CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTINGS

Background of the Problem

With the many beautiful destinations here in Calbayog, Muro-Puro, probably is one of the

most neglected and/ or less noticed tourist site. Muro-Puro is an islet located nearby barangay

San Joaquin, Calbayog City guarded by a seawall. Standing like a boulder surrounded by the

massive sea and with abundance of mangrove trees makes it perfect for a whole new place to

explore. As it is basically untouched, its astounding marine site would surely make one to dive at

his/her heart’s content. Moreover, it is considered as a nesting place for various species of fish.

Plus, what makes it incredibly mystique is that during low-tide it can be walked from the seawall

of up to three to four minutes. However, there is no definite measure of the islet yet since it is

quite unnoticed and given less attention. And this is the reason why this paper is proposed, to

uphold knowledge and enough wisdom for the residents of barangay San Joaquin to make the

initiative upon promoting the Muro-Puro Reef and get the perks out of it.

As it is known that today’s generation is most likely to be involved in the digital world, it

has been put to consideration and with great discernment to help the barangay promote the

Muro-Puro Reef through creating a website that would benefit them in many ways as well: 1.

People will get to know how to create a website, 2. They will earn through the advertisements on

their website, 3. They can sell their own local products through the website.
 All of the abovementioned will be possible with the help of the Department of

Information and Communications Technology (DICT) with their current running program

“Digital Jobs Ph.” In addition, while the barangay is having all the benefits they are promoting

the Muro- Puro Reef at the same time.

The barangay has 13 Puroks in total. It was decided to have 50 randomly selected

residents of Purok 8 since they ultimately has the access to boats and a potential site for the

tourists to have a ride to Muro-Puro. This aims to deliberately evaluate their aptitude skills,

computer and graphic designing proficiency level and further understand how residents show

differences in terms of their variability such as marketing and customer relationship management

skills.

Inductively, the researchers on the other hand, aim to provide advancing skills and

knowledge in order to achieve computer and marketing proficiency and competence alike, as one

of the major objective of the study, addressing the main significant problem about neglecting the

beautiful Muro-Puro Reef. Furthermore, the research also tends to conduct a study which proves

the proficiency effectiveness of the residents when it comes to marketing purposes thus,

empowering them to create a website of their own, as a dynamic and better tool in promoting the

place.
Theoretical Framework

The following theories cited below are observed ideas that support the researcher's

propositions under study, including three (3) existing notions namely; SWOT Analysis,

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and the PESTEL Analysis.

1. SWOT Analysis

Albert Humphrey during his work at the Stanford Research Institute (1960 – 1970),

produced a team method for planning which was named SOFT analysis; this has developed

into what we now know as a SWOT analysis which stands for S – Strengths, W –

Weaknesses, O – Opportunities, T – Threats. The theory is used to evaluate the Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that is involved in a marketing or business project.

First is to specify the objective for the project and then identify the internal and external

factors that will have a positive as well as negative impact on the objective. It should be

noted that the final objective must be set after completing the SWOT analysis. The reason for

this is to ensure that the objectives are achievable and not unrealistic given the current

internal and external environments. Users of the SWOT analysis can therefore use the first

two sections (Strengths and Weaknesses) to help them identify all of the internal factors. The

last two sections (Opportunities and Threats) will be used to identify all of the external

factors. When determining each of the sections it is really important that the right questions

are asked. A SWOT analysis that does not produce or help towards producing realistic and

achievable goals is useless. Below are sample questions-- these are just a short selection and
 will differ from objective to objective and from organization to organization. The important

point to take away is that the right question will help to produce a really valuable SWOT

analysis.

Strengths (Internal factor / Positive influence)

 What are we best at?

 What intellectual property do we own that can help us with this objective?

 What specific skills does the current workforce have that can contribute to this objective?

 What financial resources do we have for reaching this objective?

 What connections and alliances do we have?

