Sample Research Proposal - 2

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Research Proposal
on
Analysis of the importance of social media in building customer loyalty in
Telecommunications industry in Bangladesh

Word Count: 2574

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Rationale of this study ............................................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Research Aims .............................................................................................................................................................. 4
1.3 Research Objectives ................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.4 Research Questions .................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Research Hypothesis.................................................................................................................................................. 4
2. Literature Review ............................................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Social media ................................................................................................................................................................... 5
2.2 Social network services ............................................................................................................................................ 5
2.3 Social Media and Marketing .................................................................................................................................... 5
2.4 Social Media and Branding ...................................................................................................................................... 6
2.5 Branding, Brand Equity and Customer Loyalty .............................................................................................. 6
2.6 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................................................................ 6
3. Research Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
3.1 Type of Investigation ................................................................................................................................................. 7
3.2 Data Collection Method............................................................................................................................................. 8
3.3 Sampling Method......................................................................................................................................................... 8
3.4 Accessibility Issues ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
3.5 Ethical Issues................................................................................................................................................................. 8
4. Anticipated Findings.......................................................................................................................................................... 9
5. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Reference .................................................................................................................................................................................. 10
Appendix A : Dissertation Structure .............................................................................................................................. 11
Appendix B : Research Time Frame ............................................................................................................................... 12

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1. Introduction
Social media marketing is a new form of marketing. Currently it is generating a lot of interest
(Brogan, 2010). Marketing has changed due to introduction of the internet and social media. It
brings both possibilities and challenges. The use of traditional marketing models and theories has
also challenged by the ever-evolving field of social media (Kasbo, 2008). Traditionally, advertisers
spent most of their marketing budgets on TV advertising but now a day the numbers are decreasing
(Buzzeo, 2010). The reason for this is that internet is getting more and more consumer attention
and all traditional media have a diminished share of how much time is spent with the media. In
Europe and America over 80% of teens and young adults are using different types of social media
(Li, Wang and Cai, 2011).
Due to the above fact global companies are moving towards social media marketing rather than
traditional forms of marketing. Soft drink giant Coca-cola is already integrating Facebook as a part
of their marketing plans with 20 million of Facebook fans (Wortham, 2010). Companies of all sizes
are using social media whether based in developed or developing countries. In Bangladesh, many
organizations are also promoting in social media especially organizations of telecom industry.
Under telecommunications industry in Bangladesh six mobile phone operators are competing with
each other and trying gain substantial market share. Previously they spent 90% of their marketing
budget in traditional form of advertising such as TV and news paper advert. But now companies
such Grameen Phone and Banglalink are moving towards social marketing and spending substantial
amount of money (Choudhury, 2012). However, other organizations are slow in this regard and still
focusing on traditional form of marketing. Therefore, this research is going to investigate the
importance of social media in building the customer loyalty for the telecom industry in Bangladesh.

1.1 Rationale of this study

As discussed above, companies of all sizes are using social media in recent years to promote their
product and services. Since most of them are free to join in and can be managed with a low budget
(Wortham, 2010). Buzzeo (2010) stated that 72% of the Fortune 500 companies have Facebook
accounts and CEOs of all of the Fortune 500 companies have LinkedIn accounts. Even small
companies can benefit from the usage of social media as it can be managed with low budget as
discussed above. Although social media marketing is much popular in the developed world but the
potential benefits of it are less highlighted in the developing markets like Bangladesh (Bradshaw,
2010). No researchers have conducted or documented empirical research in Bangladesh in this
regard despite the importance of social media for building customer loyalty.
As there is no such research available for Bangladesh context, the researcher decided to conduct
this study to eliminate the research gap in this field. However, the telecom industry has been
selected as it is the most rising industry in Bangladesh and their business depends on customer
relationship and trust.
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This research may contribute to the literature in many ways (Choudhury, 2012). The outcome of
this study can help the corporate decision makers in designing customer focused marketing
strategy by using social media (Bruns, 2008). On the other hand this research may contribute to
fulfil the business objectives of different industries in Bangladesh through increased understanding
and proper use of social media (Li, Wang and Cai, 2011). Moreover, the purpose of selecting this
topic by the researcher was due to the personal interest held by the researcher about social media
marketing.
1.2 Research Aims
This study will concentrate on social media and its importance to ensure customer loyalty.
Therefore, the main aim of this research is to find out the impact of social media marketing upon
the consumer loyalty in Bangladesh context. To fulfil the aim of this study the following objectives
have been identified and presented below.
1.3 Research Objectives

