DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY LEICESTER BUSINESS SCHOOL

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS, BASED ON THE STUDENT ACCOMMODATION SECTOR.
Lillie Mae Underwood Project submitted in part requirement for the award of BA (Hons) Marketing Management
April 2013 Supervised by David Gordon

Lillie Mae Underwood.

The Effectiveness of Social Media Communications, based on the Student Accommodation Sector. Abstract. This study focused on the use of social media as a communication tool in the student accommodation sector. The qualitative research type was netnography and predominantly concentrated on the use of the social media platform Facebook and how students and their university accommodation services utilise it as a communication tool. The university accommodation services observed were Keele, Loughborough and Birmingham. For the quantitative research an online questionnaire was distributed. A total of 41 students completed the online questionnaire that contained social media usage, social media frequency by both the student and the university, the types of platforms used, the importance of social media as a communication tool and demographic characteristics.

Table of Contents
List of Tables and Figures. ................................................................................................................. 4 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Aim of the Project ............................................................................................................. 5 Background to the Project and the Importance of the Topic ......................................... 5 Chapter Overviews............................................................................................................... 6 Literature Review.......................................................................................................... 6 The Methodology .......................................................................................................... 6 Investigation Discoveries ............................................................................................ 7 A Summary of the Key Findings and Issues ............................................................ 7

1.2.1 1.2.2 1.2.3 1.2.4 2.0

Literature Review ..................................................................................................................... 8

2.1 The Rise of Social Media and how it is used as a Communication Tool .......................... 8 2.2 Facebook .................................................................................................................................... 9 2.3 Students and Universities use of Social Media ................................................................. 12 2.4 Businesses Presence on Social Media Platforms ............................................................. 14 2.5 The Social Media Image and why it is Hard to Control ...................................................... 15 2.6 Concluding Thoughts .............................................................................................................. 20 3.0 3.1 3.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 21 Research Methods ............................................................................................................. 21 Qualitative Research ......................................................................................................... 21 Limitations of Qualitative Research ......................................................................... 22

3.2.1 3.3

Quantitative Research ....................................................................................................... 22 Limitations of Quantitative Research ...................................................................... 23

3.3.1 3.4

Qualitative Research- Netnography ................................................................................ 23 Limitations or Undesirable Characteristics of Netnographic Research.............. 24 Advantageous or Desirable Characteristics of Netnographic Research............ 25

3.3.1 3.3.2 3.5

Quantitative Research- Online Questionnaire ............................................................... 26 Limitations or Undesirable Characteristics of using Online Questionnaires ..... 27 Advantageous or Desirable Characteristics of Online Questionnaires .............. 27

3.5.1 3.5.2 3.6

Sampling .................................................................................................................................. 28 3.6.1 3.6.2 3.6.3 Non-random Sampling ............................................................................................... 28 Advantages of non-random Sampling using a Theoretical Technique .............. 29 Disadvantages of non-random Sampling using a Theoretical Technique ......... 30

4.0

Investigation Discoveries using both Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods 31

4.1 Questionnaire responses ....................................................................................................... 31 4.2 Netnography Research ........................................................................................................... 42 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 Keele Universitys Accommodation Service on Facebook................................... 44 Campus Living Loughboroughs Facebook page .................................................. 50 The University of Birminghams Accommodation Services on Facebook ......... 57 The netnography research and its implication regarding the research objectives 62

5.0 A Summary of the Key Findings and Issues from the Quantitative and Qualitative Research ............................................................................................................................................. 64 5.1 5.2 5.3 The use of Facebook by Current and Prospective Students ....................................... 64 The use of Facebook by the universities accommodation services .......................... 65 Limitations regarding the research .................................................................................. 66

5.4 Looking back at the Research Objectives of this Project, in Light of the Research and Reading have they been achieved? .................................................................................... 67 5.5 7.0 Research for the Future .................................................................................................... 69 References .............................................................................................................................. 71

7.0 Appendices ................................................................................................................................... 75 7.1 Online Questionnaire .............................................................................................................. 75 7.2 East Midlands Universities ..................................................................................................... 77 7.3 West Midlands Universities .................................................................................................... 78 7.4 Ethics Approval form for Research Activities ...................................................................... 79

List of Tables and Figures.

Fig. 1. What is your age? Fig. 2. Do you currently use any social media platforms? Fig. 3. What social media platforms do you use? Fig. 4. Do you currently (or have previously) lived in student accommodation provided by your university? Fig. 5. Does your university accommodation use social media to communicate with students? Fig. 6. How valuable do you think it is for your university to use social media? Fig. 7. Keele University Accommodation Service on Facebook Fig. 8. Housing and/or room adverts Fig. 9. Questions regarding hall maintenance Fig. 10. Students enquiring about rooms in halls/flats/houses Fig. 11. Prospective students finding future flat mates Fig. 12. Advertising unofficial hall Facebook pages/groups Fig. 13. Posts from admins Fig. 14. Prospective students asking questions about accommodation Fig. 15. Students advertising things regarding university Fig. 16. Campus Living Loughborough Fig. 17. Recent posts by others Fig. 18. Questions to generate feedback Fig. 19. Engage in friendly chat Fig. 20. Creating competitions Fig. 21. Sharing photos and videos Fig. 22. Promoting activities around campus Fig. 23. Engage with prospective students Fig. 24. Presenting information regarding university accommodation Fig. 25. Advertising university events
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Fig. 26. Advertising university accommodation services

1.0

The Aim of the Project

The aim of this project is to investigate social media communications effectiveness, based on the student accommodation category. The mission is to look at recent and relevant literature to give a broad overview to the background of the topic and then to conduct research in light of this in order to answer the following research objectives:

1. Do students think that using social media as a communication tool would be a good way to keep up to date with their accommodation providers? 2. Should social media become a more prominent method of communication between students and accommodation providers?

1.1

Background to the Project and the Importance of the Topic

Since the world wide launch of Facebook in 2005, society has lived its life in both cyberspace and reality. The rise of social media as a communication tool has not only occurred for society but between businesses and their consumers and also in a B2B context. Social media has enabled the world to become smaller allowing messages to travel quicker and to be shared easier than ever before. This relatively new communication tool has been adopted quickly by university students and the rest of the Google Generation as they have grown up with social media so it is a normal communication method between friends, family, and areas of interest such as musicians, television shows and celebrities with geographic location proving no

barrier for the communication. Students and universities use of social media is a topic of importance as it is set to expand in the near future as technologies develop and more UK universities and their accommodation services being to adopt social media as a complimentary communication tool for the current and prospective students.

1.2

Chapter Overviews

1.2.1 Literature Review

The literature review element of this project will review key and recent academic journal articles on the area of theory on effective social media communication. An in depth discussion and analysis of recognised authors in the field looking at key topic areas such as the rise of social media and how it is used as a communication tool, the prominence of Facebook, students and universities use of social media, businesses presence on social media platforms and a social media image and why it is hard to control. The literature review is an integral part of the research project in order to develop background knowledge on the subject, and to gain perspective on how social media communications has developed as to give insight as to where it may lead in the future by identifying gaps in the literature.

1.2.2 The Methodology

In this section the author will discuss the planned research methods, explaining sampling methods and the sampling frame, giving justification to the research design and the analysis of the primary research. The Methodology is a chapter of great
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importance for the research project as without there would be no structure or plan in order to gather the data needed to answer the research questions.

1.2.3 Investigation Discoveries

This chapter will focus on the findings from the research conducted by the author. It will feature significant data, graphs and relevant illustrative quotes in order to represent the findings from the research. This chapter is significant to the project as the findings may enhance, explain or contradict the literature review.

