Chapter III

Research methodology

“Research is a formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”

-Zora Neale Hurston

This chapter enshrines the ‘Research methodology’, which explains the research
problem, objectives, significance of the study, scope, sampling, sources of data
collection, statistical techniques used for data analysis, hypothesis, chapter scheme, etc.
The purpose of this chapter is to communicate the nature of the problem and tools used
to find the solutions of the problem.

3.01 Statement of the problem

World-wide, large numbers of individuals are present on social networking sites and
marketers have begun to realize that these sites can turn out to be an important tool for
marketing. Out of 2.5 billion active internet users globally, 1.8 billion are the members
of one or more social networking sites (Business World, 2014). The researcher as well
as research supervisor were of the view in the year 2009-10 itself that the presence of
people on social networking sites is going to be bigger and better and it would be a
great idea to find out whether these sites can be used as successful marketing platform
and also assess what kind of roadblocks might be faced in the process. After detailed
deliberations the precise problem that was chosen is “Opportunities and challenges in
marketing through social networking sites.” This research endeavor would help in
fathoming out the opportunities and challenges confronting the marketers through
social networking sites and help in making specific recommendations to design
effective marketing strategies.

3.02 Significance of the study

An increasing number of people are joining social networking sites as the new media
for social connectivity, entertainment, networking, news, information, etc. People are

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 shifting from traditional media like television, newspapers, magazines etc. to new age
media. Virtual world is the new ‘place’ where the target customers of the marketers are
present and are spending a lot of time. The experts have identified these new emerging
platforms and recommend the same to be used by the organizations to achieve their
respective marketing objectives and concomitantly, marketing is also undergoing a
paradigm shift in its elements adapting to the new technology and making it a
significant element of their marketing communication strategy. This study is primarily
focused on finding out the opportunities available to the marketers as well as the
challenges facing them while marketing through social networking sites. At the end of
the report, the findings have clearly stated how prudent it would be for the marketers to
be present where the customers are. Since a very less number of empirical work has
been undertaken in India in this emerging area, this study is likely to contribute a lot to
the marketers, academicians, researchers and stakeholders. It would be in the fitness of
things to mention here that every earnest research effort in the field of marketing
ultimately benefits the whole society and not merely customers or marketers or both.

3.03 Objectives of the study

It is truly said that “A study without objectives is like a tree without roots”. In any area
of research, the first and the foremost task is to decide and define the objectives of the
research i.e. the reason why the research study should be conducted. A research study
may have many objectives, but all these objectives revolve around one major objective,
which is the focus of the study. In this study, the prime objective is to identify the
opportunities and challenges of the marketing through the social networking sites. This
study is based on studying the emergence of social networking sites as an efficient
marketing tool.

In order to pursue the afore-mentioned prime objective, some allied objectives have
also been identified which are as follows:-

i. To figure out the profile of users of social networking sites.

ii. To study the trends and shifts in the marketing practices from traditional
marketing to online marketing.

iii. To find out the opportunities available to the marketers in marketing through
social networking sites.

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iv. To study the challenges faced by the marketers adopting social networking sites
as their marketing tool.

v. To study the scope of social networking sites to be used as a marketing tool.

3.04 Scope of the study

The scope of the study is to know the opportunities available to the organizations while
using social networking sites as a tool for marketing as well as to know the challenges
that have to be faced while doing the same. For the purpose of this study, people who
are the members of at least one social networking site have been chosen for the
collection of data. A structured questionnaire has been developed by the researcher for
the data collection. The present study is also undertaken to study the trends and shifts in
the marketing practices from traditional marketing to online marketing. The details of
demographic profile of the respondents have been presented in the forthcoming chapter.
After the analysis of the data, the researcher has attempted to present the findings based
upon the same and has also given some specific recommendations for the marketers.

3.05 Sample design

The sample design includes the information about the sample i.e. the respondents who
the researcher assumed to be the true representative of the universe. In case of this
research study, the sample units were the people, with different demographic profiles,
who visit and are the members of one or more social networking sites like facebook,
Tweeter, Orkut, Linkedin, etc. The sample size for this research study was 410
respondents. Although the researcher approached more than 2000 individuals out of
which almost 500 qualified to be the target respondents. The copies of questionnaire
were distributed to 500 respondents who were the members of at least one social
networking site. After going through and screening the filled-up questionnaires, as
many as 410 were found to be complete in all respects and hence fit for analysis. The
sample area for this study was National Capital Region. The respondents were selected
on the basis of simple random sampling technique. Every effort was made to ensure
that the sample is true representative of the universe. All the respondents were
approached in-person for the collection of data.

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3.06 Mode of data collection

For this study, primary as well as secondary data have been used. A structured
questionnaire was designed containing a series of questions for the collection of
primary data. The first hand data has been collected from the respondents who were the
users of one or more social networking sites. These respondents belong to different
genders, age-groups, with different educational qualifications and different
occupations. The demography-wise distribution of the respondents has been explained
in details in the fifth chapter which presents data analysis and interpretation. The
respondents were contacted during the year 2012-13.

