Business Research Methods

A Report on Social Networking as a Marketing Tool

TEAM MEMBERS:
Vaibhav Bothra-110

Nitin Mukesh Dhawal-117

Akshant Gupta- 120

Jay Joshi-126

Anuroop Krishna-132
Acknowledgement
Abhishek Passi-144
We thank Prof. Shailaja Rego madam, for guiding and
supporting us throughout the research framework
process. Despite of our repeated basic doubts she has
helped us and clarified our doubts diligently

Social Networking Websites as a Marketing Tool

 Introduction

A social network is a structure which comprises connections or ties between

individuals. In other words, it is a grouping of individuals into specific groups
based on various factors which are common to the group members. Websites
commonly used for social networking are known as social sites. These websites
work as an online community of internet users. Depending upon the website,
many of these community members share common interests in hobbies,
religion, business and politics. The socialization among members may involve
reading the profile pages of other members and even contacting them.

Social networking websites have come in to prominence for some years now
and have become quite popular. This presents businesses with a huge
opportunity to enhance their online presence through these websites. It’s not
only about advertising but also about sharing knowledge among users. Creating
profiles gives a personal feel to a brand and that goes a long way in creating a
connect with the targeted audience. It’s also about choosing the right website
for one’s business as some websites get more attention than others. It also
depends on one’s marketing strategy and customer base. It may also work well
to use more than one website depending on its utility for the business.

There are many factors that any company should see before marketing itself on
a social networking website. The age of the people visiting the website goes a
long way into determining the target group of the company. Sites like facebook,
orkut, Hi5 are sites that are majorly used by the age group 15-30 i.e. the young
population. Also, the sex of the people visiting the website is an important
factor that a company should see before marketing its product on the site.
Profession also is very much crucial before marketing the product on a social
networking website. Sites such as LinkedIn are specifically profession-oriented
and thus visited by people in the corporate world. These three factors go into
determining the selection of website, frequency of access and product categories
searched for in the website. All these factors decide the participation in
campaigns of the users and brand visibility thus achieved by the company using
social networking sites as a marketing tool.

Objective: To study the various factors which affect the

participation of customers in the various brand campaigns which
in turn affect the brand visibility.
 Figure 1: Concept Map

Independent variables:

 Age
 Gender
 Profession
Intervening variables- Selection of Website, Frequency of Access,
Recommendation to Others
Moderating variables- Product Categories interested in,
Participation in Campaigns
Dependent variables- Brand Visibility
Hypothesis 1:
H0 : selection of website is independent of age of the respondent
H1 : selection of website is dependent on age of the respondent
Hypothesis 2:
H0 : selection of website is independent of gender of the respondent
H1 : selection of website is dependent on gender of the respondent

Hypothesis 3:

H0 : selection of website is independent of profession of the

respondent

H1 : selection of website is dependent on profession of the

respondent

Hypothesis 4:

H0 : frequency of access per user is independent of age of the

respondent
H1 : age of the respondent is dependent on frequency of access per
user
Hypothesis 5:

H0 : frequency of access per user is independent of gender of the

respondent
H1 : frequency of access per user is dependent of gender of the
respondent

Hypothesis 6:
H0: frequency of access per user is independent of profession of the
respondent
H1: frequency of access per user is dependent on profession of the
respondent
Hypothesis 7:
H0 : product categories interested in is independent of age of the
respondent
H1 : product categories interested in is dependent on age of the
respondent

Hypothesis 8:
H0 : product categories interested in is independent of gender of the
respondent
H1 : product categories interested in is dependent on gender of the
respondent

Hypothesis 9:

H0 : product categories interested in is independent of profession of

the respondent

H1 : product categories interested in is dependent on profession of

the respondent

Hypothesis 10:
H0: participation in campaigns is independent of selection of website
H1 : participation in campaigns is dependent on selection of website
Hypothesis 11:
H0: participation in campaigns is independent of frequency of access
H1 : participation in campaigns is dependent on frequency of access
Hypothesis 12:
H0: participation in campaigns is independent of product categories
interested in
H1 : participation in campaigns is dependent on product categories
interested in
Hypothesis 13:
H0: recommendation to others is independent of selection of website
H1 : recommendation to others is dependent on selection of website
Hypothesis 14:
H0: recommendation to others is independent of frequency of access
H1 : recommendation to others is dependent on frequency of access
Hypothesis 15:
H0: recommendation to others is independent of product categories
interested in
H1 : recommendation to others is dependent on product categories
interested in
Brand visibility is a combined effect of these two variables i.e.
participation in campaigns and recommendation to others, and hence
the more the frequency of these two variables more would be the
brand visibility.

