Impact of social media marketing on Consumer Buying Behaviour - A case study of Tesco - UK

Introduction

Social media marketing has a wide range of effects on customer purchasing decisions in recent years. The impact of social media marketing on consumer behavior is dynamic due to the constant changes in the attitudes, behaviors, and thoughts of both the target customer group and society as a whole. Acquisition, consumption, and disposition can happen in a dynamic order across time. Customers desire content from brands that is genuine and non promotional. Influencers on social media have the potential to be more genuine than traditional advertisements, and their relatable material can increase engagement and have an impact on consumer decisions. Around 34% of UK based grocery retailer shoppers have confirmed that they heard about Tesco on social media during November 2023 (Statista, 2023). This research is focused on to find the level of impact of social media marketing on consumers of Tesco that is one of the largest retailers in the UK.

Research Aim

Aim of this research is to find the relationship between social media marketing and consumer engagement at Tesco PLC and recommend whether UK based retailers should implement social media marketing or not.

Research Objectives

• To identify impact of social media marketing on consumers of Tesco

• To determine challenges of implementing Social media marketing

• To Recommend most effective marketing strategy to influence Uk based retail consumers

Research Questions

• What are the impact of social media marketing on consumers of Tesco

• What are the challenges of implementing Social media marketing

• How retailers can implement effective marketing strategy to influence Uk based retail consumers

Literature review

Purchase decisions may be influenced by positive social proof. Social media reviews are an ever-changing source of social proof that has a big influence on how people behave. Companies who actively participate in customer reviews can gain the trust and loyalty of their customers. More and more consumers are making direct purchases on social media platforms, and they anticipate two-way interactions with businesses, with the advent of internet-based advertising. The number of users is growing daily. Social networking sites are being overused by consumers and even

advertisers, and as a result, traffic is increasing daily, up to 80% more than it was previously (Manzoor et al., 2020). Brand loyalty is yet another significant benefit of social networking sites. When a customer is happy with a product, they should never purchase it from another company. Brand loyalty is produced via this. Consumer purchasing behavior encompasses the actions consumers take before making a purchase of a good or service, as well as the situations in which they decide whether or not to buy anything. Through direct mail and online marketing tools like pop-ups, the internet is a major factor in informing customers about new products. When redeveloping their techniques, marketers face challenges because of the preferences and inclinations of their clientele (Omar and Atteya, 2020). These strategies must meet the needs of their target market or customers in order to guarantee that they will be satisfied with the company's products and services for a long time. The customer behavior focuses on the where, when, and why of product purchases. It combines aspects of economics, sociology, psychology, and social anthropology (Hanaysha, 2022). It makes an effort to comprehend how buyers make decisions, both on their own and in groups. Notwithstanding the fact that there has been a lot of research on the subject over the past few decades, the consumer buying behavior notion is still relevant today.

Methodology

Positivism research philosophy

Positivism research philosophy often involves the use of existing theories to develop hypotheses to be tested during the research process (Kirongo and Odoyo, 2020). Positivist researchers tend to use highly structured research methodology in order to allow the replication of the same study in the future. Science can be specified as a cornerstone in positivism research philosophy and it is the most suitable philosophy for this

Deductive research approach

Deductive research approaches start with theories, hypothesis, or generalization, and then tests it through data collection and observations. Deductive research is often used in quantitative research, where data is collected through structured methods such as surveys, experiments, or statistical analysis (Grinchenko and Shchapova, 2020). This research approach explains causal relationships between variables and concepts that can find the relationship between consumer behavior and social media marketing initiatives..

Descriptive research design

Descriptive research design techniques can be used to get more information about Impact of social media marketing on consumer buying behavior (Tomaszewski, Zaretsky and Gonzalez, 2020). Descriptive research design is able to collect data from a large number of participants. This can be helpful in understanding complex topics. This makes it an important tool for researchers who want to understand complicated issues.

Quantitative research approach

Qualitative research approach provides an in-depth understanding of human behavior through statistical data. Quantitative data collection methods such as surveys and focus groups allow researchers to gather rich, detailed information about why people think and behave the way they do (Alessi and Kahn, 2022). It takes place in a variety of settings, with different groups of people and on various topics.

Data collection and Sample size

Primary data collection methods will be used and 101 participants will be recruited in the survey to collect data. Target population for this survey is UK based retail consumers of Tesco. Primary data collection method is easy and an online survey will help to collect data from all over the UK without any complication.

Random Sampling

Random sampling will be used for this research which is the most straightforward probability sampling method. It is also the most famous method for choosing a sample among the population (Berndt, 2020). This method is considered to be the most unbiased representation of the population.

Ethical Consideration

Ethics will be maintained in this research and there will be no misleading information given to the participants and all the data will be secured with encrypted password.