present

Virginia State University

Mathematics &Economics Department

Economics

Econ 590 Research Methodology

Celebrities’ Snapchat Advertisement and College Women Students Clothing Buying Behavior in Saudi Arabia

A Research Proposal

By

Nahil Fattah

Supervisor

Dr. Paulos C. Tsegaw

Nowadays, the number of social media celebrities is increasing and their followers are in the millions. There are many celebrities in Saudi Arabia who charge thousands on one ad through Snapchat. As celebrity advertising increase the sale volumes, there are many companies that chose to advertise their products through snapchat celebrities. However, few studies has been conducted to investigate the impact of Snapchat marketing in Saudi Arabia. To fill the research gap, this study will investigate how celebrities advertisements on Snapchat influence the college students buying behavior in Saudi Arabia.

The rise in Snapchat use has been one of the extreme rapid and unmatched in the history of instant messaging services and social networking sites.( Lukasz Piwek 2015). One of these features of Snapchat is that pictures, and videos are available for limited time before they become inaccessible to users. It lasts only up to 10 seconds before it disappears. During that time, the recipient can take a screen shot, and the sender is notified that it was taken. In the second quarter of 2018, the photo and video sharing app had 188 million daily active users worldwide.

Saudis are among the highest active daily users of Snapchat, a multimedia messaging app. According to Snapchat, there are 9 million active daily users ,55% of them women, out of Saudi Arabia’s 32 million population, an increase of almost 30 percent from 2017. (https://www.albawaba.com/business/9-million-snapchat-daily-active-users-saudi-arabia-1164994). Many foreign brands have launched successful advertising campaigns through snapchat. ( Alena Kusá and Zuzana Záziková*2016).

( Erdogan 1999). Because they have special skills, unique features , and unusual standard of living. Celebrities use Snapchat to makeup interpersonal or public relationships with their fans and sponsoring companies. They share their photos, personal videos, concert schedules, and comments on social issues by expecting their fans or the media to react to such postings.

Celebrity endorsement is the promotion strategy to attract the customers (Khatri 2006). Marketers are now using different celebrity personalities to connect or match with their brands, to create unique identity of the brand, and to display their famous company's product or brand. In general studies indicated that celebrity endorsed advertisements are more attractive than the non-celebrity endorsed advertisements.(Rizwan Raheem Ahmed , Sumeet Kumar Seedani, Manoj Kumar Ahuja , Sagar Kumar Paryani 2015 p.8). This situation shows that celebrity endorsed advertisements can influence buying behavior of consumers.

This is because when celebrities talk about product or service, they act like they use it every day. Thus, they convince their fans- to buy the product. When celebrities use snapchat, celebrities get the money, companies get strong publicity, and consumer buys the product.

Al-Sherif criticized the advertising behavior of some celebrities in recommending the product and reviewing it at any price in order to guarantee the satisfaction of the customer. He called on the people to take into consideration the social and moral concerns and to monitor the self-conscience control. He pointed out that the declaration does not only depend on the principle of profit, but the principle of the need to guide and educate citizens in the use of goods and products.( Al-Sherif , Al Arabiya 2016)

There are few studies in Saudi Arabia, that shows how buying behavior is effected through celebrities snapchat advertisements.

Saudi Arabia has recently witnessed the emergence of a new online advertising market, a market that is likely to pull the rug out of advertising through the traditional media, especially after Saudi Arabia ranked # 1 in terms of using the Snapchat, which prompted companies and businesses to compete for the use of "Snape celebrities" to market Consumer products targeted at young people and girls( Hassan Jaber Al Arabiya 2016)

College students are more influenced by celebrities than school students. Because college students have the experience and good knowledge to understand celebrity endorsements. In addition, females in Saudi Arabia influenced by celebrity endorsement more than male. In Saudi society females are likes to know what is new in the in fashion on universal. Than Saudis females spend more time on social media watch celebrity endorsement for brands, and products. That makes them more likely to influence by celebrity endorsements that they offer it on social media.(Ibrahim Qabur,2018.P.73-74)

Snapchat has been a social media platform that has been overlooked by many advertisers for many months now. Many people have a belief that it is a platform that is only used by women and a small number of teenagers. However, this platform has gained roots and has many users today. Snapchat has been discovered to be the best platform where brands can easily understand the behaviors of their customers because user engagement is more comfortable on this platform. About that, this study will investigate the possible groups targeted by Snapchat users and give examples of companies that use different celebrities to advertise their products.

