Global Utilization of Social Networks - Term Paper Example

? Social Network of the of the Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Research Methodology 3 Data Analysis 9 Introduction 9 Appendices 24 Demographic Data 24 Response Data 26 Research Methodology 1.1 Introduction In this section, the researcher will shed light on the research methodology that will be used in order to address pertinent research questions. For the sake of clarity in the methodological aspects, key research objectives are needed to remember in the following fashion; • To explain the current prospective of social networks utilisations globally and in Middle East, and especially Saudi Arabia • To examine the usage of social networking websites such as Facebook and twitter etc. as an Internet marketing tool by the companies. • To examine the evidence about the benefits of using social networking websites as communication tool. Details of the methodological implications will be highlighted in the following sections. 1.2 Research Approach Saunders, Lewis & Thornhil (2007 & 2009) pointed out that researchers should select any one of the research approach from available approaches such as, 1- Correlation Study- understanding the relationship between variables is the key aim in such kind of studies and 2- Causal Study- finding out the reasons behind the variation in the behaviour of variables is the key reason behind such kind of research approach. As the researcher is trying to understand the role of social networking websites such as Facebook and twitter on increasing effectiveness of Internet marketing tool for companies hence the researcher will use correlation approach to find out what is the relationship between effectiveness of Internet marketing tool and social networking website penetration. Gray (2009) stated that there can be two types of research approaches such as 1- Inductive approach- reaching a probable conclusion via testing the relationship between variables is the key focus of the approach and 2- Deductive approach- testing the validity of a well established theory by analyzing the behaviour of variables is the key focus in this approach. The researcher in this study is not trying to test validity of any established theory rather the researcher is trying to reach a tentative conclusion regarding the marketing benefits of social networking websites hence inductive approach will be used for the research. 1.3 Research Strategy Creswell (2009) stated that there can be three types of research strategy for researchers such as, 1- Quantitative research strategy- gathering primary data by using open ended and preferably close ended questionnaire or secondary data with the help of literature review, case study etc and then analyze the data by using mathematical and statistical operators, 2- Qualitative approach- gathering data from secondary sources or open ended questionnaire based interview, observation, ethnography and then analyzed data in non-numeric manner, 3- Mixed strategy- combination of both qualitative and quantitative research approach. Saunders, Lewis & Thornhil (2007 & 2009) argued that quantitative research strategy works well for establishing new theory or explaining a social phenomenon but the research strategy works poorly for measuring the relationship variables in absolute manner. On the other hand, Bryman & Bell (2003) also found that quantitative research can be used for finding the relationship between variables in definite manner. As the researcher has also planned to understand the role of social networking websites in digital marketing which is a definite phenomenon hence the researcher will use quantitative research strategy in the study. 2.3 Unit of analysis and Study setting Robson (2011) stated that while conducting quantitative data analysis, researchers need to set the confidence interval high enough to get correct research findings. Saunders, Lewis & Thornhil (2009) suggested that 95% confidence level with significance of 0.05 can be used in case of academic research. Hence, the researcher will also use the 95% confidence level to find out the role of social networking websites in increasing the penetration of digital marketing. Robson (2011) also suggested that researchers should allow the respondents to provide responses in non-contrived study setting or natural environment. Hence, the researcher will not use any experimental design to force any respondent to give response rather the researcher will allow each respondent to provide answer from their natural environment or comfort zone. 2.4 Time horizon Saunders, Lewis & Thornhil (2009) stated that there can be two types of time horizon in research such as, 1- Longitudinal study- analyzing industry trend or pattern of particular phenomenon for long period of time and 2- Cross sectional analysis- analyzing the behaviour of variables within small period of time. It is intelligent decision for the researcher to select cross sectional time horizon in order to conduct the research within specified time and budget. Another thing is that the research is not about finding out any trend to establish a new theory hence there is no need to select longitudinal time horizon. Hence, the researcher will use cross sectional time horizon to analyze the research problem. 