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Introduction
Modern marketing strategies for promoting products and brands through social media are extremely diverse and vary depending on the characteristics and goals of companies. This study seeks to explore how key brand characteristics influence the choice of marketing strategies and the formation of the target audiences purchasing behavior. Additionally, it is necessary to consider which characteristics most significantly impact these aspects. Practitioners can use the conclusions obtained during the study to build effective marketing strategies, taking into account the needs and goals of companies. The research uses mixed methods, including primary (interviews and surveys) and secondary research (secondary data analysis).
Research Question and Research Thesis
To narrow the research scope and exemplify the social media branding impact on consumer behavior, the Nike company will be selected. Current scholarly literature allows for setting a context for the proposed study in general and the formulation of the research question. Indeed, the study conducted by Bose (2018) found that Nike succeeds in attracting customers through aggressive social media marketing, a high level of online presence, and interactivity with consumers. Moreover, Ebrahim (2020) investigated the use of social media as a brand-building tool and found that companies predominantly use social media for trendiness, word-of-mouth, and customization. Thus, the literature implies that brands use of social media as a tool for impacting consumers differs depending on brand features and business strategies. Therefore, given such a research context, the proposed studys research questions are formulated as follows:
General Research Question( RQ): How do brand characteristics influence the choice of marketing strategies in social media and the formation of purchase behavior of the target audience?
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Specific RQ1: What features of Nikes brand influence its social media marketing strategy?
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Specific RQ2: What external factors predetermine the selection of a particular social media strategy for the brand?
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Specific RQ3: How important is the feedback from the brand for customers loyalty?
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Specific RQ4: What factors influence consumer purchasing decision-making ins response to social media marketing?
Research aim: To investigate the ways brand characteristics impact social media marketing strategies and consumer behavior.
Research objectives:
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To analyze secondary data on Nikes rationale for social media marketing strategy;
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To identify external factors influencing the marketing strategy selected by Nike;
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To investigate participants concern with brand feedback as a loyalty-forming factor;
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To identify factors predetermining brand selection through social media advertising.
Research thesis: Brand image promoted in social media significantly influences the selection of marketing strategies and the target audiences purchase behavior.
The Rationale for Research Methods Selection
The study uses mixed methods for the research of the topic and answers to the research questions. First of all, the study utilized secondary data analysis for setting the research background, identifying current trends in social media marketing, as well as determining the key characteristics of brand interaction patterns and target audiences in social media. This step is also necessary to select brands whose marketing strategies focus on audiences whose characteristics can be considered in the present study. The study also uses surveys and interviews to collect quantitative and qualitative data to obtain as representative information as possible. The study participants are young people from 18 to 25; the interviews and surveys aim to explore the impact of the brands marketing strategies selected using secondary research on their purchase behavior.
Sampling Process
Target Respondents
The group of college students aged 18 to 25 is the most informative sample of respondents relevant to the study objectives. Indeed, this age group and their social status constitute the target audience of the sporting apparel company investigated; moreover, young adults are the most active users of social media. To sample the participants, convenience sampling, namely a non-probability sampling technique, will be used. This type of sampling is the most appropriate for this study, as it allows for recruiting respondents without excessive resources in a short-term perspective. A significant disadvantage of this approach is the low level of representativeness of the population (Sharma et al., 2022). However, in the present study, this weakness of convenience sampling is mitigated by selecting brands that target a specified population.
Thus, college students from 18 to 25 years old will be invited to study and participate in the survey and interview. It is also necessary to assess each participants purchase behavior to form a description of the population. As part of the study, this information is necessary to draw up a portrait of the study participant and compare it with the characteristics of the target audience of the selected brands. The main selection criteria for participants are age and occupation. Their brand preferences and social media marketing behaviors are irrelevant but will be explored during the primary research. This information is necessary to form a sample from a population with diverse purchase behaviors and approaches to the perception of social media marketing strategies.
