Social Media as a Marketing Tool

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1. Background Information

The evolution of internet as a communication and information technology has significantly initiated developments in technology. Among such technological developments is the web, which gives people increased power to control varied aspects of life such as money, decisions, knowledge, communication, and gratification among others (Varkaris and Neuhofer, 2017). In business management, the web has allowed firms to build and manage relationships with their customers more effectively. Over a short span, firms have been able to reach masses of consumers through the web. Social media is one of the web platforms that has allowed firms develop and maintain profitable relationships with consumers (Rohm, Kaltcheva and Milne 2013). Before the social media age, consumers relied on limited resources to collected information about the products and services offered by firms (Hu and Wei 2013). Traditionally, most consumers relied on brochures and physical sales agents to learn about products and make purchase decisions (Baruca and Cirve, 2012). In the current era, social media has replaced the traditional sources of information and provided consumers with more information sources. According to Husain, Ghufran and Chaubey (2016), social media other than being just a site where people go to catch up with colleagues and friends has effectively evolved into a site where most businesses interact with their customers. Recent evidence reveals that social media plays a startling role in marketing decisions, which implies that it is the right time for companies to integrate social media marketing in their sales and marketing strategies. Social media has actively changed the business landscape and by a wide margin influenced how businesses are communicating with their consumers. According to a study conducted by Insites Consulting (2011), 88% of firms in US and Europe have begun undertaking social media initiatives and about 42% of these firms have fully integrated social media marketing strategies in their business strategies. Another study by eMarketer (2015) revealed that business spending on social media advertising across the world has increased from $11.36 billion in 2013 to $17.74 billion in 2014, which is influenced by the fact that social media advertising drives sales. These studies reveal that social media marketing is quickly gaining recognition and firms in business and commerce have started fully integrating social media in their marketing strategies. Lin and Liu (2011) posit that the rapid growth and proliferation of social media has been followed by considerable changes in consumer behaviour. This can be expressed in terms of the time consumers spend on the internet. For example, in July 2012, people spent approximately 6.5 hours a day on social media socialising, sharing information, and communicating with their friends and the internet community (Popkin 2012). In the recent past, the number of hours people tend to spend on social media has significantly increased along with the purpose of its use indicating an increase in the dependence of social media. For example, in 2015, it was discovered that an average internet user spends approximately 1.72 hours on social networking and an additional 0.81 hours on microblogging everyday (Bennet 2015). Another study focussing on the young generation aged between 8 and 18 years revealed that this age group spend about 6.5 hours on social media on average while teenagers spend about 4.5 hours on social media (Wallace 2015). From such studies, it is evident that social media has become an integral part of teens and adults lives.

A study conducted by Robb (2015) sampled some respondents and about 45% of the participants use social media every day. These results reveal that teen girls use approximately 1 hour 32 minutes on social media, which is 40 minutes more than the time teen boys spend on social media. Another study by Hadad (2015) reveals that some of the social media users check in for even more than 100 times daily. Related research also reveals that about 25% of the time people spend on internet is spent on social media platforms in which Facebook is the most popular followed by Google +, and YouTube. Yang (2011) however clarifies that though most of the internet users incorporate social media as part of their daily lives to satisfy their desire for interaction and affiliation, only a small proportion use social media for research on products and services to buy and as such only a limited scope of consumer behaviour is influenced by social media. There are various factors that influence internet users to integrate social media as a part of their daily lives. The mostly common factors are social interactions with friends, including: viewing videos and photos, finding brands and businesses come in close as another factor (Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott 2017). In the food and beverage industry, consumers use social media for a variety of reasons including to share their experiences on served dishes, engaging with others, and connecting with people that have dinned in various restaurants or used specific food brands (Zeng and Gerritsen 2014). This is all in an aim to be able to maximize their experiences in eating the best foods and having the best experiences with regards to services and hotel as well as restaurant spaces. It is therefore evident that social media has transformed the way consumers select the hotels to dine and the brands to consume. It is evident that about 50% of the online shoppers interact with retailers on social networking platforms, which include Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn among others (Yuksel, Milne and Miller 2016). The same study reveals that retailers are capitalising on such social networking platforms to strengthen their relationships with consumers making social media a powerful and influential tool not only to the marketing and promotion of products, brands and businesses in the food industry and beyond, but also in being able to interact with potential consumers and influence their behaviour, tastes and preferences towards a desired brand. The current trend of consumer behaviour and the popular ability of social media to stick consumers on it have been recognised by businesses and the result is the use of social media as a tool to enhance customer retention and acquisition. DiChristopher (2015) writes that when equipped with analytical capability, firms using social media are able to provide their customers with personalised products, which increases sales and customer satisfaction. With the expressed consumer dependence on social media, firms should be able to identify factors that influence increased social media use and influence consumer purchase behaviour. In this way, firms will be able to generate an extra value from people who are dependent on social media for the same people who also make up the consumers of their product. This underscores the need to use social media as a marketing platform aiming at increasing sales revenue.

With specific Bias the research will focus on the food and beverage industry, especially fast food businesses and restaurants within the city of London in the UK. Given the increasing economies around the world which results to a wide number of individuals working on a full time basis (Kuepper, 2018), in addition to the elevated taste and preference for fast food among the millenials and the younger generation which make up a high percentage of the working class in the current era, Fast food businesses have been on the rise alongside the use of social media and present among the major businesses that capitalize on social media for reaching out to their customers. According to the Foresquare (2019) London harbours a wide range of fast food and beverage branded restaurants and hotels including Leon, Chicken Shop and Dirty Burger, McDonalds, Rosters Piri Piri, Jollibee and Star Kebab among others, all of who utilize social media in marketing and promotion of their products and restaurants. This research will however be limited to the study of McDonalds and their online operations in an attempt at evaluating the impact of social media in consumer behaviour. According to Daszkowski (2019) McDonalds is a franchise that has been in existence since 1955 and has been most reliant on its franchise status for its success. The company has largely relied on franchising as a way of business and has thus been able to expand its operations into more than 100 countries currently, making it the leading global food retailer (McDonalds.Com, 2019). Despite this however franchising is no longer a viable option in exploiting the new market given the increased competition due to the rise of a wide range of brands within the fast food industry. This has compelled McDonalds to also adopt internet and social media marketing in an attempt to attract and reach new markets and businesses. While consumers are interested in the product which is food, the ambience as well as services provided also play a major role in attracting and retaining customers within the food and beverage industry and as such highlight among the factors that consumers look for within the social media sites while making decisions on which brands to indulge. Electronic Word of mouth spread through social media which is a current trend enhanced by the industrial revolution has significantly increased brand recommendation among consumers and this has increased the number of businesses that rely on social media for product promotion aiming at increasing conversations with consumers, consumer loyalty, and consumer acquisition (Liu and Lopez 2016). Therefore, social media has significantly changed the direction information flow in business marketing: from the traditional unidirectional advertising to bidirectional advertising which occurs among consumers with the help of social media.

In the food and beverage industry, consumer-to-consumer exchange has considerably affected the way consumers value brands and hotels as well as the process they undergo before making purchase decisions. According to Anubha (2017), social media has changed the buying process in all sectors of business and commerce. Here, the authors note that traditionally, consumers engaged in a lengthy process of searching information about a brand, sampling brands, evaluating brands to select a few, and finally selecting brand based on needs and preferences. Such information was not readily available, which made the buying process even lengthy given that buyers had to consult family, peers, and friends which generally take a longer time than reading online reviews. Today, the information consumers require when making brand choices is readily available and social media is one of the highly recommended sources to get consumers adequate and correct information regarding different brands and products. According to TalihAkkaya, Akyol and GölbaşiŞimşek (2017), social media gives consumers high control through enabling them search and collect information, watch reviews, and compare different brands while at the comfort of their homes. Thus, social media can be said to play an imperative role of connecting consumers to brands. Given that consumers regularly express their views of different products on social media, it is easy to acquire accurate information about brands than that provided by firms on their websites and other marketing platforms. Marketers have also taken advantage of this fact by actively engaging consumers on the content they post on social media platforms (Joshi and Suman 2017). As a result, social media has become a major factor to influence consumer behaviour leading to commitment, brand loyalty, and increased sales.

1.2 Rationale for the Study

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of social media marketing on consumer behaviour in the food and beverage industry in the United Kingdom. The food and beverage industry provides a good case study for examining the effects of social media marketing on consumer brand choices for various reasons. First, the UK food and beverage industry is characterised by a strong social media presence and this is even the case for McDonald, which is chosen as the company study focus will be made. Second, the products in the food and beverage industry are differentiated at the brand level such that every brand has outstanding characterising features. Thus, consumers can share their experiences on different aspects such as taste and nutrition of the offered brands. Third, there has been a public health concern of sugary foods, fast foods, oily foods, and sugary drinks among others, which is normally shared on social media and this is likely to affect the consumption of these brands. Therefore, understanding how social media word of mouth affects consumers’ valuation and preference of various products can be helpful to companies aiming at optimising their value through social media marketing. Additionally, understanding the type of content the marketers should post of social media platforms is instrumental in driving sales in the food and beverage industry. Marketers have recognised that social media helps reach more customers over a short duration and as a result, firms have converted their marketing approaches to social media. Currently, every business whether large or small is focusing on social media in order to increase its value. However, Iin(2012) writes that most business are failing in their social media marketing strategies for lack of a deeper understanding of how to engage their customers and the nature of content to use to display on their social networking sites. Thus, conducting this study will help firms in the UK food and beverage industry understand how to effectively market over social media in order to influence consumer behaviour and enhance their acquisition of more customers while at the same time retain the current ones. According to Sinclaire and Vogus (2011), consumers have taken the role of spreading opinions through online social networks rather than being message receivers from markets. Nonetheless, the way marketers are using this fact to their advantage remains minimally understood. Based on this premise, this study contributes to literature by exploring how firms in the food and beverage industry can use customer opinions to increase their value. This will be essential in ensuring these firms receive positive feedback and reviews, which will attract more customers thus increasing sales revenue. Snyder (2013) writes that successful firms in the food and beverage industry are making use of social media marketing sites. In agreement, Poon (2014) states that social media is beneficial to firms in the food and beverage industry as it allows them improve their brands based on consumer reviews: this increases sales revenue while promoting customer acquisition and retention. Therefore, it is evident social media is an imperative tool for firms in the food and beverage industry to increase their sales volume.

