Research Methodes

Research Methods Assignment

Name: Heba M. Ali

Student No.: STU20199

Prof.: Dr. John Vaughan

Word count: 3900

Due Date: 21nd October 2013

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE...........................................................................................................................2

1.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................3

1.2 Background of Kuwait Businesses Climate......................................................................3

1.2.1 Political features..........................................................................................................3

1.2.2 Economic features.......................................................................................................4

1.2.3 Social Features.............................................................................................................5

1.3 Technological Environmental and Legal Highlights.........................................................6

1.4 Statement of the Problem..............................................................................................7

1.5 Objectives of the Study...................................................................................................7

1.6 Research Questions.........................................................................................................8

1.7 Hypothesis......................................................................................................................8

1.8 Scope and Limitation of the Study..................................................................................8

CHAPTER TWO..........................................................................................................................9

LITERATURE REVIEW.................................................................................................................9

Summary and Gaps in Literature Review............................................................................12

CHAPTER THREE......................................................................................................................13

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY...............................................................................15

3.0. Introduction.................................................................................................................15

3.1 Research Design............................................................................................................15

3.2 Sampling Procedure......................................................................................................16

3.3 Method of Data Collection............................................................................................16

3.4 Data Analysis and Skills Audit........................................................................................17

Project Plan.............................................................................................................................18

Recommendations..............................................................................................................19

Conclusion..........................................................................................................................19

References………………………………………………………………………………………………………………20

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CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Introduction

In this chapter we will examine the background of the study, statement of

the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, significance, justification,

research questions, limitations, state the hypothesis and give the scope of the study.

Both globalization and the Internet have redesigned competition throughout

the world and Kuwait market is exhibiting a striking growth utilizing both Internet

marketing as well as ordinary marketing theories, Internet marketing is starting to

appear as an essential part of business strategies in today’s technologically modern

world. In this research, we intend to examine Kuwait’s patterns in business

organizations in embracing Internet Marketing. In this sentiments, a quantitative

analysis is done among 200 firms of Kuwait’s organizations and companies with an

attempt of discovering the degree that they have reached in putting to use Internet

Marketing as well as to determine the effects attracted on the gradual growth of

their products and pricing policy that affected by the consumer research where

these firms conduct through Internet Marketing.

There exist abundant factors in the macro-environment that influence any

organisation. Some examples of macro change include: changes in tax, new laws,

trade barriers, demographic change and changes in government policy. To aid better

comprehension and analyse these factors, analysts are able to group them using the

PESTEL model (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal).

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1.2 Background of Kuwait Businesses Climate (PESTEL Model)

1.2.1 Political features

Twelve years later Kuwait played host to one more colossal military outward

appearance as thousands of soldiers collected on the Iraq border for the US-led

campaign in 2003 in an attempt to pacify and oust the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The Iraq border remains a significant transit path for civilians and soldiers moving in

and out of Iraq (U.S. Department of State, 2013). Kuwait is a constitutional,

hereditary country governed by the princes who belong to the royal family (Al Sabah

family). The crowned prince is second in power to The Amir, the head of state. He

succeeds the Amir upon his death. The national assembly plays a very minor role in

the selection of the crown prince and the prime minister (also a member of the royal

family). The rest of the members of the national assembly and ministers are

appointed via formal elections, where only Kuwait citizens can vote. Kuwait has

maintained a positive foreign association with the rest of the world particularly as a

significant piece of the United States of America. The Iraq invasion of Kuwait, a

member of the Arab countries in the year 1990 was a major setback for the region.

Despite it being a year of total chaos and destruction for the region, it did not

prevent Kuwait from rebuilding and catching up once the US led coalition forces in

1991 (U.S. Department of State, 2013).

1.2.2 Economic features

Kuwait is a geographically trivial but economically rich nation, with an elated per

capita income and GDP, approximately estimated at $52,000 and $131 billion

respectively and is anticipated to cultivate over the years basing on the Central

Intelligence Agency, 2013 and International Monetary Fund, 2013 reports. It is

affluent with oil and accounts for approximately 10 % of the world's oil reserves.

