see attachments
Unit III Literature Review
Instructions
Continuing your work on the research plan you have been developing in Units I and II, you will now write a literature review for this unit’s assignment.
First, conduct research to locate at least five relevant sources that can contribute to your research study.
· You must use high-quality sources such as peer-reviewed articles and empirical studies (quantitative and/or qualitative).
· At least four sources must be published within the last 5 years.
· At least two of your sources must come from the CSU Online Library.
· Your literature review must be at least two pages in length.
· Ensure that you critically evaluate each source as well as explain why each source was selected and how it is of value to your research topic.
· Thoroughly compare and contrast your findings.
· Identify any gaps (what is unknown or needs to be researched further) and controversies that exist in the literature.
Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. APA formatting, however, is not necessary.
This
review of literature example
from the CSU Writing Center shows this type of formatting.
1
Role of Social Media in Marketing
Robert Benders
Columbia Southern University
RCH 5302
Professor Michael Laverty
Role of Social Media in Marketing
Introduction
The proposed aspect of study in this report seeks to integrate a comprehensive analysis of the future of social media in the marketing context. In understanding this, the study is structured to provide the research background, identify the research problem, as well as various research questions generated. The research will also offer substantial evaluations of the qualitative and quantitative methods and approaches that are applicable to the study.
Research Background
In the modern world, it is ideal to highlight that business enterprises are viable to adopt social media as an avenue toward success. The assimilation of social media provides an opportunity to incorporate an interactive structure between the clients and the providers in a business setting. Given this field has experienced diverse evaluations, this research will rely on existing literature. As a result, the need to emphasize the future trends in social media effectiveness in marketing offers a study aspect with a lower focus (Bala & Verma, 2018). It is based on the establishment that vast studies major on the formulation, implementation, and compatibility of social media in marketing.
Accordingly, understanding the future of social media in marketing mandates an evaluation of its history. Over the last years, there are increasing trends in the adoption of social media on the internet among consumers. Conversely, there seemed to be minimal consideration of social media as a marketing tool that helped improve the communication avenues in the delivery of consumer-based goods and services aided by social media platforms (Misirlis & Vlachopoulou, 2018). Hence, proposing the study on social media in marketing will help present businesses with a potential future trajectory on the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool.
Research Problem
In this study, the problem identified seeks to analyze the future of social media marketing considering the potential advancements that will be potentially experienced in social media in improving or undermining business marketing. Insightfully, it is necessary to note that social media constitutes connections, relationships, and interactions (Misirlis & Vlachopoulou, 2018). As such, it signifies that the possible interactions are evaluated based on the provider-consumer relationship established on social media platforms.
Research questions
Based on the established research problem, several research questions were highlighted as follows.
1. What is the influence of social media on business branding and influence on success?
2. What hindrances are viable to counter social media in marketing?
Ideally, these questions are substantial in comprehending elements of social media’s future in marketing. In contextualizing the future of social media, it is insightful to evaluate the influence and role asserted by social media. Besides, integration of social media aspects is valued as an approach that aims to mitigate business challenges experienced. Therefore, elaborating on the viable obstacles in social media marketing will offer acumens on the proposed future trajectory.
Comparing Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods
Developing comprehensive research necessitates effective assimilation of the research methods that help enrich ideas presented in the study. Primarily, the qualitative research methods are highlighted as those that offer an explanatory perspective to evaluate diverse approaches conceptualized through an empirical study (Greckhamer et al., 2018). Through this, it will empower the researcher to acquired robust knowledge and understanding of different factors, motives, as well as the need for empirical research. Also, it is assistive in comprehending information or data and opinions projected through quantitative approaches to research.
Comparatively, quantitative research methods are effective in presenting a quantified research problem through statistical data which ease interpretation and conceptualization. Here, it will allow the researchers to evaluate the trends in consumer perspectives as the main participants analyzed in the study. The quantified data is valued as more structured in comparison to qualitative data (Zyphur & Pierides, 2020). It is because, in quantitative research, there is the incorporation of surveys that are readily available through social medial platforms for users to fill. Further, this method allows for the inclusion of telephone-based interviews and observations.
Given the two research methods, this research tends to rely more on the qualitative approach. In this selection, the writer considers the effectiveness of the research method in providing explanatory perspectives that are easily examined through a literature review. Moreover, adopting the qualitative research method will allow assessment of the potential challenges encountered in social media marketing which allows for the prediction of the future (Aspers & Corte, 2019). The cost-effective nature of the qualitative research method empowers its selection over the quantitative research method.
Possible Approaches in the Research
Notably, it is highlighted that the research incorporates the qualitative research method due to its effectiveness in enhancing the study outcomes. From this approach, it will allow for substantive analysis of the explanatory literature. To compile the information and data, this research will include studies from various sources that offer relevant resources. These are inclusive of the CSU Library, Google Scholar, and EndNote together with others that present the research with helpful books, journals, and accessible literature guides. In ensuring that the results of the study were relevant, there are several key phrases used such as “influence of social media,” “role of social media in marketing,” and “hindrances in social media marketing.” Guided by these key phrases, it makes it possible to sort the results to exclude or include relevant resources. Since the research seeks to propose a future trajectory of social media in marketing, it is ideal to integrate only the latest and peer-reviewed resources.
