Using Social Networking Sites in Business †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Questions: What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Using Social Networking Sites By Coca Cola? What Are The Impacts Of The Social Networking Sites On The Purchasing Behavior Of The Consumers? What Are The Effective Techniques That Can Help Coca Cola Can Build An Effective Brand Image Through Social Networking Sites? Answers: Introducation This research study will focus on finding the advantages and disadvantages of using social networking sites in business. In recent times, global and domestic companies utilize social media as an essential marketing and public relations tool for their business practices. This method allows the firms to build a strong relationship with their consumer base (Leonardi, Huysman and Steinfield 2013). Therefore the companies are able to gather more information about choices and trends of their customers. With the rapid development of social networking sites, there are newer platforms for the companies to be familiar with their consumer base. Using the tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other blog sites, the companies can ensure their relationship with their consumers. This study will evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using the social networking sites for the global beverage brand, Coca Cola. The social networking sites are now a widespread tool for keeping the firm ahea d of the competition and it should also be noted that most of the competitors of Coca Cola, such as Nestle or Pepsi are utilizing this tool for reaching to the consumers and strengthening their web presence. Research Aims The aim of this particular research will be to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of using social networking sites of the company, Coca Cola. Research Objectives The research objectives of this study will be: To investigate the major advantages and disadvantages of using the social networking sites To analyze the effects of social networking sites that can influence the buying intentions of the consumers To recommend few effective techniques for building an effective brand image for Coca Cola that can help recognizing the purchasing intentions of the consumers. Scope of the Research Coca Cola is a well known brand that has a global presence and also known for its community involvement and higher sales. The organization has been involved in various social networking sites. Therefore investigating their social media plans and the potential advantages and disadvantages of utilizing the social media will help the future researches to serve a better marketing plan using the social media sites. As the traditional marketing approaches are changing and improving its communication strategies, therefore this study will help in finding out the potential factors that can help in shaping the purchasing behavior of the consumers. Literature Review Comparative Approach The marketing approach with the social media marketing indicates to the shift from the traditional marketing approach. This change not only comes with various opportunities for reaching to the consumer base of the company, but it also carries several risks with it. Therefore, the firms are required to monitor the potential effects that may include the individualization and engagement. The companies should remind that the social media marketing is generally a two way marketing approach where the focus is not only on strengthening the relationship with the consumers but also maintaining the exchange with sufficient responsibility (Okazaki and Taylor 2013). Most importantly the firms that deal with food and beverages such as Coca Cola require understanding the systematical conflicts within the social networking sites along with the potential complexities of the platforms (Bryman 2015). The firms can analyze the social media behaviors of the consumers to build more connection with their consumers. Also there are other implications that analysis of social media movements of the individual consumers can indicate to their decision making process or the buying behavior. Comparative Analysis With a detailed comparative analysis of the social media movements of the consumers the companies can find out the factors that influence the buying behavior of the consumers. Therefore this procedure will help to sort the repression out for the companies. Also other than the consumers of the brand, Coca Cola will be able to connect to the potential job seekers and the small business owners who can act as vendors in future (Nielsen and Schrder 2014). Therefore it will be easier for the company to expand their business vicinity use a successful use of the social networking sites. For the corporate businesses, usage of social networking sites creates a major competitive advantage of the brand. Analyzing the social networking trends the brands are also able to spot their loyal consumer base so that they can put more efforts to the other section of the consumers. As the trend of the marketing approach has changed tremendously the companies will be able to monitor its customer base while they are posting information about their choices and various other information. There are also e marketing trends that can help the brand to hold a competitive edge in the market place. Gap Analysis After conducting the literature review on the advantages and disadvantages of the social networking sites, the study had found out that there is a huge gap in the literatures regarding the potential advantages and disadvantages of the food and beverage industry. Therefore this study will conduct a detailed evaluation of the possible disadvantages and advantages of using the social networking sites of the famous global food and beverage company, Coca Cola. Research Methodology Research Philosophy The philosophies of the researches help the researcher by providing the necessary knowledge and dimension related to the specific research study. The research philosophies also provide the fundamental knowledge, concepts and the facts so that the study can be conducted in a well organized manner. It has also been argued that the specific philosophies of the research come from a specific paradigm. However, there can be three kinds of philosophies for research, positivism, realism and post positivism. The positivism philosophy generally examines several philosophical aspect of the research utilizing the related philosophical aspects. Therefore, for conducting this research the researcher will follow the positivism philosophy. Research Approach There can be two kinds of research approach for conducting the research study, Inductive and Deductive research approach. The Inductive research approach generally focuses on the generation of new models and theories on