 What is our bargaining power with both suppliers and intermediaries?

Opportunities (External factor / Positive influence)

 What changes in the external environment can we exploit?

 What weaknesses in our competitors can we use to our advantage?

 What new technology might become available to us?

 What new markets might be opening to us?

Weaknesses (Internal factor / Negative influence)

 What are we worst at doing?

 Is our intellectual property outdated?

 What training does our workforce lack?

 What is our financial position?

 What connections and alliances should we have, but don’t?

Threats (External factors / Negative influence)

 What might our competitors be able to do to hurt us?

 What new legislation might damage our interests?

 What social changes might threaten us?

 How will the economic cycle affect us?

2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was developed by Abraham Maslow, a specialist in human

behavioral psychology. The hierarchy was first developed to help explain the connection

between basic human needs and human desires.

The hierarchy, often visualized as a pyramid is split into five categories. Put simply

unless we have the fundamental basic human needs at the bottom of the hierarchy we will

not strive to meet any further desires. As each requirement is fulfilled we move up the

hierarchy.

 Physiological needs:

 These are the underlying needs we as humans can’t live without. E.g. Food, water, sleep,

oxygen etc.

 Safety needs:

 We all need to feel safe. Whether that be physically, financially or job security and health.

 Social needs:

 We all look for social connections in friends and family.

 Esteem needs:

 We all desire to have respect and be respected by others, this includes self-esteem,

confidence and a sense of self achievement.

 Self-actualization:
 This is realizing one’s full potential and this will differ from person to person. This is the

highest level on the hierarchy and what we are all striving for.

Maslow’s hierarchy in Marketing:

If marketers know the wants and needs of their target market (which every good marketer

should!) then this can be used as a selling point to influence.

A great deal of research is undertaken to segment, target and position (STP) customers by

various criteria such as demographics, social class, geographic and so on. From this marketers

will have a very specific idea about who their target consumers are and tailor their marketing

strategy accordingly.

For example a car manufacturer targeting young families is not likely to focus on the top speeds

and luxury items in their advertising campaigns but instead on the cost effectiveness and safety

features.

It is important to note that your target market’s level or needs and desires may not stay the same,

especially in times of political and economic change. Therefore remember to keep your

marketing strategy up to date and relevant.

3. PESTEL Analysis

Harvard professor Francis Aguilar is thought to be the creator of PEST Analysis. He

included a scanning tool called ETPS in his 1967 book, "Scanning the Business

Environment." The name was later tweaked to create the current acronym.

A PESTEL analysis is a framework or tool used by marketers to analyse and monitor the

macro-environmental (external marketing environment) factors that have an impact on an

 organization. The result of which is used to identify threats and weaknesses which is used

in a SWOT analysis.

PESTEL stands for:

P – Political

E – Economic

S – Social

T – Technological

E – Environmental

L – Legal

Political Factors

These are all about how and to what degree a government intervenes in the economy. This can

include – government policy, political stability or instability in overseas markets, foreign trade

policy, tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restrictions and so on.

It is clear from the list above that political factors often have an impact on organizations and how

they do business. Organizations need to be able to respond to the current and anticipated future

legislation, and adjust their marketing policy accordingly.

Economic Factors

Economic factors have a significant impact on how an organization does business and also how

profitable they are. Factors include – economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation,

disposable income of consumers and businesses and so on.

These factors can be further broken down into macro-economic and micro-economic factors.

Macro-economic factors deal with the management of demand in any given economy.
Governments use interest rate control, taxation policy and government expenditure as their main

mechanisms they use for this.

Micro-economic factors are all about the way people spend their incomes. This has a large

impact on B2C organizations in particular.

Social Factors

Also known as socio-cultural factors, are the areas that involve the shared belief and attitudes of

the population. These factors include – population growth, age distribution, health

consciousness, and career attitudes and so on. These factors are of particular interest as they have

a direct effect on how marketers understand customers and what drives them.