Conclusion
Overall, projecting the future of social media marketing is a considerable area to focus on in the study. This is because awareness helps businesses conceive effective approaches that lead to the maximization of social media in marketing. Hence, providing this research proposal plan will be helpful in developing a comprehensive study that can be used by business enterprises in evaluating the need to venture into social media marketing.
References
Bala, M., & Verma, D. (2018). A critical review of digital marketing. M. Bala, D. Verma (2018). A Critical Review of Digital Marketing. International Journal of Management, IT & Engineering, 8(10), 321-339.
Aspers, P., & Corte, U. (2019). What is qualitative in qualitative research? Qualitative Sociology, 42(2), 139-160.
Greckhamer, T., Furnari, S., Fiss, P. C., & Aguilera, R. V. (2018). Studying configurations with qualitative comparative analysis: Best practices in strategy and organization research. Strategic Organization, 16(4), 482-495.
Misirlis, N., & Vlachopoulou, M. (2018). Social media metrics and analytics in marketing: A mapping literature review. International Journal of Information Management, 38(1), 270- 276.
Zyphur, M. J., & Pierides, D. C. (2020). Statistics and probability have always been value-laden: An historical ontology of quantitative research methods. Journal of Business Ethics, 167(1), 1-18.
2
Building the Research Plan
Robert Benders
Columbia Southern University
RCH 5302
Professor Michael Laverty
Building the Research Plan
The topic on the role of social media in marketing diversifies ideas on the future of the marketing domain with the increasing dependence on technology. In this research, the conceived hypothesis is based on current evidence which indicates that effective use of social media advocacies or campaigns is viable to enhance business and marketing brands, products, as well as services. Also, the hypothesis includes the idea that social media effectiveness is ideal in empowering the public as the target business clients to participate in the business operations and engage the brand through propositions, comments, sharing of images, videos, and other relevant media (Bashar et al., 2017). Through this, it will be possible to sustain business efficacy through innovativeness based on the customer needs which leads to the provision of marketing services compatible with customer needs. Hence, proving the research seeks to approve the conceived hypothesis that social media is useful and helps improve the future of marketing.
Accordingly, the integrated null hypothesis in this research encompasses a statement that indicates that no substantial diversity will be achieved through a statistical evaluation of the variants after testing. As such, it indicates that a specific variable asserts minimal or no impact on the outcomes of the test. In this research, the null hypothesis evaluated is that social media creates no positive impact on the success of future marketing. Based on this, the conception is founded on the attributive challenges of issues that correlate with social media platforms used in marketing businesses (Tafesse & Wien, 2018). Essentially, the null hypothesis exists based on the potential security and privacy-related concerns that are inevitable in the use of different platforms to market a specific brand or business enterprise. In carrying out advertisements, businesses are often prompted to share vast information which leads to the potential exploitation of confidential data such as client demographics or purchase details.
The study on social media effectiveness in marketing integrates ethics as a challenge to both the marketer and the consumer to experience progressive growth. Inclusion of ethics is vital since it has a major influence on how potential clients think or see the established business operation. Noteworthy, the research considers diverse ethical issues that ought to be considered during social media marketing to sustain the efficacy of the approach. These are inclusive of data and information privacy, cases of bias in the business, as well as the level of transparency in the different operations executed (Muzumdar et al., 2021). In crafting an integrative social media marketing campaign, business ethics serve a major role in setting a foundation to be followed by the organization which leads to the creation of a good reputation and rapport with the customer base. Being reliable, transparent, and trustworthy is highly noticeable among online clients which mandate the inclusion of moral principles that enhance marketer and client relationship.
Besides, a standard institutional review board tasked to approve or inquire about the research proposal are viable to adopt varying perspectives in evaluating the effectiveness of the selected study. With the primary focus relying on the role of social media marketing on the business brand, the review board is capable of including questions that seek to evaluate how social media influences business communication channels. Additionally, there are potential inquiries on specific qualitative research approaches adopted that create comprehensive study outcomes that can be adopted in a generalized research proposition (Matot et al., 2018). Also, the study will be reviewed to establish the study population selected in developing the results and whether they are evenly selected to provide a reliable study proposal. Through this, there will be possible changes proposed to the research method to include more statistical evidence on the trends of social media use in marketing and how this is projected to progress in the future of business.
References
Bashar, A., Ahmad, I., & Wasiq, M. (2017). Effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool: An empirical study. International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management Research, 1(11), 88-99.
Matot, I., Pizov, R., & Sprung, C. L. (2018). Evaluation of Institutional Review Board review and informed consent in publications of human research in social media use in marketing. Journal of Marketing, 26(9), 1596-1602.
Muzumdar, S., Grant-Kels, J. M., & Farshchian, M. (2021). Ethics of social media marketing. Journal of the American Academy of Marketing, 85(1), 277-278.
Tafesse, W., & Wien, A. (2018). Implementing social media marketing strategically: an empirical assessment. Journal of Marketing Management, 34(9-10), 732-749.
