ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A good start leads to a fine end. The ideal way to begin documenting this project work would be to extend my earnest gratitude to everyone who has encouraged, motivated and guided me to make a fine effort for successful completion of this project. I am very thankful to Dr. J.P. KUMAR, MBA, Ph.D Director of PRIST University, Chennai campus for guiding me throughout the project. My sincere Gratitude to the College Management for extending their co-operation for successful completion of my project. A final word of thanks goes to my Parents, Friends and everyone else who made this project possible. Your contributions have been most appreciated

Balakumar.V

PRIST UNIVERSITY (u/s 3 of UGC Act 1956) Thanjavur 613 403 Tamilnadu, INDIA

Declaration

I, Balakumar.V, hereby declare that the work presented in the Dissertation THE STUDY ON IMPACT OF ADVERTISEMENTS IN SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES, submitted to the PRIST UNIVERSITY, Thanjavur-613 403 for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy by Research is a original record of research work carried out by me under the supervision of J.P. KUMAR, MBA, Ph.D Director of PRIST University, Chennai campus. The contents of this dissertation, in full or in parts, have not been submitted to any other Institute or University for the award of any degree or diploma, membership, fellowship, associate ship etc.. In keeping with the general practice in reporting scientific observation, due acknowledgement has been made whenever the work described is based on the findings of other investigators.

Place Date:

Signature of the Research Scholar

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PRIST UNIVERSITY (u/s 3 of UGC Act 1956) Thanjavur 613 403 Tamilnadu, INDIA Guide Name Designation Affiliation

Bona-fide Certificate
This is to certify that the Dissertation titled The Study on Impact of Advertisements in Social networking sites, submitted by Balakumar. V to the PRIST UNIVERSITY, Thanjavur 613 403 for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy by Research is a bona-fide record of research work carried out by him/her under my supervision. The contents of this Dissertation, in full or in parts, have not been submitted to any other Institute or University for the award of any degree, diploma, associate ship, fellowship or any similar title and that it represents entirely an independent work on the part of the candidate.

Thanjavur-613 403 Date:

Signature of the Guide

Seal

ABSTRACT

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The rise of social networking websites over the past decade is extra ordinary. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter etc has millions of unique visitors. Certain businesses are beginning to notice the potential for reaching out to their audiences through this new medium and have already begun a series of advertising efforts in order to do so. In this research an attempt has been made to study was carried out to establish the impact that these advertisements in social networking sites creates among users. The research design is descriptive in nature. A structured questionnaire is used as the data collection tool. The survey is made through online with the help of Google docs. A sample of 100 respondents was selected based on Judgement sampling. Percentage analysis and chi square analysis are the tools used in this study. The difficulty encountered while conducting the study was time constraint and difficulty in getting the customer to fill up the survey questionnaire as the respondents are time conscious. The study reveals that advertising in social networks have greater impact among the consumers. Most of the social media ads target the youth market. Use of smart phones to access social networks is rapidly increasing. The word of mouth like feature in social networks provides users to share brand experiences either good or bad. Most of the social media ads direct the users to buy online. Advertising in social networks is the new trend and helps the marketers to increase the sales, who have a good strategy to use social media as an advertising tool. This study recommends business firms to step into the social media ads if they are unaware of that. A strategy of displaying ads which encourages both online and direct buying can increase the sales volume. It is also recommended that creating of tailor made ads suitable for smart phones helps to attract more potential consumers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements iv i

Declaration Certificate Abstract List of Tables List of Figures

ii iii iv vi viii

Chapter I Introduction
1.1 1.2 1.3 Background of the study Introduction to social networking sites Advertising in social networking sites 1 3

Chapter I I Review of Literature Chapter III Objectives and Limitations

3.1 3.2 Objectives of the study Limitations of the study

Chapter I V Research Methodology

4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Research design Sampling Data collection method Statistical tools used Variables of the study Research Hypothesis

Chapter V Data Analysis and Interpretation Chapter VI Findings, Conclusion and Recommendations
6.1 6.2 Summary of findings Conclusion and Recommendations

Appendix / Apendices References

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.0 Table 2.0 Table 3.0 Table 4.0 Table 5.0 Table 6.0 Table 7.0 Table 8.0 Table 9.0 Table 10.0 Table 11.0 Table 12.0 Table 13.0 Table 14.0 Table 15.0 Table 16.0 Table 17.0 Table 18.0 Table 19.0 Table 20.0 Table 21.0 Table 22.0 Table 23.1 Table 23.2 Table 24.1 Table 24.2 Table 25.1

Gender of the respondents Age of the respondents Education of the respondents Occupation of the respondents Marital status of the respondents Income level of the respondents Popular social networking site Tenure of using social networks Purpose of using social networks Time spent in social networks per day Device used to access social networks Visibility of advertisements in social networks Frequency of responding / clicking ads in social networks Purchase decision influenced by ads in social networks Business channel influenced by social media ads Products / service advertised in social networks Attitude of respondents towards social networking ads Propensity of sharing brand experience in social networks

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Respondents view of different social networking sites in relation to ads Usefulness of social media ads to marketers Merits of social media ads to marketers Weighted average of various features of social media ads Observed frequencies device used to access social networks and time spent on social networks per day. Expected frequencies device used to access social networks and time spent on social networks per day. Observed frequencies of device used to access social networks and frequency of clicking ads in social networks. Expected frequencies of device used to access social networks and frequency of clicking ads in social networks. Observed frequencies of time spent on social networks per day and frequency of clicking ads in social networks. vi

Table 25.2 Table 26.1 Table 26.2 Table 27.1 Table 27.2 Table 28.1 Table 28.2 Table 29.1 Table 29.2

Expected frequencies of time spent on social networks per day and frequency of clicking ads in social networks. Observed frequencies of between age and visibility of ads in social networks. Expected frequencies of between age and visibility of ads in social networks. Observed frequencies of age and frequency of clicking advertisements in social networks. Expected frequencies of age and frequency of clicking advertisements in social networks. Observed frequencies of age and users attitude towards advertisements in social media. Expected frequencies of age and users attitude towards advertisements in social media. Observed frequencies of occupation and purchase decision influenced by social media ads. Expected frequencies of occupation and purchase decision influenced by social media ads.

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.0 Figure 2.0 Gender of the respondents Age of the respondents vii

Figure 3.0 Figure 4.0 Figure 5.0 Figure 6.0 Figure 7.0 Figure 8.0 Figure 9.0 Figure 10.0 Figure 11.0 Figure 12.0 Figure 13.0 Figure 14.0 Figure 15.0 Figure 16.0 Figure 17.0 Figure 18.0 Figure 19.0 Figure 20.0

Education of the respondents Occupation of the respondents Marital statuses of the respondents Income levels of the respondents Popular social networking sites Tenure of using social networks Purpose of using social networks Time spent in social networks per day Device used to access social networks Visibility of advertisements in social networks Frequency of responding / clicking ads in social networks Purchase decision influenced by ads in social networks Business channel influenced by social media ads Products / service advertised in social networks Attitude of respondents towards social networking ads Propensity of sharing brand experience in social networks Usefulness of social media ads to marketers Merits of social media ads to marketers

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