Social Marketing Communication in a Multicultural Environment - Case Study Example

Understanding Business Research

Introduction

Business communication takes many forms and is used for different purposes. As an entrepreneur in the making, the field of marketing communication is an area of passion and a field where personal development and growth can be achieved. The area is critical considering that keeping consumers informed about products and services as well as related changes is probably one of the best functional areas of business (Noble & Camit, 2005). The review of two marketing communication types of research done using a qualitative and quantitative study design will be crucial in exposing the best approach to the research needed to determine the effective strategies for use in the marketplace.

Summary of the Research Studies

Social marketing communication in a multicultural environment: Practical issues and theoretical contributions from cross-cultural marketing

The marketing communication done on social media is challenging whenever the audience comes from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The complications result from differences in values, and attitudes because they force the communicator to translate the information to meet the needs of the various groups (Noble & Camit, 2005). The study sought to explore the other intricacies involved in the translation of campaign information to meet the needs of different groups. The study of the work done by a multicultural health communication agency showed various crucial issues in multicultural marketing communication, including identification of target group, adapting the content, credibility of the information source, and adapting the message to the owner’s needs.

The influence of culture on marketing communications: critical cultural factors affecting South African and German businesses

The research by Schnalke and Mason (2014) examined the impact of two national cultures from around the world on the marketing communications of companies. The two national cultures included those of Germany and South Africa. The researchers used a qualitative research design to study the area of marketing communication, using the survey and interview research instruments. The findings from the study revealed that various factors, including value systems, attitudes on time, language, communications style, and message, and levels of education are crucial to marketing communication (Schnalke & Mason, 2014). The findings of the study revealed that multinational companies need to explore their marketing communication further due to the factors affecting marketing communication in different societies. In essence, the researchers concluded that national culture affects marketing communication considerably.

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Design Approaches

The research by Schnalke and Mason (2014) used the quantitative design approach, but the data collected was also complemented using the data gathered through qualitative interviews. Strengths

i. The quantitative design approach provides descriptive data that captures the crucial nature of the study sample and allows for generalization to the wider population.

ii. The design provides numeric estimates that are also verifiable, because the analysis of the data collected is not complicated, which makes the research process easier.

iii. Provides data that is comparable to different study groups, for example, the samples of various locations.

vi. The data does not need analytical judgment, apart from the consideration of the ways the information will be presented during dissemination, which makes the process easier.

Weaknesses

i. The approach leads to many information gaps – in particular on the issues not included in the questionnaire, due to the closed nature of the questions.

ii. The data collection is highly demanding, due to the processes that the researcher needs to take.

iii. The respondents of the study are minimally engaged about the contents of questions and information collection process; therefore, the researcher gets minimal information.

The research by Noble and Camit (2005) was done using the qualitative design approach. The strengths and the weaknesses of the research design approach are highlighted next.

Strengths

i. The issues of study are examined in details and depth, which provides better findings.

ii. The interview tool, in particular, is not limited to particular questions, and can be directed by the researcher during data collection, which improves the quality of conclusions that are made.

iii. The research direction and framework can be adapted to accommodate new information, which makes the approach more flexible.

iv. The qualitative data gathered is more explanatory and compelling than quantitative, and thus provides more understandable findings.

Weaknesses

i. The quality of research is influenced by the skills of the researcher, and their biases, which can render the findings non-representative of the study group.

ii. It is more challenging to maintain thoroughness in assessments and demonstrating results, due to the subjective nature of data collection.

iii. The process of data interpretation is time-consuming due to the volume of data, and that makes the research process slow and time-consuming.

iv. The approach is not highly acceptable in scientific fields, therefore, has limited application in certain areas.

v. The presence of the researcher during data collection can affect the responses provided, which can influence the quality of findings gathered.

The strengths and Weaknesses of Sampling Approach

The research by Noble and Camit (2005) used the theoretical sampling approach.

