Abstract

This project investigates the efficacy of social media platfors in enhancing the visibility
and patronage of catering services within the hospitality industry. Utilizing a case study
approach in Matuu, the study examines various social media strategies employed by
catering businesses and their subsequent impact on brand recognition,customer
engagement, and revenue generation.
By analyzing data from user ineractions, online reviews, and sales metrics, the study aims
to provide insights in to the most effective practices for leveraging social media in
modern marketing strategies for industry practitioners seeking to maximise their online
presence and attract a wider customer base.
Introduction

Social media is a term for websites and applications that are widely used in our

generation. Nowadays, almost everyone has social media accounts. It was

mentioned that the user of social media reach the approximately 3.6 billion

people and a number projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025.

Social media is the most popular digital activities worldwide. There are

different social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter,

and Tiktok.

Social media had also played a significant role in the progress of online

businesses. It has become an accessible and useful tool for sales and advertising

with customers. Social networking sites are well recognized but the best social

media depends by country and demography. It is likewise essential to examine

the popular social network to track social media happenings between

prospective clients to improve business.

Sharing stories, photos, videos, status and even a daily events and how we live

and how we do business. By uploading videos, advertising catering services and

their food products by making different content, and thumbnailing to catch

viewers' attention has been widespread. Social media also serves as a

marketplace wherein they post various food products with its price where

consumers can directly buy from the seller has been phenomenal.

This research study is undertaken to assess the impacts of social media in

promoting catering services. Since the pandemic had emerged and lockdowns
had been implemented, may had lost jobs however, online sellers, especially of

food products, spawned.

Background of the study

In recent years, the catering industry has experienced a significant transformation in how

businesses market their services and engage with potential customers. One of the most

prominent drivers of this change is the proliferation of social media platforms and the

widespread adoption of digital communication channels among consumers. As a result, catering

services have increasingly turned to social media as a key component of their marketing strategy

to reach, engage, and convert target audiences.

Despite the growing recognition of social media's potential in promoting catering services, there

remains a need for comprehensive research to understand the specific impact of social media

marketing strategies on business outcomes within the catering industry. While anecdotal

evidence and case studies suggest that social media can be a powerful tool for driving brand

awareness, increasing customer engagement, and ultimately boosting sales, empirical research is

essential to validate these claims and provide actionable insights for catering businesses.

This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by investigating the impact of social media in

promoting catering services. By examining the strategies, tactics, and outcomes of social media

marketing initiatives within the catering industry, this research seeks to uncover insights into the

effectiveness of different approaches, the factors influencing consumer engagement, and the

overall ROI of social media investments for catering businesses.

Research Problem

The general problem of this research is to assess the impact of social media in

promoting services on catering. Some of restaurants and hotels that poses this
act of serving their customers on different kinds of foods may lack websites and

platforms where their services can be marketed.

They have to act like hawkers at same time servicing at their building, however

is difficult to gain more interms of profits as well as customers since all this

depends on marketing.

Making of ads, some videos, photos and also websites works very efficiently

because it attracts both local and international potential customers in a way one

is able to detect every of services offered in ones restaurant or hotel.

Purpose of Research

The purpose of researching the impact of social media in promoting catering services is to

explore and understand how social media platforms are utilized by catering businesses to

enhance their visibility, engage with potential customers, and ultimately drive sales. This research

aims to investigate the effectiveness of various social media strategies employed by catering

services, such as creating visually appealing content, leveraging influencers or brand

ambassadors, utilizing targeted advertising, and engaging with customers through interactive

posts and contests.

Research objectives

1. To analyze the current landscape of social media usage by catering services, including

platforms utilized, frequency of posting, and types of content share.

2. To examine the effectiveness of different social media marketing strategies employed by

catering services, such as targeted advertising, influencer collaborations, and user-

generated content campaigns.

3. To assess consumer attitudes and behaviors regarding the use of social media in

discovering, evaluating, and selecting catering services for various events and occasions
 4. To propose recommendations and best practices for catering businesses to optimize

their social media presence and maximize the impact of digital marketing initiatives.

Research Questions

1. What are the prevalent social media platforms used by catering services, and how

frequently do they engage with their audience through these channels?

2. How do different social media marketing strategies, such as targeted advertising and

influencer collaborations, impact the visibility and reach of catering services?

3. What are the consumer preferences and behaviors regarding the use of social media in

selecting catering services for events and gatherings?

4. What recommendations and best practices can be suggested to catering businesses to

enhance their social media presence and effectiveness?

Significance of the Study

The main objective of this study is to assess the impact of social media in

promoting catering services. The study will be beneficial to the following: `

Business Owners. This study will give them insights on which platform is

suited for the promotion of their business.

Social Media Users. This study will also help social media users better

understand the capacity and limitations of social media. This will also serve as

an eye-opener if they would like to start selling online.

Online Sellers. This will be beneficial to online sellers for further development

of their promotional strategies.

Students. This study will help students interested in catering and would like to

study more on catering and their services.

Researchers. This study will serve as a reference for future researches.

Scope of the Study

This research will only focus on the food sellers and any sector offering

catering services at Matuu . This study will focus on assessing and knowing the

impact of social media, in promoting their services.