According to Perumal, Krisnan and Halim (2017), most consumers make purchase decisions based on information they acquire on social media platforms. In this case, consumers go to social media sites to double-check if the information provided by a firm regarding its services and products is true based on other consumers’ experiences with these products. This study indicates that approximately 62% of consumers spend 30 minutes on the internet researching about a product before they purchase it. From this information, we can infer that if firms in the food and beverage industry were able to increase the amount of information they post online as well as acquire positive consumer reviews, they would significantly increase their sales volume. This underscores the need for conducting a study on the type of information these businesses should post online in order to acquire more clients. The current study meets this requirement by surveying the type of information consumers look for on social media before they make purchase decisions in the foods and Drinks industry. This will be beneficial to firms in the food and beverage industry in that they will understand the exact information to post of their media platforms.

1.3 Aims and Objectives

The ultimate purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of social media marketing on consumer behaviour in the UK food and beverage industry with a special focus on McDonalds. To accomplish this purpose, the researcher formulated the following objectives:

To investigate the impact of the content posted by Food and Beverage businesses on consumer behaviour

To predict the influence of incidental exposure on consumer purchase intentions for the advertised brand

To investigate the impact of various social media usage variables on consumer behaviour

To establish how consumer demographic variables affect buying decisions with respect to social media advertising

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

This chapter presents a review of literature regarding the topic of study and will therefore include an analysis of the available scholarly material relating to social media, social media marketing as well as the impact that social media marketing has on consumer behaviour and choices. The review will further highlight the various variables that are crucial for effective use of social media in the attraction and retention of customers within the food and beverages industry and subsequently relate them to McDonalds which is the restaurant in question for the study. Eventually the review should be able to provide a clear guideline in understanding the scope of study as well as the various key social media factors which will further be tested first hand in the primary research process to enhance the outcome of the research.

2.2 Social Media

According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), social media can be defined as a “group of internet-based applications that build on the technical and ideological foundations of Web 2.0 and allow the users to create and exchange information.” The distinguishing feature of social media from traditional forms of communication is that social media allows two way flow of information between different users on similar social media platform; this can be, between the user and the organisation, or even various users within or without the organization. It is also worth noting that the nature of social media sites allows the users to be actively involved in the communication unlike most traditional forms of communication in which the communication process is passive and as such time consuming and rarely effective or efficient in the fast paced world which inherently require communication as a critical factor. From this definition, it is clear social media refers to the use of various online technological tools to enable people communicate, share resources, and information over the internet. Another definition of social media was drafted by Xiang and Gretzel (2010): from this perspective, social media refers to mobile-based and internet tools and devices, which integrate social interaction, telecommunications, and technology thus facilitating creation and sharing of images, words, and audio messages. In simple terms, social media refers to platforms that allow people to create and share information over the internet without place and time restrictions. Here, it is worth noting people are exposing themselves to the internet for varied reasons including socialization, research, entertainment as well as the desire to consume products that are widely recognised as quality rather than just settling on whichever brand available. Kietzmann et al. (2011) write that social media is an environment that offers a collection of tools that can be used by both organisations and individuals. These tools enable creation, dissemination, and sharing of information, which facilitates conversations for mutual benefit: the organisation is able to attain its strategic goals while the individuals are able to acquire products and services they need. This highlights the efficiency of use of social media for marketing and promotion of products as well as enabling reach to a wider audience and influencing consumer decisions on which brands to buy. In this case, people engage in social media to search for information about these products, purchase and consume them, and then based on the level of satisfaction recommend the products to their friends in the social media community (Saravanakumar and SuganthaLakshmi 2012). Therefore, social media is not only beneficial to individuals in that companies have also taken advantage and made it a public relations platform in order to acquire as many customers as possible.

2.2.1 Social Media Marketing

Statistics about the usage of social media reveals that the popularity of social media is increasing every day and therefore has become an integral part of the human life (Perrin 2015). This implies that people are relying on social media for most of their daily activities including consumption behaviour. Over the recent past, the e-commerce industry has flourished with many people shopping over the internet. This implies that most people rely on social media to find information about products before they make purchase decisions. De Vries, Gensler and Leeflang (2012) focus on different social media sites that consumers visit to acquire information about goods and services. Here, there social media sites are referred to as social networking sites: these are web-based services that allow consumers to express their needs, make profiles, and exchange views with other people in the same platform. Examples of such social networking sites are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube, and Myspace among others. These sites have become increasingly important in this digital era and the audience in them has become increasingly diversified. The core importance of these sites is that they allow users to create, exchange, and disseminate information, which has had a significant influence on consumer buying behaviour. From the business point of view, firms are using social media sites to create their brand names as well as generate sales. Additionally, organisations are using social media sites to help users engage with their brands, which have increased consumer satisfaction. Similarly, social networking sites are helping consumers evaluate and make informed selection of products.

2.2.2 Social Media Marketing in the Food and Beverage Industry

Just like in any other business the Food and Beverages industry has taken up the use of social media in the marketing and promotion of their products and services so as to be able to acquire and retain more consumers which impact the growth and success of the sector. According to Jones and Singer (2019) a wide range of factors for consideration exist within the food and beverages industry other than the actual food itself and some of the key ones include: the restaurant environment, ambience, quality of services, variety of foods as well as the brand itself. Consumers not only consider the particular food they want to eat while choosing between which fast food restaurants to visit and eat in, in addition they are looking for a good and relaxing ambience that will enhance their eating process, they are also in for quality services as well as a clean and favourable environment (Jackson, 2017). These include among the factors that restaurants include in their social media profile in order to be able to compete in the attraction and retention of consumers. Singer and Jones (2019) further clarify that consumers will first discuss the ambience of the intended restaurant and the environment as well as use Ewom to clarify the quality of services within these intended locations before considering the variety of foods available on offer. This further confirms that other extenuating factors inform consumer choice and behaviour and all of these factors are researched by the consumers through social media.

2.3 Exposure and Impact of Social media to customers

The impact of social media is quite extensive not only to the food and beverages brands as well as other businesses but also to the consumers in the determination of their purchase decisions as well as behaviour taste and preference of the consumer with regards to a particular brand. The quality of social media operating within the World Wide Web and the ability for individuals to be able to view any update within these platforms regardless of whether they are aware of the business or individual posting the information, enables a wide exposure of information within the platforms. The exposure of information within these platforms can therefore be either incidental in a case where the individuals were exploiting other materials and stumbled upon brand marketing, or intentional in which case the consumer has been referred by others to the particular site for the required information.

2.3.1 Incidental Exposure

On a daily basis, active social media users log into their accounts for various reasons such as interacting with their friends and colleagues. Others log in to intentionally interact with brands: in this case they search for information about brand releases. In most cases, social media users interact with brands unintentionally in that they may see a brand advertised or mentioned by a friend and end up liking the brand. These unintentional interactions with a brand for a short while are referred to as incidental exposure (Humphrey, Laverie and Rinaldo 2017). A great proportion of social media users see brands discussed, mentioned, or advertised through various sources such as the brand itself, friends, and strangers every time they visit their sites. According to De Vries, Gensler and Leeflang (2012), incidental exposure in a repeated manner activates brand memory and creates fluency, which eventually leads to purchases. Thus, the amount of exposure to information about a brand is important in driving sales as well as other brand outcomes such as attitude, recall, and brand choice. Consumers that have incidentally come across information about a brand can remember at least the name or the slogan, which influences their behaviour when it comes to searching more information about a brand (Valenzuela 2013). Therefore, if a consumer incidentally sees an image of a given brand two to three times, they would be willing to search for details any time they would want to purchase a brand in that line. Therefore, incidental exposure leads to involvement with brand, which eventually leads to sales.

2.3.2 Intentional Exposure

Given the fast development of the fourth industrial revolution which has come with a wide range of aspects in the use of the internet such as artificial intelligence and machine learning as well as other concepts such as electronic Word of Mouth and group discussions and chats, the internet and social media has become a mine field for whatever type of information and knowledge one is in need of (NAP, 2006) individuals including business men and customers capitalize on the use of social media intentionally in order to be able to access information necessary for effective decision making on which products to buy or which business to be involved in. As such a wide range of customers in the current century other than using Traditional means of collecting information such as word of mouth from their family and friends, highly rely on the internet and social media to acquire the information required (Kuepper, 2018). Intentional exposure to marketing material and information with regards to a particular brand, business and/or products therefore impacts a customer’s knowledge of a product before use and significantly affect their decision on whether or not to purchase the product (Valenzuela 2013). As such continued exposure to information about social media enables an individual to create a true picture of a brand or business they intend to purchase with in a broad scope and perspective as the information come from different sources and individuals who are engaging in the discussion of the brand. This not only influence consumer behaviour and choice but also enables them to be able to validate the quality as well as characteristics of the products as marketed by the business (Kuepper, 2018 ).

2.4 Consumer Behaviour

A consumer refers to a person that purchases or is willing and has the capacity to purchase products and services offered for sale in order to satisfy household or personal wants, needs, or desires (Solomon et al. 2014). From this definition, a consumer is always a human being and therefore this section will consider human behaviour in the definition and discussion of consumer behaviour. According to De Mooij (2010), consumer behaviour is a representation of a subset of human behaviour, which implies that a closer focus on human behaviour would result to a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour. A broad perspective of human behaviour defines it as the process through which a person interacts with the surrounding environment (Goel et al. 2010). There are various aspects integrated in the definition of human behaviour including feelings, thoughts, and actions taken by humans (Goh, Heng and Lin 2013). Therefore, every motive, thought, sensation, and decision made by an individual can be categorised as human behaviour. According to De Mooij and Hofstede (2011) consumer behaviour can be defined as the human behaviour is his/her role as a consumer. However, only those human actions that ate related to purchase of goods and services from marketing organisations can be categorised as consumer behaviour. Other researchers have also defined consumer behaviour differently. Cantallops and Salvi (2014) give a more simplified definition of consumer behaviour whereby consumer behaviour refers to the process in which a person decides whether, when, what, how, where, and from whom to purchase a good or service. On the contrary Sparks, Perkins and Buckley (2013) define consumer behaviour as the exchange process through which individuals undergo as they acquire, consume, and dispose goods and services. Paul and Rana (2012) refer consumer behaviour to the behaviour that individuals display as they search for, purchase, use, evaluate, and dispose goods, products, and ideas. From this perspective, it is worth studying the actions that consumers take before they acquire a product or service. This includes information such as when, why, what, where, and how often the consumer purchases the product. Therefore, consumer behaviour can be defined as those actions that consumers undergo as they obtain, consume, and dispose products and services. From the above definitions, it is evident consumer behaviour reflects all the actions taken by consumers as they acquire, consume, and dispose goods and services. According to Rucker, Galinsky and Dubois (2012), it is worth understanding that consumer behaviour is dynamic and therefore changes over time. This implies that the actions consumers undertake today to influence their choice of products are not necessarily the same actions they will take tomorrow. For example, traditionally, consumers used to gather information about products from brochures offered by producers as well as from family, peers, and friends. However, with the technological advancements, today consumers rely on social networking sites to gather information about products and services before they purchase them.

