Effectiveness of e marketing case study of dove real beauty campaign

Author Name: Saira Abid
TITLE
An investigation on the effectiveness of e-advertising in achieving profitability in
the FMCG industry – A case study on Unilever’s Dove Real Beauty Campaign

Abstract
The purpose of this research was to find a relationship between e-advertising and profits
generated by FMCGs. To keep the scope of the research specific and focused, the study
considered the Dove Real Beauty Campaign as reference. The study intended to evaluate the
effectiveness of e-advertising in the success of the campaign so as to identify a direct effect and
cause connection between the two. The previous studies in this field have revealed the
complexity of this problem, as many direct and indirect variable affect the sales and revenue of
an organization. However it has also been learned that online advertising has become an
essential component in today’s business promotion strategies due to the boom of E-commerce
industry. Along with the case of Dove, the researcher conducted a online survey to collect both
quantitative and qualitative data on the impact of e-advertising. The methodology used for the
analysis and interpretation of the data is the deductive approach. The study builds a hypothesis
claiming the positive affect of online advertising towards the uplifting of revenues in FMCGs
and intends to generalize the conclusion to other FMCG industry if the validity of the hypothesis
is proved. The study provides the conclusion of the research after analyzing the discussing each
component highlighted from the results of survey. A chapter on recommendations and further
research has been added at the end.

Contents
Abstract.............................................................................................................................................2
Table of Tables...................................................................................................................................5
Table of Figures..................................................................................................................................5
Chapter One-Introduction...................................................................................................................7
1.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................7
1.2 Research Study Background..................................................................................................8
1.3 Research Rationale ............................................................................................................10
1.4 Research Aim.....................................................................................................................10
1.5 Research Objectives...........................................................................................................10
1.6 Problem Statement............................................................................................................11
1.7 Research Questions ...........................................................................................................12
1.8 Organizational Context.......................................................................................................12
1.8.1 About Unilever...........................................................................................................12
1.8.2 About the Dove Beauty Campaign ...............................................................................13
1.9 Research Methodology ......................................................................................................13
1.10 Research Study Structure ...................................................................................................14
Chapter Two- Literature Review ........................................................................................................15
2.1 Marketing by Fast Moving Consumer Goods Companies ......................................................15
2.2 Marketing Mix...................................................................................................................16
2.3 Relationship Marketing......................................................................................................19
2.4 Advertising and Promotion.................................................................................................22
2.5 Conceptual Framework......................................................................................................28
2.6 Literature Review Gap........................................................................................................30
Chapter Three- Research Design and Methodology.............................................................................32
3.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................32
3.2 Deductive vs. Inductive Approach.............................................................................................33
3.3 Research Framework...............................................................................................................34
3.3.1 Variables ..........................................................................................................................35
3.4 Research Approach..................................................................................................................36

3.5 Research Sampling Method......................................................................................................37
3.5.1 Selected Sample................................................................................................................39
3.6 Data Collection Tools...............................................................................................................39
3.6.1 Primary Data.....................................................................................................................41
3.6.2 Questionnaire ............................................................................................................41
3.6.3 Secondary Data..........................................................................................................42
3.7 Accessibility Issue....................................................................................................................42
3.8 Ethical Issues.....................................................................................................................43
3.9 Data Analysis...........................................................................................................................44
3.10 Validity, Reliability, and Limitations ........................................................................................45
Chapter 4 Results, Analysis and Interpretation of Data........................................................................47
4.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................47
4.2 Presentation of findings...........................................................................................................49
4.3 Data Analysis and Interpretation..............................................................................................52
4.3.1 Quantitative Analysis.........................................................................................................52
4.3.2 Qualitative Analysis...........................................................................................................71
4.4 Conclusion of analysis..............................................................................................................74
Chapter Five - Conclusions and Recommendations.............................................................................77
5.1 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................77
5.1.1 Conclusion as per Research Objectives.........................................................................78
5.1.2 Conclusion as per Research Questions.........................................................................82
5.2 Recommendations.............................................................................................................82
Recommendations for Further Research.....................................................................................84
Bibliography.................................................................................................................................85
Appendix 1- Questionnaire................................................................................................................92
Appendix 2- Response Table..............................................................................................................96