Technological Factors

We all know how fast the technological landscape changes and how this impacts the way we

market our products. Technological factors affect marketing and the management thereof in three

distinct ways:

 New ways of producing goods and services

 New ways of distributing goods and services

 New ways of communicating with target markets

Environmental Factors

These factors have only really come to the forefront in the last fifteen years or so. They have

become important due to the increasing scarcity of raw materials, polution targets, doing

business as an ethical and sustainable company, carbon footprint targets set by governments (this

is a good example were one factor could be classes as political and environmental at the same

time).
These are just some of the issues marketers are facing within this factor. More and more

consumers are demanding that the products they buy are sourced ethically, and if possible from a

sustainable source.

Legal Factors

Legal factors include - health and safety, equal opportunities, advertising standards, consumer

rights and laws, product labeling and product safety. It is clear that companies need to know

what is and what is not legal in order to trade successfully. If an organization trades globally this

becomes a very tricky area to get right as each country has its own set of rules and regulations.

Conceptual Framework

The diagram below shows the relationship between the profiles and particular subjects of the

study involved; their variables, the research problem, remediation and the research target are

concisely illustrated.

The graphical presentation of the basic structure of the research in Figure 1 shows the

correlation of the components and elements with one another. Targeting a fifty (50) randomly

selected respondents, the first graph of the schematic diagram outlines the profiles of the

residents of barangay San Joaquin Purok 8 in terms of age, gender, educational attainment, status

and occupation. Pointing relatively towards the processes involving variables in assessing

computer literacy upon developing a website, the second diagram of the research paradigm

allows the study to measure the aptitude skills of the residents in terms of computer and internet

skills, graphical designing, marketing, and customer relationship management. Definitely

reaching forward (third graph), the study generally aims to produce an enhancement remediation

that presents profound and alternatively effective strategies toward website-developing

advancements including comprehensive interventions like self-assessment and critical

evaluation, creative and advancing computer workshops and progressively measuring practical

exercises, activities and marketing approaches. With such significance, these will help support

residents mitigate the problems being encountered in learning and acquiring website developing

proficiency, which is being demonstrated as the very main target of the study (graph 4).

PROCESS

Profiles of residents Variables in Effective strategies

of barangay San assessing Web- toward website
Joaquin Purok 8 in developing developing
terms of: Proficiency: advancements
1. Age including
2. Gender 1. Computer comprehensive
3. Educational and Internet content areas like:
Attainment Skills 1. Self-
4. Status 2. Graphical Assessment
5. Occupation Designing and Critical
3. Marketing Evaluation
4. Customer 2. Creative and
Relationship Advancing
Managemen Computer
t Workshops
3. Measuring
Practical
Exercises,
Activities
and
Marketing
Approaches

Problem/s encountered by residents in learning and acquiring

Website-development Proficiency
Statement of the Problem

The thesis is centered on the Promotion of Muro-Puro Reef as an ecotourism site by

means of teaching the local residents to create a specific website for the place. Inductively, the

researchers attempt to elicit relevant knowledge and interventions to the following research

questions below:

1. What are the profiles of the local residents of barangay San Joaquin in terms of their:

1.1. Age

1.2. Gender

1.3 Educational Attainment

1.4 Status

1.5 Occupation

2. What is/are the difference/s between residents who are poor when it comes to web-

developing skills such as:

2.1. Computer and Internet Skills

2.2 Graphic design

2.3. Marketing

2.4. Customer Relationship Management

3. Is there a significant relationship between the profiles of the residents and their web-

developing skills in terms of:

3.1. Computer and Internet Skills

3.2 Graphic design

3.3. Marketing

3.4. Customer Relationship Management

 4. What is/are the significant problem/s encountered by residents in learning and acquiring

Web-developing proficiency?

5. Are there any effective interventions to gradually address the need for attaining proficiency

level in web-development?

