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Retail Product Marketing
Through social Networking Websites:
A Customers’ Perspective
Mr. Amit Dixit
Faculty of Management Studies, Acropolis, Indore
Dr. Kapil Sharma
Institute of Management Studies, DAVV, Indore
Mr. Ravi Changle
Prestige Institute of Management & Research, Indore
ABSTRACT
The new digital age has seen a prominence of social media across various paradigms. Social media has changed the way we connect, share and shape relationships with people and communities around the world. Today, shoppers are connected to retailers and brands than ever before by interacting on Facebook and Twitter, by sharing user-generated content, and even by creating videos and blog posts describing products. The paper explores the impact of marketing of retail products through social networking websites from a customer’s view point, further the study uncovers various aspects which a marketer needs to be watchful about in the social ecosystem and the prominence of social media in marketing and brand management.
Key words: marketing of retail products, social networking
Introduction
Social Networking- An Elucidation
Social networking is the stratification of individuals into precise cohesive groups, like small rural/urban communities or a regional division, although social networking is possible in person, especially in the workplace, institutes, cultural and religious communities , it is most popular online, this is because millions of individuals are linked to each other through internet and are looking to meet other people, to gather and share first-hand information and experiences about developing friendships, professional alliances, finding employment, knowledge transfer and business-to-business marketing. The topics and interests are as varied and rich as theorizing how the universe came in to being. In context to online social networking, websites are commonly used. These websites are known as social sites. Social networking websites function like an online community of
internet users. Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share common interests in hobbies, religion, politics and alternative lifestyles. Social network represents linkages and flows between people, groups, organizations, computers or other information/knowledge processing entities. It is a social structure made up of a set of individuals or organizations. Social network perspective is employed to model the structure of a social group, how this structure influences other variables, or how structures change over time. A Social networking site is the phrase used to describe any Web site that enables users to create public profiles within that Web site and form relationships with other users of the same Web site who access their profile. Social networking sites can be used to describe
community-based Web sites, online
discussions forums, chat rooms and other social spaces online.
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Social Media a boon to Marketing
Innovations in the Internet world have caused major changes across plethora of applications including education, shopping, entertainment, learning, banking, investing, etc. Table 1
illustrates the progress of some representative web-based services, from the earliest static web pages (1995) to today’s online services, including e-commerce sites and online social networks
. Table 1
Progress of web-based services, plus examples and supporting tools Web-based services
Year of inception Example services /
tools
Static Web Sites (SWS) Early 1990s The first commercial
web browser, Netscape Navigator, was
launched in 1995.
2Interactive Web Sites (IWS) 1995/1996 Java applets, Java
scripts, VB scripts,
3 Search Engines (SE) 1995 Lycos, Yahoo, Google
(1998)
Discussion Groups (DG) 1995 Yahoo groups, Google
groups
5 E-Commerce Sites (EC) 1995 Amazon.com, e-Bay
Online Social Networks (OSN) Early 2000s MySpace (2003),
LinkedIn (2003), Facebook (2004), Ning (2005), Flickr,
YouTube, … Social media is a magnificent and stirring
world, and understanding each of the tools available gives marketers a real following through which they leverage to increase sales, expand brand awareness, or establish a
personal relationship with their customers. And best of all, these social media platforms are free to use. As a small business the marketers may not have the budget to hire a social media manager or agency, but using social media doesn’t have to be expensive.
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So many companies have understood the potential social media and a presence on the Social Web are “must haves” in places like Facebook, Twitter etc and have resulted to build around collaborative processes that link customers to the brand by engaging them hence creating a strong unique, distinct, identifiable and differentiable image in their minds.
Social Media for Retail Product Marketing Social media has made internet a living thing, a social thing. The social web means people have a liberty of expression and they willingly want to speak to and share with their peers. This power of interactivity and drive means web retail brands can no longer ignore their prospective customers and need to start engaging with people discussing their brand. Social networks give retail brands the opportunity to form a rapport with millions of customers and also communicate to them with exclusive individuality. Retail has certainly reacted positively to the social age and almost every brand has some form of web presence on social media whether it's a Facebook page, a Twitter handle or a Pinterest board. Brands maybe drawing millions upon millions of people to their Facebook page, but just because people are 'liking' or 'retweeting' doesn't mean they're buying. And that is surely the end goal of brands developing and
maintaining a social media presence. A social strategy needs to lead to increased desire for products and then drive sales. Social Media can be used to create a community, generate engagement and drive sales. Social commerce does exist. However, people need the right social environment to engage with a brand and then be encouraged to buy its products.
Review of Literature
Social media has gained eminence as illustrated by Johni Fisher, CEO, Looppa, Buenos Aires “Social media has become a primary tool for higher levels of fan engagement, directly driving lead generation through interaction and content sharing that is especially relevant to media companies. Social Media Marketing: The Next Generation of Business Engagement deconstructs the tools and techniques, showing you how to apply social technology to your business”. The power of social media is by tapping the social group involved with the customer as exemplified by Paul May, Founder and CEO, BuzzStream, Austin, TX “Purchase decisions are now influenced by complex networks of friends, family, and peers. The new market winners will be the companies that excel at identifying and engaging with their customers’ influencers across the Social Web”.