2.5 Data Collection Sekaran & Bougie (2009) and Curwin & Slater (2008) highlighted the fact that there can be multiple data sources available but it is up to the researcher to decide the potentiality of the data sources. Robson (2011) categorized data sources as, 1- Primary data- collected data directly from respondents or by observing behaviour of respondents and 2- Secondary data- collect data from books, peer reviewed journals, print materials, websites, company reports etc without involving any kind of personal administration. In this research paper, the researcher has collected secondary data sources such as printed journals, online articles, company reports, company websites etc in order to develop theoretical framework of the research problem while primary data will be collected through close ended questionnaire survey. 5-point Likert question has been used in order to collect the data and value has been assigned on options of the close ended questionnaire such as, , 1- Strongly Disagree (lowest value 1), 2- Slightly Disagree (value 2), 3- Neither Agree Nor Disagree (value 3), 4- Slightly Agree (value 4) and 5 -Strongly Agree (value 5). Davies (2007) stated that conducting online survey helps researcher to gather data from large population in cost and time efficient manner. Hence, the researcher has decided to conduct e-mail based survey by sending the close ended questionnaire to respondents and asking respondents to answer the question and revert back the answer sheet to the mentioned e-mail address. In such context, Davies (2007) stated that there are certain limitations associated with the e-mail based survey such as, 1- without personal administration of the researcher, respondents might give biased responses, 2- respondents might take long time period to provide answer to the questions and 3- there may be linguistic barrier arise for respondents to understand the problem. In order to avoid these limitations, the researcher will send both English and Arabian version of the questionnaire to respondents and request respondents to provide answer within 3 days. 2.6 Pilot Test A pilot test with 20 respondents will be conducted in order to measure the time duration for answering the question. Respondents taken more or less 10 minutes to answer the questions during pilot study and few respondents stated that they wouldn’t be ready to spend such amount of time in answering questions. On the basis of suggestion of respondents, size of the questionnaire has been curtailed by reducing the no. of questions in order decrease the time to answer the questionnaire and also encourage respondents to give answer to the questions. 2.7 Sampling Methods The research is intended to find effectiveness of social networks in Saudi Arabia and how it used to as a communication platform between consumers and brands hence the researcher has selected a Saudi Arabian community group in Facebook. The group has more than 2000 members and each of these members has equal probability of being selected in sample survey. Hence, sample population size was 2000 and the researcher used systematic random sampling (selecting 4th member of the group) to get the sample size of 502 members. 2.8 Data Analysis Instruments Microsoft Excel 2007 will be used to prepare the database of the close ended questionnaire survey while Statistical Package for The Social Sciences or SPSS version 20 will be used to compute statistical analysis of the data. Cronbach’s Alpha test on Likert scale questionnaire will be used in order to test the reliability of the questionnaire and the researcher will use following Cronbach’s Alfa (?) value as reference point; Table 1: Cronbach’s Alfa (?) Value Acceptance Table Cronbach’s Alfa (?) Reliability ? ? 0.9 Excellent 0.9 >? ? 0.8 Very Good 0.8 >? ? 0.7 Good 0.7 > ? ?0.6 Moderate 0.6 >? Poor (Source: Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009) Multiple Linear Regressions and Correlation will be used to analyze the relationship between dependent and independent variable (Weisberg, 2005). Continuity of all the variables will be assumed and absence of any categorical data will also be assumed. 2.9 Ethical Consideration & Conclusion Objective of the research will be clearly mentioned to respondents and each of the respondents will be assured that their identity will not be revealed at any point of the research and the research findings will only be used for academic purposes only. Following these ethical guidelines will help the researcher to collect data from respondents without hurting their interest and these collected data will be further processed for data analysis. Data Analysis Introduction In this section, the researcher will shed light on descriptive result of the analysis. Important variables in the study can be described in the following fashion. N Mean Std. Deviation Statistic Statistic Statistic Brand Awareness 502 3.6175 1.24820 Social Network Environment 502 3.6335 1.16892 Irresponsible Behaviour 502 3.8406 1.32174 Irrelevant Content 502 3.6594 1.27054 Lack of Engagement 502 3.5697 1.26291 Poor Review 502 3.4402 1.18179 Conversation 502 3.9243 1.27083 Valid N (listwise) 502 N Mean Std. Deviation Statistic Statistic Statistic Account Verification 502 4.0359 1.21316 Opinion Sharing 502 3.5737 1.15709 Online Review 502 3.5279 1.13122 Friend Opinion 502 3.4940 1.17312 Information Source 502 3.8147 1.16311 Promotion 502 3.4582 1.17409 Valid N (listwise) 502 It is evident from the descriptive statistics table; no variable has mean value less than 3.40 which show that majority of respondents gave positive responses regarding the variable. Low value of standard deviation is also showing that there is significant amount of symmetry exist in normal distribution of responses. Analysis The researcher has got following answers while asked questions about use of social networking websites among respondents. Table 4: On a daily Average how many hours you often spent on using social networks? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1 - 2 hours 84 16.7 16.7 16.7 3 - 4 hours  149 29.7 29.7 46.4 4 - 6 hours  127 25.3 25.3 71.7 Less than an hour 8 1.6 1.6 73.3 More 134 26.7 26.7 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 It is evident from the frequency table that almost 80% of respondents spend at least 3 hours on using social network hence majority of respondents are classified as heavy user of social networking sites. Table 5: On a daily Average how many times you often spent on using social networks to look for products online? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1 - 2 times 227 45.2 45.2 45.2 3 - 4 times 90 17.9 17.9 63.1 5 - 7 times 38 7.6 7.6 70.7 8 - 10 times 24 4.8 4.8 75.5 More 27 5.4 5.4 80.9 Never 96 19.1 19.1 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 It is evident from the frequency table that almost 55% of respondents look for products through social networking sites at least 3 times in a day hence it can be said that these users depend heavily on social networking websites for knowing about the product. Table 6: Which devices you use to access social networks? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Laptops 7 1.4 1.4 1.4 Laptops, Other 1 .2 .2 1.6 Laptops, PC 1 .2 .2 1.8 Other 1 .2 .2 2.0 PC 3 .6 .6 2.6 Smart Phone 153 30.5 30.5 33.1 Smart Phone, Laptops 138 27.5 27.5 60.6 Smart Phone, Laptops, Other 2 .4 .4 61.0 Smart Phone, Laptops, PC 8 1.6 1.6 62.5 Smart Phone, Other 1 .2 .2 62.7 Smart Phone, PC 10 2.0 2.0 64.7 Smart Phone, Tablet 63 12.5 12.5 77.3 Smart Phone, Tablet, Laptops 79 15.7 15.7 93.0 Smart Phone, Tablet, Laptops, Other 2 .4 .4 93.4 Smart Phone, Tablet, Laptops, PC 10 2.0 2.0 95.4 Smart Phone, Tablet, PC 11 2.2 2.2 97.6 Tablet 10 2.0 2.0 99.6 Tablet, Laptops 2 .4 .4 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 It is evident from the frequency table that almost 60% of respondents’ access social networking websites through Smartphone and Laptops while 20% prefer to access social networking websites through the Tablet. Hence, it can be assumed that majority of respondents prefer to access social networking websites through the devices that can be flexibly carried by them. Table 7: In the last month, how many times have you contacted a company via social networks or directly to offer your opinion about a certain product? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1 - 2 times 168 33.5 33.5 33.5 3 - 4 times 71 14.1 14.1 47.6 5 - 7 times 28 5.6 5.6 53.2 8 - 10 times 13 2.6 2.6 55.8 More 17 3.4 3.4 59.2 Never 205 40.8 40.8 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 More than 50% of respondents stated that they contacted companies through the social networking websites at least 5 times in the last month. Hence, it can be assumed that majority of the respondents depend heavily on social networking websites in order to contact companies. Table 8: In the last month, how many times have your opinion about a certain product or company been influenced by information you obtained from social networks? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1 - 2 times 166 33.1 33.1 33.1 3 - 4 times 59 11.8 11.8 44.8 5 - 7 times 29 5.8 5.8 50.6 8 - 10 times 8 1.6 1.6 52.2 More 17 3.4 3.4 55.6 Never 223 44.4 44.4 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 It is evident from the above table that almost 67% of respondents influenced (at least 3 times) by the available information in the social networking sites which is showing that product opinion of respondents are being influenced by the information in social networking sites. Reliability statistics of the likert scale data can be presented in the following manner. Table 9: Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items .916 .916 13 It is evident from the output table generated through Cronbach's Alpha test that Alpha value for whole questionnaire is .916; which means reliability of all questions is excellent and these questions can be used in reliable manner in order to address the research problems. Table 10: Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Corrected Item-Total Correlation Squared Multiple Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted Q1 43.9721 106.458 .607 .418 .911 Q2 43.9562 106.729 .645 .470 .910 Q3 43.7490 103.933 .667 .520 .909 Q4 43.9303 105.175 .648 .501 .910 Q5 44.0199 105.257 .649 .525 .910 Q6 44.1494 107.624 .597 .486 .912 Q7 43.6653 103.273 .727 .562 .906 Q8 43.5538 103.948 .737 .581 .906 Q9 44.0159 106.060 .682 .584 .908 Q10 44.0618 106.206 .694 .604 .908 Q11 44.0956 109.025 .541 .349 .914 Q12 43.7749 106.334 .666 .537 .909 Q13 44.1315 109.368 .526 .403 .914 It is evident from the above table that deleting any question wouldn’t increase the Cronbach's Alpha value hence the researcher has not deleted any question. There is strong positive correlation exist between questions which has further increased the reliability of questionnaire. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) Table 11: KMO and Bartlett's Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .925 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 3284.036 df 78 Sig. .000 The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value for the whole questionnaire is more than 0.5, while accepted range for the KMO test is 0.5 to 1.00; hence all the questions are valid while high value of Bartlett’s test of sphericity (3284.036) with low significance (.000) are also ensuring communalities between questions. Table 12: Communalities Initial Extraction Q1 1.000 .484 Q2 1.000 .554 Q3 1.000 .610 Q4 1.000 .556 Q5 1.000 .652 Q6 1.000 .617 Q7 1.000 .622 Q8 1.000 .629 Q9 1.000 .553 Q10 1.000 .575 Q11 1.000 .369 Q12 1.000 .695 Q13 1.000 .651 [Note: High variance factors have been highlighted] It is evident from the above Eigen value of question 3 (online irresponsible behaviour by company), question 5 (lack of communication with users through social networking sites), question 6 (negative feedback about the brand in social networking sites), question 12 (accessing product information through social networking websites) etc; that these factors are most important for customers while evaluating a brand or company through social networking environment. According to the PCA analysis, information availability about the product in social networking site is most important for developing brand awareness and increasing the efficiency of digital marketing. Truong & Simmons (2010) and Gerzema & D’Antonio (2011) also found that modern customers look for detailed information about products while accessing social networking page of the product hence the research finding in the paper supports the claim of these research scholars. Correlation Following correlation table value has been used as reference point. Table 13: Correlation Reference Table -1 -0.7 -0.3 0 0.3 0.7 1 Perfectly negative Strong negative Weak negative Perfect independence Weak positive Strong positive Perfect positive (Source: Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2007) Table 14: Correlation Matrix Brand Awareness Responsiveness Communication Opinion and Review Information Brand Awareness Pearson Correlation 1 .577** .498** .532** .472** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 N 502 502 502 502 502 Responsiveness Pearson Correlation .577** 1 .687** .677** .533** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 N 502 502 502 502 502 Communication Pearson Correlation .498** .687** 1 .705** .538** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 N 502 502 502 502 502 Opinion and Review Pearson Correlation .532** .677** .705** 1 .565** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 N 502 502 502 502 502 Information Pearson Correlation .472** .533** .538** .565** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 N 502 502 502 502 502 It is evident from the correlation matrix that major features of social networking websites such as Responsiveness of the product company, Communication with customers, Opinion and Review about the product in social networking page and availability of Information in social networking have positive correlation with brand awareness. Hence, it can be assumed that these features can influence the effectiveness of social media marketing. To reach a more conclusive statement, the researcher has done multiple linear regressions. Multiple regressions Table 15: Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate Change Statistics Durbin-Watson R Square Change F Change df1 df2 Sig. F Change 1 .647 .418 .404 .96375 .418 29.283 12 489 .000 2.022 a. Predictors: (Constant), Promotion, Irresponsible Behaviour, Friend Opinion, Poor Review, Social Network Environment, Online Review, Irrelevant Content, Conversation, Lack of Engagement, Information Source, Account Verification, Opinion Sharing b. Dependent Variable: Brand Awareness Durbin-Watson test score is more than 2 which is showing that there is negligible amount of autocorrelation exist between variables hence the researcher can rely on the predictors. It is evident from the R value that in 64% cases, variance in the dependent variable can be predicted by considering the above mentioned predictors. Table 16: Coefficients Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) .377 .193 1.958 .051 Social Network Environment .272 .049 .254 5.535 .000 Irresponsible Behaviour .083 .047 .088 1.775 .077 Irrelevant Content .080 .048 .081 1.673 .095 Lack of Engagement .050 .049 .050 1.005 .315 Poor Review -.028 .051 -.026 -.549 .583 Conversation .063 .051 .065 1.241 .215 Account Verification .173 .054 .168 3.186 .002 Opinion Sharing .004 .058 .003 .064 .949 Online Review .060 .060 .054 .992 .322 Friend Opinion -.055 .045 -.052 -1.206 .228 Information Source .053 .054 .049 .969 .333 Promotion .110 .047 .103 2.322 .021 a. Dependent Variable: Brand Awareness On the basis of the significance level statistics (accepted range is less than or equal to 0.05), only Promotional features in Social networking websites, Account verification of the company or privacy of the user in social networking websites and customer contact frequency with the Social Network Environment are identified as good predictors for generating brand awareness among