CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Group members: M. Umar Hayyat Kanju M. Ahmad Rao M. Ehsan Ullah

INTRODUCTION

With the advent of Internet, human life have been revolutionized Accessible for every one

New knowledge sharing emergence of technology

Existing research focus Customers perspective

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
The objective of our research is to find out what perceptions do customers have about social media marketing in order to apply this knowledge of customer perceptions to our business plan of selling through the internet by using social media as a marketing platform.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Schibrowsky et al. have described in their research that recently, growth has been noticed in the area of mobile, tablet and the social media technology. Review of internet marketing literature gives insight of the trends prevailing in the internet marketing industry.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Boyd and Ellison, (2008) have defined Social Media as web-based services that allow people to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Social media marketing, defined as the process that empowers individuals to promote their websites, products, or services through online social channels and tap into a much larger community that may not have been available via traditional channels (Weinberg, 2009, p:3)

Change in use of SMM , from just sales promotion to important marketing Method. Right plan and social media marketing can boost business Now SMM equally important for small and multinational businesses. For any Entrepreneurial business its like back bone with increasing importance. Opportunity is increase in use of Social media and wild range of market.

Current financial and economical condition in whole world demands a cost effective and efficient tool of marketing SMM works as a cheap, viral and effective marketing way. According to an industrial report of USA , Canada and UK 97% businesses use SMM. After use of SMM increase in sale is almost 43%. Challenge for marketer is control over SMM

DETERMINANTS OF PERCEPTION
Informativeness

How informative the advertisement in question is perceived to be by the customer More likely to attract consumers than non informative or vaguely informative ad- irritating Advertised content inconsistent with needs of customers is rendered ineffective and irrelevant. According to Bond, Ferraro, Luxton and Sands (2010), such marketing effect could have negative impact on the business as customers get annoyed. Information provided in advertisement must be actionable, i.e. it should help consumers understand the message it is intended to convey and make purchase decisions.

 Peer influence Process in which people we know from work, social circles and those of equal age influence our choices and decision making. When people sense a positive attitude of their peers (implicit or explicit) towards products, services or processes, they are inclined to develop similar positive perceptions about those products, services or processes. According to Stileman (2009), social media enables consumers to share information with their peers about the product and service brands. According to Jalilvand, Esfahani and Samiei (2011), it is the process that allows customers to share opinions and information that may steer others towards or away from specific products, brands, and services. The prospect of overcoming consumer resistance with considerably faster delivery and lower costs using the internet make WOM communication strategies very appealing as it allows easy access to data and information and increases customer power due to the ease of comparison shopping.

 Advertisers

reputation

Reputation of the company that is advertising, i.e. in terms of its reliability, timely delivery, and brand image. Consumers rarely click on advertisements from unknown or unproven sources. Due to cybercrime, people lose lot money to fake companies and social media marketing. Internet users believe that online ads to be annoying and that contain viruses. Anderson (2005) found that about 38% of web surfers use some form of blocker to block the annoying advertisements.

 Consumers

previous experiences

Prior experiences of consumers with online purchases also shape their perceptions towards social media marketing. Timeliness of the delivery Desired amount of value for the money paid Level of convenience during the whole process Reliability and trustworthiness of the process Quality of the service or product purchased online Vs. that of traditional purchase Is the online ordering/purchase process easy to understand and execute Follow ups done by companies after purchase, i.e. promotional emails, discount offers and consumer post purchase surveys-may be seen as helpful or annoying.

Informativeness

Peer Influence Perceptions About Social Media Marketing

Prior Experience

Advertisers reputation

RESEARCH QUESTION

Primary Research Question: How do customers perceive social media marketing? Secondary Research Question: How does peer influence affect perceptions about social media marketing? How does informativeness of the advertisement affect perceptions about social media marketing? How does customers prior experience affect perceptions about social media marketing? How does the advertisers reputation affect perceptions about of social media marketing? Research Methodology: Survey questionnaire.

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HYPOTHESES
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Null: Peer influence has no impact on the perceptions about social media marketing. Alternate: Peer influence has an impact on the perceptions about social media marketing. Null: Informativeness of the advertisement has no impact on the perceptions about social media marketing. Alternate: Informativeness of the advertisement has an impact on the perceptions about social media marketing. Null: Customers prior experiences have no impact on the perceptions about social media marketing. Alternate: Customers prior experiences have an impact on the perceptions about social media marketing. Null: Advertisers reputation has no impact on the perceptions about social media marketing. Alternate: Advertisers reputation has an impact on the perceptions about social media marketing.

Thank you