business report 8.1
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An Investigation into the Influence of Social Media
Assignment Title: Marketing on Generation Y and Z Purchase Behaviour on Online Shopping Platforms in the
Fashion Industry in the UK
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Acknowledgement
Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor xxxxxxxx, who gave me advice, encouragement, assistance, and guidance in my research process, without her guidance, my research could not be completed successfully. In addition, I am also grateful to all my tutors at Coventry University London Campus for initiating me valuable knowledge that supporting my dissertation and gives me full confidence to face the challenges of the future. Finally, I would also like to thank those who participated in my research and the value they brought to the study through their valuable comments and thoughts.
Abstract
The main purpose of this research is to investigate the influence of social media marketing on generation Y and Z purchase behavior on online shopping platforms in the fashion industry in the UK. And the findings confirm the social media marketing of the fashion industry impact consumer behavior.
This research follows the positivism philosophy and explores young consumer online shopping behaviour by using deduction approach within a ten-week time frame. The data collection method used in the study was an online questionnaire survey of quantitative method. According to the UK’S Office for National Statistics survey in
2017, the proportion of online shopping groups under the age of 16 is not high, mostly in the age group of 16 to 34, of which the highest is 16 to 24 years old. Therefore, in order to make the background of the respondents in line with the purpose of this study, this study provides an online questionnaire in the social media student community through the Coventry University London campus.
According to the previous research on customer engagement behaviour, it can be understood the importance of interaction between customer and business affects consumers 'purchasing decisions. Therefore, the research combines the consumer decision-making model to investigate how the British fashion industry affects consumers' purchasing behavior in different online shopping platforms and then recommend the effective social media marketing strategies to the fashion industry
The results of the research highlight that young consumers are increasingly fond of browsing and purchasing fashion products through social media platforms. But the major issue of purchase fashion items in social media channels is security such as counterfeit goods and fake advertisement.
The limitation of this study is the need to investigate whether consumers are consciously or non-consciously in choosing a shop website such as Topshop to browse and purchase fashion products. The study investigated the impact of consumer buying behavior on social media and online shopping platforms, which contributed to the social media marketing of fashion industry.
目錄
1.1 The Evolution of Social Media 6
1.2 Internet Penetration Rate in the UK. 6
1.3 The Trend of Online Marketing 7
1.4 The Trend of Social Media Marketing 7
2.1 Online Shopping Development 9
2.1.2 Online Shopping Development in Global and the UK. 10
2.1.3 The Reasons of Online Shopping Growth 10
2.1.4 Online Shopping in Key Market 10
2.1.5 The Key Barriers or Benefits of online shopping 11
2.2 The Development of Social Media 12
2.3 Consumer’s Purchasing Behaviour and Decision-Making 13
2.3.1 Consumer’s Purchasing Behaviour 13
2.3.2 Consumer Purchase decision (Customer Decision-Making) 16
2.4 The Importance of Customer Engagement Behaviour 18
3.4.1 Deductive and Inductive 26
3.4.2 Quantitative and Qualitative 27
3.7 Non-Probability Sampling 31
6.0 Conclusion and Recommendations 56
Appendix 2: Participant Information Sheet 94
Appendix 4: Medium to High Risk Research Approval 96
Appendix 5: Certificate of Ethical Approval 96
1.0 Research Background
1.1 The Evolution of Social Media
To the best of our knowledge, the rapid development of the Internet has created a connection between people's lives, and not only in the transmission of messages or commercial development, but also in consumer behaviour.
The first shopping site, NetMarket, was founded in 1994 (Goodings and Tucker, 2013). Since then, the number of online shoppers increased year by year. Meanwhile, more and more companies are joining the online marketing (Boyd and Ellison, 2010). Physical stores are no longer the only mainstream marketing and consumer. Furthermore, the first social networking site, Bulletin Board System (BBS), was created in 1978. It was earlier than the Net Market shopping website, followed by the more popular social media is Six Degree, founded in 1997, Myspace in 2003, Facebook in 2004, YouTube in 2005 and Instagram in 2010 (Goodings and Tucker, 2013). However, the role of social media is no longer just to share personal life but encompasses numerous business opportunities. And in today's a broad variety of media, each mode of media might have a different impact on consumers’ awareness and purchase behaviour in fashion products (Rowley, 2009).
1.2 Internet Penetration Rate in the UK.
Shopping online, basically, consumers need two things: Internet access and the equipment to access the internet. In these two aspects, according to Mintel's Digital Trends Spring - UK - April 2017 report, the UK’s Internet penetration is above the EU average (Carroll, 2017). Another report is There are 90% of households in the UK had Internet access in 2017 (Office for National Statistics, 2017). All this proves that the
UK’s Internet has plenty of business opportunity. In addition, 16 to 24 aged group uses
Social networking up to 96%, followed by those aged 25-34 up to 88% (Office for National Statistics, 2017). Clothes or sporting goods remain the most popular on online shopping in 2017, and young adults buy online more often than the elderly. From May
to July 2017, the online shopping frequency of the age of 16 to 24-year-old is 3 to 5 times, accounted 30% (Office for National Statistics, 2017). Therefore, the subjects of this study were young people aged 18 to 25 years old.
1.3 The Trend of Online Marketing
In 2016, the online retail market grew rapidly, up about 21% and to reach 51.5 billion pounds. In the future, it is expected that the online shopping will continue to hold a share of all retail sales. Because the main reason is that more and more people accept and trust in the online purchase (Carroll, 2017). Furthermore, Mintel estimates that online sales of apparel, fashion accessories and footwear will grow 17.2% to reach £ 16.2billion in 2017. Moreover, the proportion of fashion online sales account for total fashion sales will rise to 24%, which up from 20% in 2016. Another investigation from Mintel Online Retail - United Kingdom, July 2017 Report, over half (52%) of people purchased clothing and / or footwear online over the past year (Sender, 2017). And in the past year, more than three-quarters (84%) of online shoppers used laptop / desktops to buy fashion products online, but nearly 50% Millennials are buying stylish products from smartphones. This proved that mobile commerce is driving the growth of online shopping (Sender, 2017).
1.4 The Trend of Social Media Marketing
Social channels are a key arena for brands and retailers to interact with consumers online. According to a survey by Mintel (2017), 27% of the 2,000 consumers aged over 16 are interested in communicating with online retailers via instant messaging. As a result, more and more brands and retailers treat this channel as a customer service touchpoint (Carroll, 2017). Another report, 77% of Fortune 500 companies are already utilizing at least one social media site in 2013, and Facebook is the preferred platform for most companies to employ, whether in the fast moving consumer goods or fashion industry (Barnes et al., 2013).
In addition to Facebook, other recent social media such as Instagram and Snapchat are also gaining in popularity. Among them, Instagram has the highest participation of users. On average, users share more than 95 million photos and videos each day. These posts generated a total of about 4.2 billion likes in a single day (Saric, 2016). According to the Forrester research survey in 2015, Instagram users had the highest interaction with top 50 brands in the world, accounted for 4.21%. In contrast, Facebook has only 0.073% (Levien, 2015). Locowise reported that Instagram's user engagement rate was the highest compared with all other social networking platforms, accounting for 0.84% of all viewers in February 2016 (Saric, 2016). These figures show that social media influence consumers' buying behaviour. But at present, most of the related research is only focused on Facebook or blog. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the current trends of all social media platforms and online shopping platforms affecting consumer behavior in the UK’s fashion industry and to help the fashion industry to employ effective marketing strategies in social media marketing.
1.5 Research Question:
How does social media marketing affect the generation Y and
Z purchase behaviour in UK’s fashion online shopping?
1.6 Research Objectives:
1. To investigate the impact of social media marketing on the generation Y and Z buying behaviour on online shopping platforms.
2. To investigate which social media platforms are the most popular for generation Y and Z consumers toward browsing and buying fashion products.
3. To explore the positive and negative purchase experience of the generation Y and Z on shopping websites and social
media platforms.
4. To recommend effective strategies to increase the generation Y and Z shopping with social media marketing on online platforms in the fashion industry.
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Online Shopping Development
2.1.1 The Revolution
Since the early 1990s, the enormous development of e-commerce has made the world's retail infrastructure develop rapidly. Marketers and traditional retailers actively join the Internet through a variety of strategies and integrate the Internet into a portfolio of marketing channels (Chen and Chang, 2003). Organises use the Internet media as a method to conduct its long-term customer relationships and strengthen its unremitting relationship marketing project (Berry, 2000).