Table of Tables
Table 1: Responses of Q1, Q7, Q8 and Q9 ..........................................................................................49
Table 2: Responses of Q3 and Q4.......................................................................................................50
Table 3: Responses of Q2, Q5 and Q6.................................................................................................50
Table 4: Responses of Q11, Q12 and Q13...........................................................................................51
Table 5: Analysis and Interpretation of Q1..........................................................................................52
Table 6: Graphical representation of responsesfor Q1........................................................................53
Table 8: Graphical representation of responsesfor Q2........................................................................54
Table 10: Graphical representation of responses for Q3......................................................................56
Table 11: Analysis and Interpretation of Q4........................................................................................57
Table 23: Analysis and Interpretation of Q10......................................................................................65
Table 24: Graphical representation of responses for Q10....................................................................66
Table of Figures
Figure 1- The Four P's of Marketing (Ivanov, 2012) .............................................................................17

Figure 2- The 7 P's of Marketing (Ivanov, 2012) ..................................................................................18
Figure 3- Relationship marketing: the transition curve; (source: Strandvik and Storbacka, 1996) ...........21
Figure 4 The Conceptual Framework to measure effectiveness of E-Advertising...................................28

Chapter One-Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Advertising in this era of technology is no longer about informing your customers about your
services or selling a new product idea, it has become an art of generating needs and developing
user experience about the product and how it is different from millions of products out there in
the market. Marketers, professionals with the aim to reaching public with information about
their company’s product or service, now have to build strategies to retain their existing
customers as well as to target new ones by understanding their needs in a better and more
appealing way. Information technology, especially the social media has played a vital role in
bridging this gap between customers and the businesses via e-commerce. It has helped them in
establishing a direct connection to customers and has one to one interaction with them.
According to a research, in 2012 more than 1.4 billion people using internet accessed social
media and the number of social logins has grown exponentially in the last couple of years (
(Statista, 2015)
Another research revealed that an amount of 7.52 billion US dollars was spent on social media
marketing by businesses in the United States for the year 2014 (Statista, 2015)This shows how
technology has impacted the business practices and gives insights into how online advertising
helps build marketers a competitive edge over others, uplifts the sales and hence positively
boost business’ finances. Research has shown that online advertising has been most effective
source of elevating company sales as compared to other forms of advertising (Balakrishnan, et
al., 2014))Online presence of a company speaks a lot about its standing in the market while it

also help build customer e-trust through live interaction and feedback. If a consumer trusts an
organization, one is more comfortable to make online transactions and help increased e-loyalty
(Rahimnia & Hassanzadeh, 2013)Consumer is the defining element in how effective an
advertising campaign can become and how a company can challenge the traditional ways of
advertising by bringing new and creative ways for customer engagement (Pavlou & Stewart,
2000)
According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the internet advertising revenue for the year
2014 was increased by 16% from year 2013 revenues ( (Marshall, 2015)This shows how
effectively internet advertising has been catering the business market needs and helping them
earn high profits. Moreover, this has opened ways for other businesses to solely base their
business model on advertising. Today advertising has become the largest source of revenues of
numerous search engines and E-commerce websites (Ghose & Yang, n.d.)In the Google’s annual
revenue for year 2014, online advertising contributed to the 89.5% of the company’s online
revenue ( (Investor.google.com, 2015)Google has verified the increase in sales through electronic
or online advertising only to be at 41% whereas an increase of 9% combined has been recorded
from the rest of the marketing mediums (Hamidi & Safabaksh, 2011)
1.2 Research Study Background
In this day and age, technology has changed drastically, and as a result it has revolutionized
with it numerous practices people have been accustomed to. E-commerce, also known as E-
business was started in 1970s. Initially the idea was used by large firms and business to interact
with other businesses and share information (Haegele, 2001)With the evolution of technology,

today E-commerce industry includes e-retailers, community providers, content providers,
portals, transaction brokers, market creators, service providers and many more (Laudon &
Traver, n.d.)The boom in E-commerce has transformed the way people perceive businesses and
it has made people more aware of their needs. It has made consumers more powerful and
informed. Now businesses focus on getting to know the needs of their audience before they
themselves realize them. They have become more customers oriented, now customer chooses
what to buy, how to buy and what price to pay. (Laudon & Traver, n.d.)
This highly competitive market has pushed the marketers to invent new ways of reaching out to
their customers and keep them connected to their products. Online Advertising, like the local
advertising, aims to reach out to a maximum number of people and create awareness about a
product or service being offered. However, as the consumers have become more informed and
critical about their buying needs, the advertising needs to be more personalized and consumer-
centered. The whole idea of business success is shifted to targeting the right customer at the
right time in the most effective way possible. Consumer behavior has therefore become a vital
part of studies done to develop marketing strategies. Companies spend thousands of dollars to
gather information and shopping patterns of their consumers. A lot of analytical tools are now
freely available in the market and online that can help maintain records and analyze data about
consumer buying patterns. These tools keep track of every action each customer takes on an E-
Commerce site. They provide statistics on business sales, number of views, and number of
people visited the website etc. All these applications help business to boost sales, increase
traffic and uplift business performance (Google.com.pk, 2015)FMCGs also known as Consumer
Packaged Goods is an industry of everyday use packaged goods that we usually buy when we go