Secondary data has been collected using various articles, research papers, case studies,
stories etc. more than anything else internet in general and social networking sites in
particular have been used in a big way to find relevant literature. The information on all
the literature gone through and referred to has been mentioned in the bibliography
given at the end of the report.

3.07 The questionnaire

The review of literature helped the researcher in comprehending various issues related
to the opportunities and challenges in marketing through social networking sites.
Keeping in view the objectives of the study, a structured questionnaire was prepared to
elicit responses from the sample unit. A pilot survey was conducted to find out if the
questionnaire was adequately suitable for this study. Some newer issues came up
during the discussion with the respondents and some problems in filling up the
responses were also noticed. Therefore, the questionnaire was discussed at length with
five experts who have enough exposure in this field. The purpose of this exercise was
to ensure that at least all crucial issues related to the research problem in hand are not
left uncovered in the study and thanks are due to these experts as they contributed
immensely towards enhancing the content validity of the questionnaire. Cronbach alpha
has been used to find out reliability of the questionnaire. The result of this test (.856)
clearly indicates that this questionnaire has a high level of reliability for undertaking
this study. The questionnaire was divided into two sections- the first section was
designed to know the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of their gender,
age, educational qualifications and occupation as well as information about usage of

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social networking sites-ways of accessing, place of accessing, uploading of information
on such sites, reasons for joining such sites and whether respondents notice
advertisements and like to receive product information through social networking sites,
whether people shop and recommend products and brands through social networking
sites. The second section of the questionnaire contained 23 statements, responses to
which were solicited on five-point Likert scale. The level of agreement of the
respondents was elicited on five-point scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly
disagree. These statements pertain to different opportunities and challenges social
networking sites pose before businesses. These statements included opinion of
respondents on variables like privacy intrusion; being up-to-date; hurdles in smooth
access to social networking sites, uploading of photographs, ways of joining brand
pages, etc.

3.08 Tools for analysis of data

After the collection of the relevant data through questionnaires and secondary sources,
different types of statistical techniques have been used to analyze the data in this study.
The data has been analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS 18.0).

The data has been presented and analyzed in the form of tables, charts, using the
following statistical tools:

a. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

b. Cross Tabulation
c. t-test
d. Co-efficient of variation

Chronbach alpha reliability test was applied to check the reliability of the
questionnaire. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was intended to analyze the differences
between the group means and their associated procedures such as variation among and
between the groups, across age, educational qualifications and occupation. Cross
Tabulation analysis explains the variation in a dependent variable and one or more
independent variables. To compare the mean between two groups, t-test has been
applied. Co-efficient of variation is a normalized measure of dispersion of a probability
distribution. It is the ratio of standard deviation to the mean. Data analysis has been

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presented using pie diagrams and tables. The interpretations have been extracted from
the analysis of data.

3.09 Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a proposition which can be put to test to determine its validity. It is a

tentative generalization drawn from the theory and when it has been tested and found
correct, it becomes a part of theory itself. A null hypothesis refers to a general
statement or default position that there is no relationship between two measured
phenomena. Rejection of null hypothesis concludes that there are grounds for believing
that there is a significant difference between different groups with respect to a
particular variable.

The following null hypothesis were formed for the purpose of this study:

H01: There is no significant difference in the opinions of the respondents across the two
gender groups over the use of social networking sites for different marketing activities

H02: There is no significant difference in the opinions of the respondents across the
different age groups over the use of social networking sites for different marketing
activities

H03: There is no significant difference in the opinions of the respondents across the
different occupational groups over the use of social networking sites for different
marketing activities

H04: There is no significant difference in the opinions of the respondents across the
different educational qualifications background over the use of social networking sites
for different marketing activities

3.10 Limitations of the study

Though due care has been taken to make the sample the true representative of the
universe, yet there might have been some discrepancies in choosing the sample unit.
The occurrence of the sampling error may also be a limitation as the sample represents
only a fraction of the universe. A larger sample would have been a better option for
conducting this research study but the time, effort and cost involved restricted the

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researcher to a relatively smaller sample. Another limitation may be the biasness on the
part of the respondents while filling up the questionnaires.

3.11 Operational definitions of key terms

Some key terms have been used in this research work, which can be defined in different
ways by different experts. So it was necessitated that an operational definition of such
terms is incorporated here.

3.11.1 Social media

Social media can be defined as the services that let people interact and share and create
content through online communities. Popular social media websites include facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, etc. (Wikipedia, 2013). Social media are internet services that let
one interact with others, share and create content through online communities. Social
media present great marketing opportunities for businesses of all sizes.