Theoretical framework

Social media marketing theory forms the foundation of understanding how social media

platforms are utilized by businesses for marketing purposes. It encompasses strategies such as

content marketing, influencer collaborations, user-generated content, and engagement tactics.

By examining this theory, the project aims to understand how catering services leverage social

media channels to enhance their visibility, engagement, and conversion rates.

Technology acceptance model focuses on how users perceive and adopt new technologies. In the

context of catering services, this theory helps in understanding consumers' attitudes towards

using social media platforms to search for, evaluate, and select catering services. It examines

factors such as perceived usefulness and ease of use of social media platforms, which influence

consumers' intentions to engage with catering services promoted through these channels.

Conceptual framework

The central element of the conceptual framework is the various social media platforms utilized by

catering services for promotion. These platforms could include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,

LinkedIn, YouTube, and others.

The primary goal of social media activities is to promote catering services. This involves

showcasing menu offerings, highlighting event successes, sharing client testimonials, providing

behind-the-scenes glimpses, and promoting special offers or discounts.

Brand awareness measures the extent to which consumers are familiar with and recognize the

catering service's brand. It is influenced by the visibility and reach of social media content, as well

as the consistency and distinctiveness of brand messaging across platforms.

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter presents the related literature and related studies that are relevant

to the study.

Relevant Theories

There is necessity of the impact and effectiveness of social media as a

promotion tool. Social networks, information, and communication technologies

have developed to allow the citizens to directly approach the government

members and e-government body easily. The potential outcome of the used of

social media in promotion is to satisfy their possible customer and social group.
They also develop an application called geo social network-based mobile to use

as better tool or a platform for information on users' need, preferences, location,

motives etc. They called our generation Information Age and with the help of

widest online audience and applied it as a platform in promoting e-governance

projects.

Related Literature

According to Nory Jones (2015), the impact of social media on small businesses

has increase in reaching other customers on global scale through internet. Also

they benefit from the use of websites to make an awareness and lot of inquiries.

By the use of internet to promote product is a must especially in this time of

pandemic.

It is the right time for some small businesses to show what they have through

social media. Making website for our product to do awareness.

Added by Richard Borgman and Ebru Ulusoy (2015), in their journal that in

some specific region in Matuu Kenya they had findings that this platform for

small businesses have a potential advantages. This has a lot of positive impact

like less traffic increase, awareness and revenues. And because small businesses

struggled a lot in communication, through social media they will gain more

customers and increase their sales and growth.

It help us also to well communicate with our future customers. Less hassle for

customer to travel if they can contact you easily through social media.
Social media becoming more important to hospitality and tourism industry, has

revived more ancient types of decision-making before the mass media. As the

digital version of social media represents the materialization, retrieval of word-

of-mouth content online and storage. There are new ways of capturing,

analyzing, interpreting and managing social content.

As per Fuch (2017), a simple way to describe social media is that it is a place or

a platform that you can shared anything, you can post as much as you like and

can communicate to anyone with the use of internet.

A research conducted found out that consumers become influenced by a major

factor to use social media as a platform in buying decision. They realized that

there is a lot of fun provided by Facebook and there is an opportunity to ask for

suggestions in an entertaining and in an easy way, as well as they were

motivated to pay more attention in the product promoted by Facebook. They

added that social media promotes consumer to consumer approach, consumer

sharing their experiences and create a common knowledge of servicing a

product. Facebook can be improve by retailers by adding games, interactive

application, and different contests which can attract more users. But also

consumer's attitude must be handled by retailers when it comes in social media

promoting.

Transparent food packaging can be more attractive to customers, and it is a

good opportunity to promote the product and also it become more effective and

trustworthy. A higher preference of customers and a higher chance to be

purchased in the market. As indicated that making transparent food packaging

will increase not only the customers trust but also in the product trust and

product quality expecting by the customers. As a result of higher profit.

Related Studies

Meanwhile, according to University of Nairobi, Kenya, there was a study about

Marketing to people in the Digital Age: The Promotion of Unhealthy Products

and Services and Health Promoting Behaviors on Social Media. The purpose of

this study was to use social media among young adults and adults to create

opportunities for health promotion agencies and corporate brands to engage

with young audiences in a good way. Traditional media are known to have

positive and negative impacts on youth health behaviors. In social media like

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are the source of exposing the

promotion and marketing of unhealthy product such as alcohol, nutrient poor

food and beverages, energy dense and tobacco that are really harmful against

adolescents health. So they presents the example of creating campaign aiming

the health-promoting in social media for youth. They suggested the

implementation for practice and policy, and to obtain knowledge gaps and

opportunities for future research.

A case study about Social media in travel, tourism, and hospitality: Theory,

practice, and cases. The reason for this study is to show that the way of
travelers, tourists search, read, find and trust, as well as collaboratively produce

information about tourism destinations and tourism suppliers are fundamentally

changing because of social media.

In research about “How are food value video clips effective in promoting food

tourism”? The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of food tourism

video clips created for potential tourists'. The intention of visiting the

destination for food tourism is to become familiar with the behavioral

environment and destination's food. To generate the important findings like how

to know what is attractive food, global food and realistic restaurants because it

will have a big impact for viewers behavioral. Overall, the results showed that

they persuaded the potential tourists to visit the destinations and by the help of

video clip that are really efficacy.