users. However, there might be sampling error or chance factors influenced errors which have decreased the importance of other predictors such as information availability, online review etc. Overall it has been found that, product marketing through social networking websites can significantly influence their brand awareness towards the company. Conclusion It is evident from the above data analysis that there cannot be one predictor for generating brand awareness through social media marketing rather companies should consider various factors while going for social media based campaign. Taking result of the linear regression into account, it can be said that companies should design creative promotional campaign in social media websites without compromising privacy of users. The researcher has also found that customers give significant importance on opinion published in social media websites or online review of products, hence, digital markets should take care of addressing grievances of customers otherwise there are possibilities of creation of bad word of mouth about the service of the marketer in social media circle. In the conclusion, it can be said that the researcher has found significant amount of progress opportunity for social media marketing and in future, digital marketers should increase their scope to tap the market potentials. References Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2003). Business research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Creswell J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. (3rd ed.). California: Sage Publications. Curwin, J., & Slater, R. (2008). Quantitative methods for business decisions. (6th ed.). Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA. Davies, M. B. (2007). Doing a successful research project: Using qualitative or quantitative methods. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Gerzema, J., & D’Antonio, M. (2011). Spend shift: How the post-crisis values revolution is changing the way we buy, sell, and live. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Gray, D. E. (2009). Doing Research in the real world. (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications Ltd. Robson, C. (2011). Real world research. (3rd ed.). Chichester: John Wiely and Sons Ltd, Publication Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhil, A. (2007). Research methods for business students. (3rd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhil, A. (2009). Research methods for business students. (4th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education. Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2009). Research methods for business. (5th ed.). Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley& Sons. Truong, Y., & Simmons, G. (2010). Perceived intrusiveness in digital advertising: Strategic marketing implications. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 18(3), 239-56. Weisberg, S. (2005). Applied linear regression. (3rd ed.). New Jersey: Wiley. Appendices Demographic Data General Information Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Female 279 55.6 55.6 55.6 Male 223 44.4 44.4 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 Age Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 18 - 21 135 26.9 26.9 26.9 22 - 25 171 34.1 34.1 61.0 26 - 29 65 12.9 12.9 73.9 30 - 33 56 11.2 11.2 85.1 34 - 37 26 5.2 5.2 90.2 38 - 41 9 1.8 1.8 92.0 Older than 42 16 3.2 3.2 95.2 Younger than 18 24 4.8 4.8 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 Occupation Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Businesswoman, photographer and jewellery designer 1 .2 .2 .2 Employed (Full or Part-time) 167 33.3 33.3 33.5 Entrepreneur 11 2.2 2.2 35.7 Fresh Graduate 1 .2 .2 35.9 Graduate 1 .2 .2 36.1 Graduating 1 .2 .2 36.3 Housewife 1 .2 .2 36.5 Import/Export Marketing Manager 1 .2 .2 36.7 Instructor 1 .2 .2 36.9 intern 1 .2 .2 37.1 MA student & employed 1 .2 .2 37.3 Master student 1 .2 .2 37.5 Medical doctor 2 .4 .4 37.8 Part time employed and a student 1 .2 .2 38.0 Retire 1 .2 .2 38.2 Self employed 1 .2 .2 38.4 Student 264 52.6 52.6 91.0 Trainee 1 .2 .2 91.2 Unemployed 44 8.8 8.8 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 Household Monthly Income (in Saudi Riyals) Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 12,000 – 14,999 37 7.4 7.4 7.4 15,000 – 17,999 29 5.8 5.8 13.1 18,000 - 20,999 39 7.8 7.8 20.9 3,000 – 5,999 42 8.4 8.4 29.3 6,000 – 8,999 47 9.4 9.4 38.6 9,000–11,999 52 10.4 10.4 49.0 Less than 2,999 65 12.9 12.9 62.0 More than 21,000 98 19.5 19.5 81.5 Prefer not to declare 93 18.5 18.5 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 Response Data How many companies or brands do you follow online through social networks? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1 - 4 163 32.5 32.5 32.5 10 - 14 66 13.1 13.1 45.6 15 - 19 22 4.4 4.4 50.0 15 -19 1 .2 .2 50.2 20 - 24 20 4.0 4.0 54.2 25 - 29 12 2.4 2.4 56.6 5 - 9 111 22.1 22.1 78.7 More 58 11.6 11.6 90.2 None 49 9.8 9.8 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 On a daily average how often do you interact with companies or brands online? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1 - 2 times 231 46.0 46.0 46.0 3 - 4 times 56 11.2 11.2 57.2 5 - 7 times 23 4.6 4.6 61.8 8 - 10 times 10 2.0 2.0 63.7 More 12 2.4 2.4 66.1 Never 170 33.9 33.9 100.0 Total 502 100.0 100.0 Read More