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1. Introduction

The topic for the proposed dissertation will be about the relationship marketing approaches

practiced by the organizations in social networking websites. Social networking sites have

become a part of student¶s everyday life. Increasingly, students are becoming a part of these

social networking sites to communicate, exchange ideas, and also to an extent, associate with

some commercial organizations that they are interested in.

The emergence of online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter as a form of social

media made organizations to utilize these sites to address current and potential customers.

Social media has become an increasingly important platform for marketing activities and

marketers are targeting teens and young adults using the social networking sites, to promote

their products (Market Watch 2008, cited in Cha, 2009). Mangold and Faulds (2009) opinethat social networking sites have enabled a person to communicate with thousands of other

people about products and also the organizations that produce or provide those products. This

study looks at student attitudes towards relationship marketing practices adopted by the

organizations in the context of the online social networks, Facebook and Twitter.

1.1Problem Outline

Essentially, the biggest problem faced by many organizations, in the context of social

networking websites, is to identify the potential audience. It is not about just identifying the

potential audience; it is about identification of a particular user group from the overall user

base who are interested in forming commercial relationships in the online social world.

Another obstacle is establishing and maintaining a relationship between a targeted consumer

and a company.

In order to overcome these issues and efficiently use these social networks as a marketing

tool, organizations need to understand how customers get involved with the networks, the

reasons for communicating with organizations on the online social media, and what is

required from the organizations so that the relationships are sustained by the consumers.

As the social networking are relatively in the early stages of becoming a primary

communication tool, there is enough opportunity for the commercial organizations to use this

media as a major means of communicating about their products and services.

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Consumer preferences towards advertising have changed and they prefer the modern sources

of communication than relying on traditional media such as radio, television, newspapers etc

(Vollmer and Precourt 2008 cited in Mangold & Faulds, 2009) The customer base of social

networking sites is expanding very rapidly. Many organizations are becoming a part of these

social networking sites with a view to promote their products and services. Clearly,

marketing managers have a strong opportunity to seize this increasing consumer interest. As

students are very dominant user group in online social network, this study attempts to

examine Liverpool John Moores University students (consumers) view on relationship

marketing on social networks.

1.2 Purpose

The purpose of the research is to study the willingness of university students to engage in

relationships with organizations on the online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Aims and Objectives:

The specific aims and objectives of the study are to answer the following research questions:

Motive: Finding out the reason to be associated with a particular organization on a

social networking site.

Promotion: Reason behind promoting a particular organizations products and

services to their friends and colleagues.

Consumption: Whether they actually consume the products and services of the

organizations that they are associated with.

Types of Organizations: The different types of organizations that they tend to

associate with.

Prolonged Usage: Factors that drive users to maintain and sustain relationships with

commercial organizations on online social networks.

The research aims to offer insights into whether the social networking sites are used by

students to just maintain communication with colleagues and friends or do they also use the

sites to establish and maintain a relationship with commercial organizations?

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2. Literature Review

The researcher would like to introduce the reader with the relevant literature that is being

used for the project.

2.1. Relationship Marketing

Relationship Marketing, being a very broad subject, has been discussed by many authors

from different perspectives. Relationship marketing is about establishing, maintaining and

enhancing relationships with customers and partners so that profit is attained and the

objectives of the related parties are met (Gronroos, 1990, 1994 cited in Storbacka, Strandvik

and Gronroos, 1994). Morgan & Hunt (1994) propose that:

³Relationship marketing refers to all marketing activities directed towards

establishing, developing, and maintaining successful relational exchanges´ (p.22)

Morgan and Hunt (1984, cited in Mishra & Li, 2008) contend that building trust and

commitment is very essential component in relationship marketing. Further, they suggest that

communication is very vital to successful relationship building and organizations need to

focus on communicating valuable information to the consumers and stake holders. Building

on this theory, the researcher would like to explain how the organizations use social media to

communicate with consumers and how they can build the trust and commitment from the

consumers.