In the research about the systematic review of the advertisement of food and

beverage products that gave impact of initiatives to the children. In response to

increasing evidence about the food and beverages advertisement that affects the

children's food intake and food choices. Food and beverage manufacturers and

several government agencies gave an order to the market to make a restriction

for the products for children and must only show advertisement about ‘healthier

dietary choices’ or 'better for you’ products for children. The review of this

research indicated that the children was really expose by high levels of

unhealthy food advertisement in different country. They conclude that

adherence in any form cannot reduce advertisement of the food that is healthy

for the children.

This study is about Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion

mix. It is shown that social media made out impossible for a person to

communicate with hundreds or thousands of people around the world about the

companies that provide their products. The impact of consumer-to-consumer

communications become more highlighted in the marketplace. This article

argues that social media is promotion mix because nontraditional sense it

enables customers to talk directly to one another, while in a traditional sense it

enables companies to talk to their customers. But the social media's frequency,

timing and content that based conversations occurring between outside

manager’s direct control and consumers. They included the consumers they're

providing with social media tools, using blogs, networking platforms and

promotional tools for engaging customers.

A research conducted about Instagram as a tool for promoting superfood

products. This research is aiming the willingness to exchange opinions about

the issues encouraging companies to contribute information on social media.

The target group of a business can interact by taking advantage of the number

of social networking sites. In that way, both direct and immediate feedback will

gain profit. According to them, some enterprises do their best to convert random

Internet users into actual clients and purchasing their products by the use of

their available tools. They added that social media have become a good solution

for companies particularly characteristics to promote their products. Their

product had to expand rapidly and needs new ways to reach its consumers. To

utilize the structure of their content they used Instagram as a social networking
website and to present products in favorable way they upgraded their products

in very big and attractive photographs to influence the shopping decisions of the

consumers.

A case study about Using Social Media as a Tool for Promoting Festival

Tourism is about the impact of social on Tourism events and became the main

topics in tourism research. They analyze and discuss many studies about the

great impact of social media in Tourism and how it will become specific, like

tourism festivals. Festival is a type of religious commemoration that makes

people sharing experiences and make them united and by the use of social

media it will influences other social media users and provide perfect channel in

sharing their thoughts. This research also focuses to have a lot of visitors in the

festival tourism by the factor of social media sites. The study was designed for

social media to be explored and impact the tourism industry and the result of

this conducted research shows that social media is the best search engine tools

for the future researchers.

Meanwhile, according to Computer in Human Behavior (2011), a study about

the Intentions to use social media in organizing and taking vacation trips. This

theoretical work proposes to explain the factors of using social media in

organizing vacation trips. By the use of social media technologies in helping

tourist on choosing vacation trips had the great impact on the market. They

conducted a sample survey on 404 individuals who normally uses Internet and

to those who had a history of travel in the previous 12 months. The conclusions

of the said study reveals the real intentions of the used of social media is to
directly influenced the perceived benefits and it also shown that there is a series

of contribution or incentives, and to promote the use of this technology when

taking and organizing tourist trips.

Conceptual Framework

IV DV

The profile of the business in

terms of:
The impact and influences of social media
Age of business
promoting food products on catering scop
Type of food products and service
Online platform

Figure 1. The conceptual framework for Impacts of Social Media in

Promoting Food Products: An Assessment

The Figure shows the concept of this research entitled “Impacts of Social

Media in Promoting Food Products on catering services scope: An Assessment”.

The independent variable of this research is the profile of the business in terms

of age, type of service and product, online platform being utilized. The

dependent variable of this research is the impacts and influences of social media

in promoting catering services and products.

Hypothesis of the Study

This research entitled “Impact of Social Media in Promoting Catering services:

An Assessment” has one expected outcome among the following hypothesis.

NO. There is no Impacts of Social Media in Promoting catering services.

N1. There is an Impacts of Social Media in Promoting services.

Definition of Variables

The following variables are defined operationally for the purpose of clarity and

common understanding.

Age of business refers to how long the business has been established.

Online platform refers to the way on how they promote their products through

different social media application.

Type of food products refers to different variants of product that they sell.

Impact refers to the strong effect of social media in promoting food products.

Influences refers to the capacity to affect the food product promotion in an

indirect but important way.

Promoting refers to the active encouragement in increasing sales of food

products.
 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presented a description of the research method and

techniques of the study, population and sample of the study, research

instruments, data gathering procedure and data processing and statistical

treatments that i used.

Methods and Techniques of the Study

I used Mixed method as the techniques in gathering data. It is composed of

survey and interview. A survey is a method of gathering information from a

sample of people, traditionally with the intention of generalizing the results to a

larger population. Surveys provide a critical source of data and insights for

nearly everyone engaged in the information economy, from businesses and the

media to government and academics. Interview is a method for gathering

information. It involves an interviewer, or the researchers, and an interviewee,

who responds to those questions or the respondents.

Interviews are method to collect information about people’s opinions, thoughts,

experiences, and feelings.

I used random sampling as method of choosing

respondents in this study. Random sampling is a part of the sampling technique

in which each sample has an equal probability of being chosen. A sample

chosen randomly is meant to be an unbiased representation of the total

population.

Population and Sample of the Study

In gathering the data, I used random sampling technique to utilize the answers

and clarify the research problems under this research study. I considered the

social media users in different areas of Matuu including Katangi,

Ndalani,Makivenzi.

