SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS IMPACT ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BRAND AND CUSTOMERS

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

For this dissertation, I want to acknowledge and thank my supervisor, family members and friends in getting their assistance and support, which they provided me all the way in its completion. Without their support and care I would not have completed this research work and would not have overcome the hurdles and barriers that came into my way.

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DECLARATION

Here, I declare that the data or the information that is used within my research work is not the work of anyone else and is not submitted to any other college ever before. The entire information that is present within this dissertation is based on ethical principles and it holds pure research work.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION2

Background2

Significance of the Research5

Aims5

Research Questions6

Research Hypothesis6

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW7

The Concept of Social Media7

Social Media Communities9

Consumer Behaviour in Social Media10

Social Media and Customer Service12

Social Media and Corporate Product Development13

Social Media and Product Customer Relations15

Role of Social Media in Corporate Advertising15

CHAPTER 03: METHODOLOGY18

Methodological Approach18

Research Techniques Used18

Resource Techniques Available19

Primary Research19

Secondary Data20

Qualitative Research20

Quantitative Method20

Questionnaire21

Literature Search22

Developing the Questionnaire22

Sample Size and Selection22

Analysis of the Data22

Ethical Considerations23

Demographic Data and Details24

Gender of the Participants24

Age group of the Participants24

Ethnicity of the Participants25

Monthly Family Income of the Participants26

Educational Level of the Participants26

Questionnaire Analysis27

How frequently do you use social media sites?27

Do you follow brands on social media?27

How likely it is that social media will influence your online purchase?28

How often do you hear about products on social media that you later purchase?28

Do you think social media is useful when looking for opinions about what products to purchase?29

Do you consider brands reputable that uses social media?29

Entertainment30

Word of mouth32

Trend of Brand35

Chi Square test and Cross Tabulation37

Hypothesis Testing38

Correlation Analysis39

Regression Analysis41

To test the impact of word of mouth and entertainment on the purchase intension of customers41

To test the impact of word of mouth and entertainment on the trend of brand over social media44

Summary47

CHAPTER 05: CONCLUSION49

Summary of the Findings49

REFERENCES53

Appendix 01: Questionnaire63

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

Background

One of the most important applications that are being used by almost all the people around the world is the social media. Social media websites are the most commonly used medium that is playing an effective role in our lives. There were people who were not able to meet each other or even chat with each other for a longer period of time, which was mainly due to inability in managing the expenditures; those people have taken great support of using the social media websites for chatting, video conferencing and other interesting activities. Now people can meet each other on social media websites and with very low expenditure. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace etc. are some of the most commonly used social media mediums that are used by the people all over the world for personal and professional communication (du Rausas, Manyika, Hazan, Bughin, Chui, & Said, 2011).

It is social media that has helped in maintaining effective connection and cohesion among the people living in different countries of the world. People from all over the world can chat, share ...