Petroleum accounts for more than 50% of the GDP, 95% of export revenues, and

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80% of government income (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013; International

Monetary Fund, 2013), Trade (2010 estimation) Imports--$21.61 billion; food,

construction materials, vehicles and parts, clothing Exports--$63.27 billion of which

oil constitutes 93% (U.S. Department of State, 2013). As a result of the oil

prices, Kuwait endured the economic crisis in 2008-2009. Besides that, it recorded its

11th consecutive budget surplus. In an attempt of boosting the involvement of the

private sector as well as foreign investment, the government has been initiating

economic reforms. Additional significant features include: no form of income tax on

earnings, low foreign corporate tax (flat 15%), and very little import taxes (4%).

Cyrille Fabre, both a partner and Head of Luxury and Retail practice for Bain and Co.

in the Middle East disputes that the Middle East, particularly Kuwait, is an

increasingly profitable market for costly and luxurious goods. As a result of this, the

future is expected to yield glad-tidings in the form of approximately 8% growth in the

global luxury goods sale in 2011 (Fabre, 2011).

1.2.3 Social Features

Kuwait has a population of about 2.6 million people. The number is exclusive

of 1.3 million non-nationals (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013; and Bernstein, 2001).

Approximately 60% of the population is Arab. Although Arabic is the official

language, English is greatly used mainly for business purposes. 20% of the

population, all being Kuwait nationals, is responsible for 80% of the National Income

(Cbk, 2013). Over 90% of the population inhabits within a 500 sq. km. area adjacent

to Kuwait city and its harbour (BBC News, 2013). Kuwait gained independence in

1961 from the United Kingdom (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). 85% of the

population are Muslims, which is inclusive of 100% of the nationals of Kuwait. The

publics have strong Islamic values attached to their culture and traditions. Other

religions in Kuwait include Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism (U.S.

Department of State, 2013). Some of the benefits that the Kuwait residents get are

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in the mode of housing loans, marriage bonuses, retirement income, virtually

guaranteed employment, complimentary medical services, and education at all

stages (BBC News, 2013).

Moreover, students who aspire to study abroad are usually sponsored by the

government. The government occasionally gives out a quota of its budget surplus as

a grant to all Kuwait citizens as per the Amiri decree. In 2007, the government

executed a debt forgiveness scheme for Kuwait citizens summing up to just over $1

billion (U.S. Department of State, 2013). In February 2011, the government declared

a grant of about 1.5 billion dinars which is about $5.3 billion, and includes 1,000

dinars (approximately $3,500) to be given to each resident together with free

monthly food baskets to every Kuwait family for the next 14 months? Unfortunately,

foreign nationals living in Kuwait are not beneficiaries of such welfare actions.

Possessing stock in companies that are publicly traded, banks, real estate and/or

acquiring leading stakes in businesses are restricted to Kuwait citizens and citizens of

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries under limited circumstances (U.S.

Department of State, 2013). Kuwait is the most literate amongst the other Arab

nations with a literacy rate of 93.

1.3 Technological Environmental and Legal Highlights

Kuwait has made tremendous technological progress with private owned

media operating hand in hand with state owned radio and television stations

alongside several satellite Pan-Arabic stations. According to Internet World Stats

(2013) there were 1.1 million internet users in Kuwait by June 2013 despite the

country’s pervasive filtering tool that denies users access to sites that are regarded

as politically sensitive or immoral. In cyber cafes, the owners are required to acquire

ID numbers and names of all customers. Kuwait, however, has miles to go with

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regards to internet penetration as most of the citizens are yet to embrace the use of

internet (Internet World Stats, n.d.).

The Arabian Sea connects to Kuwait creating beaches on the coastline, a

different scene from the usual desert. The country is characterized by harsh

environmental conditions such as winters that are short and cold to summers that

very hot. Sandstorms are a common occurrence between June and July as a result of

the North Westerly wind known as Shamal (U.S. Department of State, 2013).