Table 1 Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Respondents

According to Residency

RESIDENCY FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Katangi 2 7%

Ndalani 1 3%

Makivenzi 2 7%

Kaluluini 1 3%

Kateki 10 33%

Kwa wanzilu 7 24%

Kalaani 3 10%

Mui 2 7%

Ithekethini 1 3%

Kautulun i 1 3%

TOTAL 30 100%
 Table 1 shows the frequency and percentage distribution

of respondents according to their residency.

Research Instrument

I used survey questionnaire and interview to gather the data. It was originally

made by the researchers and composed of survey different questions. It was

constructed to determine thecompliance and functionality of the problem. It will

also send to the respondents through Google forms and can be answer through

online mode.

I used surveys and interview to a total of 30 participants for this study. I used

survey and interview as a research instrument. I was able to know how social

media can be used as platform for promoting food products through the answers

of the respondents.

The research questionnaire has three parts. I used Google form as the material

for survey and basic information part of the respondents. The first part was all

about the basic information including the name of the business, years of the

business, and the type of products they are selling and their online platform for

business. The second part is the survey and the respondents will choose answer

from strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree. The third part is the

interview questions. I gave five questions to each respondent.

Data Gathering Procedure

I prepared an instrument that is composed of survey and interview and

distributed it to social media users through online and in the different areas in

Matuu. I searched for different online food products pages and I also asked if

the person have social media accounts or platforms in promoting their business.

After the respondents approved, I conducted and administrated the survey. The

respondents were given enough time to accomplish the research question for

them to be able to have their concentration while filling-up research questions.

Then after filling-up the research question i collected it and the results were

tallied. These data became the researchers based in my study.

Data Processing and Statistical Treatment

The respondents’ answers in the survey questionnaires and interview were

encoded into the data matrix with corresponding codes. The researchers used

mean, frequency and percentage in finding out the impact of facebook as social

media platform in promoting different food products.

CHAPTER IV
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter present the analysis and interpret data gathered in order to draw out

important information and significant points about promoting catering services

products on social media.

Figure 2. Profile of Online Business in terms of Age

Figure 2 shows that 17 or 63% of the online food business are below 1 year in

operation, 4 or 14.8% are in 1-2 years in operation, 2 or 7.4% are in 2-3 years in

operation, 2 or 7.4% are in 3 years and above in operation, 2 or 7.4% have been

existing for very long. The data shows that most of the respondents are below 1

year in online business. It can be traced that these are the times when jobs have

been shut down due to the pandemic. According to an article in Research and

Market (2020), with more people stuck at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak,

there has been a surge in demand for food delivery services.

 Figure 3. Profile of Online Business in terms of Type of Food
Products

Figure 3 shows that 13 or 48% of businesses are different kinds of food

products such as: milk tea, different types of pasta (spaghetti, carbonara, mac &

cheese, lasagna), mushroom preserved, Kenyan dishes and burgers & chips,

29.6% are selling breads, cakes and pastries, 4 or 14.8% are selling hot meals, 2

or 7.4% are selling frozen goods. The data revealed that the most significant

percentage of the foods being sold online are from selecting different food

varieties to cater to the different taste buds of the Kenya. According to the

article, Kenyans Love to Eat! , over more than a hundred various ethnic groups

in the Kenya have unique cuisine.

 Figure 4. Profile of Online Business in terms of Online Platform

Figure 4 shows that 27 or 100% of the respondents are using Facebook as an

online platform. The data revealed that all of the online food businesses in

Matuu utilizes Facebook as their online platform due to its free usage. Aside

from posting text on Facebook, it also allows its user to upload photos and

videos, which can be vital to communicate with consumers and potential

customers.
Figure 5. Impact of Social Media in Catering services in Terms of Cost

Figure 5 shows that 14 or 51.9% strongly agree that social media is better in

terms of marketing cost, 12 or 44.4% are Agree, 1 or 3.7% are Disagree, and

none strongly disagree. The data shows that most respondents strongly agree

that social media is better than other traditional marketing in terms of cost, like

promoting on television, radio, or using printed ads are costly. Unlike in

advertising on social media marketing, you can showcase your food business in

the comfort of your home without breaking the bank.

 Figure 6. Impact of Social Media in Catering services in Terms
of Customer Access

Figure 5 shows that 14 or 51.9% are Strongly Agree that social media is better

than other traditional marketing in terms of customer access, 12 or 44.4% are

Agree, 1 or 3.7% are Disagree, and none strongly disagree. The data shows that

most respondents strongly agree that social media is better than traditional

marketing in customer access. The data shows that the respondents have more

access to their customers in social media because almost everyone has turned to

mobile phones and the internet.

 Figure 7. Impact of Social Media in Promoting Food
Products in Terms of Labor

Figure 7 shows that 14 or 51.9% are Strongly Agree that social media is better
than other traditional marketing in terms of labor, 12 or 44.4% are Agree,1 or
3.7% are Disagree, and none strongly disagree that social media is better than
other traditional marketing in terms of labor. The data revealed that most
respondents believe that in promoting catering services, social media saves them
from labor costs. There is no need to hire labor forces to promote their products
and services, they will simply post text and videos and manage on their own.
Thus, in expanding the business wherein social media advertising campaign is a
need, digital marketing specialists will have to be hired.