Firstly, Sour Patch Kids is a company that effectively used Snapchat to advertise its products. The company carefully used the Blue kid celebrity notion to advertise some of its products. The blue kid is a band that sings rock music and has famous albums such as upright, love, and Noise. The music band was carefully used to advertise Sour Patch Kids products because all products target teens and children. Many children love the rock music band, and that is why the Sour Patch Kids chose it (Patel, Para 5-8).

Kylie Jenner once tweeted “sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad” (Prentice, 2018). The statement was powerful celebrities to bring down a company or to make it famous. So companies tend to look at how different celebs talk about them. In addition, if they want to reach out to a large number of customer they use a celeb to advertise their products. A company such as McDonald’s has continuously used athletes such as Johnny Manziel and Richard Sherman to promote their products on Snapchat too. Investigations have clearly shown that women in the Saudi are active users and are likely able to buy clothes advertised on this platform and in the end purchase them Lee (p. 1-8).

In conclusion, customers and fans tend to have a unique look at athletes and companies when videos are displayed to them on Snapchat. Companies are using celebrities on Snapchat to add value to their social presence, and that has worked for most of them. Conversations on Snapchat and celebrities events such as MTV awards clips tend to also improve the brand image and brand awareness of different companies. In such a case if a study wants to understand how Snapchat influences buying behavior and brand awareness it can use primary data from Snapchat users. It can try to understand why people tend to buy products and services introduced or advertised by celebrities on Snapchat. Questionnaires can work effectively in this case.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between celebrities snapchat and college women students clothing buying behavior.

Research Questions:

There are three basic questions of this study,

1. What makes college women students use snapchat advertisement in their buying decisions?

2. In what ways do snapchat advertisement influence college women students brand awareness and purchase engagement

3. To what extent does snap chat advertisement increase sales revenue for companies engaged in selling women clothings?

Literature review:

Celeb endorsement is a practice that has been used since the 18th century. In modern days companies such as Pepsi have been using celebs to advertise different types of products. Celebs have managed to earn a lot of money in these adverts. On top of that, it is easy to note that companies have been able to advertise their products on social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The impact of advertising in Snapchat on consumer buying behavior will be discussed as follows.

Firstly, Kyule (2017, P. 34-45) noted that there is a close bond between social media platforms and the behavior of consumers. She stated that social media could be a platform where companies can market their products efficiently because it is easy to understand the behavior of different customers. She, however, notes that the latter can have little impact on the behavior customers when they are not appropriately channeled towards the targeted audience. To influence customers’ behavior social media platforms have to be directed appropriately towards the targeted audience. She has clearly explained that the best way through which companies can benefit in social media platforms is by knowing their customers.

Engelke (2017, P. 55-62) noted that social media can be a platform where businesses can increase brand awareness and understand the intention of customers. The study indicate that companies are also able to engage more with customers on Snapchat compared to other social media platforms. Snapchat is also the [perfect location where firms can increase brand awareness. Additionally, Snapchat users who see an advert on Snapchat are likely able to share the same with their friends, and that makes it easy for the company to become more successful. However, the study noted that their fewer Snapchat users compared to other social media platforms. Finally, this study indicates that there is a limitation of using Snapchat because it is not very clear why customers are motivated to engage with sponsored content and that which is not sponsored.