Statement of Hypothesis

The following supposition below explains what is provisionally interpreted for the research

study expectancy:

Ho1: There is no significant relationship between the profiles of the residents of barangay San

Joaquin and their web-developing skills in terms of:

1.1. Computer and Internet Skills

1.2 Graphic design

1.3. Marketing

1.4. Customer Relationship Management

Statement of Assumption

The following statement below assumes what is provisionally interpreted for the research

study expectancy:

Ha1: There is a significant relationship between the profiles of the residents of barangay San

Joaquin and their web-developing skills in terms of:

1.1. Computer and Internet Skills

1.2 Graphic design

1.3. Marketing

1.4. Customer Relationship Management

Significance of the Study

In spite of the natural wonders of Muro-Puro, still it is not noticed by many. It would be sad

to see that such attraction would not be displayed and experienced by everyone. Though it is

understood that the place is a bit far from the city proper and there is not much of information on

the internet with regards to the place, this paved way for the researchers to undergo this study

and further aim to develop favorable outcomes in the setting as follows:

1. Residents of the barangay San Joaquin. With the locals knowledge on web-

development they would be able to help on promoting the place while earning at

the same time.

2. Muro-Puro Reef. With the help of the locals and with the money they would gain

from the website, newly purchased materials and equipment for the betterment of

the place is expected. It would be a whole new and improved Muro-Puro Reef.

3. Calbayog City. As there would be many travelers and/ or tourists coming to

Muro-Puro, the city would be basically known. This would give way to attracting

more tourists to visit the city as well.

4. Research. With the appropriate knowledge retentions, proficiency will allow to

conduct critical and more in-depth discussions about the research study for it will

become the conventional tool for upholding critical, abstract and logical reasoning

and extending profound analyses laterally.

5. City Tourism. This will help to provide more information and credentials to the

place.
Scope and Limitation of the Study

The research under study outlines only to fifty (50) residents, randomly selected, of of

barangay San Joaquin Purok 8, Calbayog City. The place and time, to which the study was

generated, is located at barangay San Joaquin Purok 8, Calbayog City this September. Likewise,

this research study only encompasses the promotion of a place regarding the aptitude skills of

residents in terms of web-developing proficiency or the ability to how well they will market the

place through website development and is evaluated in terms of their computer and internet

skills, graphical designing, marketing, and customer relationship management and other related

areas that illustrate web-developing abilities. Similarly, the study also delimits itself only within

the scope of promoting a place through web-development and distinguishably aims to provide

creative and effective strategies in order to address the lack of skills of residents and potential

learners when it comes to promoting their place and/or the Muro-Puro Reef with the aid of web-

development.
Definition of Terms

The following terms below are words that have been utilized to establish a general

understanding about the research study and are defined both conceptually and operationally.

SEAWALL. A form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal

processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a sea wall is to protect

areas of human habitation, conservation and leisure activities from the action of tides, waves, or

tsunamis.

DIGITAL WOLRD. It is most commonly used in digital pedagogy when defining the need for

digital citizenship, digital fluency, and digital literacy. The digital world is the availability and

use of digital tools to communicate on the Internet, digital devices, smart devices and other

technologies

WEBSITE. Or web site is a collection of related network web resources, such as web pages,

multimedia content, which are typically identified with a common domain name, and published

on at least one web server. Notable examples are wikipedia.org, google.com, and amazon.com.

WEB DEVELOPMENT. Broadly refers to the tasks associated with developing websites for

hosting via intranet or internet. The web development process includes web design, web content

development, client-side/server-side scripting and network security configuration, among other

tasks.

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

(DICT). It is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the

planning, development and promotion of the country's information and communications

technology agenda in support of national development.