When it comes to press freedom, Kuwait takes the lead in the Gulf States; however,

there is a limit on matters that relate to senior royals and the emir. The Ministry of

Information grants licences to all publishers’ even newspapers and censors both

local periodicals, books, films and imported materials that are regarded to be

morally offensive.

1.4 Statement of the Problem

A new business trend that has been developing is internet marketing partly

because a lot of the businesses use it to manufacture and supply their products and

services to the masses in hope of creating trust. Not every business is happy with

internet marketing or uses the trend since they are worried about the consequences

of internet marketing on their survivability. This study will find out what effect

internet marketing brings to the businesses in Kuwait.

1.5 Objectives of the Study

The study aims to find out how internet marketing affects businesses in the Retail

sector in Kuwait. Other objectives and purposes of the study are:

i. Determining how Retail companies benefit from internet marketing

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ii. Determining how they may also suffer or experience negative effects from

internet marketing

iii. Identifying if internet marketing is a risk to these companies in Kuwait

iv. Comparing between some selective examples of online campaigns and

Marketing processes of Retail companies.

v. Collecting the thoughts of Retail customers and their feedbacks about online

campaigns.

1.6 Research Questions

In order to accomplish the objectives of the research, the questions below will be

focused on:

i. What is the level of customer research that the company conducts through

Internet Marketing?

ii. Has the result led to better development of products offered by Retail

companies?

iii. Whether the results are used to set the price of the company’s range of

products among others?

iv. Has the overall company’s profit increased because of the obtained results?

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1.7 Hypothesis

The following hypotheses will be postulated for the research: Try to portray

current experiences and conditions in relation to internet marketing or reactions and

impression of the research participants about the trend.

1.8 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The data collected from this research will be of benefit to business leaders

and industry analysts in the Retail field as well as internet marketing companies,

researchers and anyone interested in the topic. This study will have a few limitations

such as time constraints which will be due to the time taken to prepare and make

sure that the project progresses smoothly. Another issue that may arise during the

study is concerns of confidentiality of information and the participants not wishing to

take part because of various reasons.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Internet and Marketing Strategies

Marketing boosts the sale of goods and services. In discovering whether

ethical standards should influence marketing motives and methods, one likely retort

would be to reject any ethical significance and solely depend on the theory of caveat

emptor, i.e. let the consumer beware. Using this tactic, the retailer can pursue to

maximize self-interest profits by using the most cost-efficient and profit-effective

approaches of multiplying product sales (Kline, 2005). However, such free interplay

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might lead to the utmost efficiency profits for all parties, based on the economic

market theory. In real-world practice, market catastrophes arise when retailer and

consumer function on very diverse levels of knowledge and capability, generating

calls for reimbursing actions to encourage more just, fair and even more thriftily

effective results (Kline, 2005).

Ethical marketing must use communication techniques that guarantee all

prospective customers know of the possible dangers and advocated safe-use

practises. Specifically, marketing methods using imagery or exaggeration similarly

influence differently on separate audiences. Marketing techniques differ according

to the multiple events that transpire within the external environment. Always,

marketing techniques are accompanied by use of ethical choices whereas the

relationship between the environment and company is place into reflection.

Some of Marketing Theories and Techniques:

The Marketing Mix (5 Ps) SOWT Analysis Stakeholder Map The Consumer Decision Making Process The Marketing Environment Segmenting Consumer Markets Maslow's hierarchy of needs BCG Matrix PESTEL Analysis (Professional academy, n.d.)

Impact of Internet Marketing on Business

When a change occurs in majority of the industries then it is only logical to expect

the value chains respective companies to change as well. Undeniably, if the economy

substructure of a country happened to change, then those changes would likely not

occur without strategic management consequences. The rise in questioning of the

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lack of time by participants who were keen in marketing practices led to future

multiple concepts of speed economies. Previous focus by marketing managers was

on broadcasting, persuasion, and transactions that lacked reactive or active

feedback. However, feedback loops, interactivity, dialogue, and relationships were

now the new focus of the marketing managers (Steinbock 2000).