Strengths

i. The sampling approach strengthens the thoroughness of the study, especially where the researchers seek to generate a theory during the research, which is useful for studies that do not have guiding theoretical models.

ii. The sampling method provides a framework and guidance for data collection and analysis, which makes the two steps easier.

iii. The approach is flexible and allows the researcher to make changes and shifts in the process to get the desired outcomes and findings.

Weaknesses

i. The sampling approach is highly systematic and imposes demands on the resource and time available to the researcher.

ii. The sampling process is highly complicated, which makes it difficult to understand, and as a result, makes the work of the researcher highly challenging.

The study by Schnalke and Mason (2014) used both the convenient and purposeful sampling (mixed) approach.

Strengths

i. The strengths of a mixed sampling method include that it is cheap to use, due to the ease afforded by convenience sampling where purposeful sampling is challenging.

ii. The inclusion of sample members selected using the two sampling methods makes the research obtain findings that are more generalizable as compared to the utilization of a single approach.

iii. The use of the mixed sampling method can be used to overcome the weaknesses of the separate approaches, for example, by building on the sample selected using the other approach.

Weakness

i. The mixed sampling approach may not yield representative results, due to the inclusion of sample members selected through convenience sampling in the study sample.

ii. The mixed approach presents the risk that the selection of the sample will be highly affected by the researcher’s biases.

iii. The mixed sampling approach makes it impossible to guarantee the representativeness of the sample, which likely affected the quality of the findings from the study.

The Specific Situations where the Data Collection Instruments are Ideal

The two studies by Schnalke and Mason (2014) and Noble and Camit (2005) used questionnaires as the instruments for data collection. The questionnaire research instrument is ideal for data collection where the researcher seeks to investigate patterns and frequency of phenomenon, for example, the migration of people from rural to urban areas (Jha, 2014). The instrument can also be used to research the needs or preferences of a group, for example, the learning needs of students, user satisfaction, and trends that are repeated over time.

The Strengths and Weaknesses of Statistical Analysis Used to describe Data

The study by Schnalke and Mason (2014) used the SPSS software, and descriptive analysis was done using tables.

Strengths

The primary strength of using SPSS in statistical analysis is that data can be easily imported from documents such as Excel, and .csv documents.

Weaknesses

The files that are imported may lose some numerical formats, particularly when exported from other applications such as MOLE.

In many instances, it is time-consuming to correct the definitions of variables in the variable viewer. As an example, text areas do not fit above 255 characters and many research questions exceed the limit. In some instances, some information is lost, due to character limitation (Jha, 2014).

The study by Noble and Camit (2005) relied on descriptive analysis; therefore, the researchers did not use any statistical analysis system.

Discussion of the Fit between the Sampling Method and Data Collection Approach and Personal Research

The data collection approach adopted in the study by Noble and Camit (2005) is more appropriate to examine the role of marketing communication and its effectiveness in businesses and companies. However, the data collection approach used in the study by Schnalke and Mason (2014) may not be useful due to the descriptive nature of the data gathered about the effectiveness of marketing communication. In particular, the usefulness of the data collection approach that involved the use of questionnaires is appropriate because it can work with a large population of people (Jha, 2014). As an example, in a study examining the effectiveness of the marketing communication done over social media is best explored using a qualitative research design. Similarly, the data collection usefulness of questionnaires will be useful in studying the field of marketing communication considering that interviews can complement them.

Conclusion

The field of marketing communication is broad and deep and deserves to be studied in depth. The research to be done in the area will take the approaches used by the studies by Schnalke and Mason (2014), which adopted a quantitative research approach or Noble and Camit (2005), which adopted a qualitative approach. The findings of the two studies are relevant to the study of marketing communication considering that they pointed out the pitfalls that affect marketing communication, including values and language. The review of the design approaches used in the two studies highlighted the respective strengths and weakness, including that the qualitative approach is ideal for descriptive studies. The review of the strengths and the weakness of the sampling approaches also revealed the ways they can be used, including the fact that the mixed sampling approach is more flexible. The use of questionnaires is ideal to the area of marketing research because it is a better research instrument. The system for the analysis of statistical information, especially SPSS and descriptive analysis are useful and efficient in examining the field of marketing communication