The activities of selling, purchasing, transferring or exchanging products, services or information through electronic means is called e-commerce (Kotler and Keller, 2016). However, e-commerce can usually be divided into three broad categories: (Turban, 2006)
· Business-to-Consumer e-commerce (B2C) such as Amazon
· Business-to-Business e-commerce (B2B) such as Dell
· Consumer-to-Consumer e-commerce (C2C) such as eBay
Although there is a clear partition between B2B and B2C in the early stages of e-commerce, the difference is not obvious with the growth of e-commerce (Turban, 2006).
2.1.2 Online Shopping Development in Global and the UK.
Electronic retail is turning into a significant shopping channel in global (Dennis et al., 2010). In 2007, global e-commerce revenue exceeded 250 billion U.S. dollars (IMRG, 2007). After a decade, e-commerce has considerable thrived. In 2016, global retail e-commerce sales totaled around $ 22 trillion, and the estimated sales in 2020 will reach $ 27 trillion (eMarketer, 2016). In the UK e-retail market in 2007, online retail sales increased 33.4% to hit GBP10.9 billion (Verdict, 2007). The UK’s e-retailers spent £ 133bn in 2016, which is £ 18bn more than online spending in 2015. IMRG and Capgemini predict that by 2017 e-retailing will gain another 14%.
2.1.3 The Reasons of Online Shopping Growth
The main reasons for the rapid development of online shopping are the improvement of network environment and system, and smartphones are also one of the major reasons. Due to the convenience of smartphones such as the use of the Internet, the mobile application, all of these can influence consumer behaviour and increase the sales of online shopping. More than 1 billion people, about 17% of the world's population use the Internet, with around one-third of them living in Europe (IMRG, 2007) and half of them regularly conducting online transactions (IMRG, 2005). Mobile commerce (m-commerce) is aiding to drive the demand for online shopping. According to Minter’s fashion Online – UK, June 2017 report, 32% of online consumers bought fashion items by using smartphones in the past 12 months (Sender, 2017).
2.1.4 Online Shopping in Key Market
The Internet plays a very important role in the shopping median, and it is setting expectations and new rules for fashion retailers and online shoppers (Management Horizons, 1997). However, the emergence of fashion bloggers and social media has provided evidence of this evolution (Kulmala et al., 2013). Therefore, the broad
perspective of consumers' various activities on the Internet deserves to be explored. In diverse virtual rooms and forums such as virtual games and social media can also create more new business opportunities and practices. These practices are called Digital Virtual Consumption (Denegri-Knott and Molesworth, 2010). According to
Mintel’s report in July 2017 of United Kingdom’s online retailing, there are 52% of people bought clothes and shoes in the past year. An overview from whole sectors, online sales of accessories and underwear registered the largest increase in 2016, up 38% and 33% respectively. Followed by gifts, an increase of 26%, footwear increased by 21%, all exceeding the average growth rate of the index (IMRG, 2017).
2.1.5 The Key Barriers or Benefits of online shopping
From a consumer perspective, online shopping has its own strength and weakness which compared with physical store shopping (Liu et al., 2012) Firstly, consumers can purchase products and services in anywhere and anytime. Secondly, consumers can save more energy, time and money when they shop online. For instance, consumers can easily and efficiently compare the quality and prices of services or products provided by a large number of different online retailers. Thirdly, consumers have multiple functions to collect and search for more product or service information, and these are in highly transparent and convenient online shopping environment. Therefore, these advantages have a significant and positive influence on consumer behaviour toward online shopping (Delafrooz et al., 2011). On the other hand, a typical characteristic of e-commerce is that consumers rarely have a chance to compare or try the product in person before they buy it. Another characteristic is the nontraditional form of payment, and due to the lack of direct contact and interaction with physical stores and employees, this means there is a certain risk of online shopping (O'Cass and Carlson, 2012) and these risks also include delivery and returns (Martin, 2005)
2.2 The Development of Social Media
The early online community already existed in Web 1.0, often used inside of organisation’s online forums or website (Jang al et., 2008). In marketing, Kaplan and
Haenlein (2010) defined social media websites as a set of Internet-based applications which based on the concept and technology foundations of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is considered a reflection of a series of technological, financial and philosophical changes that the Internet has undergone (Murugesan, 2007). And social media websites are a mode of "consumer-generated media" defined as a diversification of new sources of online information that are founded, launched, distributed and utilised by consumers (Mangold and Faulds, 2009).
Since Web 2.0 generated new models of business and websites that can offer consumers with more targeted services and products as well. Therefore, it increased participation, interaction and satisfaction among consumers and brands (Wellman et al., 2001). According to McKinsey predicates, the economic influence of social media on businesses may exceed $ 1 trillion (Quarterly, 2015). Despite the growing use of social media by users of all ages, social media applications are still at an early stage for organizational marketing and knowledge management (Kane et al., 2014). However, more than 63% of those people believe social medias will be considerable to the business within three years (Kiron et al., 2012).
However, the features and functions of social media sites promote the creation of groups and the sharing of information and dialogue with others (Kietzmann et al., 2011). The advantages of social media in connecting consumers with business are giving marketers greater focus on nurturing branded communities in these environments (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). For instance, some owners of the social media website, such as Facebook and Blog, have realized that the members are potential customers, therefore, they have added commercials to their webpages (Ho
and Dempsey, 2010). In addition, the brand fan page reflects the relationship between the customer and the brand, for example, Facebook's user can show their association with a special brand in their profile (McAlexander et al., 2002). Whether it's a commercial on social media or the fan page of the brand, it is an intermediary that promotes consumer interaction with the business.
There are emerging studies focusing on factors that determine the genre of consumer behaviour in online environment (Perez, 2016). However, there is not much research on consumer behaviour such as consumer engagement behaviour (CEB) (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010; Van Doorn et al., 2010) in social media environments. Therefore, there has been a recent call for providing further empirical evidence that other factors determine the engagement in a social media environment (Schultz & Peltier, 2013).
2.3 Consumer’s Purchasing Behaviour and Decision-
Making
2.3.1 Consumer’s Purchasing Behaviour
Consumer behaviour is defined as the behaviour that consumers show in searching for, buying, using, accessing, and disposing of services and products that they expect to meet their needs (Schiffman, Hansen and Kanuk, 2012). In order to enhance retail performance and customer satisfaction, the study of online purchasing behaviour is an considerable subject for understanding consumer motivation (Puccinelli et al., 2009). However, in a highly competitive market, in addition to understanding consumer buying behavior, maintaining good relationships with consumers is key to the success of online fashion retailers (Kim et al., 2009). Therefore, the main driver for active attitudes to utile of e-commerce are improved the relationship between consumers and business (Doherty and Ellis-Chadwick, 2009).
Providing fashion-related information produce the opportunity for fashion retailers to build a good relationship with consumers as retailers. This is opportunity for retailers to propagate customers by representing their most modern brand on their behalf, as well as increasing brand value and further stimulating online shopping. On the other hand, as young generation pay more attention to their appearance, hence they are more focus on and interested in browsing and buying fashion products (O'Cass, 2004). However, social interactions and the value generated from interactions are a key driver of consumer behaviour to pay attention to fashion items. And the value depends not only on consumer perspectives, but also on the perceptions reply form peers (Buunk and Gibbons, 2007). In addition, a high degree of participation in a brand or product enhances the consumer beliefs, thus facilitating the consumer decision-making process (O’Cass, 2004). Therefore, fashion retailers can utilize social media as a platform to provide fashion style and trends, which for a need to maintain the attractiveness of the fashion industry, will enhance the competitiveness of the market.
In the e-commerce literature, the consumer's shopping experience and evaluation have been positive researched ground on the views of the online shopping sites. This series of studies takes into account the process style of consumers’ information, store preferences, shopping mode, user friendly and successful online stores (Griffith et al., 2001). According to the model of consumer’s relational purchasing behavior in the
Web-based online shopping environment, the main factors of service and product information quality, user interface quality, site awareness and security are found to have a significant impact on the consumer's website commitment. In particular, the information function of the shopping site was recognized to be a significant factor to identify the consumer's website loyalty and decision making, whether they will purchase in the store. (Chung‐Hoon Park, Young‐Gul Kim, 2003). Although consumer behavior models have been shown to effectively assess the impact of online shopping platforms on consumers, these related studies only consider online shopping platforms and do not include a consideration of social media in research. Therefore, this study
focuses on the impact of different social media and online shopping platforms on consumers, as the main concept of consumer behavior.