Survey Questionnaire
Q1. Identify the social networking site-

a. Twitter b. Orkut

c. Facebook d. Don’t Know

Q2. Are you a member of any of the following social networking sites (Tick whichever is/are
applicable)-

a. Facebook

b. Orkut

c. Twitter

d. MySpace

e. linkedIn

f. Others ......................

g. Not a member of any

Q3. Which age group do you belong to?

a) <10yrs
b) 10-19yrs
c) 20-29yrs
d) 30-39yrs
e) 40-49yrs
f) >50yrs

Q4. What is your sex?

1. Male 2. Female

Q5. What is your profession?

 1. Student 2. Working 3. Housewife 4. Retired

Q6. What do you do on a social networking site (Tick whichever is applicable for every row)

AlwaysVery Often or
RarelyNever or Very

Occasionally
Rarely

Often
a. Update your status messages
1 2 3 4 5

b. Make new friends

1 2 3 4 5

c. Viewing the pages of brands and checking new

updates 1 2 3 4 5

d. Chat
1 2 3 4 5

e. Reconnect with old friends

1 2 3 4 5

f. Networking for business purposes

1 2 3 4 5

Q7. What do you look out for in a brand’s profile page on a social networking site (Tick
whichever is applicable for every row)?
 Very Often or Always
Never or Very Rarely

Occasionally
Rarely

Often
a. New products
1 2 3 4 5
b. Latest offers
1 2 3 4 5
c. Reporting complaints and sharing your
experiences 1 2 3 4 5
d. Viewing others experiences
1 2 3 4 5
e. Compare the products with that of the others
1 2 3 4 5

No, I do not check out for brands on a social networking site

Q8. How has marketing of your preferred brands through social networking sites altered your
buying behaviour (Tick whichever is applicable for every row)?

Always Sometimes No change

a. I have bought more of them

b. I have switched to other

brands

Q9. How accurate do you find the reviews of the products, that you want to purchase, on a
social networking site (Tick whichever is applicable)?
 Accurate likely Neutral unlikely Inaccurate

No, I don’t look at the reviews

Q10.What kind of products would you want to know on a social networking site from the
below mentioned (Tick whichever is applicable for every row)-

Very Often or Always

Never or Very Rarely

Occasionally
Rarely

Often
a. Electronics( laptops, digital cameras, iPods, etc)
1 2 3 4 5
b. Fashion wear ( jeans, shoes, tops, lingerie, etc)
1 2 3 4 5
c. Consumer durables ( refrigerators, TV, etc)
1 2 3 4 5
d. Personal care ( soaps, medicines, lotions, etc)
1 2 3 4 5
e. Food and Beverages
1 2 3 4 5
f. Services ( tuitions, transport, etc)
1 2 3 4 5
g. Automobiles
1 2 3 4 5

Q11. There are a lot of campaigns that run on social networking sites. How much do you
participate in such campaigns?
 Daily 3-4 times a Once a week 1-3 times a
week month

No, I don’t participate in such campaigns.

Hypothesis 1:
H0 : Selection of social networking website is independent of age
H1 : Selection of social networking website is dependent of age
Here in this hypothesis we try to verify about any relationship that exists between the age of
the respondent and the social networking website on which the respondent is registered.
Generally it is found that people tend to register on websites that offer them best benefit.
Different social networking websites provide varied benefits and opportunities to connect
with different people for specific purposes.

From the Q no. 2 and Q no. 3 of the questionnaire we would get the information regarding
the age and the social networking website that the respondent has registered on. This
information then can be used to form a cross table as shown below

WEBSITE Orkut Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Myspace Others

AGE

<10yrs A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 F1

10-19yrs A2 B2 C2 D2 E2 F2

20-29yrs A3 B3 C3 D3 E3 F3

30-39yrs A4 B4 C4 D4 E4 F4

40-49yrs A5 B5 C5 D5 E5 F5

>50yrs A6 B6 C6 D6 E6 F6

Here we use Chi-square test of independence.

If the preference for most useful website is independent of the occupation then the expected
frequency of no. of respondent registered on each of the social networking website would be
equal i.e. probability (p) = 1/ 6.

= expected value for Chi-Square test of Independence.

= Sum of the ith column in the Chi-Square test of Independence.

= Sum of the kth column in the Chi-Square test of Independence.

N = total number in the Chi-Square test of Independence.

After calculating the expected value, we will apply the following formula to calculate the
value of the Chi-Square test of Independence:

Where:

= Chi-Square test of Independence

= Observed value of two nominal variables for the Chi-Square test of Independence

= Expected value of two nominal variables for the Chi-Square test of Independence

Degree of freedom in Chi-Square test of Independence:

DF=(r-1) (c-1)

Where

DF = Degree of freedom for the Chi-Square test of Independence

r = number of rows in the Chi-Square test of Independence

c = number of columns in the Chi-Square test of Independence

In our case DF = (6-1)(6-1) = 25.

By taking level of significance α = 0.5 the hypothesis can be tested. From χ2 table we can find
p-value for the calculated χ2 value. If p ≤ α we reject H0. Else we accept H0.

Similarly, the other hypothesis can be proved using the above test.