Today, consumer behaviour has become an integral part of marketing and is always considered as companies lay their strategic market plans. Studying consumer behaviour helps these organisations understand and predict buyers’ behaviour in the marketplace. This study not only focuses on what consumer buy but also where, when, how they buy, and how often they buy it. Therefore, consumer behaviour entails the actions consumers take before they purchase a product, as they purchase the product and after they purchase the product. In this study, the definition of the terms consumer behaviour will be adopted from various definitions. Therefore, in this study, consumer behaviour will be defined as the process that consumers use to search, select, use, and dispose products, services, and ideas in order to satisfy their needs.

2.5 Social Media Content

Evidence reveals that there is a link between the information consumer’s access on the social networking sites and the level in which they engage with the advertised products (Villi and Matikainen 2016). As a result, organisations have increasingly used social media platforms as feeder information set to equip consumer with as much information as needed. However, different organisations post varied information on their social networking sites, which implies that the results for each are different. This also serves as evidence that the type of content an organisation uses on its social media platforms determines the level of consumer behaviour it will influence. According to Villi and Matikainen (2016), consumers today are no longer relying on social media to receive information but to share their experiences about a product with other social media users. From this perspective, consumers are no longer information receivers but content generators to influence consumer behaviour. Often, consumers share their experience in a place or with a specific brand on social media sites for others to learn and decide whether to associate with the brand or not. This implies that over time, the content on social media platforms is generated by consumers as opposed to content generated by organisations. Chen, Fay and Wang (2011) write that after consumption, consumers always review a product/service on an organisation’s social site, which acts a source of information to other potential customers. From this perspective, content on social networking sites is not only generated by organisations but by consumers as well. Various researchers have studied the effect of organisation generated content and user generated content on consumer behaviour. According to Kumar et al. (2016), firm generated content can be misleading as the main objective of the firm is to acquire more customers thus they products must be advertised in a way that attracts more consumers. On the other hand, consumer generated information is more reliable as it is based on the experience of the consumer with the product. Additionally, consumers are not after marketing the product but expressing their experience with the product and therefore consumer generated content is likely to be more reliable (Kumar et al. 2016). To optimise the effect of the content posted on social networking sites, some organisations have blended firm generated content with consumer generated content. In addition to the brand information provided by the firm, consumer testimonials are used in order to complement the firm generated content. This ensures consumers have an extra source of information: though they may not be convinced by the information given by the firm, the information given by the consumer is more reliable and ultimately, the content drives sales (Kietzmann et al. 2011).

Other than the source of content posted on social media platforms, other researchers have focussed on the nature of the content ants influence on consumer behaviour. Social media content can appear in various forms including texts messages, videos, audios, and images. Every content type has different ability in influencing consumers buying behaviour. According to Berthon et al. (2012), the way social media content is designed plays a pivotal role in determining whether consumers will pay attention to the content or not. Here, it is noted that consumers pay more attention to content expressed with graphical illustrations such as images and videos as they can actually see the product. On the contrary, He, Zha and Li (2013) write that textual messages could be effective if concise and straight to the point. However, long text messages are rarely read by consumers, which imply they have a limited impact on consumer behaviour. When it comes to audios, Goh, Heng and Lin (2013) posit that the quality of the voice can be influencing and convincing, which could result to an increase in sales revenue. A strong and authoritative voice is deemed more reliable and consumers would keep listening, which equips them with more facts about the product leading to sales. Despite the various forms of social media content, images and videos have proven the most effective as they give the consumer an opportunity to virtually interact with the product, which leads to sales.

2.6 Social Media Usage Variables

Under this objective, the study focuses on access, length of usage, log-on duration, log-on frequency, and profile update incidence.

2.6.1 Access

First, the study hypothesises that the extent to which consumers have access to internet affects their consumer behaviour. To consumers with high access to social networking sites it is likely they have increased exposure to brand information, which implies they are much more likely to select the advertised brands as compared to those with low internet access (Asur and Huberman 2010). Additionally, consumers with high access to social media have high incidental exposures, which implies they are more likely to make selection based on products they see on social media as opposed to those with low access to social media sites.

2.6.2 Log-On Duration

The log-on duration also has a significant impact on consumer behaviour. Consumers that spend more hours on social media are likely to encounter a brand several times in different sites, which implies there is a higher likelihood they will select the brand. Most organisations update their profiles frequently, which means that social media participants who are logged on for long access the brand‘s information a number of times. This results to the information sticking to their mind and promotes memory, which would influence selection of the brand upon purchase (Dessart, Veloutsou and Morgan-Thomas 2015). According to Swanepoel (2017), social media users that log-on using mobile devices are more likely to be exposed to brand information as they log on frequently without time and place restrictions. Additionally, a significant part of the population own mobile devices and therefore have increased exposure to brand information, which influences brand selection. Harding (2015) writes that logging into social media sites using mobile phones has greatly increased the purchases made through mobile devices.

2.6.3 Length of Usage

The length of time social media participants have been members of the social media platforms also affects consumer behaviour. According to Hollebeek, Glynn and Brodie (2014) social media participants that have used social media for over two years are more cognisant with social media platforms, which increased the probability of selecting brands advertised in social media platforms. Additionally, social media participants that have used social media for over two years know the sources to trust, which implies they have the greatest positive behavioural attitudes towards the advertised brands (Sago 2013).

2.6.4 Log-On Frequency

The log on frequency usage variable does not have to have a significant influence on consumer behaviour. According to Chandra et al. (2012), there is no difference (in terms of response) between frequent and seasonal social media users towards social media marketing. However, users that log on more frequently are more knowledgeable about products, which is likely to influence the level of inclination they have towards the brand. The frequency at which social media users update their profiles also has a significant influence on consumer behaviour. Alalwan et al. (2016) write that social media users who update their profiles more regularly (several times a week or daily) have stringer sentiments towards social media marketing and are therefore more likely to select the advertised brands. This is because every tie the social media users are updating their profiles, they are likely to come across an advert, which increases their exposure and knowledge about a brand. Therefore, in times of need, they are more likely to select these brands.

2.7 Consumer Demographic Variables

The variables considered in this study are gender and age. Evidence suggests that demographic variables have a significant influence on consumer behaviour. According to Bannister et al. (2013), gender does not have a great effect on consumer behaviour unless the advertised brand is appealing to a specific gender. For example, is the advertised brand is feminine, then more females are likely to display liking for the brand as compared to the number of males that will show interest. On the other hand, Ruane and Wallace (2013) posit that males are less likely to react to brands advertised over social media platforms as compared to females. The age demographic variable has a considerable effect on consumer behaviour. This is influenced by the fact that youth have greater access to internet and are more active in social media as compared to adults (Duggan and Brenner 2013). However, according to Moore (2012) older people are more likely to pay attention to brand content on social media because they have more financial resources to purchase the products as compared to younger social media users. On the contrary, Mulero and Adeyeye (2013) write that younger social media users are active on various social media sites and therefore are likely to be exposed to brand information greatly as compared to old participants. This means the young are likely to make purchase decisions based on social media information as compared to the old adults. However, Shevel (2013) write that social media users make purchase decisions based on the nature of the advertised product rather than their demographic characteristics.

2.8 Previous Research

Duffett (2017) aspired to find out the effect interactive social media has on purchase decisions of young teenagers considering three variables: cognitive, affective, and behavioural attitude. The study had a sample of 13000 young teenagers aged between 13 and 18 years. The study findings reveal that social media marketing significantly influences buying decisions, which leads to an increase in sales volume. The study also investigated the effect of various social media usage variables and concluded that young teenagers that have used social media for long (over 2 years)are more likely to make purchase decisions based on social media brand content as compared to those that have used social media for less than 2 years. In addition, the study concludes that young teenagers that log on to social media more frequently are exposed to much information about products, which they are likely to use when making purchase decisions. As a result, the study concludes that social media marketing is able to considerably influence purchase decisions which drives sales. Given the study was conducted among teenagers, the study results can only be generalised to this age group, which underscores the need for a similar study on various age groups. The current study bridges this gap as the study sample has varied age demographics. A study conducted by Humphrey, Laverie and Rinaldo (2017) sought to explore how effective social media advertising is and the extent to which consumers that are incidentally exposed ads over social media sites make purchase decisions based on this information. The experimental research design was used in this study. The study participants viewed controlled images on screen with an interval of 30 minutes between the displays. Each display lasted 5 seconds. There were two categories of the participants: low involvement and high involvement product categories. The high involvement class viewed more displays as compared to the low involvement category. The study results revealed that the extent to which consumers are involved matters when it comes to making purchase decisions. Therefore, the study concludes that incidental exposure significantly influence purchase decisions but this is based on the number of times the consumer is exposed to the same information. As a result, the study infers that firms in the food and beverage industry in UK should increase the rate at which they advertise on social media to ensure consumers views the message for a minimum of three times a day. The conclusions of this study are drawn from desktop web environment, which justifies the need for a similar study using various social media advertising sites. This gap will be bridged in the current study. A study by Kyule (2017) investigated the effect of social media on consumer behaviour particularly the types of social media that are most effective in directly influencing consumers as they make purchase decisions thus helping firms realise the social media sites that should be used for advertising purposes. Through stratified sampling, the study selected 95 respondents from whom data was generated. The study results hint that there is no correlation between the popularity of the social media sites and the extent to which social media users rely on social media information to make purchase decisions. Nonetheless, the study infers that including various factors that appeal to consumer in social communications has the ability to drive sales, as such, the study concludes that once the target audience is identified, there is the need for a firm to identify the tastes and preferences of this group so as the advertising message can be matched with this information. This would be effective in attracting the audience and therefore driving sales. Other influencing factors mentioned in this study are the use of images in adverting messages and effective use of colour. Given these factors, the study recommends that firms in the UK food and beverage industry should effective use of images and colour in designing content they post on social media sites. The current study is aligned to the objectives of this study in that it seeks to establish the characteristics of content that makes it desirable to the target audience.