To examine the importance of social media as a marketing platform

To find out how social media marketing can build strong customer loyalty.
To determine the impact of social media marketing on customer loyalty and overall
corporate performance of telecom companies in Bangladesh.
To recommend how social media can be used effectively to build customer loyalty in
Telecommunications industry in Bangladesh

1.4 Research Questions

Now social media is in the midst of its boom (Nambisan & Watt, 2011). However, research is
somewhere lagging behind and it is yet to be identified how social media can be a part of branding
process to ensure customer loyalty (Kasbo, 2008). So, finding out answer of the following questions
can help to fulfil the research objectives.

How social media can a marketing platform for the selected industry?
How social media can be a part of branding process to ensure customer loyalty?
What is the impact of social media marketing on consumer buying behaviour?
How company can create brand equity through upsurge of social media?
How social media marketing can influence the overall performance of a company?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

A hypothesis is an appropriate guess that is based on the theoretical research as stated by Kaplan &
Haenlein, (2010). So, the following hypothesis has been formed for this study as setting of
hypothesis is the most effective way to start the research.
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H1: Social media is a strong marketing platform for companies of telecommunications industry in
Bangladesh.
H2: Social media marketing can build strong customer loyalty.
H3: Social Media marketing can influence the corporate performance through branding and brand
equity.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Social media
The term social media has different meaning to different people based on emphasized content or
communications (Brogan, 2010). According to him social media is a two-way web as internet
applications allow users to create and exchange content based on the requirements. On the other
hand, Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) define social media as collectivism in networks.
Social media can help in growing it through increased findability. That means a user can easily
access a social media site or companys web page through search engine optimization. And more
value can be added with more accessibility. Popular social media sites are listed high on the search
engine result pages and help to create strong social network services (Dou, et. al. , 2010).
2.2 Social network services
For the purposes of networking and maintaining relationships social network services are
developed. This networking and relationships helps for customer relationship management to
increase customer loyalty. Li, Wang & Cai (2011), revealed that social networking sites have been
regularly visited by 45% of internet users. This social network services can create a fertile ground
for marketing through cross-linking and cross-commenting (Bruns, 2008).
A good example of social network services is Facebook. The number of Facebook users has grown
exponentially to 500 million in 2010 whereas it was only From 6 million in 2006. Therefore, it
becomes worlds largest social network site (Wortham, 2010). As a result this site has become
popular among companies. As discussed above own Facebook fan pages has been maintained by
72% of Fortune 500 companies.
2.3 Social Media and Marketing
Social media works as an important marketing platform. It has two important dimensions social
networking websites & blogs and mobile phone. Advertiser provides information in the social
networks such as Facebook and Twitter about the likes and dislikes of their consumers. It provides
the businesses with a target audience and this technique is crucial as information relevant to the
users likes is available to businesses. Later on the company can use that information to advertise
accordingly (Dou, et. al. , 2010).

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The role of social networking in establishing an integrated marketing strategy has been studied by
the (Nambisan & Watt, 2011). According to them companies can get the information from the social
media easily about the customers choice and preference, what they feel about a particular products
etc. Therefore, the company can formulate their marketing strategy based on the collected
information to gain more market shares (Kasbo, 2008).
2.4 Social Media and Branding
In modern times, another method used by advertisers to promote their products is social media
based brand activities. By using social media the company can create unique position in the mind of
the consumers. If many users like the page they will circulate it through cross-link and cross
comments as discussed earlier. In this way they will become the fan of the products and will by the
products to test it (Buzzeo, 2010).
So, social media is helping the business organizations to do their branding in different ways rather
than traditional form of branding. Pookulangara & Koesler (2011), also compared the traditional
way of looking at the brand equity with the social media form of branding. They identified that
strong brand ought to be based on the dialogue with the customer rather mare one way
communication from the company. Social media facilitate the two way communication with the
customer resulting strong brand loyalty.
2.5 Branding, Brand Equity and Customer Loyalty
There are verities of concepts regarding branding and the brand awareness. However, the most
common concept for branding, as discussed above, is creating unique position in the mind of the
consumer regarding the company and its products (Dou, et. al. , 2010). On the other hand strong
brand can create the brand equity. Basically, brand equity is the value of brand. It can be defined
from two perspectives: financial considerations or simply the customers perceptions of the brand
(Adjei, Noble & Noble, 2010).