1.2.4 A Summary of the Key Findings and Issues

The concluding chapter of this research project will discuss the discoveries from the research. This is a highly important chapter in answering the research objectives and ensuring the overall project aim has been met, in essence this chapter is a review of the whole body of work. This chapter will also identify common and distinctive features of the research, discuss the limitations to the research and identify areas that may benefit from more research and analysis in the future.

2.0

Literature Review

The structure focuses on the main themes from the literature drawing comparisons and similarities from the texts. The primary sources for this literature review comes from recent academic journals, however there are some sources that come from industry experts and the UK news as they are relevant pieces of literature that will broaden the insight about the topic of social media and its use as a communication tool in the student accommodation sector. This literature review predominantly features the social media platform Facebook with reference to Twitter also.

2.1 The Rise of Social Media and how it is used as a Communication Tool

There is no doubt that social media has changed the world we live in but it is important to know what it is before moving on to how it can be used as an effective communication tool in student accommodation sector. There are many established authors in the field of social media and communications Dann & Dann (2011) comment that social media is about the interconnection between content, users and communication technologies The principle underpinning the rise of social media as the current modus operandi for the internet is an inherent belief in the value of connecting people. Keisler (2008) confirms Dann & Danns (2011) findings commenting on social medias ability to connect people and also how it has developed into the wider parameters of society; initially, social media was primarily used for personal communications between friends and family but now, Social networking is starting to become intertwined within the fabric of society. However it is easy to forget that social media can be used by both consumers and businesses. The purpose for which businesses and society use social networking for very
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different reasons; they have now become interdependent in the way businesses achieve their objectives and how society expresses it likes and dislikes of companies, brands and products, many will jump to the defence of a company/product/person if they think someone is being unfair- their vested interest can make them great advocates (Keisler, 2008). Sacks and Graves (2012) believe that social media can aid expression; they comment that geography no longer limits opportunities. Social networking is not merely a way to waste time, but if used wisely it is a means of self-representation and self-promotion.

2.2 Facebook It is fair to say that when one says the phrase social media or social networking, Facebook is the platform that will be at the forefront of peoples mind in the Western World. Facebook has become the premier site for social networking; it now has more than a billion monthly active users as of December 2012 (Facebook, 2012). Kirkpatrick (2010) commented in his book The Facebook Effect, Facebook is a technological powerhouse with unprecedented influence across modern life, both public and private.

Facebook is viewed as much more than a way to stay in touch with friends, family or your favourite band. Not only is the site a favourite source of social connectedness, but it is even credited for helping spread democracy and topple regimes in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia (Sacks and Graves, 2012). This shows the power that Facebook can have when users can generate content such as statuses, images and videos and share them with their network until each one of their friends has passed

the message on until the message has gone viral and users are sharing content from people which they dont know. On a much more modest scale Universities can use their social media channels and focus on the sharing of their content in their network to communicate messages with much more power and integrity. If likes serves as a type of currency (McEachern, 2011) then surely shares do too.

McEacherns (2011) paper on the Facebook experience has some hugely interesting themes regarding the use of social media and social media writing for non-profit organizations. Although universities and their accommodation services do not fit this business type, the paper provides general insight for how universities can use social media; this then can be applied to their accommodation services. He comments that social media writing is time-consuming. Facebook is interactive and readers become, in effect, cowriters when they comment on a status update or post their own material. But because of Facebooks interactivity, readers expect organizations to respond to their comments, and they can grow impatient when they feel they are no listened to. Social media writers needs to frequently check their sites and respond to readers which is a time consuming addition to tradition writing duties. Dann and Dann (2011) both comment that maintaining an organisational image is constant battle as the brand image can change across all media platforms. The online image is a topic that will be further explored later in this literature review.

The number of likes serves as a type of currency, with more likes indicating greater popularity. But liking also serves as a means of publicity, as news of a users likes will automatically appear on that members Facebook wall, inviting their friends to view the liked item and possibly visit it and like it as well (McEachern, 2011). This is

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how social media, especially Facebook, connects like-minded people and gives them a forum to generate, share and discuss thoughts, feelings and ideas. It is a fair assumption to make that if the number of likes acts as a currency or an indication that the page/business/brand/person is popular then the fewer the likes the less interactivity users will have with that page as they deem it untrustworthy.

It is easy to forget that it is not just Generation Y who uses Facebook and other forms of social media. Facebook is not the exclusive domain of young people and so should not be viewed as a pastime that students will abandoned once they more fully enter adulthood. Only about half (55%) its users are younger than 25 years, and women older than 55 are its fastest growing demographic (Smith, 2009). This trend matches the global trend of the aging population and whilst it is the young that may adopt the use of social media quicker than their parents, they will inevitably age and then become the older generation. Sacks and Graves (2012) make a very interesting point that Facebook literacy is a necessary communication skill. If the use of social media is displacing email in the workplace (Cardon & Okoro, 2010) then employees and their managers must know how to transfer this type of communication skill over to Facebook or their preferred type of social media. Maranto & Barton (2010); Mazman & Usluel (2010) concur that Facebook requires and enhances strong writing and interpersonal communication skills and it requires something new- a kind of literacy that students and teachers alike, are still learning. This new channel of communication is something that these authors think will develop and, in time, be a main communication tool with organizations.

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2.3 Students and Universities use of Social Media

Most literature notes that it is the younger generation that are the biggest users of social media and engage the most in social networking. Bahk et al (2010) states, this generation has now grown up with video games and social networking, and prefer to be connected at all times to their friends and family. From this, it is easy to infer that social media could be a useful and effective communication tool for students at university; whether to aid their studies or to enhance their lifestyle such as their accommodation selection. Student reliance on social media is undeniable, the concepts underlying it comes directly from social networking theory in sociology and organizational behaviour (Sacks and Graves, 2012). The need to stay connected is facilitated by the rapid development of mobile technology so people can stay connected to their social media pages where ever they are located in the world. From the study of segmentation of the users of social media using demographic segmentation; conducted at the California State University San Bernardino, Bahk et al (2010) found male students are more dependent on digital media communication than are female counterparts and that those who are less rationally orientated tend to prefer digital media to face-to-face channels of communication. However a recent study of college students in the United Kingdom revealed that the driving factors behind joining a social network differ substantially by gender, with female participants joining to be generally sociable and keep in touch with friends, and male participants joining based on peer pressure from friends and to make new friends (Clipson et al, 2011; Benson, Filipaios & Morgan, 2010). The opposing views here may make it hard to higher educational institutions to target and segment their market by gender and so should look at using a psychographic or behavioural segmentation to target their desired audiences.
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A turbulent economy can ignite business use of social media as a means to add value to the product or service for their customers. In Zailskaite-Jakste & Juvykaite (2012) paper titled, The Implementation of Communication in Social Media by Promoting Studies at Higher Education Institutions they concur that a volatile market and challenging environment enforce higher education institutions to look for some advantages for study promotion. Higher education institutions may benefit from the penetration of social media for several reasons: young people are open to novelties, social media gives possibility to spread the message from many to many and social media helps to reach community and in more relevant ways, to peruse direct communication (Zailskaite-Jakste & Juvykaite, 2012). Never has this been more crucial for universities than today when most universities chose to charge 9,000 per year for students tuition fees. These high prices for students tuition may deter students or make them apprehensive to study at a higher education institution or they may choose to study from home to save costs on living expenses.

Dyrud (2011) makes a valid point that most organisations, including universities, now have a presence on social media. Social media is affecting how we communicate and interrelate. Whereas email and the internet opened up new frontier in communications technology, social media sites are reshaping our personal and professional lives. Here he elaborates on what Zailskaite-Jakste & Juvykaite (2012) comments regarding how the benefit social media can affect students and others in society.