However, Andersen (2001) argues that several contributions to relationship marketing have

not taken into consideration, the fact that relationship marketing is a process. Further, he

argues that these contributions have ignored the dynamic aspects of relationship marketing

and the way in which communication strategies are adopted to various stages of relationship

marketing process. Reichheld & Schefter (2000, cited in Liang, Chen and Wang, 2008)

criticizes the relationship marketing efforts of most online suppliers by saying that they are

not really concerned about the customer relationship management. The present research tries

to address the issue of communication and attempts to explain the communication strategies

adopted by organizations in reaching the targeted customer base and also try to explain the

relationship management efforts undertaken by the organizations.

Despite the extensive study of ³relationship marketing´ by various authors, Yau (1995, cited

in Yau et al. 1999) criticize that these studies on relationship marketing were overly

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simplistic because of their emphasis on a uni-dimensional perspective (focussing on a single

dimension such as trust, bonding, empathy or reciprocity).

2.2. Online Social Networks

When talking about relationship marketing on the social networks, a brief introduction about

the social networks is essential. Online social networks are internet enabled websites wherein

organizations and consumers become a part of those social networks (such as Facebook and

Myspace). Specifically, organizations have their own profile (or page) set up in the social

networking site. This profile describes about the organization, and it seeks to establish a

virtual relationship with various online consumers (students, in this research context). The

organizational profile on the social networking site also communicates about any promotions

or marketing campaigns, research and developmental efforts, undertaken by the company.

These online social networking sites, according to Aleman and Wartman (2009), are social

media with a vast range of tapped and untapped potential for commercial, political and

cultural uses globally.

The aim of this research is to find out whether students promote the products or services of a

particular organization to their friends and colleagues. This aim is answered by drawing on

the literature of Hartline, Mirrokni and Sundararajan (2008) who propose ³externality´ as the

impact that a buyer has over another buyer. Further, they suggest that externalities that cause

increased sales and revenue are called as ³positive externalities´.

According to Szmigin, Canning & Reppel (2005) online network communities created an

opportunity for organizations to expand their communication strategies with consumers,

particularly in terms of relationship building. Harris and Rae (2009) identify that

organizations, by utilizing social networks, could build customer relationships and raise their

brand awareness at a relatively low cost. The aim of the researcher is to find out if consumers

actually consume the goods and services of these brand communities online. By studying the

theory of Harris and Rae (2009) about brand awareness, the researcher tries to answer the aim

of whether consumers get influenced by brand communities in purchasing their products andservices.

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2.3. Brand Communities

James (2009, cited in Kelly, Kerr, Drennan 2009) identify that social networking sites

provide an opportunity for the organizations to target consumers using personalized content

based on their behaviours and preferences and thereby establishing a two-way

communication. Andersen (2005) terms the presence of organizations in social networkingwebsites as ³brand communities´. In addition, Andersen goes on to discuss that more and

more organizations are forming as ³brand communities´ on social networking sites and use

these communities as a way of enhancing relationship marketing. Limited research has been

conducted on internet based ³brand communities´ and these communities being used as

relationship marketing tool (Fischer, Bristor & Gainer, 1996; Kozinets, 1999; Rothaermel &

Sugiyama, 2001 cited in Andersen, 2005). The present research attempts to examine these

brand communities and the various relationship marketing procedures adopted by these

communities. Claricini and Scarpi (2007, cited in Sicilia and Palazon, 2008) suggest that

virtual communities have not been the subject of much research and therefore, deserve

special attention.

2.4. Virtual Communities

Sicilia and Palazon (2008) identify three important values that virtual communities facilitate

to their users:They are Functional Value, Social Value and Entertainment Value. The present

research focuses on the functional value that is derived out of the ³brand community´ on the

social networking sphere. Virtual communities create a forum for individuals to give and

receive information about a topic that they are interested in. In the present research context,

this relates to the information exchange among students about a particular organization. In

other words, it talks about the functional value that students derive by becoming a member of

a particular organization that has got presence on the social networking sites.

