Digital marketing

Digital Marketing- C10DM - Dr. Ross Curran

Coursework - Social Media Campaign and Content Planning- iVac

Advaita Vinod H00284485

Word Count: 2,196


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The iVac is a revolutionary vacuum cleaner released by Apple. It is designed to change the manner in which audience vacuum and revolutionise entire home cleaning sector.

1. Adoption Theory The adoption theory analyses the fact that there might be multiple factors which influences the decision of a customer. (Straub, 2009) .These factors might incorporate the awareness and knowledge of the consumer, their acceptance of the innovation and experience in buying such a product. This report will analyse the classic theory: Technology Acceptance Model (Davies et al 1989) and compare it to the Uses and Gratification Theory. In order to progress towards each model, it is important to understand the process of “Technology Adoption”.

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Figure 1: Technology Adoption Process

1.1 Technology Acceptance Model

Why do people use technology? one theory to explain this especially with the context of iVac is the “Technology Acceptance Model” (TAM). This is a model which conveys how users have come to accept and use a technology, this is usually because individuals find the technology useful for the task as well as easy to use. The theory was developed in the late 1980s when we had technology such as email (Lee, 2003). In this context, the old system vacuum cleaners were manual ones wherein individuals had to physically clean.

The theory in itself says very little about the technology itself and more about what we believe and perceive this technology to be. In other words, whether technology is actually useful or easy to use is not a matter of the technology but a matter of our perception and this may change. There are various factors which acts as a depending factor; how much experience you have, how old your are and the perceptions of a particular piece of technology. The traditional method of sweeping, using a manual vacuum cleaner and now an iVac changes not because the technology or method by which the cleaning is done is different but because individuals are different.

1.1.1 Limitations of TAM TAM assumes that people plan the behaviour and that they are rational in their actions, this means that we evaluate the usefulness and the ease of use of a technology, however not everyone is rational in their decision making and not entirely rational in their behaviour either. The theory doesn’t account for this. For example, when the first iPhone had come out people had camped outside the apple stores in order to get hold of the technology. None of these people might have had the chance to try the new technology prior to the purchase and hence couldn’t have known about the usefulness or ease of use of the iPhone. Hence, this can’t be called the reasoned action based on an evaluation of the technology. Another limitation when using this theory in context of the iVac is that it doesn’t give us any design advice on how we should build better technology other than the general statement of “make sure it’s useful” and “make sure it’s easy to use”. All technology is designed to that extent, however not all technology’s are useful or easy to use which is why there are alternative theories which suggest why people might adopt new technology. (Lee, 2003)

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1.1.2 Uses and Gratification Theory One of the earliest research into media was how the audience and producers engage with each other during the consumption of media. A very popular idea was the “Effects Model” which looked at what the media did to the audience. It suggested that audiences are passive at the mercy of whatever the media tells them. With regards to the iVac, the “Uses and Gratification Theory” (UGT) takes the viewpoint of the audiences being active participants in the exchange of media, hence they use media to gratify their needs such as social connection and self esteem. It details the primary needs the audience’s are able to satisfy with the media; surveillance, personal identity, personal relationships. (Roberts, 2005)

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Table 1: Strengths and Limitations of Uses and Gratification Theory

2. Social Impact Theory

Introduced and created by Bibb Latané, the concept of “Social Impact Theory” which portrayed the variety of influences on an individuals beliefs, attitudes and behaviours, this translates to the simple fact that every individual is influenced or gets influenced by someone else. Latné states that the Social Impact Theory (SIT) consists of 3 components which takes into consideration the extent to which individuals can be targets of social influence: Strength, Immediacy and the Amount of sources which makes the impact.

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Figure 2: Social Impact Theory (Bibb Latané)

Strength depicts an individuals or groups of authority and power of persuading. While Immediacy unfolds the understanding between people. And the number of sources states the amount or number of people influencing a particular situation unfolds the understanding between people.