Li, Wang & Cai (2011), provided a prudent explanation of the brand equity based on customer
perspective. He stated that from customers perspectives brand equity depends on value provided
by the products or services against customers perception. If customer considers that the said
product generated much more value than expected then they become loyal for the product and will
purchase the product repeatedly. This is also known as customer loyalty. So, social media can help
to establish strong brand and resulting customer loyalty.
2.6 Conceptual Framework
Based on the literature review above the following research framework has been developed to
present the relationship among the variable and to fulfil the research objectives.

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Figure: Conceptual Framework

3. Research Methodology
Research method cannot be chosen randomly. The research problem and chosen method should be
closely bound together and usually divided into quantitative and qualitative methods (Kaplan &
Haenlein, 2010). Sometimes researcher uses a mixed method which is much popular in recent times
(Griffin and Babin, 2009). Therefore, the mixed method will be used for this research as this
research is exploratory in nature. The overall data collection and sampling techniques along with
other methodology issues have been presented in this section.
3.1 Type of Investigation
As discussed above, this research is exploratory in nature. This study will try to investigate the
impact of social media marketing on customer loyalty through branding and brand trust. By
keeping it in mind research hypothesises have been developed and presented in the section 1 as
hypothesises are the informed statements tested specifically in research in every research (Griffin
and Babin, 2009).
Therefore, two areas of marketing innovation such as new marketing platform social media and,
branding and customer loyalty trough it will be investigated in this study. However, in developing
country Bangladesh, this topic has not been researched and as such this study will try to find out
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the impact of social media marketing on customer loyalty in Bangladesh context to remove the
research gap in this field.
3.2 Data Collection Method
As this research is going to use a mixed method of research, both qualitative and quantitative data
will be required (Griffin and Babin, 2009). The required qualitative and quantitative data will be
collected from both primary and secondary sources. For secondary information, Brand Pages of the
selected telecom companies along with other published materials such as website, articles, journal
and news paper reporting will be used.
However, an internet questionnaire will be developed for primary data. The developed
questionnaire will be sent to 5% of the sample respondent to find out the usefulness of the
questions. Based on the pilot survey outcome the final questionnaire will be formulated and sent to
the all sample respondent to get their feedback (Li, Wang & Cai, 2011).
3.3 Sampling Method
Quota sampling will be used in this study as it segregates different categories of social media user
(Griffin and Babin, 2009). On the other hand, Quota sampling provides a timelier and cheaper
means to conduct primary survey (Wu, 2011). When developing new measures or in exploratory
work, this sampling technique is more useful as new theory would be generated (Dou, et. al. , 2010).
In this regard, to find out such types of exploratory research outcome a sample size of 50 can be
useful (Griffin and Babin, 2009). However, larger sample size will help to form more concrete
opinion. A sample size with a large number of respondents can be considered to be more reliable
than one with smaller amount of respondents (Nambisan & Watt, 2011). So, careful consideration is
required to select the sample size. Based on the above discussion, researcher felt that sample size
with 100 respondents will be perfect for this research.
3.4 Accessibility Issues
The crucial factor for any research is data accessibility. The research outcome would be vague one if
the researcher cannot access in the required data (Li, Wang & Cai, 2011). For this research, most of
the data will be collected from the internet regarding social media marketing of the selected
companies of telecom industry in Bangladesh. On the other hand primary data will be collected
through internet based questionnaire survey. So the required data will be accessible to fulfil the
objectives of this research (Griffin and Babin, 2009).
3.5 Ethical Issues
Increasingly, researchers have had to deal with the ethical issues. That means the contemporary
social research establishment might have the system of ethical protections. It indicates that