shopping; these include daily essentials, grocery items or local pharmacy products. Hence they
are everyday use products; they are high in demand but cost much less. This study is focused on
the case of Dove Real Beauty Campaign which was hosted by the parent company Unilever and
how it has benefitted the company.
1.3 Research Rationale
Companies use various strategies to increase their profit margins, along with various marketing
techniques, the emerging technology has revolutionized the way companies approach their
consumers. The Study is focused on how the online advertising is contributing to the revenues
of FMCG firms and is focusing on the Dove Real Beauty Campaign by Unilever as Unilever is one
of the largest multinationals operating in many countries. The research results will be able to
help future researchers and marketers in the use of effective e-advertising, particularly in the
FMCG sector. The impact of e-advertising needs to be studied with widespread use of the social
media, this strategy is now the best way for marketers to reach their consumers.
1.4 ResearchAim
This research is aimed at measuring the impact that e advertising has, as a promotional tool, on
the bottom-line of brands in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry. In cross-media
advertising, today, e-advertising plays a very important role and the example given here is that
of the Dove Real Beauty Campaign that used e advertising as a pivotal tool for their promotion.
The study hopes to determine the effectiveness of that advertising have over consumer buying
and company’s revenues.
1.5 Research Objectives
By conducting this study, it is hoped that the following research objectives are achieved:

 To study the effects of e-advertisement on the profitability of FMCG’s.
 To determine the relationship between advertising and customer retention
 To study the effect of customer retention on profitability
 To study the impact of e-advertisement on Unilever’s Dove Real Beauty Campaign.
 To analyze the effectiveness of the Dove Real Beauty Campaign.
 Provide recommendations for the FMCG sector in relation to e-advertsing.
1.6 Problem Statement
The matter under consideration is the effectiveness of online advertising and how it helps Fast
Moving Consumer Goods companies towards profit expansion. The transaction of goods,
services against payments in a market plays a vital role in hosting economic development
(Hanafizadeh & Behboudi, 2012). The top FMCG’s retain customers by producing high-quality
products and building up trust among its consumers. Since these are the low-cost products and
switching brands does not have a high opportunity cost for the consumer, advertising is a
powerful tool to build customer loyalty and can bring about high returns through customer
engagement in the product. A study done on the FMCG’s residing in India showed the
relationship between advertising expenditure and its impact on the sales and profits of the
companies. It concluded that the both are mutually dependent and advertising can
complement company’s profits ( (Mahendru & K De, 2015)One of the main techniques is to keep
reminding the customer about the brand or product through interactive campaigns; as relation
building is a major trait to beat the notch.

1.7 Research Questions
The main question on which the whole research is based upon is as follows:
“How effective is e advertising in achieving the profitability in the FMCG industry? In particular,
how effective was it in the case of the Dove Real Beauty Campaign?”
The research question will be divided into the following sub-questions for research purposes
1. How effective is the tools of e advertising in achieving profitability in the FMCG
industry?
2. How effective was the Dove Real Beauty Campaign?
3. What factors contributed to the effectiveness of a campaign?
4. What are the recommendations, based on the study that can help FMCG’s improve the
effectiveness of their e-advertising campaigns?
1.8 Organizational Context
1.8.1 AboutUnilever
Unilever is one of the top Fast Moving Consumer Goods providers with market catering
the needs of people around the globe by selling products in more than 170 countries in
the world (Unilever.pk, n.d.). It is the fastest growing company with a very wide and
diverse range of consumer goods. According to its website the turnover rate of the
company in 2009 was 42.73 billion dollars. (Unilever.pk, n.d.)