In the era wherein social media dominates, being influenced by what individuals see or hear via social media is indispensable and thus the objective of this report will include methods by which social media platforms can increase the level of “online consumer engagement”. An increase in the number of comments, post ratings and responses can stimulate sales and influence other individuals which ultimately benefits the firm as well as enhances brand awareness and brand loyalty towards the product.

2.1 Message Strength As mentioned above, the SIT incorporates 3 components which assists in creating a social impact. The Message Strength will be used in order to increase the number of people connecting to the ivac due to its message. Message Strength can be further broken down into “situational” or “trans- situational” type of message strength.

2.1.1 Situational Strength Situational strength is defined to provide cues in environmental forces depending the desirability of potential behaviours. This is said to increase the psychological pressure on an individual to engage in order to influence particular behaviours. Considering the fact that the product in hand is a vacuum cleaner, having an expertise speak well of the product would be the first step in instigating awareness. In 2016, Perez-Vega Waite and O’Gorman stated that with the use of appropriate actors could increase the situational strength. This could result in the use of prominent actors, musicians, activists and social media influencers to promote the product. Considering the fact that the target market is between the ages of 25-45 years, it is important to use actors from various age groups, this will enhance their credible approvals and assurance of the product. With the use of older citizens, the fact of “connivance” is conveyed whereas younger social media influencers can highlight convince by having the vacuum clear programmed with a click of a button on their smartphones, also have it synced to iTunes whereby music can be played too. Nonetheless, some customers might view the message highly frustrating and might misunderstand whereas others may find it comforting and relaxing.

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Table 2: Strengths and Limitations of Social Impact Theory

2.1.2 Trans Situational Strength This type of message strength aims at increasing the prominence via the depiction of models usually with good physical appliance and perceived characteristics. Appearance is important as it conveys a sense of confidence, maturity and youth which preach strong values of the product. It is important to use both genders as well as various people from different age groups. This enhances the fact that any one between the targeted age group can use the product.

2.2 Message Immediacy In order to increase and improve the presence and proximity towards the target audience, it is important to have the engagement and social impact of a message (Perez-Vega, Waite and O’Gorman, 2016). This is further broken down into 3 categories; Physical, Temporal and Social which will be analysed in the following section.

2.2.1 Physical Immediacy This concept states that the closer in geographic proximity the audience is, the more relatable a social media post is (Trope and Liberman, 2010). It has been analyzed and discovered that physically closer target audience tend to bend to peer pressure and which enhances the beliefs and values that they share (Pedersen et al., 2008; Bourgeois and Bowen, 2001). Taking into example Dyson, a British based company manufacturing vacuum cleaners who have model stores across the global, iVac could implement the same method. There are few Apple stores in the UAE, the introduction to a few more in the major malls will enhance the ability to view the product and have demonstrations. Including multichannel into the content plan will improve the awareness given about the product as well as increases the trust gained from the customers. This content plan will utilise the aspect of physical proximity as a form of appeal and engagement with its audience as it might add as much value considering the product involved.

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Figure 3: A comparison made; traditional versus current era. An example of the social media influencer Kim Kardashian who holds situational power and is representing the brand.

2.2.2 Temporal Immediacy This type of immediacy is with regards to time related immediacy between the message and the audience. This tends to stimulate quick responses and purchases nonetheless this could affect the social impact in a negative manner and hence this report aims to avoid this. In 2016, Perez-Vega, Waite and O’Gorman found that an increase in temporal distance can negatively affect the social impact , nevertheless this content plan will taken into consideration this limitation.

2.2.3 Social Immediacy This concept looks into how the purchase of an individual instigates another purchase of the same product. This is usually due to the need for similar products within the same society (Heider, 1958). When consumers are surrounded by like minded people it tends to positively affect their purchase as it helps them socially connect as well as increases the trust between the consumers and hence improves the clarity between the brand and consumers. Below are posts which have been reposted by iVac of their audience. This reduces the distance between them and portrays a sense of belonging. The posts aim to subtly suggest the product and the temporal immediacy in forms of promotion. The posts are informal which enhances customer relations with iVac.