Preibusch et al. (2007) suggest that marketing strategy in a social networking site requires

two atleast two things. First requirement is to identify the user group who are highly internet

savvy and who are primarily interested in communicating with friends and colleagues. In the

present research context, this group would be the LJMU student group who are internet savvy

and who use internet and computers to a large extent in their academics and whose primary

purpose is not interacting with organizations over the social networking site, rather primarily

communicating with friends and colleagues. So identifying this user group and targeting them

is essential for a successful marketing communication to take place. Second requirement is to

use the information present in linkage patterns to discover and target high-value customers.

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Relationship marketing and social networks have been studies quite extensively, as separate

topics. However, Li & Bernoff (2008 cited in Mangold and Faulds 2009) contend that limited

research has been done on how to incorporate social media into the organization¶s marketing

strategies and further say that marketing managers are finding ways to accomplish this task.

The present research attempts to study both the concepts of relationship marketing and social

networks, and tries to explain how organizations could try to incorporate social media into

their marketing communications.

3. Methodology

This chapter will introduce the reader to the research methods that are going to be used for

the study. Before deciding upon the method of research to be adopted, researcher has

performed the Learning Cycleexercise (adapted from Kolb and McCarthy in Kolb, 1984) to

know his preferred style of research. The researcher belongs to the right hand side of the

Kolb¶s learning grid (Divergers and Assimilators), therefore suggesting that the preferred

style should be inductive (See Appendix 1: Learning Style Assessment for the result)

According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2007), in an inductive research:

³Theory would follow data rather than vice versa as with deduction´ (p.118)

The aim of the research is to identify student attitudes towards relationship marketing

adopted by organizations on online social networks. The proposed research would be a mixed

method study implying that both the quantitative and qualitative research methods are going

to be employed. A questionnaire would be used to enable students (respondents) to answer

multiple choice questions and it would be analyzed quantitatively; subsequently, a focus

group would also be conducted which is of qualitative nature.

In order to get answers to research questions, a questionnaire will be used to collect

descriptive primary data. The aims of the research (i.e. types of organizations the users tend

to be interested in and motivation behind seeking out relationships with commercial

organizations on social networks) are covered through the questionnaire along with general

sample attributes. The question concerning the factorsthat drive users to sustain relationships

with commercial organizations on the social networks is studied qualitatively by way of

conducting a focus group.

Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) identify two major advantages of choosing to use multiple

methods in the same research project. Firstly, different methods can be used for different

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purposes in the study. Accordingly, in this research, during the initial stages, a survey will be

used to collect descriptive primary data relating to research questions. At a later stage, a focus

group will be conducted to allow a discussion and feedback on the variables that were not

looked at, during the survey. The second advantage of mixed methods is that it enables

triangulation to take place. Yin (1994 cited in Johnstone, 2004) argues that triangulation is an

inductive process and can engage in various quantitative and/or qualitative information. In

this research, focus groups may be a valuable way of triangulating data that was collected

through the questionnaire.

The intention to conduct a focus group is based on the idea that they provide an opportunity

for discussion and promote self-disclosure among the participants and to gain a general

feedback about the topic (Krueger & Casey, 2009). The focus group is primarily intended to

discuss about the results of the survey analysis and whether the members believe the results

to be a true portrayal of their behaviour. The idea behind conducting the focus group is to

verify the findings obtained through the survey analysis rather than to generate ideas and

themes for survey variables.

McClelland (2007) suggests that focus group is an in-depth discussion about a single topic

and focussing on that topic throughout the duration of the discussion, aiming at promoting

self exposure and to get beyond the public self. Building on this assertion, in the proposed

focus group, discussion would be held on students¶ attitudes towards relationship marketing

in connection with online social networks. The rationale behind choosing this approach is that

it enables to understand how the group opinions (about social marketing and online social

networks) are formed and exchanged within a group, and how marketing on social media is

perceived by the members (students).

According to Gill & Johnson (2010), the mixed methods approach (where quantitative and

qualitative methods of data gathering are integrated within a single project) is gaining

considerable importance in the management field. Mixed methods approach is presumed to

have considerable benefits since any method has its own advantages and disadvantages and

therefore research design benefits from offsetting strengths of one method with the weakness

of others and vice versa (ibid).