Consumers’ buying behaviour are strongly influenced by personal, social, cultural and psychological characteristics. In most cases, marketers cannot regulate these factors, but they must consider these factors (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Social, economic, demographic, technical and situational factors are external impact toward consumer behavior. The factors of Internal included learning, attitudes, motives, beliefs, perceptions, personalities and values. Lifestyle is attributable to external and internal effects on consumer purchase behaviour (Keegan and Schlegelmilch, 2001). Today's retail and consumers’ attitudes, lifestyles and beliefs are inextricable, therefore, the fashion retailers have to design the website to correspond the consumer's social attitudes and personality (McCormick & Livett, 2012). Despite external factors have a significant impact on consumers’ behavior, internal factors are also important (Keegan and Schlegelmilch, 2001). Wells and Prensky (1996) sorted these potential factors into two parts which are the main parts of the consumer analytics framework: consumer behavioral processes and background characteristics. Behavioral processes are the activities that consumers use to meet demand, such as perception, motivation, learning, decision-making tools, and attitudes. The consumer background is characterized by the native part of the character, such as age, gender and racial background. Behavioral processes can be impacted by the individual’s environment, as attitudes are easier to have variation than values or beliefs, and they tend to focus on increasing consumer purchase (Wu, 2003). The emergence of social media is to create a space to people interaction and then to produce mutual influence.
More research can be concentrate on how multi-channel retailers can coordinate key areas of apparel engagement such as style advice and fashion trends, as well as the impact on consumer behavior and attitudes. In the social media field, fashion-style
referrals and brand communities are still fairly new and continue to expand into the field of fashion websites (McCormick and Livett，2012). These areas are all about promoting the interaction between consumers and fashion retailers on social media channels.
2.3.2 Consumer Purchase decision (Customer Decision-Making)
This study uses the consumer decision-making model to measure how consumers choose online shopping platforms and social media as browsing and buying fashion products. And from this model to explore whether consumers use the various platforms, the ultimate goal, to buy products. There are four well-known theoretical models of consumer behavior research: EKB model, Kotler model, Howard-Sheth model and Howard model. The EKB model (Engle, Kollat, Blackwell, 1982) considers consumer behaviors as a program that divides consumers into decision-making processes is divided into five phases: problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase and post-purchase, and these processes can be influenced by both the environment and the individual. Consumers may skip some or reverse some of them step (Kotler, 2012).
Organisations can communicate with potential or existing customers for new product announcements or other promotions and information with existing and potential customers before, during, and after the transaction (Moustakas, 2015). In the decision-making process, consumers are turning to social media channels for information
search, and the search volume on social media channels is on the rise. Influencers such as celebrities or online sensation in social media channels may have a considerable influence on consumer behaviour even if consumers do not have direct contact with the influencers of social media (Nielsen, 2012).
According to a study by Comegys, Hannula and Väisänen (2006), consumer behavior was investigated using risk and trust factor theory in combination with five stages of consumer purchasing decision-making. This study validated some of the factors that can effectively measure online consumer behaviour. Businesses are concerned that whether their customers are satisfied with the products or services they purchase, which is the main focus of marketing (Szmigin and Piacentini, 2015). And consumers may seek for their reasons for satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Weiner, 2003). Some studies (summarized in Figure 1) have looked at what action will be take when consumers understand the reasons for dissatisfaction (Day and Landon, 1977).
“Action” and “no action” are the first step in complaining behavior. The basic difference in complaining action is voice or exit. Exit means consumers are no longer buying or responding to their dissatisfied by voices (Hirschman, 1981).
Figure 1.
2.4 The Importance of Customer Engagement
Behaviour
Online consumer engagement behaviour (CEB) imply that a non-transactional behavioural representation which concentrated on product, brands, or company, and have a positive or negative and direct or indirect effect on organisation performance (van Doorn et al. 2010). And consumer engagement ranks as one of the top priorities for online marketing campaigns (eMarketer, 2013), and is also a main subject of research for marketing academics and management (Brodie et al., 2011).
The Positive results generated by Consumer Engagement (CEBs) which represent marketers using these positive outcomes as key performance indicators of marketing success through social media (eMarketer, 2013). Nowadays, consumer living in a
society which closely related to networking, and the rise of new social media provides more choices for interacting with businesses and other consumers who are living in an increasingly networked society (Hennig Thurrau et al., 2010). However, new media has a different kind of intermediary such as social media, search engines, peer-to-peer networks and social recommenders, each of them with different features and have different technologies, but these have not yet been integrated into effective CEB (Hennig-Hurau et al., 2010).
Businesses are also seeking strategies to guide non-trading behaviour in today's highly interactive and dynamic business environment (Verhoef et al., 2010). Non-trading customer behavior is becoming more and more important (Groeger et al., 2016). Consumers share their passion for their favorite brands through social media such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Alexa, 2010). Before businesses can exercise these opportunities gendered by new media, they need to understand thoroughly why these new media can attract consumers and how these new media impact consumer behaviors. Companies must develop new strategic and tactical marketing methods that are consistent with the feature of new media and their influence on customers (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010).
Recently, the business community has started to consider customer’s engagement as operational resources and began to explore different topic of customer engagement and the potential for achieving better results (van Doorn et al., 2010). In a dynamic and interactive business environment, customer engagement has long been recognized as a strategic element in improving business performance, including profitability, superior competitive advantage and sales growth (Brodie et al., 2011). Researchers considered that evaluating customer engagement (CEB) is more important than purchasing transactions, and the motivational driver may be defined as the customer behaviour that triggers the attention to the company or brand. This motivational driver include
recommendation, blogs, customer-to-customer interactions and so on (Perrigot et al., 2012)
The fundamental issue of customer interaction is understanding what kind of business models will be effectively employed in multimedia websites. Research shows that online advertising can be as operative as offline advertising (Gallagher, Foster, and Parsons 2001). This new shift in value-added interactive customer relationships (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) and value co-creation (Vargo and Lusch, 2008) bring several challenges for businesses and customers. From the company's perspective, understanding consumer-business interactions and creating and maintaining lasting the relationship of interactions with consumers is crucial. The new media plays an important role in these challenges because they allow for elaboration of experiences and expression in a variety of ways that add to consumer-business interaction (Acar and Puntoni, 2016).
Verhoef, van Doorn, and Dorotic (2010) argue that managing and understanding the CEB online or offline is maximizing the value of a company's customers in practice. Therefore, Van Doorn et al. (2010) investigated three factors influencing CEB, that is, on the basis of company, consumer and context. Among them, consumers are based on the discussion of consumer participation, influence and attitude. Another study (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010) proposed two major factors influencing the customer engagement behaviour (CEB) through new media, including new media attitude (e.g. satisfaction with utilitarianism and hedonism) and brand attitude (e.g. interest, satisfaction, brand awareness). Customer's new media attitude can only be communicated through multi-channel new media, simplifying the user interface to motivate the CEB. Brand attitudes to customers may be influenced by brand value or reward terms, and may also support specific customer behavior such as advice and ideas through the establishment of platforms.
In a recent study, Brodie et al. (2011) showed that consumer engagement increased satisfaction, loyalty, trust, connection and emotional attachment to the business. From these previous studies, it is demonstrated that consumer participation has a direct impact on social media and consumer behavior. However, most of the existing CEB researches are focused on the organisation side, while only a few kinds of research concentrate on the consumer aspects (Roberts and Pirog 2012; Bijmolt et al. 2010).
Therefore, this research is based on the concept of consumer engagement and in conjunction with consumer purchasing decision-making models to investigate how the fashion industry can influence consumer behavior in terms of social media marketing. The level of consumer engagement in purchasing is a key factor affecting the decision-making process, and varying degrees can lead to different decision-making processes (Szmigin and Piacentini, 2015).
3.0 Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
The intention of this chapter is to interpret for epistemological perspective that this dissertation is adopting. The chapter starts by discussing the philosophical stance and turn into the methodological employ. Then select the most suitable research method for the genre of this study. In order to enhance the validity and reliability of this research, data collection and analysis are illustrated in this section. Meanwhile, a research onion (Saunders Lewis and Thornhill, 2012), which included research methods, research strategies, time frames, techniques and procedures, are also discussed. Moreover, to further undertake the confidentiality and credibility of participants, the ethical considerations are presented in this section. (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2012).
3.2 Research Design
Philosophy:
Postivism
Approach: Deduction
Strategy: Survey
Choices: Mono
Method
Time horizons:
Cross-sectional
Data collection: Questionn aire
There are many scholars consider the definition of research design that firstly, Research design employs the most extreme way to control the availability elements that may affect results (Burns & Grove, 2009). Secondly, research design is an arrangement that lays out how, when and where to collect and investigate information (Parahoo, 2014). Thirdly, the purpose of a research design is to answer research questions or research hypotheses (Polit et al., 1991).
Moreover, as Elkatawneh (2016) argued that time is a key element of decision-making when choosing a research strategy. McCarthy and Muthuri (2016) indicated that
quantitative research is better able to collect data in the shortest amount of time than qualitative because it can be predicted the time required, but qualitative research can be performed over a relatively long period of time. In addition, research is implemented for academic purposes and is limited in time, that is why most studies prefer quantitative methods.