GRAPHIC DESIGN. It is the process of visual communication and problem-solving through

the use of typography, photography, and illustration. The field is considered a subset of visual

communication and communication design, but sometimes the term "graphic design" is used

synonymously

MARKETING. It is the process of visual communication and problem-solving through the use

of typography, photography, and illustration. The field is considered a subset of visual

communication and communication design, but sometimes the term "graphic design" is used

synonymously

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT. It is an approach to manage a company's

interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history

with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on

customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.

SWOT ANALYSIS. It is a strategic planning technique used to help a person or organization

identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to business competition or

project planning. SWOT stands for S – Strengths, W – Weaknesses, O – Opportunities, T –

Threats.

PEST ANALYSIS. It describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the

environmental scanning component of strategic management. PEST (EL) Stands for P –

Political, E – Economic, S – Social, T – Technological, E – Environmental, L – Legal.

MICROECONOMICS. It focuses on supply and demand and other forces that determine the

price levels in the economy. Microeconomics involves several key principles including (but not

limited to): Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium: Prices are determined by the theory of supply and

demand.
MACROECONOMICS. Include gross domestic product, the rate of employment, the phases of

the business cycle, the rate of inflation, the money supply, the level of government debt, and the

short-term and long-term effects of trends and changes in these measures.

COMPUTER AND INTERNET SKILLS. According to Carvin, technological literacy is the

ability to utilize common information technology (IT) tools, including hardware, software, and

Internet tools such as search engines and email. Similarly, IT and ICT literacy, in most cases,

cover the basic skills to use computers and networks.

MARKETING APPROACHES. There are four different approaches to the study of marketing.

These approaches explain clearly the mechanism and concept of marketing. These approaches

are Commodity Approach, Institutional Approach, Functional Approach and Decision Making

Approach.
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents various related literature and studies. Related literature includes

articles and particular subjects of other reliable sources coming from people regarding the

promotion of reefs as an eco-tourism site by means of developing a website. Related studies

include also various researches, theses, or studies related to the present investigation. Below are

reviews of related literature and studies presenting the supporting concepts of the research

subjects under study.

RELATED LITERATURE

Muro-Puro Snorkeling Site

Muro-Puro isn’t a popular diving site yet so you can still enjoy the open waters and swim to your

heart’s delight but it’s just a matter of time because the marine site here is astounding. Take the

time to visit this spot while it’s still untouched (outoftownblog.com)

Website

Foreign

The web has become an opportunity for the marketers to add value to products and

services. The phenomenal growth and rising of the popularity of the internet and the World

Wide Web have become a key to attract more consumers and businesses to engage the benefits of

Electronic Commerce (E-commerce). This E-commerce is sited as any form of business

transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct

physical contact (Aldin, Brehmer & Johansson, 2004). This has transformed the traditional

commerce and enhanced sales and exchanges of merchandise and information. It is not just

considered as single entity of technology but a combination of technologies where applications,

processes, business strategies are necessary to do business electronically. The availability of

goods and services with the click of a mouse is changing the global setting.

Consideration of the websites design and operations are dependent upon the nature of business

activities and target consumers. According to Burleson (2005), a website must be simple and

focused site to succeed. One that is easy to build, maintenance-free, low cost, trustworthy, and a

powerful traffic-builder and customer-converter. Having the right tool and the right product alone

doesn’t ensure the success of the website. To be effective, the Website must be designed with the

target audience as foremost consideration. Website designers must balance design considerations

and capabilities with client objectives and the consumer’s level of understanding in the modern

technology (Geissler, 2001).

It is critical for companies to know how do they attract customers to their website, engage

them to turn into paying customers and also retain them in returning to your website. Online

communications techniques used to achieve goals of brand awareness, familiarity and

favorability and to influence purchase intent by encouraging users of digital media to visit a web

site to engage with the brand or product and ultimately to purchase online or offline through

traditional media channels such as by phone or in-store (Chaffey, 2009).

