Research Proposal SOCIAL MEDIA: A PAKISTANI PAKISTANI CONSUMER C ONSUMERS S PERSPECTIVE
Submitted To: Ms. Azra Maqsood
Submitted Submitte d By: By: Nida Aijaz (0835181) Asad Dhanji (0835175) Faizan Khan (0835176) Rabab Sultan (0835184) Faryal Wahab Wahab (0835160)
Date of Submission: August 31, 2009
1. Background of the Research In present times, social media has become the buzz word for marketing of a company’s products and services based on the growth social media has given to businesses recently. Nick Nanton1
(2009) reports in “Real Examples of Business Success Using Social Media” that
HelpAReporterOut.com (HARO), Blendtec and KOGI BBQ achieved tremendous growth in their company’s sales based on the benefits of social media. Although, critics argue that social media cannot generate revenue itself but a greater consensus is available on the reality that social media has brought new dynamics into the way of marketing & promotion which has made the world to revise the traditional business processes. Leading marketers world-wide are using this incredible viral networking tool to increase their market penetration and to become known as experts in their niche. And as part of our MBA thesis, we would like to identify the impact social media has created within the business markets of Pakistan.
2. Objectives & Scope The way social media has grown internationally has opened up a great number of doors for the marketers (“2009 Marketing Industry Trends Report”, Equation Research, 2009). In Pakistan, however it is still a growing phenomenon (“The green revolution "- by Bina Shah, Dawn Magazine, 4 Aug ‘09). Hence the main objective of this research would be to understand where social media stands in Pakistan and how deeply it is penetrated. For this purpose the research would need to identify the different tools of social media people use and are familiar with, and also the extent of their usage.
It would try to gain an insight on the general attitude and
perception of people towards these different tools. By gaining the proper insight, future prospects of this media in Pakistan and its implications could be ascertained.
1
http://www.copypastearticles.com/article/50364/real-examples-of-business-success-using-social-media/
3. Problem Definition and Research Questions Although social media has grown worldwide but the main issue that marketers face is to gauge the effectiveness of social media marketing ("2008 Keep the dialogue going", Marketing Sherpa"). Another major problem that marketers face is getting consumers into the environment of social media and engaging with them online, as these require resources and it is yet to be decided if allocating resources to this medium is worthwhile or not – at least in the Pakistani market where literacy rate and internet penetration are still at low rates. Not only consumers, but a lot of brand marketers also don't know much about social media and its types ("2009 Marketing industry trends report from equation research"). This research reveals that among brand managers, 37% didn't know much about social media to begin. As although a lot of brand managers have heard about this medium, or have even started adopting it but many of them don't know exactly what are its types and how to use them. If the level of awareness is low even among brand managers, one can only imagine its adoption rate by the masses. Hence in our research we will try to find out the awareness and adoption rates of this dynamic medium as well as its impact on an average consumer’s lifestyle within the Pakistani context.
4. Research methodology Primarily, our research would be a quantitative one whereby we would be carrying out a survey to find out more about the usage and attitude patterns of our target respondents with regards to social media. We will also be using secondary data to derive trends and compare our market with others. It would help us deduce meaningful conclusions.
4.1 Sampling: We would be using the simple random sampling approach for our study. The sample would be designed using specific demographic quota controls to ensure representative ness. We would try to match our sample with the target audience most receptive to social media.
4.2 Instrumentation: We will be using a structured questionnaire, comprised mainly of closed ended questions, for our survey.
4.3 Data collection: Our survey would be a person administered one whereby all the group members would themselves take interviews and read out the questions to the respondents to ensure there are no half filled questionnaires. This approach would also be useful to explain the questions in case the respondents get confused somewhere. The survey would be carried out in the second part of the thesis and we estimate a time of two months for the entire process – questionnaire designing, data collection, data coding and punching, data analysis. The remaining two months would be spent on comparative analysis using secondary data sources and deriving overall conclusions from the research.
5. Limitations and Delimitations 5.1 Limitations: •
The limitations of our study can be firstly defined in terms of the generic resource
constraints, restricting the extent of the research conducted •
The study would also be having geographic limitations, as audience from Karachi
would only be included in the survey. To ensure internet usage, SEC classes A, B and C are selected to be a part of the survey •
The accuracy of the data collected can not be gauged through comparison with
secondary data sources •
Our research is also limited since a wide section of our public is not completely
aware of all the available tools in the interactive world of social media •
A major limitation of our study is the assumption that all tools of social media are
of a comparative nature in terms of their usage
5.2 Delimitations: •
To make the sample as representative as possible, the research group has
divided the sample demographically (age brackets) from with in all the SEC Classes to be covered (A, B and C).
6. Significance of the study There is a complete dearth of credible literature on rapidly growing social media in Pakistan. As the marketing world of Pakistan realizes the increasing importance and effectiveness of social media, the marketers would want to know the different tools available and their respective usage. This research study will firstly reveal the current tools used for social marketing, along with their respective usage rates. The research would then gauge that which of the tools are most widely used and the audience most receptive to marketing efforts on social media. Hence the already existing body of literature on the tools widely used from the social media world in the developed world would get a new extension, once we take this topic research on a developing world like Pakistan.