Sashi (2012, P. 252-272) also explains that social media can be a channel where firms can converse and communicate with customers and potential customers. It is also on social media platforms where firms can interact and understand the specific needs of different customers. Additionally, the study shows that there are relationships that can be created when customers and firms engage. On top of that, the author notes that such relationships can be in four forms which are loyal customers, delighted customers, fans and transactional customers. These are all issues that are related to customers’ behavior. Every company needs to target social media users who can later be come, loyal customers. The customer engagement cycle is faster and more comfortable on social media platforms. It is all about the marketing strategy that is being implemented by a particular company. Such strategies would include the use of celebs and public figures to advertise products and services.

Generation Z is known for the knowledge of the technological trend. According to the study by Kusá & Záziková (2016), the generation prefers the online environment from the offline environment when it comes to social life. In order for a brand to be appealing to this generation, there should be regular communication, credibility, personalized approach and creativity (Kusá & Záziková 2016). When it comes to the brands that are based on the global market, they prefer social network websites. They prefer the use of Snapchat as the rising social network. Generation Z follows celebrities on the social networks making them easy to target through celebrities.

The phenomenal growth in the use of social media by companies suggests that employees should be familiar with using social networking sites and be able to promote their company events (Rosen, 2012). To promote the company's products and services more effectively to shoppers online. Employees within the company must be familiar with and comfortable working with these marketing outlets(Kyule, M. Maryanne,2017, P2).

Social media has emerged as a convenient medium, people spending long time on social networks looking for commercial branding, advertising and celebrity endorsements( Brahim Qabur, 2018, P83). When people spend a lot of time on social media, they may influenced by celebrities.that they watch.

The consumers that bear found in the Snapchat prefer brands that are brought about by the celebrity’s endorsement (Escalas & Bettman, 2009). Escalas & Bettman (2009) showed that most of these consumers aspire to be like the celebrities, the self-brand by the celebrities make them feel connections with them. The study revealed that in case the self-esteem is threatened, the celebrities that market the products in the social media augment them. Approximately 20% of ads have a celebrity that helps in their promotion.

Snapchat is known for its short and temporary messaging services. According to a survey that was conducted through the internet, all people involved received videos through Snapchat (Piwek and Joinson, 2016). It was discovered that most people shared selfies.

Qabur (2018, P. 94) has an explanation about how several factors affect the efficacy of celebrity endorsement in Saudi Arabia. The author notes that advertising is a key element in Saudi, which is a nation that has numerous celebrities. The author notes that in recent years celebs are influential and can be used in social media to market different products. However, the author notes that the celebrities who can be more influential are those who have a close relationship with their fans. Finally, the author notes that celeb endorsement in social media works exceptionally when the targeted customers are the youth and females in Saudi Arabia. Most of the people who could be influenced by the celebrities are students, singles, and those whose income fell in working class (Qabur, 2018, p. 84).

Almerri (2017, P. 130-237) notes that there is a role that can be played by celebrities Instagram accounts when trying to change the behavior of customers. The article used a case study of Kuwait. The study here explored the credibility criteria and the brand personality of Instagram accounts owned by popular celebs. Two models were used in this study; the Aakar’s model and the Ohanian’s model. Aakar’s model was for studying the brand personality and the Ohanian’s model was for studying the brand personality. The author did an investigation, which led to a conclusion that the behavior and the attitude of Instagram account holders (or celebs) motivated the account holders to buy a certain product.

Methodology:

To investigate how celebrities advertisement through snapchat influence college women’s students clothing buying behavior, the quantitative methods will be used as appropriate method for this study. As the primary purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate whether the celebrities advertisements influence consumers behavior through snapchat.

As survey method is the best strategy to examine people’s performance and behavior , as well as to gather information about their background (Bryman and Bell (2015). This study will prepare a survey instrument that will be used to gather the above listed information. As it widely understood the survey method has various advantages, it’s easier, quicker, and cheaper. Moreover, it Provides extensive geographic coverage and Suitable for participants.The survey instrument will have closed ended questionnaires.