Ioanăs and Stoica (2014) researched on the effect of social media on consumer behaviour. The target of this study was young adults who frequently purchase goods from online firms. From a sample of 116 participants, the study reveals that targeting young consumers on social media is essentially important in increasing sales volume. From the information contained in this study, most of the consumers that purchase goods online are aged between 25 and 29 years. Therefore, the study concludes that before making advertising decisions, it is important to consider the age bracket of the target audience. It is also evident from the study that these young consumers check information of the company’s advertising social sites before making product purchase decisions, which implies that firms should constantly update the information they post of the social sites to generate more sales. The study also notes that consumers are also active in analysing the comments of their peers on social media platforms before making purchase decisions. Therefore, the study recommends that advertising firms should pay attention to content posted by consumers and learn from it in order to drive more sales. Ultimately, the study concludes that social media plays an active role in determining the nature of products consumers will buy but this is influenced by the degree to which consumers are exposed to messages, their nature, and the social media platforms the message is displayed. However, the study does not explore the effect of incidental exposure on purchase intentions, which the current study accomplishes. Farook and Abeysekara (2016) investigate the correlation between social media marketing and customer engagement. The study hypothesised three objectives that if considered, advertising firms would be able to increase their sales revenue. The purchase decisions in this case would be influenced by the level of trust the company would have created with its consumers. First, the study aimed at establishing the type of content firms should use in their posts in order to attract more customers as well as engage them. The second objective was to determine the factors that promote customer engagement and the third objective was establishing the connection between social media and consumer engagement. The study results show that a large percentage of social media users enjoy content in the form of images thus the need for firms to advertise their products in the form of images. The study also identified five factors that influence customer engagement, which are reliability, trust, privacy concerns, social media usage and social media security. The inference here is that consumers are more willing to engage with firms that are more trustworthy. Though the study concludes that consumers that are exposed to advertising information use it in making purchase decisions, it is not clear about the exposure frequency that generates positive consumer behaviour, a gap that the current study bridges. Another study conducted by Mhlanga and Tichaawa (2017) sought to examine the influence social media usage has on consumers experiences in South African restaurants. The researchers held that that information posted by consumers of social media sites significantly affects the buying decisions of those who go through such information. From this perspective, consumers no longer rely on social media to acquire information but to express their views and attitudes towards products and services offered by firms. The study analysed information collected from various social media sites including Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Trip Advisor, and Twitter among others. The study shows that the extent to which consumers interact over social media affects their purchase decisions. This is because if consumers negatively rate a product, other consumers will not be willing to purchase the product. As a result, the study concludes that firms seeking to increase their sales revenue through social media marketing should integrate consumer generated content in their advertising posts. Though effective, this study pays closer attention to the role of consumers in social media advertising and overlooks that of firms limitation the current study strengthens.

Liu and Lopez (2016) investigated the effect of social media conversations on the preferences on US consumers in the carbonated soft drink market. Specifically, the study was interested on the effect word on mouth has on consumer behaviour. The study used data from two Nielsen companies: this included social media data and the sales data. The data was collected over a period of one year and six months. The reaction of social media users towards these brands were monitored over several sites including Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook. The study results reveal that social media conversations play a pivotal role in informing consumer brand choices. The study states that through social media engagement, consumers are able to share their experiences with a brand and through the expressed sentiments; other consumers are able to make purchase decisions. The most influential information was that related to nutritional content, which greatly influenced the purchase decisions consumers made. The study also reveals that the volume of expressed sentiments significantly affects consumer behaviour. If more consumers share their sentiments, the information is considered reliable and it greatly influences purchase decisions as compared to fewer sentiments. As a result, the study recommends that firms should make official use of word of mouth conversations to drive sales. Additionally, the study states that marketers should monitor the conversations about their brands as well as spur more to engage more consumers, which would increase sales revenue. Though effective to its purpose, the study does not define the content marketers should use to drive sales, which the current study seeks to establish. Anubha(2017) explored the impact if social media usage on brand choice. The study surveyed and collected data from 218 social media users from Delhi, NCR, and Haryana. The researchers administered online questionnaires to the study sample. It was required that the participants have an account on various social media blogs and sites. Of the 218, 125 were male while the remaining 93 were female. To attain its aim, the study considered five variables, which are brand awareness; word of mouth passed electronically, brand engagement, purchase intention, and brad choice. The study results reveal that social media offers organisations a platform to communicate with their customers, which drives sales. Most of the surveyed consumers revealed that social media is a reliable source of information when they are making purchase decisions. In addition, the study established that consumers consider the experience of their friends with a brand before making purchase decisions, which makes social media an integral part of marketing in the digital era. Here, the study establishes that social media users ask for opinions from their friends in the online community and check brand reviews, which significantly affects their choice of brand. Given that friends helps consumers find a product, the study concludes that social media has become a prioritised site consumers visit before making purchase decisions. Therefore, the study recommends that firms should increase their social media presence as well as integrate consumer experience while advertising their products. This study serves its purpose as it accomplishes its aims. Nonetheless, the study does not establish the social media usage variables that can be said to be adequate to make the change happen. The current study fills this gap.

Chapter 3: Methodology

3.0 Introduction

Following the general review of literature from the second chapter highlighting the use of social media in marketing as well as the various features and factors that impact social media usage and reliance by customers especially with consideration to making purchase decisions, a gap was identified in the essence that most businesses and individuals lack the necessary skills and capability of being able to develop content that sways and influences consumer decisions. While this is an overall conclusion on the general use of social media marketing by businesses, this chapter delves into a primary specific study of McDonalds in an attempt to highlight the impact that their social media activities has on the number of their new and retained customers. Kumar (2005) defines research methodology as the application of science in the various processes and activities concerned with a research study. It involves a progressive outline of the procedures and guidelines involved in the actual research study aimed at deducing inferences and conclusions from findings derived from the application of scientific tools, techniques and principles. This chapter therefore will contain broadly a discussion of the research design and philosophy as well as the area of the study, population of the study and sampling techniques adopted for use. In addition, it includes sources of data as well as the methods of data collection/administration.

3.1 Research Design

A wide range of researchers agree with Mukhopadhyay and Gupta (2014) that there are three approaches to research, which are qualitative, quantitative, and mixed approaches. Quantitative research is widely used in investigative studies in management and social sciences and dominantly used in science (Brannen 2017). Quantitative research uses the positivist paradigm. The quantitative approach to research has been criticised that it is not the best option for use in social science studies, as it uses very few variables and does not consider the context (Bryman 2017). Additionally, Bryman (2017) writes that quantitative research focuses on the similarities between the subjects and ignores the differences yet the differences are as important as the differences. Further quantitative research is funded on a positivist framework and hence disregards collective and individual biases of the researcher as well as those of the respondents. All these factors limit the reliability and validity of the generated results. Though quantitative research is gaining recognition, there are concerns related to the validity, standards, rigour, and reliability of the results. These concerns justify the need for other approaches t research. Qualitative research on the other hand is aimed at understanding, exploring, and discovering as it collects the views and opinions of the respondents on a given research problem. Over the years, qualitative research has faced criticism and has been considered to be storytelling, which is full of personal impressions and anecdotes of the study subjects (Goldkuhl 2012). Additionally, qualitative research has been termed as unscientific as the study results cannot be generalised given the fact that data is collected from fairly a small population. These allegations against qualitative research have favoured the growth of quantitative research. Nonetheless, qualitative research has remained popular especially if the aim of the study is to develop theory, test theory, construct validation, and uncover new and emerging phenomena (Sarma 2015). In agreement, Burian et al. (2010) write that qualitative research is essential in providing insights about new ways of working and the evolution of work practices as well as their effects. Neuman (2013) writes that qualitative research is based on ethnographic and anthropogical orientation and therefore best suited to explore unique characteristics of groups with a deeper focus on the context. Additionally, qualitative research is able to use a variety of tools, which helps address various levels of analysis. The major distinguishing feature between quantitative research and qualitative research is the form in which data is collected and the analysis techniques applied (Goertz and Mahoney 2012). In quantitative research, data is collected in numerical form, which is then analysed using quantitative data analysis techniques. On the other hand, qualitative research collects data in textual form and the data is then analysed using qualitative data analysis techniques. Mixed methods research uses more than one research method: in most cases, it combines both qualitative and quantitative research. According to Azorín and Cameron (2010), mixed methods research refers to a research design that includes at least one quantitative method and one qualitative method. On the contrary, Östlund et al. (2011) define mixed methods research as a study that combines qualitative and quantitative approaches in one study. Brannen (2017) defines mixed methods research as a research design with philosophical assumptions and methods of inquiry. The philosophical assumptions guide data collection and analysis while both qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to collect data. From this perspective, it is believed that use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches helps with a better understanding of the research problem as compared to the use of a single approach.

The research will apply a mixed technique where both the qualitative research and quantitative method will be adopted. This is due to the consideration that the research is more analytical-based than just descriptive and that some parts of the research would call for exploration of facts behind data distribution in an environment. Use of qualitative and quantitative approaches in combination provides a better understanding to the research problem, which cannot be achieved with a single research approach (Burian et al. 2010). Analysis of the social media factors that are crucial for the development of an attractive social media site as for customers require study of figures and data in relation to the different factors, this will be taken care of through quantitative approach while the various opinions with regards to how social media impacts customers and consumer behaviour will be analysed through the qualitative approach

3.2 Study Population

According to Ritchie et al. (2013), population refers to the aggregate or totality of all subjects, objects, or members that conform to a set of specifications. In agreement, Suresh and Chandrashekara (2012) define population as all the people who meet the operational definition of the target population. Therefore, population refers to all individuals or units that are of interest and have desirable characteristics with regards and specific concerns to the topic of study. In this study, the population was all people that consumed from the UK food and beverage industry but with specific bias to customers of the McDonalds restaurant and their experience with the brands social media marketing techniques and strategies.

3.3 Sampling

A sample can be defined as a subset of the individuals in the population, which is representative of all the persons in the entire population (Singh and Masuku 2014). A sample can also refer to the members of the population that the researcher collects data from. For the sample to be a fair representative of the sample population, the researcher must define the eligibility criteria. Levy and Lemeshow (2013) write that the eligibility criteria specify the characteristics that people in the population must possess in order to be included in the study. In this study, the participants had to meet the criteria below:

Be UK citizens

Be active customer of the food and beverage industry specifically with a bias to McDonalds .

