RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Introduction-
The research focuses on identifying the impact of social media on the purchasing decisions of customers. The research is conducted for the small flowers business in the UK. The research will help in identifying the strategies that can be used by small florist businesses for attracting customers. The strategies will support the businesses in enhancing the sales and profitability of the business and will help in developing a competitive advantage.
Research aims and objectives and questions-
Research aim-
Aim
The research aims to measure social media's impact on customer behaviour and address various strategies that are effective for the small flowers business from the florist industry of the UK to attract customers through social media.
Research objectives-
To analyse the impact of social media on the purchasing decisions of the customers
To identify the social media strategies that can be used for attracting the customers
To identify the factors that motivate the customers to buy flowers from florists through social media
To identify the impact of using social media on the performance of small flowers businesses in the UK.
Research questions-
How does social media impacts customer behaviour?
What are the advantages of using social media for small flowers businesses in the UK?
How social media can help small flowers businesses in the UK in increasing sales and profitability?
What are the most effective social media strategies that can be used by small flowers businesses in the UK for attracting customers?
The rationale for research-
The use of social media is increasing for promotional activities. Different small and large businesses are using social media for interacting with customers and increase brand awareness (Eltayib et al., 2018). The research is conducted for the small flowers businesses in the UK. The research will focus on identifying how social media influences buying behaviour. The research will also focus on identifying the strategies that small flower businesses can use for attracting customers. The competition among the businesses is high in the florist businesses of UK and it is important to develop effective marketing strategies for attracting the customers and developing competitive advantage.
Literature review-
According to the study of Appel et al 2020, social media is an effective tool that can be used by businesses for promotional activities. Social media helps in connecting with the customers and helps in increasing brand awareness. Social media helps in informing customers regarding the product and services offered and it helps in attracting the customers to buy the product. Based on the analysis of Wibowo et al 2020, social media supports businesses in connecting with customers globally and promotes two-way communications with the customers. Sharing creative content helps in increasing customer engagement and it helps in developing a unique image in the minds of customers. Social media helps in better targeting the customers and helps in identifying the changes in the market trends and needs of the customers. It helps in connecting with new customers and increases the market share and customer base of the businesses.
Karimi and Naghibi 2015, identified that social media highly influences the purchasing decisions of the customers and it impacts their choice and preferences. The social media posts, offers and discounts provided by the business, reviews and comments provided by the customers influence the purchasing decisions of the customers. Social media helps in increasing website traffic and provides the advantage to the business to increase sales. Based on the study of Dwivedi et al 2021, different social media marketing strategies can be used by the businesses for attracting the customers like referral marketing that encourages the customers to refer the products and services to their friends and family, influencer marketing that influences the customers to buy the product, providing offers and discounts for attracting the customers etc. the strategies helps in motivating the customers to buy the product and helps in increasing the sales and profitability of the business. Increasing profitability helps in increasing the growth opportunities for the business and provides a competitive advantage to the business.
Research methodology
The research methodology includes the tools and techniques that the researcher will use for data collection and analysis. The research will use both primary and secondary methods for data collection. The researcher will collect quantitative data for the research. The data will be directly collected from the customers (Nayak and Singh, 2021).
Data collection methods-
The researcher will collect data through both primary and secondary methods. The primary data will be collected from the questionnaire and the data will be collected from the customers. The primary method will help in collecting relevant data for the research and will help in achieving the research objectives. The primary data will help in analysing the buying behaviour of the customers and will help in identifying the factors that influence the purchasing decisions of the customers (Snyder, 2019). The sample size selected for collecting data through primary research is 50. The 50 participants for the research will be selected from different age groups. The secondary data will be collected from different sources like articles, online sources, journals; books, etc. the secondary data will help in collecting the information related to the impact of social media on the buying behaviour of the customers (Sutton and Austin, 2015).
Data analysis methods-
It includes analysing the results from the data collected. The research will collect quantitative data through a questionnaire. The quantitative data collected will be analysed through statistical tools. The researcher will present the data in tabular and graphical form after collecting the data from primary research. Through the primary research and secondary research, the data will be collected and analysed for achieving the research objectives (Ali and Bhaskar, 2016).
Ethical considerations-
The researcher will follow the data protection act and will ensure to maintain the confidentiality of data. The personal information of the participants in the research will not the disclosed and it will only be accessed by the researcher. The data will be stored in the personal laptop of the researcher and it will be protected through encryption. The data will be destroyed after the completion of research and achieving the research objectives (Mishra and Alok, 2017).
Research limitations-
The primary data for the research will be collected from the customers and the sample size selected for data collection is small and the views of other customers can be different. The ineffective selection of secondary data may also impact the research results.
Timeline-
The Gantt chart will help the researcher in effective planning and scheduling of the different activities of research, it will help in completing the research in the desired time period.
Gantt chart-
Figure 1- Gantt chart
Source- Author’s work
References-
Ali, Z. and Bhaskar, S.B. (2016). Basic statistical tools in research and data analysis. Indian journal of anaesthesia, 60(9), p.662.
Appel, G., Grewal, L., Hadi, R. and Stephen, A.T. (2020). The future of social media in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48(1), pp.79-95.#
Dwivedi, Y.K., Ismagilova, E., Hughes, D.L., Carlson, J., Filieri, R., Jacobson, J., Jain, V., Karjaluoto, H., Kefi, H., Krishen, A.S. and Kumar, V. (2021). Setting the future of digital and social media marketing research: Perspectives and research propositions. International Journal of Information Management, 59, p.102168.
Eltayib, N.H.E., Bhimani, A.M.C., kumar Gandhi, I.A. and Kamdar, T.S.A. (2018). The Effect of Social Media Marketing in Small Business Performance. International Journal of Novel Research in Marketing Management and Economics, 5(1), pp.141-147.
Karimi, S. and Naghibi, H.S. (2015). Social media marketing (SMM) strategies for small to medium enterprises (SMEs). International Journal of Information, Business and Management, 7(4), p.86.
Mishra, S.B. and Alok, S. (2017). Handbook of research methodology. Dimensions Of Critical Care Nursing, 9(1), p.60.
Nayak, J.K. and Singh, P. (2021). Fundamentals of research methodology problems and prospects. SSDN Publishers & Distributors. pp. 14-21.
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of business research, 104, pp.333-339.
Sutton, J. and Austin, Z. (2015). Qualitative research: Data collection, analysis, and management. The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy, 68(3), p.226.
Wibowo, A., Chen, S.C., Wiangin, U., Ma, Y. and Ruangkanjanases, A. (2020). Customer behavior as an outcome of social media marketing: The role of social media marketing activity and customer experience. Sustainability, 13(1), p.189.