Figure 8. Impact of Social Media in Catering services in Terms

of Customer Inquiry
Figure 8 shows that 19 or 70.4% are Strongly Agree social media has increased

business exposure in customer inquiry, 8 or 29.6% are Agree, and none

answered disagree, and strongly disagree. The data shows that social media

makes it easy to draw and lead potential customers to the product and services.
 Product Sales in the Inventory of Stocks

Figure 16 shows that 15 or 57.7% are strongly agree that social media help

improve the product sales in the inventory of stocks, 6 or 23.1% are agree, 5 or 19.2% are

disagree, and none strongly disagree. Managing inventory of stock online helps improve

product sales than the manual inventory system which affects the product sales.
Figure 28. Impact of Social Media in Promoting Food Products in Terms of
Communication Channel for Marketing

Figure 17 shows that 17 or 63% are strongly agree that social media is an

important communication channel for business for marketing, 10 or 37% are Agree, and

none answered disagree and strongly disagree. This shows that social media is essential

in promoting food products. According to Gannon (2019), 92% of brand managers that

have used social media as part of their strategy for the least two years say it’s boosted

revenue.
Figure 29. Impact of Social Media in Promoting Food Products in Terms of
Communication Channel for Promotion

Figure 18 shows that 17 or 65.4% strongly agree that social media is an important

communication channel for business for promotion, 9 or 34.6% are Agree, and none

answered disagree and strongly disagree. The data revealed that social media platforms,

particularly Facebook, help you associate with your customers, improve responsiveness

about your products and services, and increase your sales.

Figure 30. Impact of Social Media in Promoting Food Products in Terms of
Communication Channel for Sales

Figure 19 shows that 17 or 63% are Strongly Agree that social media is an

important communication channel for business for sales, 8 or 29.6% Agree, 2 or

7.4% Disagree, and none answered strongly disagree. The data shows that using

Facebook in promoting food products boost sales.

Econsultancy found that social media is one of the top five marketing channels to

generate a solid ROI.

Interview and Transcript
Question#1 Why do you choose that social media in promoting your food products?

Online Business Answer

(OB)

OB1 This is the center of life

OB2 Used by most people
OB3 It can reach a lot of fb users
OB4 To engage more potential buyers
OB5 Easy to promote products and easy to ride the trend
OB6 It is cost efficient and time saving
OB7 Has wide range of potential customers
OB8 The most accessible platform for all potential customers
OB9 Social media offers many benefits to business owners
OB10 It makes it easier to show other people the products
OB11 To reach wider audience
OB12 Allows us an immediate interaction and engaging with customers

OB13 It is the best way for me to sell my product

OB14 More customers and chances to endorse your food product
OB15 It is accessible to everyone
OB16 On social media many people are seeing our food product
OB17 I can market my products without me spending money
OB18 It is much easier to reach to everyone
OB19 Social media is the biggest influence
OB20 Very accessible, free and convenient
OB21 It’s so visible all over the social app
OB22 The most effective way to communicate with your audience
OB23 Business is fire; social media is the fuel
OB24 I truly believe many people can easily see my products
OB25 Big help to make our products more visible
OB26 We earned many loyal customers
OB27 People nowadays they are more focused on social media
OB28 This saves me time and effort which is essential for business

OB29 People no longer go out to buy foods. Because here I get a lot of
buyers

OB30 This platform would be more effective

Question#2 Are you satisfied with the social media you are using? Why?
Online Business Answer
(OB)

OB1 Yes, I can reach and know different people who are interested in
our product

OB2 Yes, I observe that there are people who come to our store from
different places to inquire

OB3 Yes, additional sales/deliveries

OB4 Yes, because we get to interact with buys as smoothly as possible

OB5 Yes. Because Facebook is one of the crowded place where all
people are there and browsing it

OB6 Yes, it provides leads on my target market

OB7 Yes, I am using right now for it helps in promoting our food shop
in easier way with less hassle

OB8 Yes, because our sales and orders keep on increasing because of
Facebook & Instagram

OB9 I’m using like Facebook page, due to this social networking site
allows to have conversations with customers

OB10 Yes, I am satisfied because it makes it easier and faster to sell the
product

OB11 Yes, Because of the Social Media Platforms that we've been using
we were able to create a brand awareness

OB12 Yes, because it helps us to improve brand loyalty and build

stronger customer relationship

OB13 Yes, using social media I can easy Make any conversation w/my
buyers, friends, & family
OB14 Yes, of course because almost hundred percent of business man
are using social

OB15 Yes, I am, it really helps my business

OB16 YES, I do very satisfy with what social media I've used right now

OB17 Yes, I’m satisfied because it is effective

OB18 Yes. It’s better than giving away flyers
OB19 Yes, because it is convenient and energy saver
OB20 I am satisfied of course; it really helps boosting my sales
OB21 Yes, I am. Social media make the marketing so easy
OB22 Yes, Because Facebook which gives us the opportunity to connect
with friends and family

OB23 Yes. This generation spends more time in social media

OB24 Yes, I'm satisfied. It helps me to boost my sales
OB25 Yes. Because we are new in this kind of business
OB26 Yes. Because if you post your product more Internet users can see
it

OB27 Yes, because this can give us more

OB28 Yes, because Facebook is doing a good job
OB29 Yes, I am satisfied because when I use social media I make money