3.3 Positivism Philosophy
In marketing, marketing scholars must clearly understand the philosophical basis of their research (Lutz, 1989). This study employs a questionnaire survey to collect data, therefore, the methodology of the research base on a positivism philosophy. In terms of philosophy, positivism argues that only the knowledge of factuality obtained through sense observation containing measurement is a reliable perspective. In positivism research, research’s role is restricted to information interpretation and gathering via the objective method and the outcome of research are normally quantifiable and reconisable. All in all, Positivism relies upon the result of quantifiable survey which directs themselves to statistical breakdown (Collins, 2010).
Any reliable scientific theory, no matter in time or any other notion, should be based on the most viable philosophy of science, which is a positivist method presented by Popper and others. Moreover, A great theory will illustrate mass phenomena based on a few simple assumptions and will make a clear prediction that can be examined (Hawking, 2001). In marketing research, therefore, the main principle of the positivist method is to establish the laws of cause and effect that can explain and predict the present phenomena of marketing (Huberman and Miles, 2008).
Although the objects of study are different in the natural sciences and the social sciences, the methods and procedures applied in the natural sciences are equally
applicable to social phenomena as methodological monism (Popper, 1999). Collis and Hussey (2003) further define that in the social sciences it is completely reasonable to investigate human behavior in a positivist manner. Thus it allows to collect vast amounts of data and afford a precise theoretical emphasis (Easterby-Smith, Thrope and Jackson, 2008). Furthermore, Huberman and Miles (2009) consider that the positivist methodology indicates that for purpose of measuring a visible phenomenon, data should be gathered by using an empirical quantitative method.
This research, however, investigates consumers' shopping behavior on social media and reveals possible phenomena and common phenomena by different consumer shopping behaviors such as quantifying the frequency of purchase, the degree of preference and so on. By these result of this research to identify the general shopping behavior of the consumer and to objectively analysis the phenomenon. Therefore, positivism approach is applicable to this research.
Research philosophy includes pragmatism, realism, positivism and interpretivism. The following tables each briefly outline the differences between all research philosophies.
Source: M.,Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2012)
In epistemology, interpretivism and positivism are contrasted. Interpretivism philosophy requires a strategy that respects the differences between the objects of the
nature science and people (Bryman and Bell, 2007). Therefore, the point of view of the interpretivism is emphasised on the meaning of subjective rather than the measurement of the phenomenon (Bryman and Bell, 2007; Collis and Hussey, 2003; Creswell, 2003).
However, from an ontological perspective, interpretivism is a constructive method of arguing on the basis of how each person or society interprets or constructs different realities. In the more extreme viewpoint, interpretivism considers all the realities to be real, and the distinction depends on how the mind interprets or constructs them, in other words, the definition of realities depends on how well sophisticated or knowledge the research has (Hunt, 1992; Guba and Lincoln, 1994). Therefore, something considered reality cannot be judged impartially, non-arbitrarily or objectively (Easton, 2010). Because, as Hunt (1992) argument, interpretivism researchers in their viewpoint do not explain how a "real" world operates toward a no "real" world. As a consequence of this, this incommensurability among realities would lead to incoherence and irrelevance on the research (Hunt, 2010).
Furthermore, while the value of interpretivism research in providing contextual depth is recognized, the results are often criticized in the aspect of generalisability, reliability and validity (Perry, 1998), because scientific results cannot be obtained empirically by untrained observers Lee (59, pp. 17‐18). Therefore, in order to avoid any injustice or subjective consciousness in the survey results which cause by the researcher that does not have the relevant observer experience or training, this study will concentrate on the positivism philosophy as a research method. Moreover, many studies on consumer behavior have confirmed that positivism tends to be an objective view, through a normative conceptualization and quantification of data; investigators are considered outside the subject to produce an objective analysis (Collis and Hussey, 2003; Huberman and Miles, 2002).
3.4 Research Approach
3.4.1 Deductive and Inductive
To start a study, one must understand which research method is appropriate for the study. Various research methods are based on different philosophies (Saunders et al, 2012). Inductive is associated with interpretivism, while deductive is associated with positivism (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Jackson, 2008).
Creswell (2007) argue that the method of deductive refers to the way of "top-down" which means from theory to hypothesis or empirical investigation to data that complement or contradict theory. Inductive method is a "bottom-up" method which is from the specific into the general. It refers to validating assumptions through the observations of market researchers, leading eventually to a broad generalization and theory (Ritchie et al., 2013). However, Creswell (2007) argues that the main difference between deductive and inductive approaches is the more use of deductive methods for a topic that has a large body of literature to define hypotheses and theoretical frameworks. On the other hand, if research subjective are fairly new, then the inductive can be more useful in generating, analyzing and reflecting the subjective presented by the data. Therefore, as long as the premise of deductive argument is true, the authenticity of the conclusions can be guaranteed. However, the inductive argument seems to be weaker than the deductive argument because it is likely to always obtain the wrong conclusions. Due to the research way of bottom-up (inductive) are unstructured, they are not as scientifically structured as the research way of top-down (deductive) (DeVault, 2017).
In addition, the topic of online shopping consumer behavior is not a newest one, because there are many previously related research and theories. Therefore, this study is based on the previous related research to make an extension and fill the gap.
For example, most previous research on online shopping consumer behavior concentrated on shopping websites such as Amazon, and so on. On the other hand, for social media, it always focused on the blog. Nowadays, there are, however, many other social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat which starting share Internet shopping market. Because of this change, this study uses deductive methods to further investigate online consumer behavior changes in social media platforms.
3.4.2 Quantitative and Qualitative
In the field of research, there are generally two ways to collect and report information, one is qualitative and the other is quantitative. Qualitative methods focus on comprehending a phenomenon from a more relative perception. Quantitative methods tend to employ a large number of individual phenomenon as a method of investigation. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages; the researcher can choose a more suitable method to answer their own research questions (Dr. Ben-Eliyahu, 2014).
Quantitative research is connected with deduction method and positivist stance because it focuses on the measurement of research questions (Collis and Hussey, 2003; Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Jackson, 2008), which are countable questions such as "How many?" and "How long? “(Gummesson, 2000). Then collect the data for statistical analysis (Malhotra and Birks, 2000). The data collected is often employed to rebut or prove the hypothesis (Bonoma, 1985; Malhotra and Birks, 2006). However, a general drawback is that there may be a wealth of detailed information reduced when doing the summative evaluation (Rubin and Rubin, 1995).
However, in marketing literature, the positivism method depends on quantitative research, using numbers to present the research questions and issues that marketing scholars are addressing (S.D. Hunt, 2010). Malhotra (2004) argued that quantitative
methods have proven to be both valuable and beneficial when examine large volumes of data. Meanwhile, quantitative studies allow researchers to employ statistical methods to test the validity and reliability of the research (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe, 2002). Hence, quantitative methods have been identified to be effective in evaluating consumers’ attitude and conducting consumer surveys (Solomon et al.,
2002). Furthermore, Creswell (2003) also agreed this point, he considers that quantitative research methods are applicable to rating attitude and behaviour.
To this day, quantitative research continues to play an important role today, with approximately 47% of approximately 1,200 cross-sectional studies published in the European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing and Journal of Services Marketing between 1993 and 2002 using quantitative research (Hanson and Grimmer, 2007). As there are already many studies on consumer behavior that have proven quantitative research to be effective. Therefore, this study uses quantitative methods as a research approach.
3.5 Research Strategy
The most commonly used method for performing quantitative methods is a questionnaire or structured interview (Malhotra and Birks, 2000). Quantitative methods use preordained methods and closed-ended questions to collect figure data and then verify or examine the theories or explanation (Creswell, 2003). A survey is a widely used technique and effective for collecting data because it can manage large numbers of people at the same time (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2012). The purpose of the survey is to statistically evaluate and explain the behaviours, attitudes and opinions of the target population （ Babbie, 2006; Robson,2003; Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill,2012）.
Since the emergence of the surveys by first e-mail in the 1980s and the initial web surveys in the early 1990s, technology has radically reformed the way of the survey (Schonlau et al., 2001). Grossnickle and Raskin (2001, p. 9) point out that nowadays, the services and tools of online surveys are almost satisfying the needs of any market research professional. Leading companies such as Procter & Gamble and Unilever have conducted extensive online surveys. There are over half consumer surveys of Procter & Gamble's U.S. was done online (Heun, 2001).