Focusing on the use of social media as a communication tool two of the principle features of social networks are network size and network quality. The size of a

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persons network is a critical predictor of their ability to learn new information. Most students believe that the larger the network the better, as large networks provide more opportunities for information benefits than do smaller networks. However large networks require more time and energy for maintenance of high quality ties within that network (Sacks and Graves, 2012).With too many contacts, people struggle to manage the flow of information and maintain high quality, meaningful relationships with others in their network (Burt, 1992). Even though Burts source is from 1992, the point of managing the flow of communication and the quality of the information and its sources is crucial regardless if the information is communicated via, social media platforms, email or telephone.

2.4 Businesses Presence on Social Media Platforms

As aforementioned an economic crisis promotes internet-based communication and stimulated organizations to look for cheaper possibilities, i.e. to integrate social media into relations building, public relations and other activities (Zailskaite-Jakste & Juvykaite, 2012), although the authors make the point of social media being cheaper than some other forms of marketing it is important to remember that it is not free. Social media takes time to run, and time equals money in business. Ben Martin, a Social Media Business Specialist for IBM, likens the use and the amount of content to a digital footprint, the more you create; the easier it is for your customers to find you (Martin, 2013).

There is clear evidence to suggest that the use of social media within organizations communication is rapidly displacing email (Cardon & Okoro, 2010). The Nielsen

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Company (2010) confirm this statement that email is rapidly becoming an old technology. The Nielsen Company report that activity on social networks and blogs occupies more than 13.5 minutes, nearly three times that of email (The Nielson Company, 2010). Thus social media, when used appropriately, opens up a world of networking and relationship building opportunities for students (Decarie, 2010). Students who can communicate via informal and formal communication channels are becoming increasingly valuable in organizations (Sacks and Graves, 2012).

Rob Wilmot, the founder of Freeserve, a British Internet Service Provider, talks about a social media etiquette and that communication through a social media channel can create a trusting relationship between B2B and B2C but the key is to listen more than you communicate (Wilmot, 2013). Trust and image is a topic that is vital when looking at the use social media as an effective communication tool.

2.5 The Social Media Image and why it is Hard to Control

One major disadvantage that the literature tells us about the use of social media as an effective communication tool is creating and maintaining a positive and coherent brand image across all online platforms is hard to control.

Castronovo and Huang, (2012) note that a social media platform serves as the vehicle through which all marketing communications efforts are connected into one easily accessible, integrated consumer venue. Social media is pervasive by nature and is characterised by its ability to instantaneously connect an infinite number of people. In order for social media to be an effective platform, its presence must funnel

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through from the firms main website. It is important that if a company has social media, the consumer knows its the official site. This can be achieved by featuring the social media logo on the companies website so consumers are directed to the correct one. This is where a number of social media communication for university accommodation services are let down; as from the audiences perspective, the university may have a social media presence but it is not an official site. Pages can be created by anyone, even people who arent connected with the university and use the site for malicious intent. This is one major pitfall in social media as pages/sites cannot be thoroughly regulated as previously explained.

However just having a presence isnt enough; companies must present a coherent brand image across all media platform as Dann & Dann (2011) explain positioning in social media is based on a combination of matching the right voice for the organization in the way it communicates through a social media site with the right style of site. MySpace, Facebook, Google Sidewiki and Blogger each have distinctive tones, flavours and styles that can be determined by observation and experience. If businesses want to capture the right target market for their brand or product/service then they need to have a social media strategy; a social media strategy enables the brand to be part of an active community and constantly connect with consumers at their convenience in a creative manner (Furlow, 2011). ZailskaiteJakste & Juvykaite (2012) agree with Furlow (2011) that if businesses are to utilise social media tools then they must have a strategy. The negative aspect of social media that is mostly appointed by scientists is the lack of control mechanism: message content, timing and frequency. In order to avoid the risks related with

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communication in social media organizations have to plan the social media implementation process.

Generation Y needs to feel constantly connected and social media allows this. If companies and particularly universities or educational institutions dont start to adopt this strategy and implement them in a coherent, effective and efficient way then they could potentially miss a huge part of their target market. However the work of Furlow (2011) is noteworthy in its contrast to the aforementioned view. The Cone Research tells us, while the jump to social media seems like an obvious tactic, Cone Research determined that the most generous Millennials (more than 9 out of 10 respondents) actually prefer to receive information from organisations via email, with Facebook coming a distant third (Millennial Donor Study, 2010). This may be linked to the concern over authenticity over material therefore as emails and non-digital forms of communication which have been around for a greater length of time have proven to be effective they are more trusted to deliver accurate information.

Castronovo & Huang (2012) made an observation that the majority of WOM marketing is moving online and the spread of WOM messages in becoming more heavily influenced by what Huang (2010) refers to as predispositional ties: pre existing similarities between the source and the receiver in terms of their attitudes and interest. Huang comments that social media allows greater segmentation of consumers; this will allow marketers with new and efficient ways of reaching deeply into their target market to communicate their message (Trusov et al, 2009). McEachern (2011) also notes on how social media can be used to monitor audience selection and participation. The use of social media for business uses means that

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audience analysis becomes a little easier: as readers interact with a Facebook site, whether by commenting, liking or clicking through a link, the writers gains a much better sense of her or his readers wants and needs.

Although, as previously explained the communication is no longer unidirectional. Unlike traditional, media, there are no rules when it comes to social media. Anyone can state their opinion online, without any requirement to provide supporting evidence and once published, these opinions can spread rapidly (Keisler, 2008). This lack of guidance may put some companies off using social media; Keisler (2008) goes on commenting that word of mouth can spread quickly when you actually facilitate the conversation. Online conversations can work in your favour and many consumers contribute opinion and information (Keisler, 2008); however even though social media pages may be hard to monitor it shouldnt put companies off using it to interact and engage with consumers as whether you have a presence or not the conversation will happen without you (Keisler, 2008). An online image can be a hard thing to control (McEachern, 2011).

Time also plays a strong role in Castronovo & Huang (2012) study of Social Media in an Alternative Marketing Model. Word-of-mouth has been shown to be even more effective in influencing purchase decisions than traditional advertising channels (Godes & Mayzlin, 2004; Herr et al, 1991). It was over 20 years ago that this statement was made by Herr et al (1991) and it has never been more relevant than now as word of mouth communication proliferates via mass use of the internet. The most recent and up-to-date WOM model is the Network Coproduction Model where both the consumers and the marketers develop WOM communications together by

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taking into account the fact that marketing messages are no longer unidirectional largely as a result of the Internet, with messages and meaning being actively exchanged within a consumer network (Kozinets et al, 2010). Here, Kozinets et al (2010) make a very valid point that in the past communications models have only included one direction, for example: a message from a company is channelled through a medium such as television advertising then the targeted audience receives that message and responds by purchasing the product. But now the model can be extended past the purchase of the product as the customer becomes a consumer they can now create a dialogue via social media with other users of the product who have similar characteristics in terms of their segmentation variables. Student accommodation providers could take advantage of the internet and use social media to communicate with its current and prospective students. Using a site such as Facebook will automatically select and segment the market and allow more effective unidirectional communications.

Focusing on the Facebook platform McEachern (2011) comments that, Facebook pages are the victims of spam, misinformation and scatology, as well as other types of posts that ultimately worked against the organizations image; however readers expect a Facebook page to be reasonably uncensored so they can express their opinions. This has forced writers to choose which readers posts to keep and which to delete. The organisation is responsible for the image that is created on its Facebook page, and because readers are also writers, the organisation cannot completely control its own image (McEachern, 2011).

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Controlling the image of a brand/company/product/service is obviously the main stumbling point for businesses using social media but turning a customers negative experience into a positive one can only but enhance the image of that brand/company/product/service. A good example of this is the UK mobile network supplier O2. They received a Tweet from an angry customer in colloquial language regarding his internet, O2 responded using the style of language the customer used thus making the customer respond in a positive manner and informing his friends how good O2 are. O2s reply was retweeted 17,000 times. This shows that the correct tone of voice is crucial for businesses using any channel of social media (Daisley, 2013).