Purchases foods and drinks from McDonalds in London UK.

Be an active user of various social media sites that organisations in the UK food and beverage industry use to advertise products to their customers

The number of people that met the above specifications was too many for the researcher to collect data from all. Due to limited time and resources, the researcher had to select a manageable subset from which data would be collected

3.3 Sampling Procedure

Sampling refers to the process of selecting a portion of the population to represent the entire population in the study (Trotter II 2012). Sampling procedure can be defined as choosing part of the population to use to test hypotheses about the entire population. Thus sampling procedures help a research choose the number of participants to be included in the study. The awareness of a researcher as to the magnitude and extent to which ones population goes and therefore the range with which the sample can be chosen is integral in the decision of which sampling technique to be employed Blaikie (2010). In addition, the ideas behind a specific sampling approach vary significantly and reflect the purposes and questions directing the study (Palinkas, et al. 2015). In this study, the probability sampling procedure was used to select the study sample. The choice of this sampling procedure was influenced by its ability to give every individual in the population an equal chance to be part of the study. As such, the results of the study can be generalised to the entire population. Of the types of probability sampling techniques, the simple random sampling was chosen for this study. According to Suresh and Chandrashekara (2012) simple random sampling is completely random and every individual in the population has an equal probability of being recruited in the study. This method of probability sampling was chosen for tow reason: it is simple and a fair way to select the study participants. There are two ways in which simple random sampling can be conducted, which are with or without replacement (Christensen et al. 2011). In a case where an individual once selected has a chance of being selected again after the variables are measured, the sampling is referred to as sampling with replacement. On the contrary, simple random sampling without replacement does not give an individual a chance to be reselected. This study chose simple random sampling without replacement.

3.4 Sample

As defined earlier, a sample is a subset of the entire population that is selected for the study. For the study results to be generalised to the entire population, various researchers recommend a range that the sample should be within. For example, Marshall et al. (2013) recommend at least 20 to 30 persons can be interviewed for the results to be generalised to the entire population. Nonetheless, many researchers write that for generalizability, a sample should have at least 100 participants. This is because the larger the sample, the more representative it is going to be. For this reason, a sample of 120 respondents was selected in this study. For four days, the researcher walked into various branches of McDonald hotel in UK and randomly selected study participant. The most convenient hour was lunch time, as it was possible to get the targeted number (30) at this hour. After 30 persons has consented to be part of the study, the researcher looked forward for the following day and after four days, a sample of 120 participants had been selected.

3.5 Data collection

Data refers to the information that is collected in the course of the study (Christensen et al. 2011). The objective of the study as well as the research questions determines the type of data to be collected. Whichever type of data is collected, accuracy is critical and an integral part of scientific research. Through various types of data collection techniques, the researcher is able to collect the desired information from the study participants. Based on the research type, there are various ways of collecting data including reviewing documents, observation, measuring, questioning, and combining various methods. In this study, data was collected using a structured questionnaire and a follow up informal interview. The researcher designed a questionnaire with both open and close-ended questions. Using both open and close-ended questions ensured the researcher collected both qualitative and quantitative data, which helped create a deeper understanding of the study results. The structured questionnaire helped capture data that was relevant to the objectives of the study, the questionnaire has five sections. Section 1 had questions related to demographic information of the participants, section 2 had questions on the type of content the respondents liked viewing on the firm’s social media sites, section three had questions related to incidental exposure, section 4 had questions on usage variables, and section 5 had questions on demographic variables.

3.6 Validity and reliability

Validity refers to the measure of truth and falsity of the data generated using the proposed data collection technique (Noble and Smith 2015). In this study, validity refers to the measure of truth or falsity of the assumed effect of social media marketing on consumer behaviour in the UK food and beverage industry. On the other hand, reliability refers to the level of consistency with which the data collection instrument measures what it was supposed to measure (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson 2014). In promoting validity in this study, the sample was selected randomly, which ensured every part of the population had an equal chance of being included in the study. In addition, every participant completed the questionnaire independently, which ensured the responses obtained were purely the view of the respondent. In ensuring reliability, the responses obtained on different days were scored independently to check correlation. Further all the respondents will be informally interviewed by the researcher for the purposes of getting extra information as well as confirming the information given by the respondents in the questionnaire. This further enhances the reliability and validity of the findings.

3.7 Ethical considerations

Very little potential risks are envisioned as far as safety and dignity of participants is preserved. The research involves the collection of primary data that involves human interaction and the use of humans as the major information source, ethical considerations in terms of relevant courtesy to be afforded the various individuals while collecting this information as outlined by British Psychological Association (2013) is therefore a major concern. The researcher took the following actions to ensure the study was conducted ethically. First, permission was sought from McDonald hotels that data was collected. Here, the researcher approached the management, informed them on the purpose of the study and requested the hotel to be part of the study. Additionally, the researcher informed the hotels their customers would be surveyed and only those hotels that approved the study were used as study sites. Second, the researcher sought the consent of every individual before including them in this study. In seeking consent, the researcher informed the participants of the aim of the study and the role they were required to play. The researcher also mentioned the voluntary nature of inclusion and only those people that were willing would be included in the study. Additionally, the researcher mentioned the respondents were free to withdraw at will. Only those that consented were recruited for the study. The respondents were required to choose between completing the questionnaire while still at the hotel or later at their free time. Those that chose the second option submitted their contact details and the questionnaire was emailed and collected later.

Chapter 4: Findings

4.1 Consumer demographic factors

From table 1, 24.2% of the respondents were aged between 18 and 24 years, 56.7% were aged between 25 and 34 years, 14.2% were aged between 35 and 44 years, 3.3% were aged 45 and 54 years, while the remaining 1.6% were aged 55 and above years. The table also reveals that 64.2% of the study participants were male while 35.8% were female. Another inference from the table is that 28.3% of the respondents have undergraduate education level, 47.5% are at the post graduate level while the remaining 31.7% are PhD degree holders. It is also evident that 28.3% of the respondents are students, 1.6% is involved in business, 9.2% are professionals in various fields, 59.3% are in the service industry, while the remaining 1.6% is retired. From the above results, it is evident that the food and beverage industry consumers encompass all the demographic segments. Additionally, the table shows that social media usage is comprised of all people across various demographic parameters including age, gender, education, and occupation. The table also shows that social media users mostly fall in the age category of 24 and 35 years which is the youthful and millennial generation who experience first hand the fourth industrial revolution: this category has more than 50% of the respondents. Additionally, this implies that most of the people that purchase products from the food and beverage industry in UK are adults aged between 24 and 35 years. The male users of social media and those who consumer form the food and beverage industry in UK are slightly more than the females. It is also evident that social media usage and consumption of brands from the food and beverage industry is exhibited by users from all education levels. In terms of occupation, social media usage and consumption of brands from the food and beverage industry was popular among students, professionals, and the servicepersons. The findings of this study under this objective are consistent to studies by various authors. First, the study has found out that the nature of consumers in the food and beverage industry is diverse, which implies that nearly all UK citizens qualify to the part of this study were it not for the income and social media usage restrictions. This is similar to an argument made by Liu and Lopez (2014) who posited that the food and beverage industry provides a good case study for examining the effects of social media conversations on consumer behaviour for its popularity and strong presence on social media. Here, the author was categorical that the food and beverage sector is the most popular among social media users. The findings of the study in terms of age groups that use social media are also consistent with several studies. From this study, social media is popular among various age groups but mostly used by people aged between 24 and 35 years. A study conducted by Statistica in 2014 on age distribution of active social media users revealed that 34% of Instagram users are people aged between 25 and 34 years. The study concludes that the biggest users of social media are people aged between 18 and 24 years followed by those aged between 25 and 34 years. The findings of the current study slightly differs from the results of Statistica (2014) since the study ranks people aged 24 and 35 years the most active in social media unlike Statistica, which ranks this age group the second active in social media. The difference could be influenced by other factors that may limit people aged between 18 and 24 years from consuming from the food and beverage industry such as the income levels. Another study conducted by Hart (2016) on the demographics of food consumers reveal that people aged between 25 and 34 years spend slightly higher than other age groups when it comes to consuming fast foods and eating from hotels. This confirms the findings of the current study and therefore, it is evident that most of the people that consume from food and beverage firms in UK are aged between 24 and 35 years.

4.2 Different Social Media Platforms Used

From the above table, 34% of the respondents used Facebook, 6% used Twitter, 8% used LinkedIn, 20% used Youtube, 29% used Instagram, while the remaining 3% used Pinterest. It is worth noting that the respondents were allowed to select more than one platform as long as they had an account in that platform. All the same, the study results reveal that Facebook is the most popular social media site among consumers in the food and beverage industry in UK. Instagram and Youtube followed this. This is consistent with the social media platforms used by most businesses in the advertising of their products and in the attempt to reach a wider market and consumer base. Further, these findings are consistent to those of a study conducted by Anubha (2017) that revealed Facebook to be the most popular social media platform followed by Instagram and then Youtube. The rationale for including the above information in this section is that different social media platforms have the prioritised form of content they deliver to their users. For example, social media users dominantly communicate using images in Instagram and using videos in Youtube. Therefore, the above information would be essential in determining the nature of content consumers in the UK food and beverage industry has access to and how it affects their consumer behaviour.

The figure above captures information about the extent to which the study respondents find content posted on social media platforms reliable. The data is differentiated by the source of the content posted on social media platforms. Inferences can be made from the figure that 32% of the respondents trust and rely on content posted by the firm, 60% trust and rely on content posted by consumers, which le the remaining 8% trust and rely on content posted by both the firm and the consumer (in this case, posted by the firm and accompanied with testimonials or reviews from the consumers). The study results reveal that most of the social media users trust and rely on information posted by consumers. This implies that consumers in the UK food and beverage industry are likely to make purchase decisions based information provided by fellow consumers as opposed to information provided by the producers of the brands. Further the findings highlight indeed that consumer are actually swayed and impacted by the content posted on social media regardless of whichever source they originated from. The analysis and use of social media further impacts the consumers purchase choices and as such their behaviour. These findings are consistent to those of a study conducted by Kietzmann et al. (2011), which revealed that consumers trust the experiences of their fellows when it comes to purchasing products unlike the information provided by the producer. This is so because the producer is after increasing sales and may lack experience with the brand, and therefore the information provided aims to persuade rather than to inform. On the contrary, consumers have interacted with the brand and they share their experiences with the brand, which implies their content is more factual and informational.