According to official British statistics, the proportion of adults using the Internet has increased year by year, especially among young people between the ages of 16 and 34, with the recent internet usage rate as high as 99% (Ons.gov.uk, 2017). When most people in a society have access or knowledge of the Internet, the main drawback of the insufficient representativeness for using online survey does not exist. As a result, the Internet is a very valuable investigative tool for obtaining a wider range of information from respondents in different regions or countries at a lower cost (Scholl et al., 2002). Poynter (2004) also pointed out that as the increasingly close relationship between customer relationship management (CRM) and market research (MR). Therefore, online surveys can be employed in business-to-business (B-to-B) and business-to-consumer (B to C) investigation. Especially for medium or large samples, the Internet will be the primary method of investigation.
There are many advantages for using online surveys, for instance, online surveys are relatively flexible, because it can be embedded survey in emails; emails with links to survey URLs; web surfers visit websites and invite respondents to the survey (Schonlau et al., 2001). Respondents are anonymous and are able to answer the questionnaire when they were available (Hogg, 2003). Furthermore, it can minimize the time of the survey and data collection (Kannan et al.,1998) due to the availability and advanced software of online survey and a professional online questionnaire
development company, meanwhile, it makes preparation costs are much lower (Jackson, 2003). In addition, the questions can be diversity such as multiple choice, single or multiple answer and open questions and so on (Wilson and Laskey 2003).
The above advantages demonstrate that the online survey is a very appropriate method for carrying this research. Firstly, this study is related to B-to-C research. Secondly, the study required a large sample size of 100 participants with respondents aged 18 to 25, and this age range is usually a student background and is very familiar with the use of the internet. Szymanski and Hise (2000) argue that respondents are more likely to complete an online survey accurately if they are familiar with the Internet. Thirdly, due to the development and progress of the online survey system, this resulted in time and cost saving and effective analysis for implementing the large sample size of the study. Therefore, this study is in line with the basic elements of using an online questionnaire.
3.6 Data Collection
For each research project, data collection is of crucial importance (Bryman and Bell, 2015) There are two main different of data collection techniques, one is primary data and another is secondary data (Saunders et al., 2012). First-hand and original data collected by researchers are the original data. On the contrary, when the data or information has been collected by another person for his or her research work and through statistical analysis, that is, secondary data (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016).
There are three main methods of data collection in survey research, that is, interviewing, implementing questionnaires and observing people and phenomena (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016). Some approaches to data collection require a structured approach where researchers prioritize the broad contours of what they need to
investigate and how to design their own research tools. The questionnaire is an appropriate example of a structured tool. The questions, which Researchers designed, would allow the collected data to response the research questions concretely (Bryman and Bell, 2007).
Another reason for collecting primary data in this study is that it is able to gather the newest and current information associated with research questions (Collins, 2010). On the other hand, Blaxer et al. (2010) pointed out that the secondary data cannot explain the latest trend at present if the problem under study is relatively new or unique. Due to the fast-changing of science and technology, social media has contributed to the rapid development in all aspects. According to this result, consumers are also constantly changing their online shopping behaviour for social media. Thus, consumer behaviour research is a subject that needs constant discussion and investigation in response to the social and environmental changes. This also demonstrate that the primary data is the line with this research.
3.7 Non-Probability Sampling
This study is a quantitative research of positivism. A sample is a subgroup of people selected to involve in the research (Dillon and Reif, 2004). Since investigating the entire population is usually not in the interest, sampling methods are adopted in this research. In addition, Quantitative surveys are often used on a specific population sample rather than the entire population. Non-probability sampling can be used in the research that follows quantitative qualitative, or mixed methods. And it is often used due to its sampling process is easier to conduct and more save cost than probability sampling. Furthermore, probability sampling requires a larger sample which takes more time than non-probabilistic sampling (Saunders and Lewis, 2012). However, this research was conducted in a short period of time, hence using non-probability sampling due to it is the most efficient. Moreover, the quantitative study allows for various types of non-probability sampling methods. Therefore, this research implements quota sampling which is 50 males and 50 females combine with snowball
and self-selected sampling. Snowball sampling was conducted at the library of Coventry University London Campus, and self-selection is done by posting online surveys on the Facebook community page of Coventry University's MBA Global Business community and another social media. The sampling of students at the Coventry University in London campus is within the age range 18 to 25 which is line with the participant criteria of the research.
3.8 Research Ethics
This research abides by an ethical procedure of participant confidentiality. Respondents will be informed the related policies and procedures of their participation before they conducting an online survey. And respondents can read the consent form and research cover letter before answering the questionnaire, which contains research-related information, topics, purpose and so on (Appendix 3). The researchers confirmed that all respondents in this study did not have any risks and harm, and participants answered the online questionnaire as volunteers without any external interference and influence (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Jackson, 2015). The online survey tool uses a credible BOS online survey. In addition, the data will remain accurate based on the research purpose and objectives (Saunders and Lewis, 2012). All participants provided the data anonymously and were used for the purposes of this study merely. Moreover, this study follows Coventry University London campus criterion and the ethics checklist has been accomplished and approved by the supervisor (appendix 4 & 5).
4.0 Findings
This chapter introduce the findings of primary research, and the results of the research respond to three objectives and recommendation.
1. To investigate the impact of social media marketing on the generation Y and Z buying behaviour on online shopping platforms.
2. To investigate which social media platforms are the most popular for generation Y and Z consumers toward browsing and buying fashion products.
3. To explore the positive and negative fashion purchase experience of the
generation Y and Z on shopping websites and social media platforms.
4. To recommend effective strategies to increase the generation Y and Z shopping with social media marketing on online platforms in the fashion industry.
Demographics:
The sampling for this study is a quota sample. Therefore, 50% of the respondents are female and male, and the respondents are online shopping consumers aged 18 to 25. Therefore, 78% of respondents are from this age range. In addition, more than half of all respondents are a student with no employment. Nearly 20% of respondents are students with employment. While 61% of respondents' income or allowance are less than £ 1000.
Q6.
The most reason for shopping on social media platform instead of the physical store is "save time", which accounted for 42.6% and the second reason is that they can shop at anywhere and anytime of the day.
Q7.
Most respondents prefer to use Google or Yahoo search engine to collect product information, the second popular is the search engine of shop websites (e.g. Topshop). In addition, search engines that use shopping sites (such as Amazon) rank third and search engines of social media rank fourth. However, less than 10% choose recommendations from friends, family or fashion blogs.
Q8.
Popular styles and accessories (e.g. shoes and bag) are the most popular items purchased from social media platforms, accounted for 34.9% and 32.5% respectively. By contrast, the formal clothes such as suit and dress are the smallest proportion around 10%.
Q9.
Before they buy fashion products on social media platforms, young consumers will go to shopping websites to compare prices or read comments from other consumers. The percentages of the compare prices on shopping websites and reading the comments are very close, accounting for 25.6% and 25.1% respectively. Another 18.6% of consumers will confirm the shipping costs and about 17% of consumers will go to physical store to try on the products.
Q10.
When people are satisfied with the products they purchase, nearly 40% of them will recommend to friends, but 36% do not express any opinion. In addition, close to 25% of people will give a positive review in the retailer's webpages.
Q11.
Conversely, if consumers are dissatisfied with the products they buy, they will return of the goods directly account for 46%, and 32% will communicate with the retailer's customer service and replace the products. However, 12% do not have any response but refuse to buy any merchandise from this retailer again.
Q12.
From the three levels are "strongly", "somewhat strongly" and "generally" to investigate the young consumers most like to browse or buy fashion products online shopping platforms which include online shopping websites (e.g. Amazon), shop websites (ZARA), social media (Facebook).
· In terms of “strongly”, shop websites accounted for 46.4%, online shopping websites accounted for 36.4%, and social media accounted for only 10%.
· At “somewhat strongly”, shop websites accounted for 29.9%, online shopping websites 25% and social media 17.2%.
· As “generally”, social media accounted for 34.4%, online shopping websites accounted for 28.3% and shop websites accounted for 17.5%.
Q13.
For those who strongly prefer to buy or browse fashion products on the online shopping platform, 39.4% of respondents choose to use Amazon and 22.6% choose ASOS. In addition, 14.6% choose eBay shopping platform.
Q.14
Nearly 37% of young consumers strongly prefer to browse and buy fashion products at ZARA's shop websites, while 23.6% of consumers choose H & M. In addition, 18.5% of consumers strongly prefer TOP SHOP.
Q.15
The respondents, who "strongly" or "somewhat strongly" prefer to browse or buy fashion products on social media, claim that they use Instagram “most commonly “and “frequently”, which account for 34.7% and 22.2% respectively, which is higher than
Facebook's. Surprisingly, only 4% of the respondents use celebrities blog “most commonly” and “frequently”.
Q16.
