This paper is based on Use of social media in business. This research proposal comes under the Business Research Method subject. I will also upload our paper presentation based on the same topic. Feel free to contact.

1. Shree Chanakya Education Society’s
Indira Institute of Management, Pune
Master of Business Administration, Semester – I
Batch: 2020-2022
Course Name & Code: GC10 105 – Business Research Methods
TEA (Group Assignment)
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN BUSINESS
Group No Roll No Name of the Student
A-1.2 25 Hrushikesh Dahale
A-1.2 26 Hrushikesh Dahale
A-1.2 37 Rohini Somwanshi
A-1.2 53 Shreyash Padamtintiwar
A-1.2 62 Tanuj Barai
Date of Submission: 19-4-2021

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ABSTRACT
Social media allows people to connect with each other and allows marketers to keep customers
engaged in their products. Trends in fashion industry change constantly and so do their
marketing strategies, so social media has become a really important gradient in today’s
marketing mix, particularly in general and promotion mix. This paper is based on empirical
research to understand the effects of social media as a business tool and we have done analysis
how social media helps consumers in buying and decision making. We have also suggested
strategies for maximizing the business and questionaries has been taken to support our research.
INTRODUCTION
What is social media? Social media is a tool for discussing and sharing information, which
encourages every member to give their feedback and contribute. It is a social instrument of two-
way communication, facilitating the sharing of information between users within a defined
network via web 2.0 (O’Reilly,2005). Online activities help in content creation and people share
this content around the globe. People can vote on a topic and can put forward their views on any
post shared. In a broad term social media is a platform where people can connect, share and
express their views on complex subjects on the basis of their lifestyle and interest.
What is Social Networking? Social networking sites use the technology of social media
to connect with a large population and share their content. The networking sites help an
individual to create their own profile and connect with others. People can even form a
community of a particular liking. Hence, we can say that social networking sites are part of
social media.

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It is important to study how these networking sites are depending on technology for
communication. It is important to analyse these sites, how they are affecting our daily life.
Young and old, all are allowed to join these social networks. Sites like Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn are influencing users to stay in contact, maintain the social relationship and stay
informed about the new products on networking sites.
It is important for a business to observe, How and What are the consumer buying, study
their buying patterns and how they take decisions, & how social media influences it all. As they
are extremely capable of informing and influencing users for purchase decision. Apart from
marketing strategies developed by the companies, users rely on other people’s reviews about the
product or service. So, the ultimate power to make or break a product and its parent company lies
in users’ hand and not in the marketer’s strategies.
Today’s social networks act as a platform for all business, If used in the right way social media
can help a business to increase its brand awareness, target more audience, reach out to the right
customer, increase their website traffic, boost sales, businesses can partner with other influencers
to promote their product, promote their products for minimal price, it can help start-ups go viral
if they have innovative ideas, social sites work as a bridge for the businesses to interact with the
customers, work on their queries, understand their point of view & last but not the least
businesses can keep an eye on their competition and work accordingly to stay on top.

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SCOPE OF THE STUDY –
We have limited the scope to social media marketing only. The study has been confined to
people residing within or outside of Maharashtra. Due to the cheap internet many people have
got access to it and have also started using many social networking sites.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY –
A) Examine to what extent social media helps consumers in their buyer decision making
process.
B) To study the gap between consumer expectations from products bought through social
media sites and its actual performance.
C) To suggest strategies to bridge the gap between expectations and performance to improve
it’s the products effectiveness.

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METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION –
• Primary Data
• Secondary Data
Primary Data –
• Primary data gives us first-hand information and explains the current scenario in the
market.
• Primary data is mostly obtained through surveys, observation, interview and
experimentation.
• For our research we have conducted survey on online mode through google forms to
collect the necessary information.
• In this survey we have focused on asking the end customer about their experience while
buying online & we have recorded their responses when they see a certain ad.
Secondary Data –
• When a researcher uses data, which are previously collected by some other researchers,
institutions, or agencies for their own purposes is called secondary data.
• The researchers collect secondary data either from an internal source of an organisa-

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tion, or from the published sources like reports and journals.
• The purposes of data may vary from that of the current study. Hence, few portions of
this data may be used for current research problem.
• It should be kept in mind that, secondary data needs to be processed before applying in
research, as the contexts of data may have changed and modified as per their own pur-
poses.
• Secondary data helps in various activities in a research study, such as, generating new
ideas, analysing the needs previously addressed, understanding the tools and tech-
niques used for similar cases, save the time, etc.

