Marketing to Teenagers on Social Networking Sites - Dissertation Example

Marketing to Teenagers on Social Networking Sites 0. Introduction Social networking sites have gained a significance foothold on the society in recent times (Boyd 2004, p. 1). Teenagers and older generations alike are taking to the social media in a bid to getting their information on to the public (Calhoun.1992, p. 1). There is no limit to the possibilities that these media create. MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter are perhaps the most common social networking sites today. There is no limit to what people post on their walls from personal information to general ones and even for business purposes (Donath & Boyd 2004, pp. 77). Advance in technology generally has opened up new ways of conducting businesses (Geertz 1973, p. 75). Products can now be marketed to customers within international borders by the use of the internet. While segmenting a market, it is important to consider which channel is most viable for marketing to that segment. For teenagers, social media is the most viable option since it is considered being “cool” just by owning an account in the social media. In this proposal, the role of social media in marketing will be discussed. Furthermore, we will seek to determine the viability of social media in marketing, the extent to which the infatuation with social media has reached and the advantages of these media over traditional ones. Other questions that the paper will seek to answer will be: what do teenagers specifically look at in the social media? What limits do the media have? And what are the underlying factors that make social networked marketing effective? Subsequent sections of this paper will provide literature that supports this course as well as ways in which more data will be gotten to conclusively analyze the research questions. 2.0. Literature review Contrary to popular belief, not all teenagers participate in social media (Berman & Amy 2001, p. 3). The proliferation of the media in recent times however has ensured that although not all teens are networked at the same time, there is at least a sizeable population that is at a given time (Ito 2007, pp, 6). Marketers are aware that some teenagers do not participate in social media because they are either disenfranchised or simply choose to object with the popular notion. These numbers are not as large and therefore marketers concentrate on those who actually take part. Parents were cited as the major hindrance to those teens that do not frequent social media (Lenhart 2007, pp. 15). Objectors are those who are politically opinionated and have personal reasons that make them detest social media. Segmentation in the social media cannot be dependent on race or social class. Research that was done by Boyd (2007, p. 3) indicates that poor black teenagers or from other minority groups have the same capability of accessing and utilizing social media as do white teenagers from wealthier backgrounds in the United States. The only difference is the length at which they stay in the media (Sundén 2003, p. 75). Those who access it in school are likely to have short access spans which mean that their involvement is primary or just as an asynchronous tool of communication. Those form richer backgrounds are however likely to have nighttime access which means that they have more time to modify their profiles (Boyd & Jeffrey 2006, p. 4), to surf the net for longer and also chat with friends and strangers alike (Halpern 2007, p. 18). Gender plays a critical role in the participation in social media. Generally, though, the participatory divide seems larger than the access divide (Livingstone 2005, pp. 86). Younger boys have been found to have more interest in the social media than younger girls. However, the same research states that girls in their late teenage years are more likely to participate in social media than boys of the same age. The most common use of media is for meeting new friends and sharing information on an avalanche of topics (Thornton 1996, p. 6). Some social network sites tend to have their participation segmented along cultural and language lines. The most popular sites tend to have participation along different nations but the myriad smaller ones are restricted to particular markets (Jenkins 2006, pp. 58). Orkut, a Google project has a large following in both Brazil and India. However, both groups of consumers have their own domains and hardly interact despite being on the same platform. Furthermore, the system in India follows their caste system which already segregates them from each other. Cyworld, is another example which has a large following in both South Korea and China although no significant interaction occurs between the two groups of consumers. Despite the indication that majority of the sites have cultural segmentation as an influence, the structural differences between the sites is insignificant (Perkel 2006, p. 13). Generally, sites usually have commentary areas, friend zones, and profiles (Boyd 2006, p. 4). Hence, from a marketing point of view, getting a message across can be easy regardless of the social network chosen. Teenagers grapple with two facts. One is that they have to maintain their “coolness” and the other is that they must remain within the acceptable limits that parents have put on them (Farnham & Farnham 2006). Most marketers are aware of this fact and are also aware that not many teenagers can pull that off. Many adults wish that what they value is in turn what teenagers will value albeit in limbo (Buckingham 2000, p. 7). While lambasting teenagers might be an easy fete, it is possible to remember that social categories and the perceived status of individuals are some of the core tenets that guide teenage life. Most teenagers are increasingly conscious of the many forces striving to capitalize on them (Glassner 2000, p. 89). In retrospect, many adults understand that it is increasingly difficult to control teenagers in the present day and age as the forces that influence them are growing by the day. Murray (2004, p. 6) concedes that teenagers now exercise power over what they prefer and thus is a notion that impresses many a marketer. Overturf et al. (2005, pp. 23) states peer pressure resulting from social media influences, to a large extent, the actions of many teenagers (Forman 2002, p. 5). This concept can be translated into marketing as ultimately, what is acceptable to one teenager will be acceptable to the friend. Therefore, when marketing products, their acceptance by a given group of teenagers will translate to wider acceptability due to the peer pressure. Conformity to what is cool is a major determinant in the consumer habits of teenagers (Hine 1999). 3.0. Methodology Data collection will be through participant observation which will be quantitatively analyzed whereas the qualitative analysis will be acquired from interviews. Observation will be through the movement in online and offline spaces and observing how young people utilize the social media while gauging their reactions to the different marketing initiatives that are active online. The major participants will primarily be urban youth who will range in sex, age, sexuality, socio-economic class, ethnicity, religion, and race. Basically, their commentary on given products or trends, the components of their profiles that are tied down to their habits and patterns of consumerism and the friends they keep will be the basis of observation. In order to gauge the specificity of the reactions to teenagers, a limited number of older people will be interviewed. The assumption in the research will be that the participants are school going teenagers who live with their guardians or parents. The research paper will use the terms teenagers, youth or young people interchangeably in a bid to reflecting specifically those within the 12 years to 17 year old bracket. Primary data will be acquired through the engagement with Youth Engagement Organizations that work in collaboration with the social networking sites. The data collected in this way will mainly be ethnographic. Interviews with teenagers and marketers of teenage-based products like video games, colleges and fashion will also form a fundamental part of this research (Davis 1992, p. 43). As the research will be focusing on the private spaces of individuals, confidentiality must be guaranteed (Koppelman 2006, pp. 8) and no specific participant will be mentioned. This means that the results acquired will be a generalization of the findings in the course of the research. The hypothesis developed for this paper is to what extent marketing in social networking sites is viable to teenagers. The proliferation of social media has necessitated the review of the extent to which it plays in marketing to teenagers. Previous research has mainly touched on the participation of teenagers in social media but has not endeavored into specific practices like marketing. As researchers have conceded that teenagers and the youth are the most likely participants in social media, this research proposal seeks to guide research into the viability of marketing to teenagers using these media that they are so infatuated with. Key issues that arise are the cultural and linguistic constraints that are existent in some media and also the reach which specific media have in terms of geography. Most of the social networking, sites are limited to specific countries, therefore, the internationality of such sites cannot be guaranteed as a marketing option. Additionally, there are many language constraints in majority of the sites. Indian social sites are a classic example of segregated media sites as the caste system is in practice. Since the research is limited to the UK, the social networking sites that will be considered will include Facebook and Twitter. Also, multinationals will form the base of marketers that will be examined. 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