OB30 I am satisfied, using Facebook is very effective instrument to use

in running a business

Question#3 How often do you update your content in the social media?
Online Business Answer
(OB)

OB1 Normally once a month or sometimes

OB2 Every time we have changes
OB3 Everyday
OB4 Frequently
OB5 Every time we have new launch products
OB6 I try to update it every day
OB7 We post mostly every day
OB8 We post almost every day
OB9 2–3 times only per week
OB10 More often especially when the internet is fast
OB11 As much as possible every other week
OB12 We update our social media content every day
OB13 Almost every day
OB14 If we are having a promos and new flavor with the product
OB15 Once a week
OB16 As much as possible every day
OB17 I’m updating it twice or thrice a week
OB18 Almost every day
OB19 Almost every day
OB20 I update my content once a week
OB21 Every time the app requires to update
OB22 At least 2-3x a week
OB23 Once or twice a day
OB24 I update our social media accounts every day
OB25 Every day if I had a chance
OB26 Usually weekly or every other day
OB27 Every day
OB28 At least once day
OB29 3 to 4 a week
OB30 Every time we had a new product

Question#4 Do you use the feedbacks you got from social media to improve your
products and services? How are you implementing those feedbacks?

Online Business Answer

(OB)
OB1 Yes, because we follow their advice
OB2 Yes, but not all
OB3 Yes, by creating or trying our customer’s suggestions to make
them pleased
OB4 Yes, by working and executing them as a team
OB5 Feedbacks are the guides of every products and store or company

OB6 Yes, I do. I take them constructively and use them to improve my
products
OB7 We improve our customer service and product quality based on
feedbacks we’re given
OB8 Yes, of course. Good and bad feedbacks are very much
appreciated
OB9 Yes, Customer feedback is very important. “Feedback is the
breakfast of champions
OB10 Yes, I use their good comments to get leads from other people to
buy the product
OB11 Yes, we acknowledge and respond so that customers are aware
that we're listening to them
OB12 Yes, we use the feedbacks we got from social media to improve
our products
OB13 Yes, it helps to attracts more buyers that is good for my small
business
OB14 Yes, the feedback coming from the customer can help us to
improve
OB15 Yes, feedbacks are important to me, whether it’s bad, because it
can help me to get my products better
OB16 YES, it's a big help for me to used feedback at least we prove the
other customer that we can give the satisfaction
OB17 Yes, I’m using it. Feedbacks play a big role in any businesses’
success so I’m always considering it
OB18 Yes, we used it to improve the quality of our products
OB19 Yes. For us being online seller, feedbacks are the most important
thing
OB20 Yes, I do. Their feedbacks are important
OB21 Yes, customer’s feedback is important to make the business to
improve
OB22 Feedback, comments and suggestion are very much needed to
improve your product
OB23 Yes, by accepting positive and negative feedbacks and improving
the product
OB24 Yes, it will be helpful for us if the customers will give suggestions

OB25 Yes. Because I still believe that customers are always right
OB26 We appreciate our customer’s feedback to us
OB27 Yes, for us to improve more and exceeds their expectations
OB28 It's very much needed to be able to serve the customers better and
give them the quality they want
OB29 Yes, I use their feedback to find out what my customers want

OB30 I believe that the feedbacks from my customers are important

Question#5 What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of
promoting your food products in social media platforms?

Online Business Answer

(OB)

Advantage Disadvantage
OB1 less cost of promoting products Sometimes our products or even
our own material was
imitating
OB2 FB makes possible to know our People might pirate our product
product

OB3 We reach a lot customer for Competitors create/make the

deliveries same products as we serve

OB4 Sales boost and good One from the team should devote
marketing strategy his/her time to
manage and maintain such
platform

OB5 Good and easy way to access Easy to the competitors to copy
the products the post, products, and strategies
of selling

OB6 It is way easier to promote any One negative feedback posted

business through social online, even if untrue, can ruin a
business
media
OB7 Promoting food products in Customer’s negative feedback
social media platforms is much
easier

OB8 We can reach thousands of People keep on asking the actual

people by just simply posting size of our products since they
and sharing posts
can only see it via
photos
OB9 Social media allow you to Wasted time and money for little
communicate on a personal or no tangible return
basis with individual
customers and groups

OB10 More people see products and If you do not know how to social
can easily offer to your media you can be fooled by
people or scammed
other friends
OB11 It creates Brand Exposure to negative reviews
Awareness, Brand and Time Consumptive

Reputation, and Cost Effective.

OB12 This can set us apart from our There are people who always aim
competition to damage one's reputation

OB13 Social media is more people Sometimes buyer’s expectation

and more interested buyers didn’t met
will approach

OB14 Having lot of people whom can We’re having a scam customer or
reach your business or having a competitor and same
business
product

OB15 It is totally free, you just need
to post it and share it
to your friends
OB16 It's a free promotion and many
people will see it
Some people may copy your
product when they see that
it’s successful
I don't know if its scam or not