The businesses can use social media to:

• promote the name of the brand and business
• tell customers about the goods and services
• find out what customers think of a brand features, price, distribution and promotion
• attract new customers
• build stronger relationships with existing customers. (Wikipedia, 2013)

Key social media services

Different types of social media are available for different marketing activities. The key
social media services are:

A. Social networking sites - Social networking sites can be defined as the online
31T 31T

platform sites that allow users to create a public profile and interact with other users
on the site. They let the individuals to interact with one another and build
relationships (www.techopedia.com, 2014). When companies join the social
channels, consumers can interact with them and they can communicate with
consumers directly. That interaction feels more personal to users than traditional

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 methods of strictly outbound marketing and advertising. Few examples of social
networking sites are facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.
B. Blogs - internet sites that contain a series of entries or 'posts' about topics of
31T 31T

interest to the author, much like an online 'diary'. (Wikipedia, 2014)

C. Coupon sites - websites that offer discount coupons for goods, services and events.
31T 31T

(Wikipedia, 2014)
D. Online photo-sharing services - websites that allow users to store, organize and
31T 31T

share their photo collections. (Wikipedia, 2014)

E. Location-based marketing sites - websites that deliver targeted marketing
31T 31T

messages to customers in particular locations, through mobile devices such as

smart-phones and tablets. (Wikipedia, 2014)
F. Customer review sites - websites that feature customer reviews of goods and
31T 31T

services. (Wikipedia, 2014)

3.11.2 Social networking sites

Social networks, like facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, etc. are the virtual
places where social interactions happen (discovering and sharing). “Social networking
sites and blogs allow individual followers to “retweet” or “repost” comments made by
31T 31T

the product being promoted. By repeating the message, all of the users’ connections are
able to see the message, therefore reaching more people. (Wikipedia, 2014)

Social networking sites also include a vast amount of information about what products
and services prospective clients might be interested in. Marketers can detect buying
signals such as content shared by people and questions posted online. Understanding of
buying signals can help sales people target relevant prospects and marketers run micro-
targeted campaigns (Wikipedia, 2014).

3.11.3 Social media marketing

Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention through
social media sites. Social media itself is a catch-all term for sites that may provide
radically different social actions. For instance, Twitter is a social site designed to
let people share short messages or “updates” with others. facebook, in contrast, is a
full-blown social networking site that allows sharing updates, photos, joining events

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and a variety of other activities. Social media often feeds into the discovery of new
content such as news stories, and “discovery” is a search activity. Social media can also
help build links that in turn support search engine optimization efforts. Many people
also perform searches at social media sites to find social media content (Wikipedia,
2014).

3.11.4 Viral marketing

According to Oxford dictionary (2014) viral marketing is defined as a marketing

technique whereby information about a company’s goods or services is passed
electronically from one internet user to another. As defined by marketingterms.com
(2014) it is a phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a
marketing message. It depends on a high pass-along rate from person to person.

3.11.5 Guerilla marketing

Guerrilla marketing is a marketing tactic in which a company uses surprise and/or

unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. It is different than
traditional marketing in that it often relies on personal interaction and has a smaller
budget, and it focuses on smaller groups of promoters that are responsible for getting
the word out in a particular location rather than on wide-spread media
campaigns (investopidea.com, 2014).
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3.11.6 Consumers’ engagement

In the context of the social web , engagement means that customers and stakeholders
0T 0T31T 31T 0T 0T 0T 0T

are the active participants rather than passive viewers. Social media in business allows
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anyone and everyone to express and share an opinion or an idea somewhere along the
business’s path to market. Each participating customer becomes part of the marketing
department, as other customers read their comments or reviews. The engagement
process is then fundamental to successful social media marketing (Wikipedia, 2014).

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3.12 Chapter scheme

The research work is compiled in six chapters. These are:-

Chapter-I: Introduction: This chapter gives a preface to the evolution of society, need
for social networking, evolution of internet and social networking sites and also
included the introduction of the basic elements like social network marketing and
details of few social networking sites.

Chapter-II: Review of literature: This chapter gives a brief overview of the past
researches undertaken in the related field, related to the marketing implications on the
social networking sites.

Chapter-III: Research methodology: This chapter deals with the providing

information about statement of the problem, research objectives, hypothesis
formulation, data sources, sampling, research approach and statistical tools used.

Chapter-IV: Marketing opportunities through social networking sites: This chapter

gave an overview of the marketing opportunities available on the social networking
sites.

Chapter-V: Analysis and interpretation of data: This chapter deals with the analysis
and interpretation of the data collected by applying statistical tools.

Chapter-VI: Conclusion and suggestions: This chapter aims to conclude the results
and findings of the study drawn from the analysis of the marketing opportunities and
challenges in marketing through on the social networking sites and also provided the
specific suggestions on the effective marketing opportunities and strategies for facing
the challenges.

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