The World Wide Web and the Internet sensational growth has presented

questions regarding the influence these tools bring or have on the mass media in

addition to activities that are not associated with the media. Shops are now able to

provide their clients with sales through the use of electronic inventories that list all

products and their respective prices. The marketing communication that takes place

under this environment is similar to that of point-of-purchase promotions. Point of

purchase blends features of in-store shopping together with direct marketing

and presents the likelihood to be immensely effective than any of the two. Though,

at the moment all this has been hindered as a result of the sluggish spread of online

interaction and unawareness on the marketers' part on trends of online shopping

(Schumann & Thorson 1999).

Internet marketing can be through flat ads that contain modest non related

information, sites with pictures that generate an emotional attractiveness to buyers,

or sites with information that give comprehensive balanced information on the

company or the products/services it offers. Flat ads look like the adverts in

magazines. Picture sites mix the type of corporate message and images that may be

related with sponsorship of sporting events by corporates. Information sites most

times look like corporate brochures (Schumann & Thorson 1999).

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Today, internet marketing is gradually becoming important to companies as

some organizations have identified it as a crucial novelty. The reason being the

constructive differences it has made to several businesses.

Internet Marketing can add advantages to the businesses by providing them

many features. It’s nowadays a power option and the business can use it to make

their around the clock existence on the planet as the consumers get the chance to

buy and request products and services any time. It is easy for the customers now to

leave their comments and feedbacks. This technology has built up better relations

between the customers and the organizations, by this way the businesses activities

are expanded and the organizations get higher rates of gross due to the raise of

interest of consumers to their product (Buhalis, Collins & Peters, p483, 2003)

Digital Marketing Mix

Advertise

1. Digital Display

2. Pay per click advertising

Sell

1. Virtual Staff

2. Affiliate Marketing

Sales Promotion

1. Incentive programs

2. initiatives

3. Loyalty programs

Public Relations

1. Editing

2. Blogs

3. Social Network

Sponsorship

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Direct Marketing

1. Email Campaigns

2. Newsletters

3. Catalogue submission

Merchandising

1. Promotions and services

2. Alerts

3. Recommendations

4. Virtual tours

5. Products documentations

Seminars

1. Webinars

2. Whitepaper submission

3. Pod casts

Word of Mouth

1. Viral Marketing

2. Affiliate Marketing

3. Forward to friend

4. Links (Steinbock, 2000)

Benefits of Using Internet Marketing in Business

Reaching Maximum information of the transactional and relational

environment.

Low information search costs for seekers.

Electronic portal proximity of buyers and sellers

Great interval between time of buying and time of receiving tangible

products purchased in online marketplace (Varadarajan and Yadav, 2002, pp.

296--312).

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Internet Usage Trends in Kuwait

Internet services are covering all over the country, supported by 4 major ISPs

challenging with each other. The investment in infrastructure has encouraged

market development, and maximum speeds of 8Mb/s available on the government

lines copper network. other access network platforms available such as FttH, WiMAX

and mobile have been supported, with the increase of demand in the market

resulted in the market status and advantages of the mobile network providers,

Services are presented by Zain, Wataniya and Viva (Internet World Stats, n.d.).

Current Situation of Internet Marketing in Kuwait

According to IWS, 1,963,565 Internet users as of June/2012, 74.2% of the population

(Internet World Stats, n.d.).

YEAR Users Population % Pop. Usage Source

2000 150,000 2,424,422 5.8 % ITU

2003 567,000 2,530,012 22.4 % ITU

2005 600,000 2,630,775 22.8 % ITU

2008 900,000 2,596,799 34.7 % ITU

2009 1,000,000 2,692,526 37.1 % ITU

2010 1,100,000 2,789,132 39.4 % ITU

2012 1,963,565 2,646,314 74.2 % IWS

(Internet World Stats, n.d.)