1.8.2 Aboutthe DoveBeautyCampaign
Dove started its beauty campaign in September 2004, with the idea to broaden the
definition of beauty and not to limit the definition and perceptions to color, race or face
features. Dove pitches the idea of beauty as a source of confidence; as beauty should
not make one feel anxious .Unilever tried to break the norm of what real beauty is and
tried to make individuals feel good about themselves (Dove.us, 2015)
The recent campaign has launched a short film by the name of “Dove Real Beauty
Sketches”. The Video showed a comparison between how women perception of their
looks and beauty is compared to how others see them. They hired an FBI- Trained
forensic artist, in the beginning he draws composite sketches of different women
without seeing them based completely on how these ladies described themselves. Each
of the women, whose sketch was made, was asked to spend some time with a total
stranger. Once the sketches were done the stranger was asked to describe the women.
Surprisingly the sketches drawn with the stranger description of women were more
beautiful, lively and alike to their real faces. The ad was very powerful and makes people
change the way they look at themselves (Unilever.com, 2015)
1.9 Research Methodology
The paper studies the impact of e-advertising in achieving profitability in the FMCG industry.
The study focuses on the effectiveness of online campaigns constituted by various companies in
general and then will discuss in detail the example of a campaign run by one of the leading
FMCG companies Unilever. For this research, both quantitative and qualitative approaches will

be used. The primary source of data collection will be the survey responses collected through
an online survey and the data about the Dove campaign. However for the qualitative data case
studies and other academic journals would be the main source of data. The researcher has used
a random sampling method to collect first 50 completed filled online surveys. All privacy
policies have been considered; the identity of the people participating in the survey will be kept
confidential and data collected will be solely used for academic purposes with the informed
consent of the participants.
1.10 Research Study Structure
The followingtable showsthe structure of studyof the researchpaper:
Chapter Number Description
Chapter 1 Introduction-Initial Descriptionisprovidedinthe firstchapter,itexplainsthe
researchpurpose,objectivesandaims,the problem statement,descriptionof the
title andexplanationof the mainconcepts.Italsoprovidesthe structure of the
whole study.
Chapter 2 Literature review- Thissectiongivesabrief introduction,the bodyof the review
includesvariousarticles,research papers,andcase studieswithacritical analysison
the resultsof these studies.Thissectionendswithaconclusionof the review
Chapter 3 Methodology– Providesadetaileddescriptionof whatmethodologywill be used
for researchstudyandhow the resultswill be deduced.
Chapter 4 Analysisand discussion - Inthissection,the authorhas attemptedtocritically
evaluate the gatheredinformationandprovide complete overviewof the study
derivations
Chapter 5 Conclusion,findings,andsuggestive recommendations-Inthe lastpartof
thispaper,conclusion,andrecommendationisprovided.Researchfindings
are providedtohelpthe interestedpartiesunderstandthe contextbroadly.
Chapter 6 Referencesandappendices-The sourcesthathave beenusedwhile
conductingthe researchhave beenpresentedhere.

Chapter Two- Literature Review
This chapter gives the summary of the literature that was consulted for this research. Each
section explains the general idea or concept and then the relevant case studies are discussed.
The main headings describe some generic marketing concepts and the structure of this chapter
is divided into four major headings. First is the Marketing by FMCG Companies; this part
explains the practices of marketing in FMCG’s and what factors are considered while developing
marketing strategies, the Marketing Mix; this section talks about the famous four P’s of
marketing and the extended seven P’s version, it then discusses some research examples where
these mixes apply and have impacted the marketing techniques of the companies. Third is
Advertising and promotions; advertising and promotion is the soul of marketing, this section
discusses the new practices of online media integration with advertising, customer engagement
and its effectiveness, and the conceptual Framework. At the end of this chapter, the gaps in the
literature review have been explained; this part also suggests some of the abridging factors that
will allow this particular research to fill this void.
2.1 Marketing by Fast Moving Consumer Goods Companies
The FMCG’s market is not just physical, but a substantial portion of it has now gone digital with
e-commerce businesses springing up everywhere and grabbing a substantial chunk of the
market. It is not surprising though, that the big players are limited to a few names in the
industry while the remaining ones don’t enjoy the same profit margins or the spotlight as their
counterparts do. The FMCG’s do not market as a company but instead they tend to market as
brands as there are several in-house brands related to different segments and having entirely

different brand personas (Calder, et al., 2009). So the marketing for brands is done based on
their brand equity because that is how their contribution to the bottom line of the company is
calculated. Several major brands in the FMCG sector include Proctor & Gamble, Unilever,
Reckitt Benckiser, Colgate Palmolive etc. hosting brand names such as Johnsons, Colgate, Lux,
Dove, Dettol, Ariel, Tide etc. For each brand, the marketing is entirely different and so are the
campaign and the marketing mix selected (Hooley, et al., 1992).
2.2 Marketing Mix
The Marketing Mix is an important concept that is fully implemented in the marketing of FMCG
products. The broad concept of the marketing mix comprises of four P's that define the
combinations that an organization has to make in order to sell to a target market. The most
widely accepted and recognized four P's of marketing include Product, Price, Place and
promotions, as ideally marketing would include the right product sold at the perfect price at the
right place with just the right amount of promotion (Ivanov, 2012) as shown in Figure 1. The
same strategy also applies to online marketing as the competition on the online markets is very
tough and proper strategies and game plans have been developed over the better part of the
past decade in order to reel in more customers (Shankar & Batrab, 2009).