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RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEW -
• A literature review surveys books, scholarly articles and any other sources relevant to a
particular issue, area of research, or theory.
• For this research, we surveyed through various articles on the internet, from sites such as,
1. iimplibrary
2. springer
3. Academia
RESEARCH DESIGN –
1. The aim of descriptive research is to describe the characteristics of phenomenon.
2. It is rigid and describes various aspects of the population.
3. The study is based on descriptive research design.
This research helps in understanding how often a consumer sees an ad, how they react on
seeing such an ad, which social sites do they use the most, what has been their experience, etc.

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SAMPLING METHOD -
In this research, people above the age group of above 18 and who use, understand social media
and are active on social media are targeted, we asked them some questions based on ads,
which defines the consumer buying decisions. The area of survey is Maharashtra and Other
than Maharashtra respondents, and the sample size taken is 131 which include both male and
female.
SAMPLE SIZE –
The Sample Size is 131 Respondents.

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DATA COLLECTION PLAN
While developing a survey we will combine qualitative data with quantitative data it will
depend on the questions. Online survey will be done (volunteer sampling & self-selection).
Questionnaire will be designed and send to the respondents. Questionnaire will be categorized
on the basis of gender, age, etc. The questionnaire is the main tool used for the gathering of data.
It includes the use of multiple-choice questions, dropdown questions, etc. This data will be used
for research. Primary research data will be collected by the digital means of survey and
secondary research data will be collected by the journals, magazines, etc.

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PROPOSED CONTRIBUTION OF THE RESEARCH –
The focus of research is on “Use of social media in business”. The work is based on use of social
media in consumer buying decisions using advertisements, word of mouth etc. We have made a
questionaries so that we will be able to understand the customers decision, based on, which
social media handle they are active. How and who influence them to click on advertisement and
buy a product. We have come up with some recommendation for business, which are discussed
in the latter half of this paper.

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DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Profileof Respondents–
Table 1.1 –
Profile of Respondent
Variable Classification
Total N
(%)
Gender
Male 61.8
Female 37.4
Other 0
Prefer not to say 0.8
Age
Under 18 3.1
18-24 65.6
25-39 20.6
40-59 10.7

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Place of Residence -
Figure 1.1 –
17
114
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Outside Maharashtra
Within Maharashtra
Outside Maharashtra Within Maharashtra
Total 17 114
PLACE OF RESIDENCE
Total

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Q1. Which social networking sites do you use
frequently? (Choose more than one)
Figure 1.2 -
Interpretation:
From the following data, we can interpret that Instagram, Youtube &Facebook are the
three most used social networking sites in the above given respective order with the
following number & percentage of our participants using them:
1.Instagram- 98 (74.8%)
2.Youtube- 95 (72.5%)
3.Facebook- 70 (53.4%)
Business can target these specific social networking sites to increase their
reach.

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Q2. How much time do you spend on social
networking sites?
Figure 1.3 –
Interpretation:
Social networking is now an important aspect of the day. Peoplededicate a part of
their time to socialize with others and now social media sites have become the
platform to socialize with others. With most of our participants spending 1 to 2
hours online!
The above chart depicts very clearly that how much it is important for marketers to
exploit the situation by making workable marketing strategies.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
1 to 2 hours
2 to 3 hours
Less than 1 hour
More than 3 hours
1 to 2 hours 2 to 3 hours Less than 1 hour More than 3 hours
Total 45 38 24 24
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND ON SOCIAL
NETWORKING SITES?

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Q3. How often do you see ads while scrollingthrough
social media?
Figure 1.3 –
Interpretation:
Advertising on social networking sites has become a common thing nowadays. Out of
our 131 participants, 126 reported having seen ads while scrolling through social
media of which 47 reported seeing ads always.
These ads are a great way of promoting your business. Not only is it cheap to promote on
social sites but there also many other options that we can control according to our needs.
We can target a specific region, age & also amount of people depending on the price that
will be able to see your advertisement.
Always Frequently Never Rarely
Total 47 56 5 23
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
HOW OFTEN DO YOU SEE ADS WHILE
SCROLLING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA?
Total

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Q4. Have you encountered any ads personalized
to your needs on any social media sites?
Figure 1.4 –
Interpretation:
Nowadays businesses have the advantage to analyze the potentialcustomers' data and
target them accordingly. They can collect and analyze data such as people's likings, their
recent searches, the products that they are looking for. This process is called data
analysis.113 (86.2%) of our participants recorded to have seen ads according to their
needs. These ads help the businesses to caterto the exact needs of the customers.
However, businesses need to hold on, while targeting customers as some may get
concerned by seeing such personalized ads
Always Never Sometimes
Total 24 18 89
24 18
89
0
20
40
60
80
100
HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED ANY ADS
PERSONALIZED TO YOUR NEEDS ON ANY
SOCIAL MEDIA SITES?
Total