In recent years, some of the strongest advocates of qualitative research such as Denzin,

Lincoln, and Guba, have made some statements that appear to give credence to the mixed

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methods approach (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie & Turner, 2007). For example Guba and Lincoln

(1994 cited in Johnson et al, 2007) noted that:

³Both qualitative and quantitative methods may be used appropriately with any

research paradigm´ (p.105)

Sieber (1973 cited in Johnson et al., 2007) suggests a sound basis or reasoning for mixing

both the quantitative and qualitative methods, as such a combination can be effective at the

research design, data collection, and data analysis stages of the research process. The present

research tries to use this argument, because during the research design stage, quantitative data

can complement the qualitative data by identifying both the representative sample group as

well as outliers (non-suitable respondents).

3.1 Methodology ConclusionIn conclusion, it is decided to use a mixed methodological approach for this project. Previous

research conducted on Facebook by Lampe, Ellison and Steinfield (2008) employed mixed

method approach. They have studied the changes in usage patterns and perception of

Facebook, and have used surveys and interviews to assess the student¶s attitudes. This present

research will follow the procedure adopted by the above authors, by implementing mixed

methods. Despite the arguments supporting the view of triangulation (mixed methods), there

has been some criticism as well. Giddings (2006) suggests that:

³The claim that mixed methods is the third methodological movement is based on the

erroneous assumption that mixing qualitative and quantitative methods will produce

the best of both worlds.´ (p.202)

On the other hand, it is argued that although survey and focus group techniques are derived

from different theoretical approaches, there is nothing fundamental in the methods

themselves that prohibits their combination (Wolff, Knodel & Sittitrai, 1993cited in Morgan,

1993a) and moreover, the survey research component strengthens external validity or

representativeness that are the inherent limitations of small-scale , in-depth qualitativeresearch (Campbell & Stanled, 1966; Cook & Campbell, 1979 cited in Wolff et al., 1993)

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4. Methods

The following methods will be used to collect data for this research:

4.1. Questionnaire Survey

4.1.1. Questionnaire Design:The survey questionnaire would consist of 14 questions. The first few questions would be of

demographic nature (concerning the age and gender). The next set of questions would be

screening questions (to find out if respondents belong to any online social networks such as

Facebook, Twitter etc). The other set of questions would be specifically related to Facebook,

such as their usage of the networks, their knowledge and attitudes towards Facebook, and

also their attitudes towards relationship marketing adopted by organisations on social

networks. Final question would be an open-ended question seeking any comments from the

respondents (positive or negative), related to the commercial organizations presence in socialnetworks.

Following are the sample questions that would be a part of the main questionnaire-- Do long

time users of social networks have different usage patterns than the new users?Do

experienced users tend to maintain a long term relationship than the new users, with the

commercial organizations on social networks? In order to answer these questions, a T-Test

would be performed to find out if there are any significant differences in the means for the

two groups. A value of p<0.05 is consideredto be statistically significant.

Yin (1994) argues that defining the research questions is the most important step to be taken

into consideration in a research study and sufficient time and patience should be allowed for

this task and as such, care was taken within the questionnaire design to ensure it is not very

long and time consuming to answer and in addition, design issues such as appearance of the

questionnaire, its layout, and readability were taken into consideration to reduce the non-

response and increase response rate (Wilson, 1996)

Preece (1994) suggests that questionnaire should be as short as possible as it facilitates ease

in evaluation and most importantly, sustains the interest and cooperation of the respondents.

Questions were designed keeping in view the purpose of the research and care was taken to

avoid unambiguous questions and technical terminology.

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The survey design was based on similar study conducted by Gross and Acquisti (2005),

Lampe et al (2008) and other researchers. The researcher intends to conduct a pilot study

prior to the finalizing the survey questions and design.