2.6 Concluding Thoughts

There are proven success stories when using social media as a communication tool but these are faced with pitfalls such as authenticity, regulatory issues and creating a coherent brand image across media platforms.

There are clear gaps in the research as to consumers/societies use of social media as a communication tool with businesses. As aforementioned, this is no longer unidirectional but for future research should only focus on the communication from the consumer to the company via social media, predominantly focusing on Twitter and Facebook as they are the most widely accessible at present.

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3.0

Methodology

In this section the author will discuss the planned research methods, explaining sampling methods and the sampling frame, giving justification to the research design and the analysis of the primary research.

3.1 Research Methods

The researcher plans to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research in order to be able to make a balanced and measured judgement on the findings from the qualitative research. The quantitative analysis will show social trends and the qualitative analysis will study the attitudes behind those trends.

3.2 Qualitative Research

The researcher has chosen to conduct qualitative research because it is based upon ideas, attitudes and opinions of those being analysed. It gives a rich insight into human behaviour that is essential to understanding societies and the thoughts behind peoples actions. Conducting qualitative research will allow the author to answer the research questions:

1. Do students think that using social media as a communication tool would be a good way to keep up to date with their accommodation providers? 2. Should social media become a more prominent method of communication between students and accommodation providers?

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3.2.1 Limitations of Qualitative Research

Although qualitative research can provide a rich insight into the reasoning behind the statistical evidence that quantitative provides there are some elements of qualitative research that need to be accounted for when the data and responses are being analysed.

With qualitative research, most of the material is literature and texts, in which are expressed peoples values, beliefs and opinions all of which must be analysed, interpreted, criticised and evaluated; and it is this interpretation and evaluation that means nothing is certain in qualitative research and it is purely an educated judgement of the results.

3.3 Quantitative Research

As well as qualitative research the author has chosen to conduct quantitative research to create some statistical and numerical data to coincide with the qualitative study. All quantitative research is expressed as numerical data and can be mathematically analysed in order to compare results. The object of this type of research is to be as objective as possible and to not influence the participants survey answers.

Conducting quantitative research will enhance the social findings and will enhance the reliability of the qualitative data as this data can be biased, leave room for interpretation or be incomplete so by collecting qualitative data it will hopefully minimise these errors and make all the findings more accurate.
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3.3.1

Limitations of Quantitative Research

With all research there are limitations and a quantitative method is no exception. The sampling method may be wrong for the research meaning the data collected may be inaccurate and void for the research problems questions. Participants may leave the surveys half completed or give incorrect information when taking part in the research.

3.4 Qualitative Research- Netnography

The researcher plans to conduct the qualitative research method netnography. This method is devised specifically to investigate the consumer behaviour of cultures and communities present on the internet. It is a specialised form of ethnography that is adapted to the unique computer mediated contingencies of todays social worlds (Kozinets, 1998 and 2010).

Netnography is participant-observational research based in online fieldwork. It uses computer-mediated communications as a source of data to arrive at the ethnographic understanding and representation of a cultural or communal phenomenon (Kozinets, 2010). Conducting netnographic research for this project will include observing and investigating the use of the social media platform Facebook; specifically observing Keele Universitys Accommodation Services, Campus Living Loughborough and The University of Birminghams Accommodation Services. Strict ethical standards and procedures will need to be adhered to in order for the research to be successful, truthful and honest.
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In order to conduct the netnography the researcher will need to first gather information using secondary resources to gauge if there were indeed university accommodation services using social media to effectively communicate with their students.

To make the research manageable and realistic the author of the research narrowed down the geographical research area of universities to the Midlands, UK. The researcher then used the UCAS online location search for universities in this specific geographic location, separating the East Midlands and the West Midlands as this was the only possible search function.

The researcher then broke down the findings into university accommodation communication channels and general university communication channels as they believed it was important to show the similarities or differences between the universitys communication methods and their accommodation services.

Focussing on these particular institutions and the social media platform Facebook, will of course limit the research but in turn, will the data collected more manageable.

3.3.1 Limitations or Undesirable Characteristics of Netnographic Research

Hine (2000) discussed the online and face-to-face variants of ethnography gave a sceptical view of what she calls virtual ethnography (Kozinets, 2010); if the

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communities and conversations do not exist online then no investigation can take place. Solely relying on online data may not be sufficient to conduct a well-rounded and balanced research project.

With society and consumers turning to the web to express their views in the form of blogs, social networking and micro blogging the opinion and views expressed will be vast and monitoring this will be hugely time consuming for a well-known brand for example.

Jones (1995), the term "virtual" might misleadingly imply that these communities are less real than physical communities this may blur the validity of all the data collected using a netnographic approach.

The analysis of the data collected using this research method may introduce bias in drawing conclusions as the researcher will have to use a non-random purposive sampling technique as one cannot conduct research on a topic in a location where it does not exist.

3.3.2 Advantageous or Desirable Characteristics of Netnographic Research

Using social media as a source for data provides the researcher with thousands of individuals behaving freely online; meaning the data collected is truthful with a variation of opinion and use. It will allow the researcher to keep record of interactions, measure changes over time, and perform insightful analysis using a variety of tools and methods.

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The opinions, views and interactions are already documented, saving the researcher time that a focus group would not do as the researcher would have to transcribe the whole process. This will allow for very accurate documentation of data giving accurate analysis and recommendations.

As online interactions on social networking sites are documented and are eternally available in cyberspace it enables the researcher to easily compare findings from the present with views and interactions from the past.

3.5 Quantitative Research- Online Questionnaire

The researcher plans to conduct an online questionnaire. This is a common method in collecting quantitative data as it allows for findings to be expressed in numbers and to be analysed mathematically. A questionnaire is a very flexible tool, but it must be used carefully in order to fulfil the requirements of the research (Walliman, 2011). Using a questionnaire enables the researcher to organize the questions in a logical and effective order to ensure accurate data collection. Conducting quantitative research via an online questionnaire for this research will be an effective method in reaching the research sample (this will be discussed in depth later in this chapter).

Combining netnography with an online questionnaire will ensure that the research is balanced and comprehensive with the quantitative data providing statistical evidence behind the opinions and interactions of the qualitative data.

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3.5.1 Limitations or Undesirable Characteristics of using Online Questionnaires

Distributing the questionnaire online gives the researcher little control over the selection of respondents which could result in data being inaccurate and incomplete meaning the conclusions and recommendations will not be accurate.

There may be technological difficulties with the questionnaire. The hyperlink may not work or may take the respondent to the wrong questionnaire, respondents may not have access to the internet when the questionnaire needs to be completed or the researchers online account containing the results may be hacked. It is essential for the researcher to have a contingency plan in case technology does fail; the researcher could use face-to-face distribution as a contingency plan.

The rate of response is difficult to predict and to control particularly if there is no follow up system (Walliman, 2011). Getting people to respond to the online questionnaire may be difficult as the researcher may not personally know the participant. This could mean collecting data could be a very lengthy and time consuming process trying to contact potential respondents to encourage them to complete the online questionnaire.

3.5.2 Advantageous or Desirable Characteristics of Online Questionnaires

Online questionnaires are extremely quick to distribute. The researcher can distribute 100s of questionnaires at the push of a button after selecting the
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appropriate sampling frame to use. Targeting a large amount of people within the sampling frame should ensure that enough people respond and participate in the study in order to collect accurate data.

Because the respondent is not under a time pressure or pressure from the researcher they can take time over their answers ensuring all questions are complete and have been truthfully and accurately answered. This will ensure the data will precise allowing for accurate analysis, conclusions and recommendations.

There is no geographical limitation with regard to the respondents (Walliman, 2011); however this studys sampling frame will focus on the UK only. Having no geographical limitations enables the researcher to reach a large number of people within the sampling frame. It will also give an insight into the differences between locations allowing these variables to be compared.