Figure 3 contains information collected on the extent to which various types of content posted on social media platforms capture the attention of the social media user. From the figure, it is evident 18% of the respondents pay attention to information contained in videos, 2% of the respondents delight in information contained in audios, 74% are swayed by information in form of images, and the remaining 7% are attracted to textual information. From the data contained in the above figure, it is evident majority of social media users pay attention to images followed by videos. This confirms that argument by Berthon et al. (2012) that graphical illustrations and representations have a higher ability to draw the readers’ attention as compared to textual information. In this context, images and videos are graphical representation of the information a consumer or a firm want to pass to the audience, and therefore they have a greater ability to draw the social media users’ attention. Businesses and firms that take into account the use of such media in their marketing and advertising are more likely therefore to impact consumer choices and decisions compared to textual information given. Daugherty and Hoffman (2014) write that visual content reaches the brain faster and in a more understandable way than textual information, which underscores the need to use visual information in advertising. In agreement, Pieters, Wedel and Batra (2010) write that pictures of the advertised brands are very effective in advertising in the food and beverage industry because they instantly reach the brain of the audience resulting to a desire to consumer the advertised brand. This way, firms that use images and videos to advertise for their brands over social media platforms are able to influence more consumers to purchase the products. Kuisma et al. (2010) write that animation and ad format have a significant on the extent to which the audience remembers the advert, which implies that animated adverts have the ability to influence consumers to select the advertised brand. This is consistent to the finding of the current study. Under this objective, the study makes two inferences. First, consumer generated content is more effective in influencing consumer behaviour as therefore should be prioritised over firm generated content. As such businesses such as McDonalds should capitalize on enhancing consumer feedback and indulgence in their websites and social media platforms so as to be able to effectively and continuously attract and retain customers. Second, the study reveals that social media users pay more attention to images and videos as compared to audios and textual information used in advertising. Additionally, images and videos have a long lasting effect as what is seen is more memorable as compared to what is read. This implies that firms in the food and beverage industry should prioritise images and videos in their social media sites in order to capture the attention of more consumers.

4.3 Impact of incidental Exposure

Under this objective, the researcher aspired to collect data on the impact of incidental exposure to visual presentations on social media sites on purchase behaviour and intentions. Here, the study participants were supposed to tick yes or no to the following statement: social media users exposed to a brand via incidental exposure are more likely to choose that brand than those not exposed to the brand. The figure below contains the information the researcher generated.

From the figure above, it is evident that 56% of the study participants agreed with the statement that social media users exposed to a brand via incidental exposure is more likely to choose that brand than those not exposed to the brand while 44% opposed the statement. This implies that most of the social media users that incidentally come across a brand on social media sites have a higher likelihood of purchasing that brand in future. Regardless of whether they were looking for that particular product or not, social media content has the capability of influencing a consumers mind within an instant and as such impact on their purchase behaviour. Through incidentally viewing and learning about the benefits of a product, an individual indulges in impulse buying on the spot that can also be defined as a change in consumer behaviour due to social media marketing. The results of this study are aligned to those of a study conducted by Humphrey, Laverie and Rinaldo (2017). In this study, 54 respondents viewed images of pizza on a screen for 20 times displayed at an interval of 30 minutes. Each of the display lasted 30 seconds. After completion of the sequence, 94% of the respondents purchased pizza. Therefore, the study concluded that incidental exposure to a brand in a repeated manner influences consumers to purchase the brand. This study notes that for the advert to be effective, the content must be visualised and displayed in a repeated manner. This is so because visual information is more memorable that other forms of content and display in a sequence aids brand recognition and memory. Additionally, the study states that for the adverts to be effective, the advert must be short (a maximum of 5 seconds) to ensure that the audience does not skip the advert. With shorter adverts, social media users are patient to follow to the end, which implies that they will go through all the provided information. Therefore, firms seeking to increase their sales revenue through social media advertising social media advertising should observe three disciplines. First, they should display the adverts in a repeated manner. Second, adverts should be visualised to capture attention and aid memory as well as brand recognition. Third, the ads should be short (not more than 5 seconds) to ensure social media users that are exposed to the adverts go through them to the end without skipping. If these three disciplines are observed, social media users that are exposed to brand information incidentally are more likely to purchase the brands as compared to those consumers that are not exposed to the information. Another study conducted by De Vries, Gensler and Leeflang (2012) reveals that incidental exposure is more effective is the message is communicated across a number of social media platforms. This is so because the large the number of social media sites the message is displayed, the higher the incidences of incidental exposure, which increases brand recognition. Therefore, this study recommends that firms seeking to increase their sales revenue through social media advertising should post their ads across various social media platforms. Though the current study did not explore the effect of advertising on various social media platforms, it is evident incidental exposure significantly affects consumer behaviour. Thus, drawing from related studies, the current study recommends use of short, frequent, and visual displays to influence consumer behaviour through incidental exposure over social media platforms.

4.4 Impact of social media usage variable

4.4.1 Social media access

This objective was aimed at collecting information on the influence of social media access on consumer behaviour. First, the respondents were required to indicate how often they had access to social media. The figure below summarises the collected data.

The above figure contains information collected about the extent to which the study participants could access social media. From the figure, it is evident 5% of the respondents accessed social media every hour, 52% of the respondents accessed social media for a minimum of three times a day, 35% accessed social media at least once every day, 6% of the respondents accessed social media at least once a week, while the remaining 2% accessed social media less than once a week. From this information, we can conclude than most of the consumers in the UK food and beverage industry access social media between three times a day and once every day. This implies that the study population have daily access to social media. Regardless of whether or not they manage to come around the various adverts as concerns marketing of foods and beverages the quality of individuals being online on an almost daily basis in addition to the conclusion drawn from the objective on incidental exposure, we can therefore say that consumers in the UK food and beverage industry are more likely to purchase consumable brands advertised over the social media because they see these adverts at least once every day. Additionally, we can conclude that social media is a rewarding platform for firms in the UK food and beverage industry to advertise their brands.

4.4.2 Length of usage

This objective aimed at collecting data on the extent to which the study participants used social media in terms of the hours they spent on social media on a daily basis. The figure below contains the generated results.

Figure 6 shows the study participants’ response on the time spent on social media on a daily basis. The figure shows that 23% of the respondents spend less than 1 hour every day on social media, 68% spend between 1 and 3 hours on social media every day, 8% spend between 3 and 5 hours on social media every day, while the remaining 1% of the respondents spend more than 5 hours on social media every day. From the information, we can conclude that on average a majority of the consumers in the UK food and beverage industry spend between 1 and 3 hours on social media every day, this is crucial in the probability of incidentally coming across business adverts and being influenced by them. The longer they stay online and in social media platforms, the more easily they can interact with adverts of businesses and be influenced by them. A study conducted by Humphrey, Laverie and Rinaldo (2017) revealed that companies that display their ads on social media sites hourly benefit with increased sales since this repeated manner boosts brand recognition and social media users who are exposed to the ads are more likely to purchase them. Drawing from this conclusion, we can say that most of the consumers in UK food and beverage industry can see ads on a particular brand for between 1 and 3 times a day. This implies that in a week, an active consumer is likely to see an ad on social media platforms for up to 21 times, which is great enough to influence purchase behaviour. Therefore, if firms in the UK food and beverage industry increased the display interval to a minimum of one time an hour, they would be assured of more sales.

4.4.3 Log-on duration

This objective aimed at collecting data on the duration that the study participants spent on social media per login. The figure below captures the responses.

The above figure shows that 26% of the respondents spent 1 to 30 minutes on social media every time they logged in, 47% spent between 30 minutes and 1 hour per every login, 19% spent between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 minutes on social media every time they logged in, 6% spent between 1 and a half hours and 2 hours, while the remaining 2% spent more than 2 hours on social media any time they logged in. from this information, we can say that most of the respondents spent between 30 minutes and 1 hour on social media any time they logged in. Therefore, on average, most of the respondents spend 45 minutes on social media every time they log in. The study has also established that most of the respondents log into social media three times a day. Therefore, if one spent 45 minutes per log in, then having logged in 3 times a day would imply that the respondent spend 135 minutes, which is equivalent to 1 hour 15 minutes on social media every day. Therefore, we can conclude that consumers in the UK food and beverage industry spend about 1 hour 15 minutes on social media every day. These findings are consistent with those of a study conducted by Bennet (2015), which revealed that most of the people spend about 1.72 hours on social networking. Log on duration significantly affects consumer behaviour in that the longer one is logged on, the higher the chances of being exposed to ads, which influences purchase intentions (Williams 2015). In addition, the longer the duration on social media sites, the higher the amount of information about a brand one accessed, which promotes brand recognition. Ultimately, this influences a consumer’s buying intention (Barker et al. 2013).

4.4.4 Log-on frequency

Under this objective, the study participants were required to respond to the following statement: does log on frequency affect your purchase intention? If yes, how? Out of the 120 respondents, 63 said yes, 39 said no, while the remaining 18 were not sure. One of the respondents indicated that log on frequency influences purchase behaviour because if every time one logs on to social media there is a displayed ad, there is a higher likelihood that the social media user will recognise that product and any time they are in the market, they are likely to purchase the brand in mind. Therefore, this respondent indicated that log on frequency has a significant influence on consumer behaviour but this is dependent on the frequency at which the ads are displayed. This is consistent to a conclusion made by Maddox and Gong (2015) who write that social media users with a higher log on frequency display the largest inclination to use commercial content available online to assist with purchase decisions. Another respondent indicated that log on frequency has no effect on consumer behaviour because often, one logs on with a specific agenda in mind and there it is possible attention will not be paid to the commercial ads. Therefore, to this respondent, log on frequency has no effect on consumer behaviour. This is in line with the study results of Chandra et al (2012) who posit that there is no difference between sporadic and frequent users towards social media marketing communications. However, according to the results of the current study, social media users who frequently log into social media sites are more likely to view the displayed information regarding advertisement and promotions. In addition, frequent log on increases the probability of incidental exposure to these advertisements, which consequently impact consumer purchase decisions and behaviour.

4.4.5 Profile update incidences

Under this objective, the study participants were to respond to the following question. Do profile update incidences affect consumer behaviour? The table below contains the participants’ response.