The reasons for most commonly used social media to browse and buy fashion products are advertising and the awareness of social media, each accounting for the same percentages of 37%. Followed by a friend's recommendation and celebrity endorsements/online sensation, these two percentage is very close, accounting for 15% and 14.5% respectively. In addition, 11% think the main reason is easily browsed images and information (There is no need for a specific search or limited by privacy, it can be browsed all photos and information which come from worldwide such as Instagram).
Q.17
47 percent of consumers followed fashion retailers on social media channels and this affected their online shopping decisions. Despite 31% of consumers followed fashion retailers on social media channels, this does not affect consumer online shopping decision.
Q.18
More than half of the respondents (54 people) click on the fashion industry's ads on the social media channel to link to the product purchase webpage. And 44 of them will buy the product after they browse the product purchase webpage, but the remaining 10 individuals will not buy the product.
There are three main reasons why respondents did not buy the product after browsed the product, one is the price goes beyond the respondents’ budget; the other is that the product is not suitable for the respondents; and the last one is that other online shopping websites (e.g. Amazon) offer a better discount on the same product. The three reasons are the equal percentage, each account for 25%. The second major reason is that the shipping costs are too high, accounting for 12.5%.
Q.19
Compared with 3 online shopping websites, Amazon, Alibaba and eBay, 69.3% of respondents think that purchasing fashion products on Amazon shopping website has the more positive shopping experience, while only 14% think eBay shopping website has more positive shopping experience. The first reason for the positive experience is to save more time searching for the same or similar products of different brands, the second reason is the function of price comparison, the third is the service quality, but the percentages of security of payment and privacy are nearly the same as the percentages of the service quality.
Q.20, 21 & 22
In terms of social media platform include Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, up to 57.4% of people think Instagram has the most positive shopping experience. However, 35.7% of people think Facebook is more than a positive shopping experience. The main reason for positive shopping experience on social media platforms is that they think social media platform is more simple to view products without too many words, accounting for nearly 40%. The reasons followed are high entertainment (you can view many people and see how they share their lifestyle) and highly interactive, with only a slight difference, which account for 27.3% and 26.6% respectively.
Q.20
Q.21
Q.22
Q.25
More than half of respondents indicated that they would switch to shopping websites such as Amazon to buy fashion products if they had a negative shopping experience on social media platforms. In addition, 32% of respondents claimed that they will not switch to shopping websites, but to the physical store to buy fashion products. However, only 14% of respondents stated that they will not switch shopping websites and will continue to buy fashion products on social media platforms.
Q.23 & 24
For questions 23 and 24, are open questions that investigates the main drawback of purchase fashion items on online shopping websites (e.g. Amazon) and social media platforms (e.g. Instagram). As the number of respondents is 100, there are 200 responses in total (see appendix). Three major types of drawback have been identified from these responses. And two of these drawback types, cannot touch the product and product quality, are the main common drawback in online shopping sites and social media platforms.
The main drawbacks of purchasing fashion items on shopping websites such
as Amazon:
1. There are 27 respondents comment that cannot touch or try on the product. Some comments from respondents as below.
· “You do not see the fashion items personally with your own eyes unless you search for it personally at the physical store. Thus, sometimes it can be quite disappointing when the items that you purchased do not look as expected.
· “You can't try the clothes and can't see if they fit you well which can be a waste of time and money.”
· “unable to feel the quality if fabric and how does it actually look in person.”
2. There are 24 respondents comment that wrong product or poor quality. Some comments from respondents as below.
· “Products themselves might look different in the real life than on the pictures and has different size (e.g. colors, fabrics, shape).”
· “The quality or size of product may not be the same as it's shown.”
· “The pics do not present the quality sometimes.”
· “Wrong size, the colour difference.”
3. There are 10 respondents comment that delivery problem. Some comments from respondents as below.
· The delivery is not reliable.
· Poor delivery handling
· Delivery delays
· Takes time to be delivered
· delivery fees are too high
The main drawbacks of purchasing fashion items on social media platforms
such as Instagram:
1. There are 21 respondents comment that security issues. Some comments from respondents as below.
· “I think people might be scared as these social medias are not specialised website for shoppping from the start.”
· “Shopping on social media looks less secure than normal shopping or website shopping.”
· “Unreliable retailers.”
· “Safety problems, some fake links.”
· “Some products that have been advertised may be fake brands.”
· “not always reliable sources, there's a lot of online scams.”
2. There are 13 respondents comment that cannot touch or try on the product. Some comments from respondents as below.
· “I think the clothing looks a lot better online then what it does in person this is why I avoid clothing from there.”
· “Can’t see the product in person.”
· “Cannot measure quality.”
· “You cannot try the product and in many cases the return policies are long and not convenient. As amazon or Zara website.”
· “You do not see the fashion items personally with your own eyes unless you search for it personally at the physical store. Thus, sometimes it can be quite disappointing when the items that you purchased do not look as expected.”
3. There are 14 respondents comment that wrong product or poor quality. Some comments from respondents as below.
· “Products themselves might look different in the real life than on the pictures and has different size (e.g. colors, fabrics, shape).”
· “The product’s quality or size.”
· “Maybe it will not fit in,”
· “Never true to size.”
· “Not always the same product as the advertisement.”
· “They are usually low quality products.”
5.0 Data Analysis
The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the primary data collected in this study and to analyze the data results based on consumer engagement behaviour theory and purchase decision-making model for exploring The influence of social media marketing toward the generation Y and Z purchase behaviour in UK’s fashion online shopping.
Objective 1.
To investigate the impact of social media marketing on the generation Y and Z buying behaviour on online shopping platforms.
According to the first phase of the consumer decision-making model: Need Recognition (Engle, Kollat, Blackwell, 1982), consumers were surveyed to understand why consumers choose social media platforms as shopping platforms. The survey determined that the main reasons for young consumers aged 18 to 25 shopping on social media platform instead of the physical store are more convenience and save cost which comes in line with the perspective of Delafrooz et al. (2011), consumers can purchase products and services in anywhere and anytime and also can save more energy, time and money when they shop online. In addition, nearly 35% of the most popular fashion items purchased on social media are the popular style, with nearly 33% of the items most commonly purchased are accessories such as shoes and bags. These results are in accordance with Mintel's report, in July 2017 of United Kingdom's online retailing, there are 52% of people bought clothes and shoes in the past year (Sender, 2017). This proves that fashion industry are still the most competitive industries in the online shopping market, and consumers have gradually accepted the fashion industry in social media marketing.
In the second phase of the consumer decision-making model: Information Search (Engle, Kollat, Blackwell, 1982), investigates how consumers collect product-related information before purchasing the fashion product. According to the data, consumers, without any specific online shopping platform, will use online search engines to collect information. Most respondents prefer to use Google or Yahoo search engine, the second popular is the search engine of shop websites such as Zara. In addition, search engines that use shopping sites such as Amazon rank third and search engines of social media such as Instagram rank fourth. The survey results show that consumers rely on a variety function which available on the Internet such as comparing the quality and price from different retailers (Delafrooz et al., 2011). Such a function and convenience can provide consumers with a preliminary and a wide range of relevant product information. After initial screening, if there are ideal products on social media platforms, half of the respondents will read other consumers' comments or go to the online shopping platform to compare the prices, while one in five will confirm the
shipping cost. Reading consumer reviews is one of the main factors driving consumers to purchase fashion items and the value generated from social interactions depends not only on consumer perspectives but also on the perceptions reply form peers (Buunk and Gibbons, 2007). Therefore, the fashion industry has taken advantage of social behaviors in social media marketing, and then to reach the publicity of products and brands and attract the attention of consumers, which ultimately affects the purchase behavior of consumers.
Objective 2.
To investigate which social media platforms are the most popular for generation Y and Z consumers toward browsing and buying fashion products.
In the third phase of the consumer decision model: Alternative Evaluation (Engle, Kollat, Blackwell, 1982). Take 3 major types of online shopping platform, include online shopping websites (e.g. Amazon), shop websites (e.g. Zara) and social media (e.g. Instagram), to investigate which online platform is consumers' favorite to browse and buy fashion products.
The data show that respondents “strongly prefer” to browse and buy fashion products on shop websites (e.g. H&M), followed by online shopping websites (e.g. Amazon).
However, although not many people “strongly prefer” to browse and purchase fashion items on social media platforms (e.g. Instagram), 1/3 of people are still “generally prefer” to browse and buy fashion products on social media platforms. Furthermore, according to responses from participants, Zara is considered the best choice when they use shop websites to browse and buy fashion items. In addition, for online shopping websites, Amazon is the best choice. However, Instagram and Facebook are the best choices for browsing and buying fashion products on social media. The percentage of Instagram is a little higher than Facebook. And this result is in line with
Forrester’s 2015 report that Instagram users had the highest interaction with top 50 global brands and are above Facebook. It proves that social media affects consumers' buying behavior more and more（Nielsen，2012）.