3.6 Sampling

When conducting any kind of survey to collect information, it is important to consider how representative is the information collected of the whole population. Sampling must be done whenever information can only be gathered from a fraction of the population of group which you want to study (Walliman, 2011).

3.6.1 Non-random Sampling

For this project the researcher will use a non-random sampling method focussing on a theoretical technique. These methods have been selected as they are most suited
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to the research objectives; however there are advantages and disadvantages of using this type of sampling method. As students and social media communication are the two main topics of this research it would be logical to use non-random sampling in order to achieve the research objectives. As students (past or present) will be the only people with real insight into student accommodation, it seems only reasonable to only select students to take part in the research in terms of the quantitative research. However the same applies for the qualitative research. The netnographic study of Keele Universitys Accommodation Services, Campus Living Loughborough and The University of Birminghams Accommodation Services requires a non-random sampling method in order for them to be selected a field study sites.

3.6.2 Advantages of non-random Sampling using a Theoretical Technique

Non-random theoretical sampling is a useful method of collecting information from the population that you think knows the most about a subject (Walliman, 2011). This research project want to investigate student accommodation, therefore students will be the entire population of the sample; this will give the most accurate data for analysis.

It is more convenient for the researcher to use a non-random sampling technique. It will save them time when conducting the research as the population size will be reduced. It will be beneficial for this research project which has a relatively short time frame to gather the data and then analyse it.

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It would not be efficient or effective to conduct random sampling for this research project as it would be unrealistic and some of the majority of the population would not provide any insight into the use of social media or the student accommodation sector. 3.6.3 Disadvantages of non-random Sampling using a Theoretical Technique

Using a non-random sampling technique will introduce bias into the results of the research conducted. This would mean that analysis. Conclusions and recommendations would not be as accurate and representative as if the researcher had used a random sampling technique.

Reliability cannot be measured in non-random sampling; the only way to address and monitor data quality is to compare some of the results with available information about the population. The issue of population and result reliability is vital in ensuring the research is fair and accurate and is resulting in the research objectives being achieved.

With non-random samples, the researcher may or may not represent the population well, and it will often be hard to know how well the population has been represented. This would mean that results are not representative effecting research results.

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4.0 Investigation Discoveries using both Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods

To collect research data to try and solve the objectives the investigator used both a qualitative method using netnography and a quantitative method using an online questionnaire. The research objectives for this paper on the effectiveness of social media communications, based on the student accommodation sector are as follows: 1. Do students think that using social media as a communication tool would be a good way to keep up to date with their accommodation providers? 2. Should social media become a more prominent method of communication between students and accommodation providers?

The following section of the research focusses on the quantitative research that took its form as an online questionnaire. The researcher has selected what they deem to be the most significant findings from the research conducted (see appendix 1 for full online questionnaire). 4.1 Questionnaire responses:

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Fig. 1.

The variable age ranges starts at 18 years old as to study at a UK university you must be 18 years of age upon enrolment. The answer choices goes up to 27+ as the author made an assumption based on observation and personal experience that the majority of students at university are under the age of 30, therefore this answer choice has an unlimited variable from the age of 27.

At 56.10% (23 out of 41) the age range 18-20 was the largest group of respondents. This may be because the author selected a larger proportion of this age range than any other. The author made an assumption based on observation and personal experience that the majority of students at university were in this age range and the next answer choice 21-23. This assumption was proven in these online questionnaire results but also some recognition has to be made that due to the use

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of non-random sampling technique the results may be biased because the author selected the respondents personally.

Looking back at the literature that has been reviewed earlier in this research there are a number of authors who recognise age as a decisive variable regarding the use of social media. Smith, 2009 Bahk et al (2010) and Zailskaite-Jakste & Juvykaite (2012) commented on the use of social media by the younger generation commenting, this generation has now grown up with video games and social networking, and prefer to be connected at all times to their friends and family and that young people are open to novelties. However as this data is from a non-random research sample and the research question dictates that the data will be selected from respondents of a student age, which the data collect represents.

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Fig. 2.

This was an important question to ask the respondents as to gauge whether the respondents used any social media platforms, if they did not use or engage with any social media platforms then their participation in the online questionnaire would be very limited. However 100% of the 41 respondents all currently use some form of social media platform. In Dann and Danns (2011) research on the use of social media as a communication tool in society they comment that social networking is starting to become intertwined within the fabric of society. Although a small representation, the data shown above confirms Dann and Danns (2011) comments.

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Fig. 3.

Question number 4 was to gauge what social media platforms the respondents used. With this question, respondents could choose as many answers that were applicable to them. There was also an option for them to select the answer choice other. 2 respondents out of 41 choose this as one of their answer choices commenting that they used Blogger and Blogspot. The author felt it was important to include a comments box where the respondents could record social media platforms that were
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not given as a pre-set answer choice as to get an more in depth set of responses and so if the author missed any significant social media platforms that the respondents used, then they could add their own answers.

100% of the respondents that completed the online questionnaire used Facebook. However it is important to consider that the author distributed some of the online questionnaires via Facebook to university students that she thought would fully complete the questionnaire to give accurate data. There was only 1 answer choice of a social media platform that no respondents chose; this was Digg. Digg is a relatively new social media platform that was re-launched in 2012 that delivers the most interesting and talked about stories on the Internet right now (Digg, 2013), therefore it may be that Digg is not yet established enough in the UK for the respondents to have a user account with them.

As aforementioned100% of the respondents that completed the online questionnaire used Facebook. This could perhaps be a reflection on Faceb ooks (2012) press release at the end of 2012, Facebook has become the premier site for social networking; it now has more than a billion monthly active users as of December 2012, Kirkpatrick (2011), author of The Facebook Effect comments, Facebook is a technological powerhouse with unprecedented influence across modern life, both public and private. Although a small representation, this data does indeed reflect the vast use and dominance of Facebook.

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Fig. 4.

This was an important question to ask in order to get a more developed and in-depth set of data to analyse and to provide the basis of answering the research objectives. As the data was collected using a non-random sampling method it allowed the author to try and select respondents who she knew was currently or had previously been a student. Choosing respondents in this way can give biased data but this biased data can give a better insight into the research objectives if the people completing the questionnaire have first-hand experience of being a student and currently or having previously lived in student accommodation.

82.93% of respondents currently live or have previously lived in student accommodation, whether that accommodation is halls or a private student house or

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flat. This high percentage should give good and accurate data in order to answer the research objectives if the majority of the respondents have experience of student accommodation and social media.

It seems important to mention that there is no literature previously mentioned that confirms, enhances or contradicts these findings as it is industry specific but it was important to include this question as to get a more developed and in-depth set of data to analyse and to provide the basis of answering the research objectives featured at the beginning of this chapter.

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Fig. 5.

Does your university accommodation use social media to communicate with students?

All the time 15%

Never 27%

Frequently 25%

Rarely 10% Sometimes 23%

Answer Choices Never Rarely Sometimes Frequently All the time Total

Responses 28% 10.00% 22.50% 25.00% 15.00% 11 4 9 10 6 40

Question 9 was designed using a likert scale to identify the frequency of the communication from the respondents universities via social media. 25.00% of the respondents said that their university frequently used social media to communicate with its students. However it seems quite surprising that 28.00% of the respondents selected the never answer choice considering over 90% of the respondents said that their university or students union does have a social media presence. From these two questions, one could make an educated assumption that the universities are not utilising their social media to its full effect and using it to communicate with its students. However one observation to make regarding the data from this question

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that one respondent did not answer this question. This may be because they are the respondent who on 6 answered no their university does not have a presence on social media. This respondent may affect the 100% accuracy of the data for this online research but it is important to be realistic when carrying out the research that the data is unlikely to be 100% accurate as respondents may not answer the questions truthfully or give an accurate portrayal of the use of social media regarding themselves and their university.