A recent KPMG report of 2011 surveyed more than “ 1,800 managers and 2,000 employees at organizations in ten major markets and found that – in many cases – there
remains a significant gap between expectation and reality when it comes to social media. The adoption of social media is widespread for businesses in the emerging markets of China, India and Brazil who – on average – are 20 to
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30 percentage points more likely to use social media than counterparts in the UK, Australia, Germany or Canada. In part, this may be attributed to the emerging markets’ lower dependence on ‘legacy systems’ that – in more established markets – tends to bind organizations to their long-established channel strategies, as well as the rapidly declining cost of internet access and devices in the
developing world. From an industry
perspective, retailers and wholesalers seem to slightly lead over all other sectors, though it must be noted that all sectors (except the ‘Other’ segment) were closely grouped within a 10 percent differential”.
The representation below in the Social media report in the year 2011 by Nielsen shows the amount of total minutes in billions by US customers
A recent study by Srinivasan Ramanujam & Mittal Sourabh of Wipro council of Industrial Research clearly stated that retail enterprises constantly mine customer data from past sales and other interaction with their stores. The key is combining such enterprise information sources with the insights from social relationships to build “market intelligence” that represents what customers are thinking and doing today.
“Technology related developments such as the rise of powerful search engines, advanced mobile devices and interfaces, peer-to-peer communication vehicles, and online social networks have extended marketers’ ability to reach shoppers through new touch points” Shankar et al. 2011, 30.
Sorescue et al. 2011, stress that a retailer must go beyond the advertising aspect of social networking sites and find groundbreaking ways to use them as a way to conduct conversations with consumers, instead of a one-way communication network. Sinclair and Vogus 2011 determined that large companies are regarding social media sites as strategic tools and some businesses are even hiring employees to oversee their social media pages. “Consumers are no longer passive receivers of marketing messages; instead, they are using Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter to voice their opinions-both positive and negative” Sinclair and Vogus 2011, 293. Consumers’ participation with a brand on social media reinforces the need for retailers to
be active participants in social networking sites and the virtual brand communities they create.
In conclusion, research has determined that retailers can increase awareness of their brand by being creative when engaging customers on social media sites. “As more shoppers are using social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn) and rely on them for marketing shopping decisions, promotion through these media has become important” Shankar et a l. 2011, 32. According to Curran et al. 2011, social media sites such as Facebook are better than other advertising avenues because it stores information on all its users thus ensuring marketing reaches a retailer’s specific target market. Social media sites are a great stage for retailers to create an experience and retailers can use information stored on social media sites to improve user experience with their brand.
Research Objectives
1) To study the Impact of Education on preference of respondents for social networking websites
2) To study the Impact of Age on preference of respondents for social networking websites
3) To study the Impact of Gender on preference of respondents for social networking websites
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Research Design: Descriptive Research
Data Collection:
• Type of data: There are two types of
data primary data and secondary data. For the purpose of this project the data required is primary in nature and will to be collected.
• Method:
Primary data
Questionnaire
Secondary data Published data
• Sample unit – Urban Customer of
Indore city
• Sample size – 100 customers
Sampling method – Non probability
convenience sampling
Tools for Data Analysis: Chi-square test, Descriptive Statistics and Crosstabs have been applied in this paper to fulfil the requirements of the objectives of the study.
Data Analysis & Hypotheses Testing
Demographic Profile of Respondents Age
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid <20 years 62 62.0 62.0 62.0
20-25 years 22 22.0 22.0 84.0
25 years & above 16 16.0 16.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
Gender
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent Valid Male 50 50.0 50.0 50.0 Female 50 50.0 50.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0 Education
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid Graduate 39 39.0 39.0 39.0
Post Graduate 61 61.0 61.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0
A] Impact of Education on preference of respondents for social networking websites
Sr.No. Null Hypotheses P-Value
(at 5% Sig. level)
Result
1 There is no significant difference in awareness of social
networking sites on the basis of Education. .411
Accepted 2 There is no significant difference in registrations of respondents
on the social networking websites on the basis of Education .532
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3 There is no significant difference in usage of social networking
sites on the basis of Education. .656
Accepted 4 There is no significant difference in weekly usage of social
networking sites on the basis of Education.
.150 Accepted
5 There is no significant difference in likings of ads on social networking sites on the basis of Education.
.403 Accepted
6 There is no significant difference in trust on information displayed on social networking sites on the basis of Education.
.674 Accepted
7 There is no significant difference in likings of the respondents to receive information on social networking sites on the basis of Education.
.241 Accepted
8 There is no significant difference in respondents’ purchasing activity of product/services on social networking sites on the basis of Education.
.338 Accepted
9 There is no significant difference in comfort of respondents in receiving ads on social networking sites on the basis of Education.