From the information contained in figure 8, 69% indicated that the frequency at which they update their profiles in social media sites has an effect on consumer behaviour, 22% indicated that profile update incidences have no effect on consumer behaviour, while the remaining 9% were not sure whether profile update incidences affect consumer behaviour or not. Therefore, we can conclude that the frequency at which social media users update their profile affects their purchase intentions. This is consistent with a study conducted by Duffett (2017), which concluded that social media users who update their profiles more regularly (daily and several times a week) displayed the most positive sentiments towards marketing communications on social media. This was because the more people interact on social media, the greater the probability they will interact with marketing communications posted on these platforms, which promotes brand recognition. Thus, we can conclude that the greater the frequency of profile update, the higher the probability of making purchase decisions influenced by information posted on social media marketing platforms.

4.5 Effect of demographic characteristics

4.5.1 Age

Under this objective, the study participants were required to indicate whether age affects their reaction towards marketing information posted on social media sites. The figure below contains the captured information.

From the above information, 35% of the study participants indicated that age influences purchase intentions of brands advertised over the social media, 34% revealed age does not influence purchase intentions, and 31% of the respondents were not sure of the effect of age on consumer behaviour. Therefore, we can conclude that age demographics have limited influence on consumer behaviour. These findings are consistent to those of a study conducted by Taylor, Lewin and Strutton, (2011), which reveal that age demographic variable has limited influence on attitude components as influenced by social media marketing communications. On the contrary, Moore (2012) concludes that older people have more positive behavioural responses on social media communications as compared to younger people. Additionally, Mulero and Adeyeye (2013) write that social media marketing is more accepted by younger consumers as compared to older consumers, which implies that younger consumers are likely to make purchase decisions based on information they consumer over the social media. Information from the current study and other related studies do not give clear evidence on the role of age demographics on purchase intentions based on information contained in social media sites. Therefore, future researchers need to focus on the role of age demographics when it comes to marketing products over the social media.

4.5.2 Gender

The aim of this objective was to generate data on then effect of gender on consumer behaviour as influenced by information posted on social media marketing sites. The figure below contains the study findings.

From the information contained in the above figure, 44% of the respondents indicated that females are likely to purchase advertised brands as compared to males, 32% indicated that males are more likely to purchase the advertised brands as compared to females, while the remaining 24% was not sure who among the males and the females are more likely to purchase brands advertised over social media platforms. From this information, we can conclude there is a higher probability that females will purchase brands advertised over social media as compared to males. The findings of this study under this objective are consistent to those of a study conducted by Ruane and Wallace (2013), which revealed that males exhibit less favourable attitudes towards brands advertised over social media than women do. This implies that firms in the UK food and beverage industry should take advantage of the fact that female social media users are more likely to purchase brands advertised over social media sites.

Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion

5.1 The effect of content posted on social media sites

Among the objectives of this study was to explore how the content posted on social media marketing sites affects consumer behaviour. Here, the study sought to establish which among the content posted by the consumer and consumers thus influencing consumer behaviour largely deem the firm more reliable. Under this objective, the study established that consumers believe information posted by their fellow consumers about a product is more reliable as it is based on the consumers’ experience with the product. This implies that firms that seek to increase their sales revenue through social media advertising must incorporate the views of the consumers on the products. Particularly, firms should seek to understand how their customers view their products and capture it in their marketing campaigns. This will drive more sales. Additionally, the study sought to establish the effect of the form in which the information is posted on consumer behaviour. Here, the researcher categorised forms of information into videos, audios, images, and textual information. The study results revealed that images are deemed to be the most effective in capturing attention and influencing purchase intentions followed by videos. This was because visual presentations reaches the brain faster and has a long lasting effect. Therefore, once exposed to a brand’s information in visual form, the consumers are likely to make purchase decisions based on this information. From this information, firms in the foods and beverage industry should advertise to their customers in form of images and videos. Several other studies have focused on the content (source and form) and how it influences consumer behaviour. According to Schivinski and Dabrowski (2015), both user generated and firm generated social media brand communications positively affect awareness and purchase intentions. On the other hand, Labrecque (2014) conclude that brand information posted by consumers in social media settings result to more positive attitudinal responses towards the brand as compared to information posted by the firm/producer. Kabadayi and Price (2014) reveal that the effectiveness of the information posted on social media sites to influencing purchase intentions is dependent on the personality traits of the sources and therefore, information posted by the consumer is more effective as it is based on experience. From these accounts, it is evident that information posted by consumers on social media sites is more effective when it comes to driving purchase intentions as compared to information posted by the firm. Therefore, firms in the UK food and beverage industry should make use of consumer testimonials and consumer reviews to drive more sales.

A study conducted by Van Mulken, Le Pair and Forceville (2010) conclude that marketers need to adapt ways of thinking about imagery so that they advertise their products in form of images. This is so because with an image, it is possible to sway a larger audience than with textual information since describing a brand with terms may not create the same impression as an image. Another study conducted by Pieters, Wedel, and Batra (2010), reveal that two thirds of all stimuli reach the brain through the visual system and therefore humans comprehend visuals more than they comprehend textual information. Djafarova and Andersen (2010) write that 98% of the top scoring ads in advertising contain some visual elements, which is either a photograph or an illustration. Therefore, we can conclude that advertisers in the food and beverage industry need to make use of visuals in their adverts to drive more sales. This is so because visual imagery is able to attract attention, stimulate curiosity, illustrate product features, and create a personality for the product effectively than textual information is able to (Marshall 2011).

5.2 The effect of incidental exposure

This was the second objective of the study and it aimed at investigating the effect of incidental exposure on consumer purchase behaviour. The study results reveal that social media users that are frequently exposed to brand information incidentally have an increased likelihood of making purchase decisions based on this information. Several other researchers have explored the effect of incidental exposure on consumer behaviour. Chan, Jiang and Tan (2010) write that in the course of daily encounters with other consumers, people are likely to come across brands information incidentally and if these displays occur in a repeated manner, the consumer is likely to make purchase decisions based on this information. The study therefore concludes that repeated incidental exposures to a brand provide social media users with information that assists them in making purchase decisions. Wang and Teo (2012) state that although most of the social media users actively ignore web ads, it is evident that increased incidental exposure to these web ads affect consumer cognition and behaviour. This is so because consumers unconsciously process information they encounter and as such, web ads embedded in social media platforms act as contextual stimuli to influence online consumer processing of product information as well as purchase decisions. According to Cho and Lee (2013), an individual’s behaviour and cognition is not only affected by the information they have but also how easy it is for them to process the information they are exposed to. Here, the authors note that in the case of social media advertising, organisations use simple textual information backed with images to advertise to consumers. This makes the information easy to process and therefore has an effect on product purchase intentions. Therefore, the study concludes that incidental exposure to brand information of social media leads to purchase intentions. Byrum and APR (2017) write that conceptual fluency resulting from contextual stimuli manifests as the activation of a mind-set related to the concept. This activated mind set shapes how people interpret and construe the information they incidentally see on social media sites. Therefore, incidental exposure to brand information on social media sites can manipulate a consumer’s perception of the product and eventually lead to purchase decision. From the above accounts, we can conclude that incidental exposure to brand information on the social media may not have an instant effect of buying behaviour but repeated exposure results to a change is consumer behaviour. This implies that firms in the UK food and beverage industry should increase the frequency at which they post their advertising messages to make sure they influence the behaviour of the consumers.

5.3 Effect of usage variables

The third objective of the study was to explore the effect social usage variables affects consumer behaviour. Among the investigated variables were access, length of usage, log-on duration, log-on frequency, and profile update incidence.

5.3.1 Social media access

When it comes to social media access, the study established that most of the consumers in the UK food and beverage industry access social media for at least three times a day. Here, the study also established that there is a positive correlation between social media access and exposure to adverts on social media: the higher the access rate, the higher the probability the consumer will see advertising information posted on social media sites. Therefore, the study concludes that because consumers have increased access to social media in UK, there is need for firms in the food and beverage industry to increase the frequency at which they post selling information on these social media sites. Other researchers have also focussed on the access of social media and how it affects consumer behaviour. Rassega et al. (2015) posit that the use of new information and communications technology allows a better flow of information and greater connection with consumers. Here, the authors note that consumers that have higher access to social media also have higher access to information posted on social media related to brands, which influences their purchase decisions. Additionally, the study notes that social media is a platform where various consumers come together to share information about brands and therefore, users who frequently access social media have more details about products, which assist them when they are making purchase decisions. It is therefore evident that the extent to which consumers has access to social media influences purchase decisions because it reflects the amount of information the consumer have about a brand. Thus, to increase brand awareness, firms in the UK food and beverage industry should increase the frequency at which they post their messages so as to increase exposure to people with various access rates.

5.3.2 Length of usage

Here the researcher was interested in the number of years consumers have used social media and how this has affected their purchase decisions. The study established that consumers who have used social media for over two years know the sources to trust and are more connected as compared to consumers that are new in the social media community. Thus, consumers that have used social media for long have strong attitudinal responses to brands advertised on social media and are more likely to purchase these products as compared to new social media users. According to Bamossy and Solomon (2016), social media has a strong influence on consumer behaviour and over time, social media users get aware of this influence and therefore are more likely to purchase brands advertised on social media after they use social media after some time. From this information, we can conclude that social media users get used to social media and its trends and over time learn the sources to trust, which determines their reaction towards the advertised brands. Thus, this study confirms the findings of the current study that consumers who have used social media for over two years are more likely to purchase the advertised brands as compared to new social media users. Under this objective, the study did not establish how firms should react to the fact that social media advertising is more effective if the target audience has used social media for long (a minimum of two years). Therefore, future researchers should establish what firms should do in order to sway consumers that are new to social media through social media advertising.

5.3.3 Log-on Duration

The study established that most of the consumers in the UK food and beverage industry log in to social media for about 45 minutes. Additionally, the study established that most of the consumers in this industry log into social media at least three times a day, which implies that these consumers spend about 1 hour 15 minutes on social media every day. To firms in this industry, this information is insightful in that it helps them determine the interval at which their selling ads should be displayed. If an average consumer logs on to social media three times, then the advertising firms post the advertising information for a minimum of three times a day to ensure that every time consumers log into social media, they are incidentally exposed to the brand, which increases the probability these consumers will end up using this information in their purchase decisions. Maddox and Gong (2015) write that active social media users display large inclination to use commercial content available on social media to make purchase decisions because they have been exposed to this information severally. Therefore, we can conclude that firms in the UK food and beverage industry ought to increase the frequency at which they post their selling ads in order to reach more consumers and influence their purchase decisions. However, the study does not establish the approximate number of times the firms should post their messages, which future researchers should establish.