Local

In the Philippines, e-commerce is mostly being implemented by major retailers and

multinational corporations for bank-to-bank exchange. A number of Business-to-consumer

transactions have emerged through the years such as auctions, online shopping, and online

banking (Lacson, Pasadilla, 2006). This just shows that Filipino businesses welcome this new

opportunity in selling goods since 16% of the population is using Internet. This new marketing

strategy will not only benefit those big companies but also the small businesses who cannot

afford to advertise their products. Just by creating a website in a very affordable cost would make

the business grow in terms of sales and enhance the company image as well.

Philippine firms have yet to fully tap the potentials of e-commerce that will help them to

compete in domestic and global markets. In the process of preparing themselves to conduct e-

commerce, these firms will be changing the way they do business. These changes are expected

to have an impact on the welfare of Philippine workers. Most efforts to measure the economic

effects of e-commerce—including those on workers’ welfare—have focused on the U.S. and

Europe, who are considered to be the leaders in e-commerce. (Roberto, 2002) In general, it

discuss the changes in the nature of work from the front to back office is likely within the sectors

performing services Employment demand for these industry, they may be focused away from

agents and blue collared workers, toward higher management and executive staff.

As Filipinos entered the 21st century, local e-commerce transaction reached Php 1 billion.

It shows that there’s at least one billion transaction sales growth annually. If this trend continues,

figures can reach up to Php 20 billion as more businesses conduct online transactions. If

significant economic growth takes place in the next 10 years, these estimates may even double or
triple (Toral, 2004).

One indisputable benefit of e-commerce is its ability to reduce transaction costs. For

consumers or buyers, this is most likely to take the form of lower search costs and better

information on products and prices. There could be drastic savings in production and delivery

costs of electronic or digital goods as well. (Lee, 2006)

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become and will continue to be

an integral part of the day-to-day life of every Filipino across all levels of our society. The

occurrence of communication technology around the world necessitates that government get on a

cohesive and coordinated strategy on how to prepare its citizens to survive, live and thrive in a

digital world.(The Philippine Digital Strategy Transformation 2.0: Digital Empowered Nation

2011) The main objective of the paper is to have a competitive society where everyone has a

reliable, affordable and secure information access in the Philippines.

RELATED STUDIES

Volunteer perceptions of an ecotourism experience: A case study of ecotourism to the coral

reefs of Southern Negros in the Philippines

Pre-departure perceptual construct

This showed in volunteer pre-departure perception of themselves on expedition and their

subsequent expectations of consumer value, where some volunteers mentioned they were

‘struggling to get the funds but it will be worth it’. However, it was noted that further remarks on

‘value’ were expressed not merely in a monetary sense but equally experiential, in terms of

quality of destination environment, scuba diving, conservation activities and interaction with the
host community and other volunteers. Most volunteers mentioned the sense of ‘purpose’ they

would gain from the prospect of working with local Filipinos and helping them protect their

coral reef environment. Such interaction with their peers was seen as contributing towards the

construction of their ideal destination– activity–self-image. The study contrasted with Ashworth

and Dietvorst’s (1995) and Urry’s (2002) findings that emphasised the importance of

technologically heightened visual consumption. The results from the diary sheets and comments

during subsequent interviews showed volunteer interaction with CCC staff at exhibitions or

presentations was more influential in purchase decision-making than information gained from

the Internet and from brochures. The latter were used afterwards and provided further motivation

for consumption. The review of websites, brochures, etc. of the volunteer ecotourism market

concurred with Urry (2002) and Lengkeek (1995), in that it found many organisations who

promote tourism to the Philippines through marketing campaigns could be said to ‘prescribe’

symbols suitable for visual consumption in the construction of a volunteer’s idealistic

destination–activity–self-image. These images are of escaping to remote tropical locations

(benevolently), interacting with local Filipinos who live in native cabana huts alongside palm

fringed beaches, and relaxed diving in clear warm waters to survey colourful coral reefs teeming

with marine life. Such idealistic images and ‘terms’ were recounted a number of times by many

volunteers at the orientation event and seemed to substantiate the ‘guiding’ of volunteers towards

their idealised counter structural world.