the basis of the collected information through the researches. However, the Deductive research approach aims for testing the previous models and concepts of the particular topic. Therefore, while conducting this study, the researcher will follow the Deductive approach, as it will evaluate the previous concepts and models on this particular topic. Research Purpose For conducting any research, there are three kinds of research approaches, exploratory, explanatory and descriptive. The research purposes generally provide a precise and structural purpose for the research that primarily provides a definite purpose for the study (Hajli 2014). For this research the researcher will follow the descriptive research purpose, because this will help the researcher to conduct the study with more explanations along with exploration so that the research topic can be enriched with detailed information. Therefore the researcher will be able to explain and define the research study with supplementary information regarding the topic. Strategy of the Research For this research, the researcher will follow the survey process. By utilizing the survey process the researcher will be able to collect the necessary information along with analyzing the information for the further investigation of the research topic. Data Collection Process The data collection process is the most significant part of the research study which analyzes the collected data to come to a specific solution. Sources of Data There can be two types of data for any research, secondary and primary sources. The primary data are the data that are collected from specific sources such as questionnaires or interviews. The primary data can also be collected from different types of unpublished sources. On the other hand the secondary sources are the different sources of published data such as books, newspaper articles or journals. For this research the researcher will collect the data from different published sources. Therefore the research will be conducted on the basis of secondary sources. Data Analysis Technique There are two kinds of data analysis technique for the conducting the research study. Those are quantitative and qualitative analysis. For conducting this study, the research will use the quantitative data analysis technique for analyzing the collected data from the secondary resources. Sample Size As this research will be conducted on secondary researches, the researcher will collect information from the published sources such as books, journals, news paper articles and published research papers and case studies. Research Limitations There can be various kinds of limitations while conducting the research. The researcher may have to face some kind of issues while he will be accessing the relevant sources of the data. While collecting the necessary books and other sources the researcher may have to face different accessibility issues. Also, the researcher may have to face issues related to the budget of the study and the allotted time for the research. The researcher will plan to complete the research in six weeks. However, the researcher will be able to collect more information if he has more time for conducting the research. Ethical Considerations While collecting the data the researcher will have to maintain the ethics while he will be collecting the necessary information regarding the topic. While conducting the research the researcher has to maintain the code so that there is not any kind of wrong interpretation of the data. The researcher has to maintain few ethical codes of conducts so that there is no misinterpretation of the collected information. Research Plan Main activities 1st Week 2nd Week 3rd Week 4th Week 5th Week 6th Week Selection of topic Data collection from the secondary sources Framing layout of the research Literature review Formation of the research Plan Selection of the Appropriate Research Techniques Analysis Interpretation of Data Collection Conclusion of the Study Formation of Rough Draft Submission of Final Work Proposed Plan of the Research Source: Author Conclusion In conclusion it can be said that this research will deal with the possible advantages and disadvantages of utilizing the social networking sites by Coca Cola. Therefore this research will collect the data from the secondary sources and by following the quantitative data analysis process the collected data will be analyzed and the research approach will be a descriptive one. Reference list Bolton, R.N., Parasuraman, A., Hoefnagels, A., Migchels, N., Kabadayi, S., Gruber, T., Komarova Loureiro, Y. and Solnet, D., 2013. Understanding Generation Y and their use of social media: a review and research agenda.Journal of Service Management,24(3), pp.245-267. Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015.Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. Bryman, A., 2015.Social research methods. Oxford university press. Edwards, C., Edwards, A., Spence, P.R. and Shelton, A.K., 2014. Is that a bot running the social media feed? Testing the differences in perceptions of communication quality for a human agent and a bot agent on Twitter.Computers in Human Behavior,33, pp.372-376. Eriksson, P. and Kovalainen, A., 2015.Qualitative Methods in Business Research: A Practical Guide to Social Research. Sage. Fuchs, C., 2013.Social media: A critical introduction. Sage. Hajli, M.N., 2014. A study of the impact of social media on consumers.International Journal of Market Research,56(3), pp.387-404. Laroche, M., Habibi, M.R. and Richard, M.O., 2013. To be or not to be in social media: How brand loyalty is affected by social media?.International Journal of Information Management,33(1), pp.76-82. Leonardi, P.M., Huysman, M. and Steinfield, C., 2013. Enterprise social media: Definition, history, and prospects for the study of social technologies in organizations.Journal of Computer?Mediated Communication,19(1), pp.1-19. Nielsen, R.K. and Schrder, K.C., 2014. The relative importance of social media for accessing, finding, and engaging with news: an eight-country cross-media comparison.Digital journalism,2(4), pp.472-489. Okazaki, S. and Taylor, C.R., 2013. Social media and international advertising: theoretical challenges and future directions.International marketing review,30(1), pp.56-71. Tsimonis, G. and Dimitriadis, S., 2014. Brand strategies in social media.Marketing Intelligence Planning,32(3), pp.328-344. Verhoef, L.M., Van de Belt, T.H., Engelen, L.J., Schoonhoven, L. and Kool, R.B., 2014. Social media and rating sites as tools to understanding quality of care: a scoping review.Journal of medical Internet research,16(2), p.e56. Whiting, A. and Williams, D., 2013. Why people use social media: a uses and gratifications approach.Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal,16(4), pp.362-369.