5.3.4 Log on frequency

The study established that consumers that frequently log on to social media (for at least three times a day) have increased exposure in that they view the adverts more times than passive social media users. This implies there is a positive correlation between log on frequency and consumer behaviour: frequent social media users are likely to make purchase decisions based on information they access online as compared to passive social media users. Other researchers who have focused on this objective have similar findings. Hudson et al. (2015) write that consumers that frequently log into social media access more information aimed at promoting sales and are therefore more likely to make purchase decisions based on this information as compared to sporadic social media users. The study does not establish the implication of this finding to firms in the UK food and beverage industry. Therefore, future researchers should recommend to advertisers how to react to the fact that social media marketing is more effective if the target population frequently logs on to social media.

5.3.5 Profile update incidences

The study established that consumers who frequently update their profiles on social media (once a week and above) have increase access to ads posted on social media, which implies they are more likely to use this information when making purchase decisions. Similar conclusion can be made from previous research. According to Duffett (2017), social media users who update their profiles frequently (more than once a week or on a daily basis) are more likely to react to communications on social media sites as compared to internet users that are not frequent at updating their profiles. This is because people who are active on social media are exposed to more information about brands and services, which is likely to assist them as they make purchase decisions. Therefore, we can infer a correlation between these two variables: the greater the frequency of profile update, the higher the probability of making purchase decisions influenced by information posted on social media marketing platforms.

5.4 Effects of Demographic Variables

The last objective of this study was to explore how demographic variables affect consumer behaviour based on the information firms use to advertise their brands across social media sites. The demographic variables that were considered in this case were age and gender. When it comes to age, the study was limited in that the scores were closely packed, which implies there was no clear definition of the effect on gender on consumer behaviour as far as social media marketing is concerned. Different researchers that have investigated this variable have had contrasting conclusions. Taylor, Lewin and Strutton, (2011), reveal that age demographic variable has limited influence on attitude components as influenced by social media marketing communications. On the contrary, Moore (2012) concludes that older people have more positive behavioural responses on social media communications as compared to younger people. Additionally, Mulero and Adeyeye (2013) write that social media marketing is more accepted by younger consumers as compared to older consumers, which implies that younger consumers are likely to make purchase decisions based on information they consumer over the social media. With these accounts, the study sheds limited light on the effect of the age variable on consumer behaviour in social media marketing. Therefore, future researchers should pay closer attention to this variable and the effect it has on consumer behaviour. When it comes to the gender demographic variable, the study concludes that females are more likely to react to information posted on social media platforms, which implies they are more likely to make purchase decisions based on this information. Literature also reveals that females have a higher liking for social media content and are more connected on social media platforms, which increases their exposure to brand information (Ruane and Wallace, 2013). Therefore, females are likely to make purchase decisions based on information they consumer on social media as compared to males. To firms in the UK food and beverage industry, this finding implies that ads targeted on female consumers are more effective but targeting males on social media also drives sales. Therefore, it is important to target both males and females in social media advertising.

5.5 Conclusion

The findings of the research study clearly highlights therefore that social media indeed influence consumer purchase intentions as well as behaviour towards the various brands advertised. While the exposure to these adverts on social media could be incidental or intentional, the research highlights a variety of social media features including the use of images and videos that would be able to effectively attract the consumers’ attention and indulge them into the advert. Through further research and contribution in the online reviews and postings by other customers as well as the business itself, consumers are able to gather significant information to impact their purchase decisions as well as their behaviour. The research further highlights internet usage variables that are critical in the outcome of the social media advertisement and promotions. Some of these as discussed include special media access, frequency of log in, log in duration, length of internet usage as well as demographic factors such as age and gender. All these variables highlight whether or not a customer will be exposed to adverts of businesses within social media and further determine whether or not the individual’s customers will be influenced towards purchasing certain products as well as any changes in their behaviour

5.6 Recommendations

Firms that seek to increase their sales revenue through social media advertising must incorporate the views of the consumers on the products. Particularly, firms should seek to understand how their customers view their products and capture it in their marketing campaigns.

Firms in the foods and beverage industry should advertise to their customers in form of images and videos, as they have higher ability of capturing consumers’ attention.

Information posted by the consumer is more effective at driving sales, and therefore, firms in the UK food and beverage industry should make use of consumer testimonials and consumer reviews to in the marketing ads.

Advertisers in the food and beverage industry need to make use of visuals in their adverts to drive more sales.

Incidental exposure has a significant contribution to driving sales, which implies that firms in the UK food and beverage industry should increase the frequency at which they post their advertising messages.

The study does not establish the approximate number of times the firms should post their messages in order to successfully drive sales, which future researchers should establish.

The study sheds limited light on the effect of the age variable on consumer behaviour in social media marketing. Therefore, future researchers should pay closer attention to this variable and the effect it has on consumer behaviour.

Chapter 6: Personal Reflection

Various scholars have developed different models to aid personal reflection and reflective accounts. This chapter is informed by Gibb’s reflective cycle. The model was developed by Professor Graham Gibbs in 1988 and includes six stages of reflection. These stages are description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan. These subtopics will guide this reflective account.

6.1 Description

This reflection is about my experience while conducting and writing the research project. Initially, I found the task challenging and 18000 words seemed to huge to accomplish. After thinking how I would end up with about 18000 words, I decided to select a topic of interest so I would do as much research and reading as possible. After some research, I settled on the topic, “the influence of social media marketing on consumer behaviour.” I then found this topic too wide and needed to narrow it and therefore limited the focus population to consumers in the UK food and beverage industry and decided I would collect data from consumers I would meet in various branches of McDonald hotel UK. After this, I wrote the proposal and submitted it to the tutor for approval. After some time, the topic was approved and was given the go ahead to conduct the study. I conducted the study single handed but received advice from my supervisor. Therefore, this reflection will detail my experience as I conducted the project.

6.2 Personal perception

At the time, I knew I would be conducting a research project at the end of the module, I was worried since I had not conducted another research project before. After going through the project guide, I was more shocked by the required length. The longest writing I had done before was not more than 5000 words and therefore the whole idea of writing about 18,000 words was shocking. I really wondered if I would meet the word count. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the work I was to do, I thought choosing a topic of interest would be effective and help me write the dissertation. I also thought that with deeper research on the topic I would choose, writing the 18,000 words would be manageable. Therefore, I researched and settled on the topic to conduct the study. I took a whole day writing the introduction, which was about 2000 words and this left me wondering if writing the 18,000 words was attainable. I felt that writing the dissertation would take me forever yet the deadline was approaching. I felt much more overwhelmed that before I started writing the dissertation. I then took a two days break, and this gave me enough time to research widely and regains strength to carry on with the work. I was fascinated after writing chapter two, which were about 5000 words. I did not struggle writing this chapter, which gave me assurance I would complete the dissertation and meet the deadline. This chapter encouraged me to continue writing the dissertation. This implies that at the beginning of chapter 3 I was enthusiastic. This was not the case at the end of the chapter. I had difficulties meeting the approximate word count for chapter three and completing the dissertation seemed harder as it was. However, I was more than halfway completing the dissertation, which gave me a feeling I was making it. I was then happy I would spend four days outside collecting data. The hotels I approached for permission to conduct the research were happy about it, which gave me confidence I was doing something impactful in the current business world. I delighted interacting with consumers and collecting data from them. I also found it fascinating to analyse the data and I felt the rest of the dissertation was going to be fun. After completing the dissertation, I felt relieved and felt I had achieved what seemed impossible at first. I even felt that I could write even a longer dissertation as long as I find the topic interesting.

6.3 Evaluation

Various things really went well during the research project. First, reviewing previous literature: this gave me a deeper understanding of the topic and helped me understand what had already been done, which helped me avoid duplicating the works of others. Second, the process of stepping into the field and collecting data went on well, initially, I though data collecting will be the most challenging part of the dissertation but all went on well. I met people that were willing to be part of the study, which made me complete the study within the required timeline. The analysis also went on well: I found it interesting to graphically present the information I collected. There are also a few things that went on badly. First, I found the introduction the most challenging part of the dissertation. Writing the 2000 words required in this chapter was harder than competing the rest of the dissertation. This forced me to research deeply and gave me a feeling it was going to be roughly to meet the word count. Second, writing the methodology chapter was challenging. I found very limited literature on research methods, which implies that completing 2,500 words needed in this section was not easy. I had to keep reviewing the available sources and searching different databases to meet the word count. Further, I had an objective on the effect of demographic variables on consumer behaviour. After conclusion, I was not able to draw the implication to firms in the UK food and beverage industry. As a result, I did not see the need of having this objective in the study After completing the dissertation, the experience was complete and I was motivated to conduct more projects in future.

6.4 Analysis

Writing the introduction was the most challenging part of the dissertation. I think this was challenging because I had not researched widely before beginning on the project. The consequence of this action was spending too much time on the introduction, which discouraged me and I ended up completing the dissertation would not be attainable. Had I researched widely, I would not have been challenged writing the introduction. The methodology chapter was also challenging, which was influenced by limited resources related to the chapter themes. The consequence was spending too much time on this chapter as well. Reading widely and searching through various databases would be a solution to this challenge. Additionally, I was challenged relating the fourth objective to the aim of the study. The consequence is that I felt this objective did not have a positive contribution to the study. Evaluating the effectiveness of each objective prior to conducting the research would have been a solution to this challenge.

6.5 Conclusion

I would have reads widely and searched through various databases to gather enough information to help me complete both chapter one and chapter three. I would also have evaluated each objective and come up with hypothesis for every objective to make sure they had a positive contribution to the study before conducting the research project. However, throughout the research project, I learnt I can attain anything as long as I commit to it, I also learnt I have social skills and these helped me interact with the persons I collected data from. The experience I gained from conducting this project is worth as it helps in business management. To managers, I am now able to advice on effective use of social media advertising.

6.6 Action plan

To be better prepared to conduct a research project in future, I need to read widely and identify what differentiates researchers. Additionally, I need to think through the research project from the beginning to the end to make sure am fully prepared before beginning the study. Finally, I plan to co-author with other researcher to ensure different perspectives have been considered, which will help eliminate bias.

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