OB17 It’s free, very accessible, and Anybody can put negative
you can reach many reviews on it which will greatly
affect your business
people
OB18 Everyone is on social media When the customer doesn’t have
every day internet connection or
don’t use data
OB19 Most of the people are using
social media
OB20 Social media is accessibility
OB21 more people can see and
might get interested in your
food products
OB22 Positive feedback
OB23 Accessibility, Engagement,
Promotion, Marketing
OB24 My product will be known
easily by many people
OB25 More ways to visit fb page if
you want to know what’s in
the menu
OB26 Social media have wide scope.
Social media are really easy to
use
OB27 It is for our guests to be
notified easily
OB28 Being able to be known by
many people just by posting
OB29 Many clients, easy way for
people to get to know you
OB30 You can reach and stay
connected to your target
audience anytime
False/fake news advertisement;
scammers are
still everywhere
I have to answer all the
comments and messages I receive
and it consumes a lot
of time
It may take time for your
business to kick in the market
Negative feedback
Plagiarism
Not all people who see my post
or content is nearby to
my store
Can sabotage us just only by
commenting negative feedback
Some of our customers doubt our
products to be freshly
good
It is the contents and the
competitors
Competitors can easily get idea
on how to make advertisements
like yours
When a customer posts negative
feedback
Negative review becomes
visible to all your followers,
including your current and
potential customers
 Chapter V

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the summary of findings or the research work

undertaken, the conclusions drawn and the recommendations made us an

outgrowth of this study.

Findings:

1. Most age of the food business profile that has been surveyed were below 1 year and

have a 63% of respondents, 1-2 years only have 14.8% and 3 years and above have

only 7.4%. The type of services and products they mostly sell specified by almost half

of the respondents. The only online platform chose by all of the respondents is

Facebook.

2. In comparison with the traditional marketing, it is found out that social media is

better. Fourteen or 51.9% of the respondents strongly agree that social media is better

in terms of marketing cost. The data shows that most respondents strongly agree that

social media is better than other traditional marketing in terms of cost. Unlike in
 advertising on social media marketing, you can showcase your food business in the

comfort of your home without breaking the bank.

3. Also 14 or 51.9% of the respondents strongly agree that social media is better than

other traditional marketing in terms of customer access. The data shows that most

respondents strongly agree that social media is better than traditional marketing in

customer access. The data shows that the respondents have more access to their

customers in social media because almost everyone has turned to mobile phones and

the internet. With regards to labor, 14 or 51.9% of the respondents strongly agree that

social media is better than other traditional marketing in terms of labor. The data

revealed that most respondents believe that in promoting food products, social media

saves them from labor costs.

4. There were 19 or 70.4% respondents who strongly agreed that social media has

increased business exposure in customer inquiry. It has been revealed that it makes it

easy to draw and lead potential customers to the product and services. 12 or 46.2%

strongly agree that social media has increased business exposure in terms of

sponsorship. Most of the respondents have positive feedback regarding the

effectiveness of Facebook in sponsorships. 16 or 61.5% of the respondents strongly

agree that social media has increased business exposure in terms of product

launching. Launching of their products and services through Facebook has increased

the exposure of their businesses. 14 or 51.9% of the respondents strongly agree that

social media used improve in terms of customer feedback.

5. 15 or 55.6% of the respondents strongly agree that social media improves customer

satisfaction and product recommendation in terms of bulk orders. 14 or 51.9% of the

respondents strongly agree that social media improves customer satisfaction and

product recommendation in terms of electronic word of mouth. Mostly believes that

 the electronic word of mouth has affected their customer’s satisfaction towards their

product and services and also their product recommendation.

With regards to 15 or 55.6% are Strongly Agree that social media help

improved the product sales in the quantity of purchased products. Also, 15 or 55.6%

strongly agree that social media help improve the product sales in the repeat purchase

orders. While 15 or 57.7% strongly agree that social media help improve the product

sales in the inventory of stocks.

There were 17 or 63% respondents who strongly agree that social media is an

important communication channel for business for marketing. While 17 or 65.4%

strongly agree that social media is an important communication channel for business

for promotion. Also, 17 or 63% are Strongly Agree that social media is an important

communication channel for business for sales.

6. It is found out that online sellers or online food product businesses uses social media,

particularly Facebook, in promoting their products and services due to the following

reasons: 8 or 27% said it is easy to promote, 7 or 23% said it is accessible to

everyone, 6 or 20% said it is the easiest way to communicate with the customers, 5 or

17% said it is time saving, and 4 or 13% said it engages more potential customers. It

has also been found out that the online sellers or online food product businesses are

satisfied with Facebook because of the following: 9 or 30% of the respondents said it

is easier to sell products in Facebook, 6 or 20% said it builds strong customer

relationship, 6 or 20% said it boosts sales, 5 or 17% said it is convenient and 4 or

13% said it is time saving.

With regards to updating their social media or Facebook page, it is revealed

that most of the respondents regularly updates their social media pages. 10 or 33% of
 the respondents said they frequently update their page, 6 or 20% said only if they

launch new products, 5 or 17% updates weekly and also 5 or 17% updates when there

is feedback while 4 or 13% of the respondents do not update their pages because it is

time consuming for them.

It has also been found out that all of the respondents uses the feedback they

get from social media to improve their products and services. They try to adopt some

of the suggestions from their customers.

7. As far as the advantages and disadvantages of using social media, particularly

Facebook as platform in promoting food products, it is found out that 14 or 47% of

the respondents said it has a broad access, 6 or 20% said it is accessible, 5 or 17%

said it is cost efficient, 3 or 10% said it is advantageous for business awareness and 2

or 6% said that it is good in generating ROI.

