysenbach & Till, 2001, 1105). Since the data for this research is gathered through online questionnaires and sent to emails; on top of the document, the respondents will be provided with an authorization letter from the university management giving them permission to carry out the research. The general rule is that company researchers will not send unsolicited e-mails to the respondents for study purposes (Eysenbach & Till, 200, p.1103). The company will remain aware of concerns regarding intrusion and privacy, and not send unsolicited e-mail to the potential respondents even though in these countries this is allowed by the law unless people have a reasonable anticipation that they could be contacted for this study. By doing this, marketing department and the advertising firm carrying out this research reduces any nuisance such e-mail could cause to the receiver by precisely explaining its reason in the heading and keeping the message and the questions of the research as brief and simple as possible (Graeff, & Harmon, 2002, p.305). On the same questionnaire, all the respondents will be reminded that any private information they disclose not intended to be applied for identification basis and will serve just as a system of response classification. The identity of participantion in this study will not be revealed and the assistance in this online research is completely voluntary. A respondent is entitled to pull out from this study at any particular time. Limitation of the research In spite of the merits provide by the online market survey of the companies, there are still several limitations for the marketers to consider when they organize marketing campaigns (Fricker & Schonlau, 2002, p.350. The obvious questionable facet of the online survey information is whether everybody being targeted in the study will have an opportunity to provide answers. In the face of the increase of Internet surfers in 2010, Kaplan & Haenlein (2010, p.59) indicate that the global population has grown to 68.6 billions, and the Internet access only assumes 28.4 percent of the whole population. The population of Internet users represent just a small portion of real clients for companies. As such, the information that company gather via online market survey does not adopt a general range. Kaplan & Haenlein (2010, p.66) point out that majority internet users are normally financially secure. Thus, it can be difficult for the markets to gauge the whole market since they are capable of accessing the offline viewers; i.e., the targeted market, which an organization aims at may be middle-class individual and have disregarded others which might be the major resource of their clients (Jha Vinit, 2012, p.108. This concern can be attributed to our first research that was carried randomly by the general public of Australia and New Zealand. Even though businesses have varied opportunities to carry out online market research, they cannot guarantee the customers’ willingness to take part in research. Many concerns of respondents towards online market survey comprise of security and security since many are reluctant to disclose their private information (Ofcom, 2008). To gain respondents’ trust is actually a hurdle which companies must to overcome. Graeff & Harmon (2002, p.315) claim that one mode of solving this issue is to save client databases to their computer with Internet access for future use. Besides, the firm has to promise and guarantee the security of online survey and implement strong data-protection platform to safeguard the respondents (Eysenbach & Till, 2001, p.1104). Furthermore, the company sends emails to the respondents the way the majority of marketers do to carry out online surveys. The concern here is that these emails might go to spam section which most people neglect. References Bryman, A. & Bell, E. (2007). Business research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Crain, R. (2011). Just how influential is your social-media program if it isn't helping to sell product? Advertising Age, 82(3), 14-21. Eysenbach, G. & Till, JE. (2001). Ethical issues in qualitative research on internet communities. BMJ Journal, 323, 1103-1105. Fricker, R.D. Jr & Schonlau, M. (2002). Advantages and disadvantages of internet research surveys: evidence from the literature. Field Methods, 14(4), 347-67. Graeff, T.R. & Harmon, S. (2002). Collecting and using personal data: consumers’ awareness and concerns. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 19(4), 302-18. Jha Vinit Kumar Utpal. (2012). Social networking sites: Instrument of social change, Journal of Media and Communication Studies, 4(5), 107-109 Kaplan, A. & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Lester, D. H., Forman, A. M., & Loyd, D. (2005). Internet Shopping and Buying Behavior of College Students. Services Marketing Quarterly, 27(2), 123-138. Ofcom. (2008). Social networking: A quantitative and qualitative research report into attitudes, behaviors and use. Retrieved 17th Jan. 2013 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/02_04_08_ofcom.pdf Read More