For the sample to be representative and collect the necessary amount of data, at least 50 people should be included in the study. However, the planned number of participants in the study group is 80. This number will allow researchers to collect the necessary data and make the sample the most variable in limited conditions. The main disadvantage of the planned group size is the impossibility of compiling the most representative sample due to convenience sampling. If the study results confirm the research thesis, then further research directions may include a wider randomized sample.
The main disadvantage of a small sample size is the high probability of sampling errors, which are difficult to minimize in a limited sample. In this situation, two approaches can be used to reduce sampling errors: multiple studies or systematized sampling (Romañach et al., 2021). In the framework of this study, the most relevant is the division of participants into four groups of 20 people. Thus, it will be possible to explore the data based on the information obtained within the four different groups, increasing sampling reliability. Selection into groups can be made based on systematic sampling; each first participant in the alphabetical list falls into the first group, every second into the second, and so on (Jamil et al., 2022). Although these steps will not significantly improve the reliability of sampling at such a small size, they can help minimize sampling errors.
As part of this study, interviews and surveys are planned both online and on campus. Participants will be presented with a questionnaire that will help determine their purchase behavior at the time of participation in the study. Additionally, this step will make it possible to create a description of the participants in the sample and determine their key characteristics. The interview phase will be held on campus so that researchers can also record participants behaviors and non-verbal cues as part of the interview. Additionally, as part of the interview, adjustments may be made to explore additional influencing factors that may be limited to account for preliminary preparation.
Recruiting Process
First, social networks and announcements in the college will be used to search for respondents. Participants will be recruited based on voluntary participation in the study and based on meeting the described selection criteria. The respondents will be selected solely based on their age and occupation. Their current purchase behavior and patterns of interaction with social media marketing do not matter since the studys most diverse sample is needed. The study does not plan to ask neutral parties for names nomination as the study seeks to find volunteers to participate. In this situation, another disadvantage of selecting and sampling methods chosen may arise, which is to reduce representativeness. In particular, students interested in social media marketing can apply to participate in the study, which determines their purchase behavior. Thus, selecting candidates with diverse research focuses and interests is necessary. The research will be conducted in two phases: online surveys from November 1st to 4th and on-campus interviews from November 7th to 18th.
It plans to actively use ads and announcements in WeChat or bulletin boards to recruit participants. These methods seem to be the most relevant in this studys framework, as they target the widest audience of candidates that meet the selection criteria. Moreover, this approach will allow recruiting students who can participate in an interview on campus and also take part in an online survey. Although this method also comes with limitations that may not allow for the most representative sampling, it is most accessible within the scope of convenience sampling.
Conclusion
The main element of ads and announcements should be a detailed description of the goals and objectives of the study, as well as an articulation of the role of participants in its conduct. However, the research question and thesis should not be defined for recruiting participants to avoid forming a bias. The study does not intend to offer any incentives or benefits to study participants. However, it is planned to voice the value of these studies for the field of marketing and the individual contribution of each participant to the development of this field.
References
Bose, M. S. (2018). Social media marketing in fashion brands in Nike. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 5(12), 153-160.
Ebrahim, R. S. (2020). The role of trust in understanding the impact of social media marketing on brand equity and brand loyalty. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 19(4), 287-308.
Jamil, K., Dunnan, L., Faizan G. R., Shehzad, U. M., Gillani, S., & Awan, F. H. (2022). Role of social media marketing activities in influencing customer intentions: A perspective of a new emerging era. Frontiers in Psychology, 12.
Romañach, R. J., Castro, A. J., & Esbensen, K. H. (2021). What are sampling errors And what can we do about them? Part 1. Sampling Column, 33(2), 36-42. Web.
Sharma, S. K., Telles, S., Gandharva, K., & Balkrishna, A. (2022). Yoga instructors reported benefits and disadvantages associated with functioning online: A convenience sampling survey. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 46.
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