With regards to the disadvantages, it has been revealed that 11 or 37% of the

respondents said it can be easily imitated since it is accessible, 9 or 30% said that the

business can be easily affected by negative feedbacks since it is exposed to public, 7

or 23% said it is prone to bogus buyers and 3 or 10% said it is tiring due to lots of

questions from customers since they can only see photos and videos and not the

actual products.

Conclusions:

1. Most of the online food product businesses were below 1 year in existence

because those were the times when jobs were lost due to lockdown caused by the

pandemic. People were stuck at home so there has been a huge demand in food

deliveries. Different food products had become saleable. There is nothing much to
 do during the lockdown than to eat because that is what makes most Filipinos

happy. One hundred percent of the respondents uses Facebook as their online

platform because it also allows its user to upload photos and videos, which can be

vital to communicate with consumers and potential customers.

2. Social media is found out to better than the traditional marketing because it can

have minimized the cost in marketing and promotion as well as it gives an edge in

labor cutting costs. Social media marketing has increased exposure in business

because almost all people are more likely to use digital channels to learn about

new products. Social media improves customer satisfaction and product

recommendation because it is more powerful due to its significant reach and is

publicly available. Customers are satisfied due to the easy access in the food

product, and fast transaction. Online food product businesses get product

recommendation instantly available online. Fifteen or 55.6% of the respondents

strongly agree that social media help improved the product sales in the quantity of

purchased products, in the repeat purchase orders and in the inventory of stocks.

Out

of 26 respondents, 17 or 63% responded that they strongly agree that social media

is an important communication channel for business for marketing as well as for

sales. While out of 27respondents, 17 or 63% said they are strongly agree that

social media is an important communication channel for business for promotion.

3. Online sellers or online food businesses utilize Facebook since it is the most

commonly used social media platform. It is the fastest way to connect to clients

and potential customers. Most of the online food businesses who update their

page frequently want to be more engaging and are after building a strong
 customer relationship. Almost all of the online food businesses make use of good

feedbacks as one of their advertising campaigns. At the same time, they all seem

to try on the customers' suggestions.

4. The advantages of social media in promoting food products, which was

mentioned in the findings, are, in reality, all true. It will only take a computer, a

Facebook account, and an internet connection to establish a business platform. No

buildings required, no permits, not much in expenses, and being open to the

public makes it easier to attract potential customers. No matter how good your

food products are, it is unavoidable that you will receive negative comments.

Facebook Marketplace was intended to be a community-focused service to bring

people together to buy and sell. It has no added payment system; it only requires

you to have a profile to use the service. Uploading a picture, select a price,

posting and marketing are simple. The disadvantage is that it’s a scammers

paradise.

Recommendations:

1. Food products has always been saleable, but it recommended to go with the

trend. Also, it will be better to use other social media platforms such as twitter,

Instagram, YouTube and others and not just concentrating on

Facebook to have a broader market.

2. Social media is enormously popular for both products and viewers. If your

products are not on any social media platform, you miss your chances of
 having a successful business. The same thing if you are on social media but is

not engaging with your target market or connecting with them but having

difficulty sustaining the social strategy successfully. It is therefore

recommended that online businesses, who would like to stay on top of the

company, avail social media marketing services such as; social media strategy

development, social page optimization, social media campaign development,

and management, paid social ads setup and management, community building

and management and multimedia content creation and publication. At the very

least, you may expect a wider reach, valuable exposure, increased visibility,

more followers, higher engagement, higher conversion rates, reinforced brand

credibility, more leads, and higher sales.

3. As a food product, your content requires to be optical. You must have images

or visuals that can associate with your viewers, so capitalize on your pictures.

Visual marketing strategy is critical to product recognition. It is also

recommended that you post your product story using suitable and consistent

pictures to have a more dominant and long-term impact. To do that, make a

content calendar with images and sketch the theme for each day of the week,

preferably do these several weeks ahead. Make sure this social calendar has

all the essential hashtags you wish to contain. Besides, to boost your food

product promotion, look for possible influencers and collaborate with them.

For viewers, seeing a popular influencer share a product on social media feels

sincerer than any upmarket advertisement. Nevertheless, be careful of who

you collaborate with, select the accurate set of influencers, and are sincerely

enthusiastic about food and expert in this arena.

4. The advantages of the use of social media in promoting food products are

limitless. But the disadvantages like negative comments and bogus buyers will

surely give you a tough time. It is not acceptable to ignore negative

comments. It will offer an annoying customer additional reason to dislike your

food products. You have to reply with every word regardless it’s positive,

negative, or neutral. Keeping public relations is a necessity for product

building. In dealing with nasty comments about your food products, make

sure not to replace them or return the money just because your consumers are

dissatisfied. Examine the problem first, then clarify how you can give a

solution to it. It is not easy to be cool, but you must always be respectful to

save your business. To resolve conflict, ask the customer to directly message

you, call you, or write you an email. You should consider that negative

comments are sources of information from where you can learn what

customers don’t like about your products. Another disadvantage of promoting

products on social media is the bogus buyers. To avoid online scams, it is

recommended that online sellers must be tech-literate. At all times, be

informed of the latest developments in security and privacy. Be aware of with

whom you do the transaction online, be watchful, and be very cautious.