This question may not directly confirm, contradict or enhance any of the literature but it does greatly help in answer the research objectives: Do students think that using social media as a communication tool would be a good way to keep up to date with their accommodation providers? And should social media become a more prominent method of communication between students and accommodation providers? Using the frequency data from this question and data from other questions and the netnographic research the research give an educated answer to both research objectives in the concluding part of this research project.

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Fig. 6.

How valuable do you think it is for your university to use social media?
No Use Little Use Quite Valuable Very Valuable Critical

Critical Very Valuable Quite Valuable 8 6 0

13 14

Little Use
No Use

Answer Choices No Use Little Use Quite Valuable Very Valuable Critical Total

Responses 0% 14.63% 19.51% 34.15% 31.71% 0 6 8 14 13 41

The final question may in fact provide the most valuable insight from the online questionnaire in answering the research problems and achieving the objectives. None of the respondents who participated in the online questionnaire said that universities have no use for social media. From this result and the other data provided one can conclude that all respondents think that universities use of social media is in some way valuable. 65.86% of all 41 respondents think that universities use of social media is very valuable or indeed critical. Because there was no comment box for the respondents to give reasoning behind their answer choice it is hard to give reasons without assuming them; however one could try to
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use the other data from the rest of the online questionnaire, the netnography research and the literature of the topic.

4.2 Netnography Research

The next part of the research analysis looks at the social media platform Facebook and 3 University accommodation services using the platform as an effective communication tool to its students.

The preliminary research (see appendix 2) conducted shows that 6 out of 20 Higher Education Institutions in the East Midlands dont offer accommodation to their students but out of the 14 that do only 1 of the student accommodation services use a social media platform as a communication tool to interact with their students. Whilst 17 out of 20 of Higher Education Institutions use Facebook to interact with their students and 18 out of 20 us the social media platform Twitter. However it is important to remember that the social media presence of Loughborough University s accommodation service is officially endorsed and ran by the accommodation department of the university. There may be other accommodation services of Higher Education Institutions that have a social media presence but that arent officially endorsed or ran by the university. These unofficial pages cannot be accessed from the universities own website via a social plug in button and therefore are deemed by the researcher as unofficial.

There are 27 Higher Education Institutions in the West Midland but only 20 of these offer their students accommodation (see appendix 3). Out of these 20 institutions 2
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of the student accommodation services use a social media platform as a communication tool to interact with their students. 26 out of 27 Higher Education Institutions has a presence on the social media platform Facebook and 24 of these institutions use the Twitter platform as a communication tool. As aforementioned there may be other accommodation services of Higher Education Institutions that have a social media presence but that arent officially endorsed or ran by the university. These unofficial pages cannot be accessed from the universities own website via a social plug in button and therefore are deemed by the researcher as unofficial.

There are a total of 3 Higher Education Institutions in the Midlands that use a social media platform as a communication tool for its students. These platforms are Facebook and Twitter however for the purposes of this research project the author only observed the Facebook communications for these three universities as the project would become too large if the research used the netnographic research technique on their Twitter pages to observe communications on that platform. This may be an area that the researcher will investigate in the future.

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4.2.1 Keele Universitys Accommodation Service on Facebook Fig. 7.

Above is a screen shot of Keele Universitys Accommodation Service on Facebook. A section of the authors Facebook groups has been censored for privacy reasons, apart from that the page remains the same.

Keele University have created this group for their students and it provides information on both on campus and off campus accommodation for Keele Students. Observing the Facebook group for a period of one month the researcher has found 8 main purposes and key topics that the accommodation group is used for. Below will show examples of these topics in the form of screen shots from the Facebook group:

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1. Housing and/or room adverts. Fig. 8.

Here is an example of a student using Keeles accommodation Facebook group to create adverts regarding housing and/or rooms for rent. The content is user generated and 2 users, in the form of likes have interacted with one of the posts.

2. Questions regarding hall maintenance Fig. 9.

Once student had asked a question regarding the maintenance of the laundry facilities in his halls of residence and this question began an interaction between two members of the group which led to his question being answered.

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3. Students enquiring about rooms in halls/flats/houses Fig. 10.

Above is just one example of students actively using the group to search for a room/house. The first student requiring a room prompted 4 different replies from students trying to help find accommodation and perhaps help themselves by filling their spare room. What these posts cannot show however is if the students have been sent private messages via Facebook from other students offering accommodation to them.

4. Prospective students finding future flat mates Fig. 11.

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This member of Keeles Facebook accommodation group appears to be a prospective student who does not yet attend the university. The researcher infers this from the information given on Keeles website as their accommodation for their halls of residence is allocated to first year students. This prospective students is actively looking for their new potential flat mates however, as pictured above, she is yet to receive a reply. Although it is worth remembering that although no one has replied to her publically using the group page, she may have been contacted privately via her own Facebook messages.

5. To Advertise unofficial hall Facebook pages/groups Fig. 12.

This is only one example of a student adverting unofficial hall groups that appear to have been created by students, for students; however they are being aimed at current prospective students who hope to attend Keele, pending A Level results and other entry requirements. These unofficial groups are not part of this research but their effects will be discussed in the concluding chapter of this project.

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6. Posts from admins of subjects and content they think the students will be

interested in
Fig. 13.

Julie Best Keele appears to be the administrator of this group. It is unclear as there is no clear evidence but one would make the assumption that she works for the university accommodation services, and her role is to monitor the activity on here and also post content that is relevant to the students that she thinks they will be interest in. Here she has posted a useful and topical article on how to write a dissertation, just one example of the content she has posted. However neither of these pieces of content has been shared, commented on or liked therefore it is hard to gauge if there has been any interaction made with these posts.

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7. Prospective students asking questions about accommodation Fig. 14.

Pictured above is just one example of a prospective student asking questions regarding accommodation at Keele. It is an educated assumption that the prospective students must have actively searched for Keeles accommodation group on Facebook or they have found it via the universitys website and their list of official social media pages that they endorse and encourage their prospective, current and alumni students and also their staff to use. The two prospective students however have not had any interactions with their posts, although as aforementioned they may have been contacted privately via their personal Facebook pages.

8. Students advertising things regarding university Fig. 15.

The final topic on the Facebook group for Keele Universitys accommodat ion is current students adverting items and/or events on the group. There were numerous examples of posts that the researcher could have selected that were specifically targeted at Keele students but are not regarding accommodation. It is at an educated
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assumption that the students have used the group because it has over 1,000 members and therefore they can target a large audience.

4.2.2 Campus Living Loughboroughs Facebook page

Fig. 16.

Above is a screen shot of Campus Living Loughborough, their campus accommodation and lifestyle Facebook page where students. From the About me section of Campus Living Loughboroughs Facebook page they say:

Campus Living (formerly imago Services) is the department within the University that is responsible for allocating and managing our accommodation, including the
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catering, housekeeping and facilities associated with the Halls of Residence. In addition, we provide food and drinks in our Campus outlets for staff and students who come onto campus to study. Campus Living is an award winning organisation and we are proud to be part of providing the best student experience at Loughborough.

Here they promote themselves as providing the best student experience at Loughborough and it could be inferred that they are using their presence on Facebook to ensure that this good experience is mirrored in the online world.

Campus Living Loughboroughs presence on Facebook is different to Keeles as they have chosen to create a page where users are encouraged to like the page to receive updates they post on their own personal timeline. This allows Campus Living Loughborough to be featured on over 1,000 users timelines (correct at 15/4/13) and their own page is able to showcase its own content rather than act as a discussion board for its members like Keeles accommodation group does.