.954
Accepted
B] Impact of Age on preference of respondents for social networking websites
S. No. Null Hypotheses P-Value
(at 5% Sig. level)
Result
1 There is no significant difference in awareness of social
networking sites on the basis of Age. .626
Accepted 2 There is no significant difference in registrations of
respondents on the social networking websites on the basis of Age
.063
Accepted
3 There is no significant difference in usage of social
networking sites on the basis of Age. .450
Accepted 4 There is no significant difference in weekly usage of social
networking sites on the basis of Age. .256
Accepted 5 There is no significant difference in likings of ads on social
networking sites on the basis of Age. .718
Accepted 6 There is no significant difference in trust on information
displayed on social networking sites on the basis of Age. .525
Accepted 7 There is no significant difference in likings of the respondents
to receive information on social networking sites on the basis of Age.
.560
Accepted
8 There is no significant difference in respondents’ purchasing activity of product/services on social networking sites on the basis of Age.
.580 Accepted
9 There is no significant difference in comfort of respondents in receiving ads on social networking sites on the basis of Age.
.253 Accepted
C] Impact of Gender on preference of respondents for social networking websites
S. No. Null Hypotheses P-Value
(at 5% Sig. level)
Result
1 There is no significant difference in awareness of social
networking sites on the basis of Gender. .391
Accepted 2 There is no significant difference in registrations of respondents
on the social networking websites on the basis of Gender .437
Accepted
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sites on the basis of Gender.
4 There is no significant difference in weekly usage of social
networking sites on the basis of Gender. .045
Accepted 5 There is no significant difference in likings of ads on social
networking sites on the basis of Gender. .839
Accepted 6 There is no significant difference in trust on information
displayed on social networking sites on the basis of Gender.
.420 Accepted
7 There is no significant difference in likings of the respondents to receive information on social networking sites on the basis of Gender.
.548
Accepted
8 There is no significant difference in respondents’ purchasing activity of product/services on social networking sites on the basis of Gender.
.835
Accepted
9 There is no significant difference in comfort ability of respondents in receiving ads on social networking sites on the basis of Gender.
.485
Accepted
Conclusion
In the study out of 27 hypotheses only one has been selected justifying that there is no significant difference in the preference of respondents for using the social networking websites on the basis of their demographics like age, gender & education. It further implies that the social networking companies/agencies are efficient enough in reaching the end user. It signifies the efficient and effective segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies of the Social Networking Websites as the respondents are indifferent in their preferences while accessing the Social Networking Websites.
References
• Yang Andrew T,Kim J Dan & Dhalwani Vishal “Social Networking as a new trend in e-marketing
• “How businesses are making the most of Social
Media”,KPMG.COM,KPMG Report • “Perspectives on Digital
Business”,Mckinsey Center for
Business Technology,Mckinsey & Company
• Evans Dave & McKee Jack “Social Media Marketing: The next generation of Business Engagement” • http://www.whatissocialnetworking.co m/ • http://skadeedle.com/wp- content/uploads/2013/05/definitive-guide-to-social-media-marketing.pdf • http://pauladaunt.com/books/Socia0M ediaMarketing.pdf • http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network blog/2012/jul/25/social-retailing • http://cn.nielsen.com/documents/Niels en-Social-Media-Report_FINAL_090911.pdf • http://www.wipro.com/documents/insi ghts/whitepaper/Wipro_LeverageSoci alMediaRetail_wp.pdf • http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/vie wcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=t md_major_papers Appendix Descriptive Statistics
N Range Sum Mean Std. Deviation
Age 100 2.00 154.00 1.5400 .75772
Gender 100 1.00 150.00 1.5000 .50252
Education 100 1.00 161.00 1.6100 .49021
Are you aware of social
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Which of the following social networking website you use more?
100 1.00 123.00 1.2300 .42295
Are you registered member of
social networking site? 100 1.00 110.00 1.1000 .30151
How long u use the social
networking site? 100 3.00 120.00 1.2000 .58603
How many hrs of week spend
in social networking website? 100 4.00 341.00 3.4100 1.14676
Do you notice any
offer/advertise of the product or service on Social
Networking Websites?
100 1.00 154.00 1.5400 .50091
Do you like advertising on
social networking website? 100 1.00 159.00 1.5900 .49431
In last three visits did you noticed any advertising on social networking website?
100 1.00 150.00 1.5000 .50252
Do you trust information you obtain by social networking websites?
100 1.00 159.00 1.5900 .49431
Do you like to receive information of new
product/service by advertising through social networking websites?
100 1.00 156.00 1.5600 .49889
Have you ever purchased any product/service on the basis of information you have received on Social Networking
Websites?
100 1.00 147.00 1.4700 .50161
In this busy lifestyle the information received by ads regarding the new offers helps me keep up-to-date?
100 4.00 341.00 3.4100 1.12002
I am comfortable in receiving ads related to my interests and activities?
100 4.00 323.00 3.2300 1.20483
Valid N (list wise) 100
