Marketing to Teenagers on Social Networking Sites

by

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

There is an immense role of my supervisor, family and associations for the completion of this research study. I would be gratitude to them for supporting me and assisting me.

DECLARATION

I take oath that the entire dissertation has been completed by me and the entire work has been done by writing and no copy pasting material has been added in this dissertation.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

This research study is carried out to examine the impact of marketing by using social networking sites to attract teenage customers. The marketing strategies which can be utilized by the social networking sites to attract the target market of teenage customers. The aim of this particular research study is to examine the factors which attract the teenage customer. There are a number of companies who are availing the services of facebook and twitter for the marketing of their product. The teenage customers of present era are highly attracted towards the apparel, beauty and fitness products. Facebook and twitter are the best place to attract the target teenage customers. The most appropriate research design for this research study is qualitative research design. This type of research makes it possible to obtain very detailed data about the behaviour, opinions, attitudes, relationships from a small group of people. When analysing the results, many interesting insights were noticed. The respondents of the survey interacted more with friends and family on Facebook than they did on Twitter. The majority of Twitter followers one had were strangers. When it came to answering the research question of whether or not Facebook and Twitter marketing strategies are effective to attract teenage customers the survey showed surprising results. It was found that Twitter had very little influence on teenage consumers and more than likely they never reached out to twitter followers at any point during the purchase process for opinions. Facebook is more popular among teenagers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER # 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1Background of the Study1

1.2Problem Statement2

1.3Purpose of the Study3

1.4Research Questions3

1.5Significance of the Study4

1.6Structure of the Dissertation4

CHAPTER # 2: LITERATURE REVIEW6

2.1Introduction6

2.2Theories6

2.2.1Attribution Theory7

2.2.2Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)8

2.2.3Social Cognitive Theory (SCT)8

2.2.4Diffusion of Innovations Theory8

2.2.5Social theories10

2.3Online Consumer Relationship Marketing (RM)11

2.3.1Relationship Marketing (RM) and Online Teen Customers13

2.4Social Network Sites15

2.4.1Facebook18

2.4.2Twitter19

2.4.3Teenage Customers21

2.5Hypothesis Development22

CHAPTER # 3: METHODOLOGY24

3.1 Introduction24

3.2 Research Design24

3.3 Research Approach26

3.4 Data Collection27

3.5 Research Instrument27

3.5.1 Interview28

3.5.2 Focus Group28

3.6 Research Participants28

3.7 Sampling Method and Sample Size28

3.8 Data Analysis29

3.9 Reliability/Dependability30

3.10 Validity30

3.11 Ethical Consideration31

CHAPTER # 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION32

4.1 Marketing strategies of Facebook and Twitter to attract teen customers32

4.1.1 Facebook Strategy32

4.1.2 Twitter Strategy34

4.2 Teenage Visitors on Facebook and Twitter35

4.3 Target Respondents of Interviews and Focus Group Discussion36

4.4 Thematic Analysis36

4.5 Focus Group Discussion Analysis40

4.6 Discussion on Interview and Focus Group Findings41

4.7 Hypothesis42

4.8 Discussion on Research Question44

4.9 How Undergraduate Students would use Social Media and Traditional Media47

4.10 Social networks and corporate marketing strategy50

4.11 Findings of the Study and Existing Theories54

CHAPTER # 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS56

5.1 Conclusions56

5.2 Recommendations58

REFERENCES60

APPENDIX66

Appendix A: Interview Questions66

Appendix B: Focus Group Discussion67

Appendix C: Transcripts of Interview68

Appendix D: Transcritps of Focus Group Discussion73

Group 174

Group 275

CHAPTER # 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

“Social network” is ...