The volunteer experience

In interview, CCC–PRRCFI staff suggested, compared with traditional Eco tourists,

volunteer interaction with the local natural and socio-cultural environment indicated a higher

degree of conscientiousness. This included significant cultural understanding and receptiveness

to higher levels of environmental awareness and conservation training. Noted as a considerable

event in participant observation field notes, the construction of volunteer perceptions and

expectations took added significance with the volunteers’ overtly positive reaction to actually

experiencing symbols of counter structure, e.g. the focus of many photographs were the tropical

setting of the expedition base, scenic sunsets and local fishermen at work. Volunteer reaction to

their first independent survey was almost ecstatic, similarly a presentation by the PRRCFI

marine biologist, and a visit to Apo Island Reserve, all indicated a high degree of visually

experiential fulfilment. Interestingly, in terms of counter structural symbolism one volunteer

commented on the PRRCFI presentation to their colleagues, ‘that was great, he seemed more

genuine about the reefs degrading; do you think it was because he’s a local Filipino?’

Paradoxically, and despite knowing the conservation rationale of their expedition, some

volunteers felt a significant disappointment with the quality of many symbols of their idealised

‘counter structural’ world. For instance, many parts of the reefs were colourless, broken and

degraded with sparse marine life. This seemed to have a detrimental effect on the attitude of

those volunteers towards expedition activities.

In this way, some felt a discrepancy existed between pre-departure expectations and actual

experience on expedition. Field notes record one volunteer voicing some disillusionment ‘didn’t

see any pictures of grey reefs at orientation’. They highlighted how pre-departure presentations

and brochures showed only images of thriving reefs, remote locations, native cabana
accommodation and working with local people. Whereas expedition accommodation was an old

villa, near a relatively busy road, and the reefs and marine life were not of the quality depicted.

Similarly, despite being a major incentive, opportunities to interact with the local community had

been minimal and generally limited to commercial exchanges with local vendors. These limited

interactions emerged as significantly negative. Conversation and comments at mealtimes and

particularly on the walk into town indicated that many volunteers felt that in spite of the altruistic

nature of their visit they were often deliberately targeted and overcharged for local goods and

services. Notwithstanding this, as all three data-collection methods substantiated, over the

duration of the expedition volunteers maintained an overall positive ecocentric ‘attitude’ and

perception of the host community. This was reflected by the resilience of their belief that

unsustainable use of natural resources by local residents was out of necessity caused by poverty.

They felt their presence as ecotourists would benefit the local economy. In addition, they

believed their commitment and efforts as conservation volunteers generally had a positive

influence on local perceptions of foreigners, on the work of CCC and PRRCFI, and therefore

towards coral reefs locally, nationally and globally.

Website

Foreign

E-commerce has become a standard method of providing distributed information to many

different platforms. It is being implemented by a growing number of companies to be more

completive in corporate world. All companies need to make a step forward towards a new

technology. To be able to compete with the global market, e-commerce was a good answer

(Lanvin and Maggarqul, 2006).

 The company’s websites seem to have significant influence on sales and corporate image,

and are expected to contribute to overall customer satisfaction (Hossain, 2007). The easiest way

to be reliable to the customer is to maintain an easy and simple image in the company’s website,

which created positive web experience to the customer. This can be done by having transparent

interface, rich content, easily accessible information and having a design that facilitates multiple

audiences. This is simply emphasizing the importance of knowing the target visitors as they have

different tastes in terms of color and design as a whole. Also, a good design is not enough to

make your customers stay in the website; it must be informative as well especially on the product

details. As what Efendioglu and Igna stated that companies may have great content, dynamic and

attractive design on their website, but the customer may not be aware of that website because of

wrong or inadequate online marketing. (Retrieved on Aug. 14 2012 from

https://pure.ltu.se/ws/files/33033408/LTU-EX-2011-32955905.pdf)

Website security also refers to the protection of confidential information of the

consumers. This is one way of gaining the customers trust because customers want to believe

that the information they provide will be protected and used only in appropriate ways

(Mansoorian, 2006). Some of the important details to be protected are Address and Contact

Number which has to keep in private. Passwords must also be encrypted to protect the

consumer’s account from hackers.