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Q5. What is your reaction when you see such ads?
Figure 1.5 -
Interpretation :
In this question, we have recorded the response of our participants when they see such personalized or
any ads. 110 (85%)reported having skipped such ads. This is something that businesses should look into.
Like the people, they are trying to target don't necessarily want their product. Such marketing results in a
waste of resources required to target an audience. Businesses should study the post advertisement report
and record how many people engaged with theads, how many clicked on it and visited their website &
how many skipped it. This helps in targeting the potential audience next time.
0, 0%
20, 15%
110, 85%
What is your reaction when you see such ads?
Click on Skip it

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Q.6 How often do you buy things from social media?
Figure 1.6 –
Interpretation –
Social media is now an important aspect of the day with mostpeople spending their time on various
purposes and also for shopping. From the above charts depicts very clearly that younotice when it comes
to customers on social media is that 61 peoples rarely brought thinks from social media , followed by 34
peoples brought which is quite often .however 30 of them never buys anything from social media. Only 6
peoples always use socialmedia to buy things.
Always Never Quite Often Rarely
Total 6 30 34 61
6
30
34
61
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
HOW OFTEN DO YOU BUY THINGS FROM
SOCIAL MEDIA?
Total

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Q.7 Do you trust the ads you see on social media?
Figure 1.7 –
Interpretation –
Trust is an important and tender aspect of all relationships because it requires us to choose to be
vulnerable and courageous. An increase in sales of a product or service would vary accordingly
to an increase in trust in ads on social media. Youcan see that only 1 of total respondents trust
ads on social media and 35 responds that they never trust ads, while 95respondents sometimes
believe in ads.
Always Never Sometimes
Total 1 35 95
1
35
95
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
DO YOU TRUST THE ADS YOU SEE ON SOCIAL
MEDIA?
Total

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Q8. Are there any subscriptions that you bought from
social media?
Figure 1.8 –
Interpretation –
Essentially, in a subscription-based platform, users pay for andsubscribe to
receive/utilize a product/service for a specified time period, however not all consumers
are happy with the subscription-based business. From the results of the survey 53
peoples don’t like to pay for the premium services.78 respondents bought
subscriptions from social media for the pleasure of premium services which are good
from companies' perspective.
No Yes
Total 53 78
53
78
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
ARE THERE ANY SUBSCRIPTIONS THAT YOU
BOUGHT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA?
Total

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Q9. Do you feel that purchasing a product or service
through social media is better than buying it offline?
Figure 1.9 –
Interpretation –
People in today’s world are used to go online in order to shop forthe products that they
need as they are 24*7 available. They can easily access online stores through their
personal computers or mobile device and order what they want. The ordered products
would be delivered to the doorstep as well.95 People sometimes believe in the purchasing
of the products or services through socialmedia,31 people prefer to buy from offline
stores, only 5 respondents always buy the product online.
Always Never Sometimes
Total 5 31 95
5
31
95
0
20
40
60
80
100
DO YOU FEEL THAT PURCHASING A PRODUCT
OR SERVICE THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA IS
BETTER THAN BUYING IT OFFLINE?
Total

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Q10. What has been your experience regarding
buying something from a social media site?
Figure 1.10 –
Interpretation –
The experience and satisfaction of a customer play an important role in a business. If a product
or service was what the customer wanted or better than what he expected would make the
customer return to purchase more of it. As you can in the graph above most of our participants'
satisfaction score varies between 5 to 8 which we can conclude assatisfactory or fairly good.
Only 2 participants recorded to havereceived the best possible product or service while 12
participants graded their experience as worst.

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MEASURING SCALE
Question
Number
Variables Scale
1 Age Interval Scale
2 Place of Residence Nominal Scale
3 Gender Nominal Scale
4 Social Networking Sites Ordinal Scale
5 Time spent on social networking sites Interval Scale
6 Advertisement on Social Media Ordinal Scale
7 Personalised Advertisement Ordinal Scale
8 Reaction on seeing Advertisement Ordinal Scale
9 Buying Activity Ordinal Scale
10 Trust factor Ordinal Scale
11 Subscriptions Ordinal Scale
12 Consumer purchasing choice Ordinal Scale
13 Experience Likert Scale

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FINDINGS
There is almost no variability among the social media network users on the basis of gender. It
has been found that younger people are adopting social media like anything and with a pace that
was never before in the past. It has also been found that almost every social media users who
were respondent in this case use to go to brand pages to learn more about the product/services, to
learn about the exclusive offers, to find the reaction of their friends and peer on the
selected brands. There are around 25 respondents who use social media for more than 3 hours
and 56 respondents see advertisement frequently.
The effectivity of social media as a marketing tool will only be possible when
organisation having their presence on social media provide the concrete and timely information
needed by the consumers. The main way fans come to join/ follow a brand page/ brand on social
networking sites is through advertising followed by a friend invitation.
Buying Decision also plays an important role in motivation towards brand following on
the social networking platforms. The desire to engage with the brand either through dialog with
the brand’s representatives or with other consumers (business to consumer + consumer to
consumer communication) leads to advocacy and loyalty towards the brand and such
consumer starts working as a brand ambassador of the product/service. The brand
following over the social networking sites is converted into brand purchase either through
offline or online buying channel if the marketing strategies would be designed by keeping
in mind the perception and expectations of the consumers.