According to Mvfglobal.com, The Search engine market share in Kuwait was

estimated to be for Google search engine 89% market share distributed between

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http://www.internetworldstats.com/

http://www.itu.int/home/

http://www.itu.int/home/

85% Google, 2% Google UK, 1% Google Russia & 1% Google Egypt. While for Yahoo

search keywords 4% search engine market share & Bing only 2%, the rest 4% is a

combination of other countries related to Google webs and not famous search

engines like Dog pile, Badu & AOL. The most popular 5 search keywords are “Kuwait”

in Arabic (الكويت) in first position and the English word in the second position.

Facebook is the third in the list in search term according to Google Insights then You

Tube in Arabic (يوتيوب) and in English. The main language of Kuwait is Arabic that is

why they search mostly in Arabic than English. Digital marketers are being

recommended to have Arabic version websites to gain the maximum traffic. Top

internet properties in Kuwait are the online famous Kuwait magazines and the lead

tend to appear digital in social media than the search engines plus the popular

retailers’ catalogues and brochures online (MVF Global Customer Aquisition, n.d.).

Summary and Gaps in Literature Review

The study reviewed literature on the various factors that influence the adoption

of internet marketing by the businesses. The section comprises material from both

developed and developing countries business and the challenges and opportunities

that they experience from integration of internet marketing in their business

operations. The study was able to identify both internal and external environment

forces that influence business trend in using internet marketing.

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CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.0. Introduction

This section of the study addresses the methodological issue of the study

where it elaborates the research techniques that will be applied by the study. These

comprise of the research design, population target, sampling techniques of data

collection and analysis. The researcher also provides an explanation on why the

specific methods are appropriate for the study.

3.1 Research Design

The procedure that is going to be used in the planned study is a descriptive

survey aimed at finding the influence that internet marketing has brought to the

Retail business sector in Kuwait. Descriptive research attempts to discover the

reason of a specific situation or event. It also looks to impart details about the status

and nature of a status quo, since it is present when the study is being conducted

(Creswell, 1994). Furthermore, such processes attempts to portray existing

situations, systems or events centred on the reactions or thoughts of the

respondents of the study. Essentially, a descriptive research makes use of surveys

and observations. Therefore, the research calls for utilization of this method since it

is the aim of the research to collect from Retails senior managers and various related

individuals first-hand information about the benefits or drawbacks internet

marketing has brought in the whole industry and on a per company basis.

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The descriptive method is in addition to the above more practical, cost-

effective and faster. What is more is that the procedure will permit an approach that

is flexible, therefore, when significant new questions, probabilities, or issues arise at

some point during the study, a further confirmation and investigation may be

permitted. Finally this kind of method will allow dropping of unproductive parts of

the research from the initial proposal of the analysis. The design and choice

approaches are continually changed all through the data collecting centred on going

study. This shall make way for conception of a study of significant new questions,

probabilities, concerns, and issues as they arise.

3.2 Sampling Procedure

To decide on the total respondents that are going to be requested to take

part and provide information on the study topic, random sampling is going to be

used. The respondents will be 20 senior managers from the top Retails companies in

Kuwait. Some of the senior managers will be asked for an interview. It is preferred

that the participants must have been working for the company for a period of not

less than two years. This will facilitate the collection of accurate data. The

participants need to have been in employment by the company as a senior manager

for more than two years in order for the information that will be collected from

them to be analysed and bettered through the many practical experiences they have

so far had.

3.3 Method of Data Collection

The empirical study will use interview and questionnaire techniques to collect

important data beside online data collection from the selected Retails companies’

websites. The interview and questionnaire shall be created in a manner that the

respondents shall take less time to answer it. Additionally, the investigator will use

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interviews that are structured to have open ended questions. Through the use of

such techniques the research can be investigated deeper and will give a clear insight

to internet marketing in Kuwait.

3.4 Data AnalysisData collected from the field will be coded and analysed by the researcher

and then the ensuing results of the study will be arranged and presented in

accordance with the study objectives. The researcher will use quantitative forms of

presenting data such as graphs, tables and pie charts showing the trends,

percentages and frequencies. Qualitative forms of data presentation will also be

used to complement the quantitative data, for example narrations, explanations and

descriptions in order to provide a more concise and elaborate presentation and

interpretation.