The population for this study will be college women students aged between 18-36. In Saudi Arabia, the number of students with this age group is expected to be 200.

Non-probability (Convenience sample) , in which 200 respondents will be selected. This method is chosen because it allows to select respondents based on their convenience and availability (John W. Creswell and J. David Creswell p.150). In this study non probability will be the best choice. Because it’s difficult to collect the data from all the snapchat users. The sample will be from Jazan University, King Saud University, King Abdulaziz University, and Umm al-Qura University. The participants will be 50 from each university, and The sample will be based on the customers that actively use Snapchat. The questionnaire will be self administrated by phone. Moreover, to answer questions like  why, where, who, how and what on the subject descriptive research is the best design  (Burns and Groove, 2001). In this study, to analyze the data descriptive statistics will be used. Some descriptive statistics that are commonly reported include frequencies (e.g., how many male and female participants were in the study?), means and standard deviations (e.g., what's the mean age of the sample; what are the group means and corresponding standard deviation values for the primary outcome measures?) ( John W. Creswell , J. David Creswell p.173)

References:

Almerri, Rashed SSM. Exploring the role of celebrities' instagram accounts in changing the behaviour of consumers: case study of Kuwait. Diss. Brunel University London, 2017.

Engelke, F. (2017). How does Snapchat as a social media marketing platform influence consumer behaviour? (Doctoral dissertation, University of East London).

Kyule, M. M. (2017). The Influence of Social Media Marketing On Consumer Behaviour: A Case of Britam Holdings Limited(Doctoral dissertation, United States International University-Africa).

Sashi, C. M. (2012). Customer engagement, buyer-seller relationships, and social media. Management decision, 50(2), 253-272.Escalas, J. E., & Bettman, J. R. (2009). Connecting with celebrities: Celebrity endorsement, brand meaning, and self-brand connections. Journal of Marketing Research, 13(3), 339- 348.

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.154.3753&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Kusá, A., & Záziková, Z. (2016). Influence of The Social Networking Website Snapchat On The Generation Z. European Journal of Science and Theology, 12(5), 145-154. http://www.ejst.tuiasi.ro/Files/60/15_Kusa%20&%20Zazikova.pdf

Piwek, L., & Joinson, A. (2016). “What do they Snapchat about?" Patterns of use in time-limited instant messaging service. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, 358-367. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215301023

Kyule, M. Maryane(2017). The influence of social media marketing on consumer behavior: A case of Britam holding limited. PP.2.

Brahim Qabur(2018), Factors Influencing efficiency of celebrity endorsement in Saudi Arabia.PP. 83.

Qabur, Ibrahim. FACTORS INFLUENCING EFFICACY OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA. Diss. Cleveland State University, 2018.

List of the the survey questionnaires:

Are you an active Snapchat user?

· Yes

· No

What is your gender?

· Female

· Male

· Prefer not to answer

What is your age?

· 18-24

· 25-34

· 35-44

· Over 45

· Prefer not to answer

How much time do you spend daily on Snapchat?

· Less than 30 minutes

· 30-60 minutes

· Less than 2 hours

· 2-4 hours

· More than 5 hours

Do you influence by celebrities advertisements?

· Yes

· No

· Sometimes

What attracts you more: Celebrity endorsed advertisements or non-celebrity advertisements?

· Celebrity endorsed advertisements

· Non-celebrity Advertisements

How important is the relevance of the celebrity to the product is influential when making a purchase decision?

· Not important at all

· Less important

· Somewhat important

· Important

· Very important

How is it important for you to purchase the product, if promoted by your favorite celebrity?

· Not important at all

· Less important

· Somewhat important

· Important

· Very important

How is it important for you to purchase brands endorsed by celebrities?

· Not important at all

· Less important

· Somewhat important

· Important

· Very important

Does the presence of celebrities help you recognize the brand?

· Disagree

· Slightly disagree

· Not sure

· Slightly agree

· Agree