4.1.2. Pilot Study

Pilot study exploration is a small-scale trial prior to the main investigation to assess the

adequacy of the research design and of the instruments to be used for data collection (Wilson

1996).A few students having familiarity with the online social networks would be chosen for

the sample study, as they would be the representative of the target population that the main

research intends to cover. The idea behind this pilot study is to ascertain whether participants

understand the questions phrased and also to know the approximate time taken to complete

the questionnaire. In order to check the internal consistency and reliability and of the

questionnaire, Cronbach¶s alpha test would be performed using SPSS software. It is

suggested that a value of 0.85 or more is usually considered to represent sufficient reliability

and anything less than 0.70 would mean the measure is suspect (Kervin, 1992)

4.1.3. Sample Selection for Questionnaire

The target population would be the undergraduate and postgraduate students (both male and

female) from different age groups, regions and studying different field of programmes within

the Liverpool John Moores University (Faculty of Business and Law) and the sample

population would be derived from this broad target group. Sample population is being

selected from the university as it is understood that social networks such as Facebook¶s

market penetration is very impressive among the colleges and universities (Acquisti & Gross,

2006). The proposed sampling technique would be a Simple random sampling. This rationale

behind selecting this technique is that it allows all cases in the population to have an equal

chance of appearing in the sample and further, all possible samples of a given size µn¶ (i.e., all

possible combinations of n cases) have got an equal chance of being selected (Kervin, 1992).

In addition, according to Sekaran (2003), simple random sampling has the least bias and

offers the most generalizability. As it would not be practically possible to collect data fromthe entire target population, a sample size of 120 participants would be chosen from the target

population. The questionnaires would be randomly distributed to the students within the

Aldham Roberts Learning Resource Centre (LRC). The library setting is chosen as it would

be convenient to get access to a number of students in the same place and moreover, there

would not be any time constraints while filling the survey, as opposed to a class room setting,

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where non-response to the survey could be high, as the students might leave the class once

the lecture is completed.

4.2. Recruitment of Participants for Focus Group

The focus group would consist of 6 participants, out of which, 2 participants would be the

students who answered the questionnaire and 2 students who were not a part of the survey.

These 2 students would be included to allow for triangulation and also to allow new insights

not related to the survey. The sample size of 6 participants was supported by in a work by

Kruger (1995 cited in Twinn, 1998) who argues that, in order to maximize the quality of data,

6 to 8 participants would be the most appropriate. Focus group participants would not be

selected through a simple random selection as it is necessary to have some sort of

awarenessabout the topic being discussed. This approach to specifically include survey

participants in the focus group is suggested by Morgan (1996) who argues that qualitative

follow-up methods, including focus groups is to recontact survey respondents for illustrative

material that can quoted in combination with quantitative findings. As mentioned in the

methodology, the primary purpose of the focus group is to verify the survey results and not to

generate new ideas and themes for survey variables.

4.2.1Focus Group Setting

It is suggested that the date, time, and place are convenient for the participants (Krueger &

Casey, 2009) and accordingly,participants will be requested about the availability; focus

group would be conducted in one of the discussion rooms in the library and would be video-

taped (the permission to record would be asked in the interview consent form). Also,

permission would be taken from the library management to conduct the focus group

discussion. The researcher would be acting as the moderator in the focus group to keep the

discussion within the boundaries of the topic and also to encourage brainstorming and free

expression of ideas and opinions (Saunders et al., 2007). As the researcher cannot conduct the

session and video-record at the same time, he would like to take help from his colleague who

would be recording the session and take notes, if necessary. The researcher understands that it

takes effort to participate in the focus group and participants need to sacrifice some time out

of their schedule to be able to participate; hence, the researcher intends to introduce some sort

of non-monetary incentives (such as a gift voucher) to encourage active participation and

involvement.

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4.3. Data Analysis and Focus Group Transcription

Questionnaire has been adopted to gather the data from several items such as age, gender,

usage of social networks, attitude towards relationship marketing, willingness to associate

with a particular organization etc. Statistical analysis tool SPSS would be used to analyze the

collected data and to test the frequencies and correlation among the above mentioned items.

QSRNvivo would be used in order to transcribe the data collected through focus group, and

also to analyze and organize the focus group data. Nodes within the interview transcripts will

be developed so that the researcher could ascertain and triangulate the resultant themes.