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Figure 4: A hypothetical application of the temporal immediacy in order to increase sales

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Figure 5: Examples of social immediacy portraying the firm and its customers

Figure 6: Examples of social immediacy via psychological closeness via a reward

2.3 Number of Sources The last component under SIT is the number of sources which creates a positive impact on the social impact. Nonetheless this is still being debated upon as more than 3-4 posts have no increase in the social impact (Tanford and Penrod, 1984; Latané and Wolf, 1981). This type of influence has been found to have various number of sources usually depending on the context and situation while increasing the amount of content created to make a social impact (Tanford and Penrod, 1984; Latané and Wolf, 1981).

3. Content Strategy for Engagement- Example Post(s) This section will propose the marketing strategy (MS) for iVac with the use of social media channels: Instagram and Facebook. According to the Social Media Statistics 2019 by Infographics for the UAE, the Emirati population spends approximately 2.56 hours n social media on a daily basis. Figure 7 provides the statistical percentage. Closer analyses of the statistics depicts that “Facebook” and “Instagram” are amongst the highest active social media and hence iVac hopes to use these social media platforms as a method of marketing strategy.

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Figure 7: UAE Social Media Statistics 2019

Source: UAE Social Media Statistics 2019

Audiences are encouraged to share iVac’s posts via other platforms this will create awareness towards the followers. Nonetheless, it is important that the posts are of relevance in order to create engagement which enhances awareness as well as probability of the post being shared further. The plan identifies the fact that when increasing the engagement there might be “inactive” audiences as well. In order to touch base on the “inactive” users, iVac will post during peak hours on Facebook and Instagram as well as go live in order to highlight the features that the iVac has as well to demonstrate how the iVac is used.

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Table 3: Strengths and Limitations of using the social media with regards to iVac in the UAE

3.1 Example Posts for Engagement In order to encourage prospective customers to use and buy the iVac and share content, as well as rewarding them, the use of social media influencers will be used.

A post such as the one above aims at enhancing the audience engagement through situational strength, temporal immediacy and social immediacy. Once the audience sees the post, with the use of word of mouth people discuss the post and share this content in order to receive a reward. A post like this will be shared via Facebook and Instagram as just one platform is not sufficient.

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Figure 8: The use of social media influencer - movlogs to portray situational strength, temporal immediacy and social immediacy

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Table 4: Connection of SIT and Adoption Theory

4. Customer Response Rate

4.1 Target Metrics

Taking into consideration “Dysons” statistics, iVac hopes to attract atleast 700-1000 people every month to view the website.

4.2 Adjustments to Posts

As shown in figure 5 the social immediacy of the content plan is sufficient, nonetheless it can be tweaked to incorporate the lower generation as well. Creating a comparison of various age groups and social groups to endorse the product could enhance the posts as well as the website.

In addition the content plan does not taken into account the trans-situational message as the iVac is a home appliance. the portal of models with appropriate physic might not appeal to the audience.

Nevertheless, there are pros and cons of making adjustments to the posts.

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Table 5: Target Metrics for iVac

References

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Lee, Y., Kozar, K.A. and Larsen, K.R., 2003. The technology acceptance model: Past, present, and future. Communications of the Association for information systems, 12(1), p.50.

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Perez-Vega, R., Waite, K. and O'Gorman, K. (2016). Social impact theory: An examination of how immediacy operates as an influence upon social media interaction in Facebook fan pages. The Marketing Review, 16(3), pp.299-321.

Sedikides, C. and Jackson, J.M., 1990. Social impact theory: A field test of source strength, source immediacy and number of targets. Basic and applied social psychology, 11(3), pp. 273-281.

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Trope, Y. and Liberman, N. (2010). Construal-level theory of psychological distance.

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Webfx.com. (2020). Top 13 Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media. [online] Available at: https://www.webfx.com/internet-marketing/social-media-marketing-advantages- and-disadvantages.html [Accessed 29 Feb. 2020].

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