As the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of social media marketing on consumer buying behavior, hence a further research was conducted to understand why respondents use social media to browse and buy fashion products. The results of the study reveal that the most common reasons are the social media awareness and commercial advertising, and the second reason is the recommendation of friends, as well as the celebrity endorsement. The final reason is that it can be easily browsed pictures and messages (There is no need for a specific search or limited by privacy, it can be browsed all photos and information which come from worldwide such as Instagram).
Hennig-Thurau et al. (2010) indicated that in the study of consumers' new media attitudes, enterprises can not actively attract consumer to engage social media by brand except through multi-channel new media to communicate and simplify the user interface to encourage consumer participation in social media. In other words, businesses leverage the popularity of social media to promote company’s brands and attract consumers' attention. Respondents who think they can browse the photos and information from all over the world are the reasons to browse and buy fashion products on social media. This requires further research on consumer attitudes. Perhaps because of the advances in technology that generate real-time information which leads consumers to desire to share different information.
In the fourth phase of the consumer decision model: Purchase Decision (Engle, Kollat, Blackwell, 1982). The level of consumer engagement in purchasing is a key factor affecting the decision-making process, and varying degrees can lead
to different decision-making processes (Szmigin and Piacentini, 2015). According to the findings, nearly 80% of respondents claim that they have followed their favorite fashion retailers on social media channels. And more than half of them think it affects their online shopping decision. This result demonstrates that customer engagement is an important strategic element in improving business performance in both dynamic and interactive business environments (Brodie et al., 2011).
Yet another result showed that 54% of respondents have clicked the advertisement links of fashion retailer, which on social media channels, to their products webpage. Moreover, 44% of them have bought the products after they have browsed the product information from fashion retailer websites. This result is in line with the research of Gallagher, Foster, and Parsons (2001) indicated that online advertising can be as operative as offline advertising. However, there are three main reasons for those who did not purchase the product after they have browsed the product information from fashion retailer websites. And these three reasons have the same percentage. The first reason is the price is out their budget, second is the product is not suitable for them, third is other shopping websites (e.g. Amazon) offer a better discount on the same products. These reasons exist in every type of online shopping platform. However, previous studies on related online shopping risk have all focused on security (O'Cass and Carlson, 2012). However, the data in this study point out the convenience brought by the online shopping platform as well as create the negative results. For instance, consumers can easily check different prices or offer from a large number of sellers. Therefore, it might become a vicious competition.
Objective 3
To explore the positive and negative fashion purchase experience of the generation Y and Z on shopping websites and social media platforms.
In the fifth phase of the consumer decision model: Post-purchase (Engle, Kollat,
Blackwell, 1982). Organisations are concerned that their consumers are satisfied with
their purchases, in general, this is the main focus of marketing (Szmigin and Piacentini,
2015). In order to investigating consumer’s post-purchase behaviour, it must understand the reasons which cause the behaviour first. Thus, this survey explored consumer shopping experiences on online shopping websites (e.g. eBay) and social media platforms (e.g. Facebook).
In terms of Online shopping websites, nearly 70% of respondents have the most positive experience of purchase fashion products in Amazon, the result of which is consistent with the result of the most popular online shopping platform for browsing and purchasing fashion products. The reasons except save time, there are the function of price comparison and service quality. On the other hand, for social media platforms, nearly 60% of respondents considered Instagram as a most positive fashion shopping experience, which is consistent with the results of social media platforms that most prefer to browse and buy fashion products. But for both finding have different reasons. Moreover, it shows that social media platforms are more attractive and more interactive with consumers and fashion retailers than online shopping platforms, hence the interaction enhance consumer engagement in social media channel of fashion retailers. The reasons as below:
The main reason for browsing and buying fashion products for your favorite social media platform:
· The awareness of social media and advertisements.
· The recommendation of friends or celebrities.
The social media platform is the most positive fashion shopping experience:
· It is more simple to view products without too many words
· High entertainment (you can view many people and see how they share their lifestyle not only commercial activities)
· Highly interactive
However, the major drawbacks of buying fashion products on online shopping websites (e.g. Amazon) and social media platforms (e.g. Instagram) are as follows:
Online shopping websites:
1. Cannot touch or try on the product.
2. Wrong product or poor quality.
3. Delivery problem.
Social media platforms:
1. Security issues.
2. Cannot touch or try on the product.
3. Wrong product or poor quality.
According to the survey, more than 50% of respondents will be converted to online shopping websites to buy fashion products because of the negative experience of buying fashion products on social media platforms. The remaining more than 30% of respondents will be converted directly to the physical store to purchase the items. In addition, if respondents are not satisfied with the products they have already purchased, they will direct return the products or replace the product, account for nearly 80%. However, it is noteworthy that 12% of respondents said there will be no comments, and will not purchase products from the fashion retailers again. The most basic classification in complaining is voice division or exit (Hirschman, 1970). Although most fashion retailers now use email to conduct post-sale customer satisfaction surveys, however, the effectiveness of such investigations remains to be further investigated. As not all consumers are willing to respond to satisfaction survey.
6.0 Conclusion and Recommendations
6.1 Conclusion
The purpose of this research is to investigate the influence of social media marketing on generation Y and Z purchase behaviour on online shopping platforms in the fashion industry in the UK. Using empirical methods as a base and online questionnaires to collect the perspectives and experience of young consumers. This chapter concludes the study of this dissertation, summarizes the primary data and presents recommendations to the UK’s fashion industry on social media marketing.
Generation Y and Z considered that the main reasons for shopping on social media platforms rather than physical stores are more convenience and cost savings. The reasons are the same as that shopping in the general online shopping websites (eg. Amazon). This reveals that social media platforms and online shopping websites share the same advantages, and in the future social media platforms may become one of the major markets for online shopping. However, when collecting product-related information, the general web search engine such as Google is the first choice for young consumers, then the search engine of shop websites such as Zara. For search engines of online shopping websites (e.g. Amazon) and social media platform have nearly the same number of people chose. It can be understood that when consumers do not have any ideas or concepts about what particular brand they want to buy, they typically search across a wide range of product-related information, and a platform such as Google can meet the needs of consumers. Therefore, the search engine of Google or Yahoo is still the mainstream for collecting information. In addition, if the consumer already has an ideal brand, the search engine of shop website (e.g. Topshop) will be chosen.
The main distinction among the search engines of different websites is that online shopping websites (e.g. Amazon) have the ability to provide the price comparison from different retailers. However, social media is socially oriented and not a complete commercial market, hence it can currently not provide such a function. Such deficiencies may easily result in consumers, who think the price is out of the budget, turn to other retailers on online shopping websites to purchase. Since according to the result of this research, one of the main reasons for some respondents did not buy products after they clicked the ads of fashion retailers on social media channels that it is because other shopping websites such as Amazon provide a better price on the same product.
Respondents strongly prefer browsing and buying fashion products at Zara (shop website) and Amazon (online shopping website). While social media platforms are not the most popular choice, over 30% of respondents generally prefer to browse and buy fashion products on Instagram and Facebook. This means that social media is a potential marketing for fashion industry. In addition, the survey also found that in the past celebrity fashion blog is the most popular for consumers, and now it has gradually been replaced by new social media. From this phenomenon, it can be understood that new social media such as Instagram and Facebook have the direct interaction between enterprises, brands, celebrities, general users and consumers of social media. For example, a fans page of company or brand was built on social media channels. This is a celebrity fashion blog cannot reach for a direct interaction between consumers and company. Because such a blog is advertising-oriented, its main function is to increase brand awareness through celebrity endorsements and promotion brands, which means celebrities serve as advertising marketing tools. And now young generations, they have their own ideas for the fashion taste and desire to have a direct interaction with fashion brands. Moreover, social media is also popular for celebrities, there are many celebrities in the platform to promote and share their own fashion style, which is
one of the reasons for the gradual decline the popularity of blogs. In this study, there is another finding that another major reason for using social media to browse and buy fashion products is that it can be easily browsed pictures and messages (There is no need for a specific search or limited by privacy, it can be browsed all photos and information which come from worldwide such as Instagram). It represents that consumers satisfied with the capabilities offered by this new style of social media platform, and they are eager to present themselves or discover what other people share.
This study also confirms that consumer engagement does indeed affect purchasing decisions, with 80% of respondents tracking their favorite fashion retailers on social media channels. And more than half of them think it affects their online shopping decision. Another confirmation is that online ads are as effective as offline ads. Forty-four respondents would buy the product after clicking on the ad for the fashion retailer on the social media channel.