Apart from the content of website and design of the pages, security must also take into

consideration most importantly on the payment transactions. Authentication and payment

systems must provide a high level of security due to the sensitive functions they perform. In

order to achieve a strong authentication method, it is necessary to identify and understand what

needs to be protected, possible attacks, how to protect vulnerable points and a ways to detect
attacks. These methods can also be made more resilient to attacks by incorporating multiple

authentication factors and communication channels. Most importantly, the limitations of the

authentication method used must be clearly understood. (Retrieved on Aug 14, 2012 from

http://publications.lib.chalmers.se /records/fulltext/146815.pdf). This why most E-commerce

prefers payment gateways such as Paypal, PayZa, Google Checkout etc. to ensure a fast and

secure transaction between the client and the company.

Several criteria must also be considered to create a successful e-commerce. Search

Engine Optimization (SEO) is a specialized research-driven process of analyzing and editing

your web site in order to increase the rankings of your site pages for specific search terms in

search engines. By targeting strategic key phrases that appeal to your target audiences, SEO

allows you to be found by global or regional markets of individuals who are seeking precisely

whatever it is that you offer. Whether it is a product, a service, a mission or a message that you

want to promote, search engine optimization provides benefits for just about any type of

organization that wants to reach people. (Jaffray, 2004).

Local

Businesses who engaged into Electronic Commerce (e-Commerce) have been observed to

gain a competitive edge in the field of Marketing in terms of accessibility, convenience and

availability. Since the internet is accessible by people globally, the customers are no longer

limited within the vicinity of the store. Anyone can visit the store anywhere, anytime without

hassle. Just by navigating the store, the customer can choose the products and purchase it without

going to the store directly. E-commerce proves to enhance the way usual business transactions

occur and helps lessen the time and effort consumed by the company and customers as well

(Deanna and Fritz,2006). With these, a good relationship with their consumers will be
established and their objective of increasing their sales will be achieved (Kim and Katherine,

2004).

Through internet, E-commerce offers a simplified approach in business deals and gives a

new option for selling and buying the company’s products and at the same time not only selling

and buying of products but also advertising the site. (Roso and Navarro 2006). Since the

products are available in the web, the more chances of gaining exposure to target customers and

can eventually encourage them to purchase an item. It’s the most affordable way of advertising

compared to some paid commercials that even small businesses can easily implement.

Since most of the companies employ websites as one of their marketing strategies,

competitors are also spreading. The company must take into considerations the key factors in

order to have a successful online marketing system starting from the target audience, web design,

interface, security in terms of payment and customer information, content and even the smallest

details of a website.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter envelops the discussions and further procedures involved about the research

design and its respondents, population and samples to be employed, the research environment,

instrumentation and procedure, data gathering procedures, sampling techniques and the statistical

treatment of data which were all generated to provide credible and objective judgments and

answers to the problems aimed to be unraveled.

Research Design

The present study is both in quantitative and descriptive manner of investigation about

the “English Language Proficiency of Senior High School Academic Track Students at Samar

College of Science and Technology”. As such, the researchers collect useful data and information

with the aid of the research instruments like survey questionnaires.

References:

Professional Academy 18 Sept 2019

https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories---swot-analysis

https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories-maslows-

hierarchy-of-needs

https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories---pestel-

analysis

21 Sept 2019
https://www.academia.edu/30710329/Chapter_2_REVIEW_OF_RELATED_LITERATURE

_AND_STUDIES