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prospective research participants must be fully informed about the procedures and risks involved
in the research (Li, Wang & Cai, 2011).
Moreover, to disclose the provided information it is needed to collect their consent. As discussed
above, data will be collected from both the secondary and the primary sources for this research.
There will be no ethical question except referencing for secondary sources of data as it is already
published. However, for primary data ethical questions may arise (Weber, 2009). To resolve the
ethical issues proper permission will be sought from the participants to collect and use those data.
4. Anticipated Findings
In an exploratory research, the researcher anticipates the findings and tests the anticipation trough
application of empirical data in the research model. The main anticipated findings of this research
is that social media is a strong marketing platform now a days to promote the products and services
and to create brand trust. So, there is a strong relationship between the social media marketing and
customer loyalty. And social media marketing can influence the overall performance of an
organization through customer loyalty.
5. Conclusions
The overall aims and objectives of the research including the research hypothesis have been
presented in this research. For developing research methodology a brief literature review also
presented here. To conduct this study research methodology has been formed based on the
guidance form reviewed literature. To find out the research outcome the proposed research will be
carried out using the resear methods and approach outlined here.

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Reference
Adjei, M. T., Noble, S. M., & Noble, C. H. (2010), The influence of C2C communications in online
brand communities on customer purchase behavior. Journal of the Academy Marketing Science,
38(5), 634-653.
Bradshaw, T. (2010), Advertisers embrace social networks. Financial Times, June 26th.
Brogan, C. (2010), Social Media 101: Tactics and tips to develop your business online. Hoboken:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc..
Bruns, A. (2008), Blogs, Wikipedia, Second life and beyond: From production to produsage. New
York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc..
Buzzeo, N. (2010), Leading platform for creating Facebook applications, Marketing Weekly News
July 3rd.
Choudhury, J. (2012), Telecommunications companies are focusing on social media marketing to
attract more customers, The Daily Star, March 18th.
Dou, et. al. (2010), Branding positioning strategy using search engine marketing. MIS QuarterlyJune, 261.
Griffin, M. and Babin, B. J. (2009), How quality, value, image, and satisfaction create loyalty at a
Chinese telecom. Journal of Business Research, 62(10), 980-986.
Kaplan, M. & Haenlein, M. (2010), Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of
social media. Business Horizons volume 53, 59-68.
Kasbo, A. (2008), Internet strategy involves more than a flashy website. NJBIZ March 17th.
Li, X. G., Wang, X., & Cai, J. Y. (2011). Corporate-, Product-, and User-Image Dimensions and
Purchase Intentions: The Mediating Role of Cognitive and Affective Attitudes. Journal of Computers,
6(9), 1875-1879.
Morgan, J. & Peters, J. (2009), Twittfaced: Your toolkit for understanding and maximizing social
media. Troy: Clay Bridges Communications & Publishing.
Nambisan, P. & Watt, J. H. (2011), Managing customer experiences in online product communities.
Journal of Business Research, 64(8), 889-895.
Pookulangara, s. & Koesler, K. (2011), Cultural influence on consumers usage of social networks
and its impact on online purchase intentions. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 18(4),
348-354.
Weber, L. (2009), Marketing to the social web: How digital customer communities build your
business. 2nd edition. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Wortham, J. (2010), Facebook tops 500 million users. The New York Times, July 22nd.
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Appendix A : Dissertation Structure

Figure: Dissertation Structure

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Appendix B : Research Time Frame

Week12

Week 11

Week 10

Week 9

Week 7 &
Week 8

Week 6

Week 5

Week 4

Task/ Time

Week 2 &
Week 3

Week 1

The entire research project would be compiled as per following schedule:

Introduction and search for

secondary data
Literature Review
Research Methodology
Design of Data Collection
Methods
Data Collection
Data Analysis and Presentation
Conclusions and
Recommendations
Proof-Reading
Sending First Draft to
Supervisor
Printing, Binding and
Submission
Table : Research Time Frame (Proposed)

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