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Respondents have reported that ,they do see advertisement of the products they searched. People
have often skipped the advertisement,on asking why, they said, most of the ads are irrelevant
while a few people responded that the ads are useful to them.
Before buying a product customer visit the offline store, checks the price and material, cross
checks with online rate and then he/she decide whether to buy it or not. This is a huge advantage
to customer as he aware ,what will he/she receive if they buy it online.
30(22.9%)/131 respondents rates their buying experience as 8/10, Only 2 participants recorded
to have received the best possible product or service while 12 participants graded their
experience as worst.

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CONCLUSION
In conclusion, business today is being transformed from a transactional relationship to a social
relationship. It is now more critical than ever that successful businesses use Engagement
Marketing principles to plan for successfully engaging their prospects and customers
before, during and after their purchase cycle, and that the basis for this engagement is high-
quality and relevant information. Information which are demanded by target market at a time and
place of their choice (24/7 and 365 days/year). Marketer’s job is to provide this information
in such a manner that you are viewed in a positive light, create a positive brand and product
reputation, and are selected as their brand of choice. With the present growth and scale of social
networking, we would even be able to buy products and services through the social medium. The
medium is growing very fast and holds huge potential but is still in its nascent stage in India.
Therefore, it is time for the companies to make effective strategies and execute them to
win larger share of business through this revolutionary medium and become the innovative
firm of coming future.

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RECOMMENDATION
Social media channels have a remarkable ability to attract customers with very brief statements,
and they can lead your prospects and customers to valuable content located on your website. On
the other hand, your website can encourage visitors to engage with your company by
prominently linking to your social media channels. In order to accomplish this goal the following
steps may be followed,
1. Modify your website to complement your Social Media Strategy.
2. Identify the Actions you want your Customers and Prospects to take
3. Implement your Conversations
4. Provide the Content your Visitors Want.
5. Maintain a consistent Communication Style
6. Send Advertisements.
7. Use your Web Properties to drive people to take the actions you are targeting
In order to influence your prospects and customers, your sales effort must follow a process
that captivates and transforms your prospects by implementing these steps, which must be
integral part of Social Media Marketing strategy.
a) Develop the proper context of your message
b) Create an appropriate draw.
c) Create the proper content that engages
d) Provide a sample offering

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e) Ensure you follow-up.
f) Request they share.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 The future of social media in marketing
(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-019-00695-1)
 EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A MARKETING TOOL: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY
(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281676030_EFFECTIVENESS_OF_SOCIAL_M
EDIA_AS_A_MARKETING_TOOL_AN_EMPIRICAL_STUDY )
 Social Media, How does it Work for Business?
(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272910686_Social_Media_How_does_it_W
ork_for_Business )
 https://www.businessofapps.com/data/facebook-statistics/

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ANNEXURE
1. Age
 18-24
 25-39
 40-59
 Under 18
2. Place of residence
 Within Maharashtra
 Outside Maharashtra
3. Gender
 Male
 Female
 Prefer not a say
4. Which social networking sitesdoyou use frequently? (Choose more than
one)
 Facebook
 Instagram
 Snapchat
 Twitter
 Youtube
 LinkedIn
 Pinterest
5. How much time do you spendon social networking sites?
 1 to 2 hours
 2 to 3 hours
 Less than 1 hour
 More than 3 hours
6. How often do you see ads while scrolling through social media?
 Frequently
 Always
 Rarely
 Never

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7. Have you encountered any ads personalized to your needs on any social
media sites?
 Sometimes
 Always
 Never
8. What is your reactionwhenyou see suchads?
 Skip it
 Click on the ad
9. How oftendo you buy things from social media?
 Rarely
 Quite often
 Never
 Always
10. Do you trust the ads you see on social media?
 Sometimes
 Never
 Always
11. Are there any subscription that youbought from social media?
 No
 Yes
12. Do you feel that purchasing a product or service throughsocial mediais
better thanbuying it offline?
 Sometimes
 Never
 Always
13. What has been your experience regarding buying something froma
social media site?

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