When observing how Campus Living Loughborough uses Facebook to communicate with its students one notable difference from Keeles accommodation Facebook group was that there was a significantly lower number of posts on the page, however this does not include the section Recent Posts by Others on Campus Living Loughborough (Fig. 17) where users can click to see all the comments that Facebook users have posted on to the page.
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Fig. 17.

Looking specifically at the content that Campus Living Loughborough posts on to its Facebook page there are 5 main topics/themes that they post about.

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1. Questions to generate feedback Fig. 18.

Here Campus Living Loughborough has posted a question to try and spark conversation and interactivity on their page. They received 7 replies to their question regarding a reward to clean and tidy living areas. Asking a question like this enables Campus Living Loughborough to showcase how interactive their page is. User replies have been liked and all the replies were received on the day that the question was posted.

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2. Engage in friendly chat Fig. 19.

Acting as a friend even though they are an organization, Campus Living Loughborough has posted a good luck message to their students sitting exams. This has triggered 8 likes and so users who have liked the Campus Living Loughborough page, 8 of them have liked their post. 3. Creating Competitions Fig. 20.

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Here Campus Living Loughborough have launched a competition featuring a video in the post. This post would have featured on over 1,000 users Facebook timelines but no one has interacted with post by commenting, liking or sharing it. However i t is important to remember that users may not have directly had any interaction with the post but instead emailed the featured address from the post to register their initial interest.

4. Sharing photos and videos Fig. 21.

This screen shot is of a video that Campus Living Loughborough has posted about a new site that has been launched. Although it appears no users have interacted with the post as it has received no likes, comments from other users and it has not been shared. However it is important to remember that what the post does not tell you is how many (if any) users have watched the video. They may have indeed interacted

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with the post by watching the video but not given an indication by liking, commenting or sharing with their Facebook friends.

5. Promoting activities around campus Fig. 22.

Campus Living Loughborough has used their page to promote some activities that take place on the campus. This particular post has received one like and one share, therefore it has had a greater reach than its 1,000 friends on their Facebook page. Again, as aforementioned it is important to remember that even though the interactivity of this post is relatively low, it is hard to measure how many of the 1,000 friends of the page have seen the post and went to the event because of seeing the post on Campus Living Loughboroughs Facebook page.

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4.2.3 The University of Birminghams Accommodation Services on Facebook The University of Birmingham has an official Facebook page tha t has been endorsed by the university as it is featured on their website allowing access to it through the use of social icons. The University of Birminghams accommodation services Facebook pages described itself by saying,

We're here to help you with every stage of the accommodation process; whether you're in university owned accommodation or in the private sector, just post a message on the board and we'll help you with your query.

This Facebook page takes on the same form and structure as Campus Living Loughborough as all the content on the page has been created and posted by The University of Birminghams accommodation services. Observing the Facebook page it is clear to see that there are 4 main topics of the posts.

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1. To engage with prospective students Fig. 23.

Pictured above is a screen shot taken from The University of Birminghams accommodation services Facebook page to illustrate the communication with prospective students. The first image shows a post which is friendly in its nature and tone of voice welcoming prospective students to an open day and showing they are happy to help with accommodation queries. It has 3 likes and has been shared by one user which will increase the potential audience from over 1,500 by featuring on the sharing users own personal timeline.

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2. Presenting information regarding university accommodation Fig. 24.

This screen shot from The University of Birminghams accommodation services Facebook page are examples of information that they have posted regarding accommodation. The first is a new accommodation map that has been liked by 4 users. One would make an educated assumption that the idea of the map is help prospective students to choose their accommodation. However the researcher thought that it would be more appropriate for this post to be selected for the information topics rather than the prospective students topics, as it can also be used by current students. Although it appears to have had interaction with 4 users,
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for this research it is impossible to measure how many students have looked at the map on this Facebook page. 3. Advertising university events Fig. 25.

This screen shot featured is of a Go Green event being held by the university which has its own event created on Facebook that has 426 users attending. The post has been liked by 1 user and commented on by 3 users. This visible interactivity is easy to monitor and analyse but one could assume that the only interaction users had with the post is to click through the link to the event page of Go Green Week.

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4. To advertise university accommodation services Fig. 26.

As quoted above, The University of Birminghams accommodation services Facebook page is here for students to get information on university owned accommodation and on private sector accommodation. The post above is for an event regarding student housing. The post has been liked by one user and has received 4 comments showing quite low visible interactivity. However as the post is of a link to the Guild of Students website the post may have had invisible interactions by users clicking through the link to the website. As aforementioned this type of invisible interactivity is hard to monitor via Facebook, and for the purposes of this research project the Facebook platform is the main focus for communications and interactivities.

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4.2.4 The netnography research and its implication regarding the research objectives

It is important to remember the research objectives at this stage of the research project: 1. Do students think that using social media as a communication tool would be a good way to keep up to date with their accommodation providers? 2. Should social media become a more prominent method of communication between students and accommodation providers?

From the screen shots taken from the Facebook group/pages from Keele, Loughborough and Birmingham University all show that both the institution and the students communicate and interact with one another using the social media platform and the official channels that have been created for this purpose.

It would appear that as students are indeed engaging with their university accommodation services via the social media platform Facebook indicating that these students do think that using social media as a communication tool would be a good way to keep up to date with their accommodation providers. Not only have current students used the channels to communicate with the university accommodation service but prospective students have also.

Prospective students may indeed be more financially valuable for universities as their tuition fees have now increased up to 9,000. Therefore prospective students

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using the social media channels to communicate with the universitys accommodation services could be seemed as having a higher social value as the users has not yet become a member of the university but they still want to engage publically with its services.

For the students of these 3 universities they have the option to use the social media platform Facebook to communicate with their accommodation providers. It is important to remember that this study was relatively small, focussing only on the Midlands of the UK but from the netnographic data analysed above it would seem that social media is a prominent method of communication between students and accommodation providers.

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5.0 A Summary of the Key Findings and Issues from the Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Looking at the data from the online questionnaire it is clear to see that almost all of the respondents asked said that their university does use social media but over a quarter said that their university accommodation service has never used social media to communicate with its students. This is somewhat surprising that although their university has a presence on social media, the student accommodation service doesnt necessarily have a presence or the university does not communicate with students regarding accommodation via their social media channel although almost 85% of the respondents said that universities use of social media was quite valuable/valuable/crucial.

Secondly looking at the netnography research and its data it is clear to see that there are two users groups of whom post the content on to the university pages on the social media platform Facebook; these are the students/prospective students and the university accommodation services.

5.1 The use of Facebook by Current and Prospective Students

There are 7 key findings in regards to topics and the use of the Facebook channels by students/prospective students: 1. Posting housing and/or room adverts looking for either accommodation for themselves or advertising for a new house mate. 2. Questions regarding maintenance of their halls.
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3. Current students making room enquiries. 4. Prospective students asking questions regarding the university accommodation before they have made their final choice. 5. Some students use the Facebook channel to advertise unofficial halls pages that are ran by students for students. 6. Students post content that is related to student life but not necessarily student accommodation. 7. Students advertising university related items and/or events

5.2 The use of Facebook by the universities accommodation services

There are 7 key findings in regards to topics and the use of the Facebook channels by the universities accommodation services: 1. They post questions to generate feedback from students. 2. Engage in friendly chat mirroring the tone of voice in their mission statement. 3. Posting media content such as photos and videos. 4. Arrange competitions to stimulate interaction from students. 5. They post content related to student life. 6. Engage with prospective students with posts specifically targeted to them. 7. To advertise accommodation to students. On One key finding from the qualitative research is that the university accommodation services that were observed rarely used their social media presence as a selling tool to student and/or prospective students. Their main use is a complimentary service that is ran in conjunction with the more traditional forms of communication such as telephone and email.
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5.3 Limitations regarding the research

The main limitations regarding the quantitative research were the sample size and the non-random sampling method used by the researcher. As the sample size only included 41 respondents it was not wholly representative of the student population and the non-random technique could make for biased results but it was indeed necessary in order to select respondents who are (or have been) students to ensure the research objectives can be met.