Knowledge and Skills Audit

Skills Rate

planning 1 2 3 4 5

Time management 1 2 3 4 5

Knowledge recalling 1 2 3 4 5

Knowledge management 1 2 3 4 5

Analytical skills 1 2 3 4 5

Calculation 1 2 3 4 5

Interpretation 1 2 3 4 5

Evaluative 1 2 3 4 5

Problem-solving skill 1 2 3 4 5

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Creative thinking 1 2 3 4 5

Reading for different topics 1 2 3 4 5

Reviewing the literature critic. 1 2 3 4 5

Writing for different subjects

1 2 3 4 5

Writing articles 1 2 3 4 5

Structuring & presenting papers

1 2 3 4 5

Managing discussion 1 2 3 4 5

(Prince, 2013)

Project Plan

This project will start at week 2 and finish by week 6. Table 1 that is presented below

displays the tasks that will be initiated each week.

Table 1: The schedule of tasks that will be covered in this project.

Week Task

Week 1 Submit the proposal

Week 2 Literature review

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Week 3 Collect data

Week 4 Contact selected Participants

Week 5 Interviews

Week 6Surveys of Customers

Week 7 Data Analysis

Week 8 Write final report

Week 12 Final report hand in.

Recommendations

This section will list three recommendations that are to be made from the analysis of

the results of internet marketing and its effects in telecommunications industry in

Kuwait.

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Conclusion

To conclude, in this project, we will find out if internet marketing has benefited the

telecommunications industry in Kuwait or not, and what the outcomes are.

References

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BBC News. 2013. Kuwait profile. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14644252#overview [Accessed: 20 Sep 2013].

Bernstein, P. 2001. The Ernst & Young tax guide, 2001. New York: Wiley.

Buhalis, D., Collins, C. & Peters, M. 2003. Enhancing SMTE’s business performance through the Internet and e-learning platforms, Education + Training, 45 (8/9): 483 – 494.

Cbk. 2013. Central Bank of Kuwait. [online] Available at: http://www.cbk.gov.kw/WWW/index.html [Accessed: 05 Oct 2013].

Central Intelligence Agency. 2013. The World Factbook. [online] Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ku.html#top [Accessed: 01 Oct 2013].

Creswell, J. 1994. Research design. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.

Fabre, C. (2011). Luxury Goods: Worldwide Market study: Sprong 2011 Update. Milan: Bain & Company.

International Monetary Fund. 2013. Kuwait and the IMF -- Page 1 of 4. [online] Available at: http://www.imf.org/external/country/KWT/index.htm [Accessed: 01 Oct 2013].

Internet World Stats. n.d. Kuwait Internet Usage and Telecommunications Report. [online] Available at: http://www.internetworldstats.com/me/kw.htm [Accessed: 03 Oct 2013].

Kline, J. 2005. Ethics for international business. London: Routledge.

MVF Global Customer Aquisition. n.d. Internet Marketing | Lead Generation in Kuwait. [online] Available at: http://www.mvfglobal.com/kuwait [Accessed: 03 Oct 2013].

Prince., C. 2013. Palgrave.com - academic publisher serving learning and scholarship in higher education and the professional world. [online] Available at: http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/html/postgrad/postgrad_audit.htm [Accessed: 11 Oct 2013].

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U.S. Department of State. 2013. Kuwait. [online] Available at: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35876.htm [Accessed: 1 Oct 2013].

Varadarajan, P. and Yadav, M. 2002. Marketing strategy and the internet: an organizing framework. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 30 (4), pp. 296--312.

Schumann, D. and Thorson, E. 1999. Advertising and the World Wide Web. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Steinbock, D. 2000. The birth of Internet marketing communications. Westport, Conn.: Quorum.

Professional academy. n.d. Marketing Theories • Professional Academy. [online] Available at: http://www.professionalacademy.com/cim-marketing-courses/marketing-theories [Accessed: 01 Oct 2013].

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Research Methodes

Data & Analytics

Transcript of Research Methodes