5. Personal Suitability

The researcher holds a bachelor¶s degree in business studies from Nagarjuna University

(India) and marketing is one of the core modules. The researcher is a long time user of online

social networks and regularly communicates with his friends and colleagues through the

social networks. He is also a member of some commercial organizations on the online social

media and actively takes part in the discussions conducted by those organizations online.

These discussions are intended to obtain feedback about the company¶s products and services

and occasionally, informing about any announcements and new products introduced by the

company. The researcher would like to make a career in the marketing field and these results

would help him to identify the factors that consumers consider before they make a decision

whether or not to become a member of a particular organization. Also, the research results

would give some insights into the appropriate and effective ways of directly communicating

with the consumers on the social networks. The research results would help the researcher to

identify the importance of brand value and brand image, and the factors that could increase

the brand awareness on the social networks.

6. Project Management and Resources

The project would commence in the first week of July, 2010 and finish by the end of

November, 2010. A project plan draft is presented in the appendix (produced using Microsoft

Project). The research has no plans to take any holiday and as such, the total available time

from July till November will be devoted to the completion of the research project. Time has

been identified as the biggest resource requirement as the whole project is a step-by-step

process and each stage is dependent on the other. Accordingly, sufficient time

(5 months) has been allocated in the project plan. The other resource would be the learning

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resources such as access to secondary sources of information such as electronic journal

databases, texts, which are available in the university library.The researcher expects certain

costs by way of drinks and refreshments during the focus group as a way of motivating and

encouraging participants to actively involve in the discussion. Finally, a video recorder would

be borrowed from the university to record the focus group.

7. Ethics consideration

The respondents of both the questionnaire and the focus group will be informed that the

survey is a confidential survey that is based upon respondent anonymity and does not involve

the disclosure of identities to others except for research purposes. A participant consent form

will be given along with each questionnaire seeking participants consent to participate in the

research. The consent form would state the issues about anonymity, confidentiality, right to

withdraw information, data storage and destruction. Similar procedures would be followed

for the focus group as well. All the data within this research will be solely used for academic

purpose.

8. Limitations

The present research does not aim to explain about consumer attitude towards online

marketing tools such as email campaigns, online adverts, and banner ads on specific websites,

Web 2.0 strategies, blogs, e-commerce, etc. It is specifically concerned with the student¶s

attitude towards relationship marketing practices adopted by the commercial organizations on

online social networks. Also, the study is restricted to only two online social networking sites

namely, Facebook and Twitter, as they are perceived to be the largest online social networks.

These sites are chosen as they are a large number of student population involved in these

websites.

9. Protocol

A brief introduction about the research project would be included in the questionnaire and

will be given to the participants in person. In the questionnaire, individuals will be informed

that the research is being carried out under the principles of 'Informed Consent'. Completed

questionnaires will be collected and filed for entry into SPSS. In the focus group, participants

will be informed that the focus group would be recorded and their privacy and confidentiality

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will be maintained; further they will be informed about the option to terminate the focus

group at any point of time during the discussion.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 1

1.1Problem Outline ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................... 1

1.2 Purpose ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 2

2. Literature Review ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 3

2.1. Relationship Marketing ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 3

2.2. Online Social Networks ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 4

2.3. Brand Communities ................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 5

2.4. Virtual Communities ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 5

3. Methodology ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ 6

3.1 Methodology Conclusion ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 8

4. Methods ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 9

4.1. Questionnaire Survey ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 9

4.1.1. Questionnaire Design: ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 9

4.1.2. Pilot Study ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 10

4.1.3. Sample Selection for Questionnaire ................................ ................................ ......... 10

4.2. Recruitment of Participants for Focus Group ................................ ................................ .. 11

4.2.1Focus Group Setting ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 11

4.3. Data Analysis and Focus Group Transcription ................................ ............................... 12

5. Personal Suitability ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 12

6. Project Management and Resources................................ ................................ ...................... 12

7. Ethics consideration ................................ ................................ ................................ ................. 13

8. Limitations ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 13

9. Protocol................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 13

REFERENCES................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 15

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Learning Style Assessment:

AC-CE =2

AE-RO =-14 Goi by t score, t e preferred style of research isInducti e.

(Adapter from Kol b and McCar thy in Kol b, 1984)

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