As the questionnaire was distributed online the researcher did not need to be present when the respondents were filing out the survey. This could have potentially posed a problem in ensuring all the questions were answered truthfully and honestly. For example question 9 was only answered by 40 out of 41 of the respondents therefore the data produced for this question will not give a true reflection like the other data.

There were indeed limitations to the qualitative research. The analysis of the data collected using this research method may introduce bias in the conclusions as the researcher had to use a non-random purposive sampling technique as one cannot conduct research on a topic in a location where it does not exist.

Another limitation of the research as a whole was the sample size for both the online questionnaire and the netnography study of the social media channels. As the researcher limited the geographical area of which to identify the university

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accommodation services that use social media as a communication tool with its students, the number of universities that matched the requirements in order for the research to take place was very low, limiting the amount of data to analyse and compare. And as aforementioned the sample size of the online questionnaire was small and not wholly representative of the student population.

5.4 Looking back at the Research Objectives of this Project, in Light of the Research and Reading have they been achieved?

The researcher believes that the netnographic research is the underpinning reasoning as to why the research objectives were indeed achieved:

1. Do students think that using social media as a communication tool would be a good way to keep up to date with their accommodation providers? 2. Should social media become a more prominent method of communication between students and accommodation providers?

Looking at the first objective the researcher believes that the evidence from the university accommodation services Facebook channel is effective communication in action. The students are engaging with one another and the accommodation service pages are interactive with convocation and social media etiquette occurring in the form of likes and shares. The author believes that the social media channels being used as a communication tool by students and their university accommodation services is a confirmation that students already think that using social media as a communication tool is a good way to keep up to date with their accommodation provider. Sacks and Graves (2012) made a very interesting point that student
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reliance on social media is undeniable, the concepts underlying it comes directly from social networking theory in sociology and organizational behaviour. Students use social media to communicate and this includes organizations not just other individuals.

The second research objective is a little harder to answer in light of the research conducted in that there is not enough data conclude if social media should become a more prominent method of communication between students and accommodation providers. However this inadvertently answers the second objective; that because of the lack of university accommodation services utilising social media in the Midlands area, it should become a more prominent method of communication between students and their accommodation providers. Keele, Loughborough and Birmingham University already have their own successful and effective communications channels on the social media platform Facebook but more universities should trial this communication method for their student accommodation services as it has been popular and effective in these three cases.

The main points in the literature review were the emergence of social media in everyday life, students use of social media and how businesses can use social media effectively as a communication tool along with the research conducted by the author concludes that students think that using social media as a communication tool would be a good way to keep up to date with their accommodation providers and that social media become a more prominent method of communication between students and accommodation providers as it has been proven its success in the research
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under taken and with supporting literature form experts in the field of social media communications.

5.5 Research for the Future

Like every research project there is of course always more areas to research in the future to gain deeper understanding and to broaden the research that has already been conducted. In order to establish a deeper understanding into this relatively new topic area regarding Social media communications effectiveness based on the student accommodation category. The researcher has identified three main areas for future research: 1. Use Larger geographic area of research in the UK in order to conduct the netnographic research

As the geographic area was limited in the research, to further develop the findings the geographic area should be extended across the whole of England in order to have a larger sampling frame to increase the likelihood of being able to find other university accommodation services who use social media as an effective communication tool.

2. Use the netnographic technique observing different social media platforms

In the methodology the researcher commented that that the netnographic research was to focus only on the social media platform Facebook although preliminary research showed that some of the university accommodation
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services in the Midlands used Twitter as a communication tool also. To develop a better understanding of how universities and students use other social media platforms as a communication tool more preliminary research to establish which university accommodation services first of all use social media and then which social media platforms they use.

3. Create a more in depth questionnaire with a larger sample size

The researcher has already noted that the sample size of the online questionnaire was small only including 41 respondents. If further research was to be undertaken on a national scale, in order to ensure all the respondents are indeed students each student should be individually emailed or the questionnaire should be advertised on university internal webpages as to only allow students to complete the survey.

The questions the feature in the online questionnaire should include a greater emphasis on what the students want to see in terms of their student accommodation services using social media as a communication tool. For example, what topics they would like communicated by the accommodation services, frequency of posts and gauge how they would personally use the channel.

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Burt, R. (1992). Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.

Campus Living Loughborough, (2012). Information Page, Available from https://www.facebook.com/campus.living.loughborough/info, Accessed 18/1/13.

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Maranto, G., & Barton, M. (2010). Paradox and Promise: MySpace, Facebook and the Sociopolitics of Social Networking in the Writing Classroom. Computers and Composition, 27, pp. 36-47.

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Unknown, (2008). Global Perspectives: How is your company or client using social media for employee communication? Communication World. 25 (6), pp.17

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7.0 Appendices

7.1 Online Questionnaire Appendix 1

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7.2 East Midlands Universities Appendix 2

East Midlands Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln (B38) Brooksby Melton College (B92) Cliff College (C72) De Montfort University (D26) Derby College (D38) University of Derby (D39) University of Leicester (L34) Leicester College (L36) University of Lincoln (L39) Lincoln College (L42) Loughborough College (L77) Loughborough University (L79) Moulton College (M93) New College Nottingham (N30) New College Stamford (N33) University of Northampton (N38) The University of Nottingham (N84) Nottingham Trent University (N91) South Nottingham College (S46) Stephenson College Coalville (S69)
N NA Y Y NA Y Y Y Y Y NA Y Y Y NA Y Y Y NA NA

Accommodation Communication.
Telephone Email
Y NA Y Y NA Y Y Y Y Y NA Y Y Y NA Y Y Y NA NA

General Communication
Other
N NA Y Y NA Y Y Y Y N NA N N N NA Y Y N NA NA

Facebook
N NA N N NA N N N N N NA Y N N NA N N N NA NA

Twitter
N NA N N NA N N N N N NA N N N NA N N N NA NA

Telephone
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Email
Y Y Y Y N Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y

Facebook
N Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y

Twitter
N Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Other
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y N N N Y N N N Y

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7.3 West Midlands Universities Appendix 3

West Midlands Aston University, Birmingham (A80) Birmingham City University (B25) Birmingham Metropolitan College (B30) The University of Birmingham (B32) University College Birmingham (B35) City College, Birmingham (C62) City College Coventry (C64) Coventry University (C85) Dudley College of Technology (D58) Harper Adams University College (H12) Hereford College of Arts (H18) Keele University (K12) Newman University College, Birmingham (N36) New College Telford (N51) North East Worcestershire College (N58) North Warwickshire and Hinckley College (N79) Sandwell College (S08) Solihull College (S26) Staffordshire University (S72) Stratford upon Avon College (S74) Stourbridge College (S77) Walsall College (W12) The University of Warwick (W20) Warwickshire College (W25) University of Wolverhampton (W75) University of Worcester (W80) Worcester College of Technology (W81)

Accommodation Communication. Telephone Y Y NA Y Y Y Y Y NA Y Y Y Y NA NA NA NA Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y NA Email Y Y NA Y Y Y N Y NA Y Y Y Y NA NA NA NA N Y Y N N Y Y Y Y NA Facebook N N NA Y N N N N NA N N Y N NA NA NA NA N N N N N N N N N NA Twitter N N NA Y N N N N NA N N N N NA NA NA NA N N N N N N N N N NA Other Y Y NA N N N N N NA N Y Y N NA NA NA NA N N Y N N N N Y N NA Telephone Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

General Communication Email Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Facebook Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Twitter Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Other Y N N N N N Y Y Y Y Y N N Y Y N N N Y Y N Y Y Y N Y N

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7.4 Ethics Approval form for Research Activities Appendix 4

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