This study compares online shopping websites with social media platforms. Respondents most prefer to browse and buy fashion products on Amazon (online shopping websites) and have the most positive experience. The reason is nothing more than save time, service quality and price comparison. However, there are more positive reasons for social media platforms than online shopping websites, and these advantages cannot be reached on online shopping websites. For instance, high interactive and high entertainment (you can view many people and see how they share their lifestyle not only commercial activities)
The common main shortcoming of buying fashion products on online shopping websites and social media platforms is the lack of touch or try on the product and the
wrong product or poor quality. These drawbacks are common existing in all online shopping platforms. In addition, the security issue is the largest risk consumers think they are shopping on social media platforms. For example, “Unreliable retailers.” “Safety problems, some fake links.” “Some products that have been advertised may be fake brands.” This is one of the crucial barriers to the fashion industry development in the social media market.
6.1 Recommendations
Despite social media marketing has become more and more influential in the fashion industry and consumer purchase behaviour, continued research is needed to investigate the improving social media marketing and to develop effective social media marketing strategies. According to the results of this study to recommend effective social media marketing strategies to the fashion industry for increasing the generation Y and Z shopping.
Since 18 to 25 age group are the most prefer to use social media, the fashion industry should effectively employ the Market Segmentation, Market Targeting & Market Positioning (STP) strategy (Kotler and Keller, 2016). In the market segmentation section: it has been confirmed that young people between the ages of 18 and 25 prefer to use social media, and most young people are students or fresh graduate, Thus, the fashion industry must consider their financial viability to design the product style and the right price to match this age group in the social media market. In terms of market positioning: according to the results of this study, the most popular fashion products currently purchased by young people on social media platforms are popular styles and accessories. Therefore, the fashion industry can use differentiated marketing strategy to concentrate these types of products on social media market. In the market positioning: fashion products are used for consumers to show their style and unique. Therefore, under the competitive conditions of similar products in the target market,
enterprises should provide unique product designs and brand images to attract young consumers who want to have a personalized style.
However, the most urgent need for the fashion industry to overcome in social media marketing today is safety issues. Many respondents have claimed that there are many counterfeit brands and unreliable retailers in social media platforms. Therefore, the fashion industry must strive to gain trust in this area, for example, through the certification of social media operators, which requires the cooperation of social media operators. In addition, inability to try on products, and the products that are inconsistent with advertising, these issues have been a challenge for the fashion industry on online marketing. Fashion products attract customers’ attention and cause the desire to buy through the product pictures on social media platform, but the fashion industry must try to make the image close to the appearance of the actual product to reduce the cost of returns, replacement and customer complaints, customer mistrust and the damage of brand image.
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Appendix 1: Questionnaire
Appendix 2: Participant Information Sheet
Appendix 3: Consent Form
Appendix 4: Medium to High Risk Research Approval
Appendix 5: Certificate of Ethical Approval
Appendix 6: Meeting Diary
M030LON DISSERTATION – Meeting Diary
Student Name:
Supervisor Name:
Week Student Requirements
Week Review of Research
1 Proposal: Research Topic and Design
Meeting diary created
Summary of Actions
Agreed
1. I need to define what age of young consumers, therefore, I need to do some research such as Mintel about what demographic generation X, Y or Z is the most impacted by social media.
2. My research topic need to be more focused/narrow.
Because my topic
“online shopping” which is too broad. As discussed, my supervisor realised that I quite interested in evaluating the influence/impact of social media marketing on the consumer buying behaviour on online shopping platforms in the Fashion industry in the UK. Yes, at the beginning, I afraid that I couldn’t find too
Meeting
Attendance
Signatures
Student:
Supervisor:
Date:11th Oct. 2017
much information about social medial influence consumer behaviour. Hence I use “online shopping” for my research topic. However, my supervisor clarified my misunderstanding and I will revise my research topic.
3. Send an updated research topic and objectives by Monday 16th by email to supervisor. Include an objectives on recommendations making your objectives 4 rather than 3 objectives.
4. As I hope my research can help fashion industry to more understand the consumer behaviour then they can attract more customers. For this part, supervisor gave me a very good idea which is to explore which strategies fashion industry can use to attract more young consumers on social media marketing. And this idea can be placed on recommendation which is part of objectives.
5. Research literature on this subject area particularly on
consumer buying/purchase behaviour, social media marketing, the fashion industry in the UK and generation X, Y or Z, what key theories and models were tested and analysed in the papers, how do they relate to your research area? What key methods were used and how do they relate to your research? In this section, I’m too afraid I couldn’t find too much resources related my research topic, but my supervisor recommended many useful books and journal papers to us.
6. I need to send an initial literature review that identifies the key models/theories in the research area, particularly on consumer buying/purchase behaviour, social media marketing, the fashion industry in the UK and generation X, Y or Z. How do they relate to my research? What is the gap in the literature my research can meet? This should be sent to supervisor on
Monday 23rd on Moodle.
Week Review of Submitted
3 Literature Review and Methodology
Meeting diary updated
7. Complete the notes for today’s meeting on my meeting diary and send it to supervisor 12th Oct. before 5.00pm
1. Similarity score is too high at 71%
2. Good start to my literature, I addressed a good range of themes but I need improvement in parts
3. I need to use a wide range of current references. I was to depend heavily on dated references in parts. What are the key findings from current literature and how do they inform my research?
4. I need to provide more information on the development of online shopping. How has it evolved? How has it grown in key markets? What led to the growth? What industries have the highest use of on-line shopping or e-commerce? Start globally and then focus on a range of countries… this needs to be more comprehensive.
Why online shopping? What are the key barriers or
Student:
Supervisor:
Date: 26th Oct. 2017
benefits of online shopping? Start global and then focus on a range of countries
5. I need to review the literature on social media marketing, the growth, how it’s used and the impact on e-commerce in general and the fashion industry in particular.
6. For every study or theory reviewed, be critical, what are the key findings and how do they inform your research? How have other studies applied the theories, what were their findings?
7. Every chapter must have an introduction and a conclusion
8. Do not just focus on Facebook and Instagram, I need to examine all social media platforms.
9. The information of Mintel, Forbes and
Times can be used.
What I need to do before the next meeting
1. Update my literature review
2. Send supervisor the table on my questionnaire questions and aligned research objectives and academic literature as discussed. I also
Week Review of Submitted
5 Data Collection
Meeting diary updated
need to attach a draft of my questionnaire.
These should be sent on Thursday, 2nd November by email
3. Submit a draft of my methodology chapter on moodle on Monday 6th November
4. Send supervisor my updated meeting diary before 27th
Oct. at 5.00pm.
1. Good start to my research methodology but the justification for my research philosophy need to be much stronger, the justification for my methods overall is too descriptive. What methods were used in the literature in your subject area? how were they justified and how does it apply to your research? Justification for sampling methods needs to be clearly argued.
2. The section on ethics should be more comprehensive
3. What data analysis method would I use and why?
4. Every chapter must have an introduction and conclusion.
What I need to do before the next meeting
1. Send me my updated questionnaire by
Student:
Supervisor:
Date:08th Nov. 2017
Friday
10th November.
2. With amendments, I need to put in my ethics application not later than Wednesday 15thNovember. My ethics application must include my questionnaire and the participant and informed consent form
3. I should submit an improved draft of my methodology chapter on Moodle by Monday 20thNovember
Week Review of Submitted
|
7 |
Analysis |
1. I should start my data Student: collection and analysis
right away.
Meeting diary updated
2. I still have issues with high similarity. I need to paraphrase and work this out before final submission
3. I need to justifying the rest of the philosophies in addition to positivism.
4. I need references in parts, like the deductive section
5. Why deductive and not inductive? My justification need to be stronger
6. Warwick (1975) is very dated and does not add value to your overall work, so I need to delete it and use newer reference.
Supervisor:
Date: 22nd Nov. 2017
7. I need to write about what methods do studies in consumer behavior use and what were their studies on?
8. Parts of the research strategy section need references, particularly when justifying online surveys
9. The data collection section need references and the table also needs references
10. My sampling method is unclear and needs to be clearly explained and justified
11. Ethics should be more comprehensive
12. Paragraphs should be used effectively. Avoid one or two sentence paragraphs
I should send me my updated meeting diary before 5.00pm on 24th Nov. Our next meeting would be on 18th December and the PPT slides of my dissertation should be submitted on Moodle before the meeting (refer to moodle for what needs to be included in my PPT slides)
|
Week |
Assessed Presentation |
For the presentation, the Student: |
|
|
11 |
of Complete |
Draft to |
only criticise is too long. |
|
|
include |
initial |
however, most of the works |
|
|
Conclusions |
|
are comprehensive, but the |
Supervisor:
data analysis need to link to the literature review.
Meeting diary updated
Date: 18th Dec. 2017