Figure 1- The Four P's of Marketing (Ivanov, 2012)
Marketers have now further elaborated the four P's to introduce 7 P's for more specific
marketing, more factors come into play as shown in Figure 2. In the seven P’s marketing
approach, people, process and physical evidence come to play. It focuses on the important part
of target audience and customer awareness. Many times companies neglect that the business
process and their physical presence can impact the marketing strategies they are using.
In a recent study by (Crawforda & Gary D. Gregoryb, March 2015), the researchers have
highlighted an important misconception about companies tend to be using humorous
advertising expecting to cater larger and cross cultural markets. Moreover US$119 billion have
been spent by companies on supposedly humorous advertising in the year 2013 (Barnard,
2012). The study suggests that the claims of humorous advertising to be effective and helps
create brand awareness does not have any factual basis rather it is an intuitive claim. The study

however concluded that due to lack to study and experimentation on cross-cultural impacts
and a large number of variables affecting the user behavior it is very difficult to claim the
effectiveness of humorous advertising towards companies’ profits.
Figure 2- The 7 P's of Marketing (Ivanov, 2012)
With the ever advancing technology and pressure of online presence, companies have become
very critical about the use of Marketing Mix variables. The online media has given a lot of
power to consumer. It has increased the ubiquity of product information; consumers now
decide what the product does for them and how it should be doing through ratings and blog
reviews. It has given consumer a lot choice and comparisons between the products have
become much easier. This e-Word of Mouth can both positively and negatively impact a
business. And hence businesses have become more socially active trying to influence how their
products are perceived over the social media. (Laudon & Traver, 2014). A study conducted by

Sen & Lerman has revealed that on average people are more likely to weigh negative reviews
they read online about the products or services higher as compared to the positive ones while
evaluating the product. The study makes an interesting argument that the utilitarian readers
are more prone to classify the negative reviews of a reviewer as product relevant and hence
more useful. (Sen & Lerman, 2007). Similar results have been reduced by another study which
concludes that consumers with goals to prevent consumption find negative reviews more
persuasive (Zhanga, et al., December 2010).
2.3 RelationshipMarketing
With the changing market trends and the advancing technologies, many businesses have been
struggling to keep up with the changing trend. The recent changing in the technology has made
it vital for business to tailor their business practices to fit in the technological tools. With all that
coming, a trend of needed change and revolutionary ideas has been observed in the literature
around the late 90s.
One of the scholars; during the post marketing mix era, identified that relation building and its
sustainability have long term implications of companies, and they affect the strategic and
planning practices of a firm. He suggested that the concepts and practices which are present in
current literature in the form of books, journals, and articles are impractical and require new
perspective. One of the reasons he highlighted was that the past concepts are outdated and
are not able to mingle with the new technology and changing trends. He concludes by
suggesting the development of “new” marketing concepts that are practical and applicable to
the current technological practices (Gummesson, 1987).

A lot of authors and market researchers had started talking about terms like “Relationship
Market”, although the description of the term varied across writers and the concept was a bit
vague but what was meant to communicate was the idea of bringing new idea to marketing
practices (Grönroos, 1999).
In another paper Gronroos, discusses the loop wholes and limitation of the traditional
marketing tools used to build business marketing strategies. The paper throws light on the
nature and impacts of the current marketing practices that are dominant in the business
practices. He explains how the traditional marketing mix management can negatively affect the
growth of current businesses. He then proposes the idea of development in this sector by
introducing new marketing approach that can handle not only the commercial marketing but
also complement the customer relationship management. However he explains the changing
strategies may demand businesses to evolve their processes to meet ever emerging market
requirements. He suggests the new strategy should focus on building relationships with
partners, consumers and expanding networks. As second in another study, the relationship
marketing approach enroots to the basic marketing tools through revolutionary practices
(Strandvik & Storbacka, 1996). The study by Gronroos concludes that the traditional Four Ps of
Marketing mix is no more relevant in the increasing complex market structure. And hence
serves a small portion in understanding consumer needs and developing ideas to cater those
multifaceted demands. And hence introducing revolutionary ideas can save us the trouble of
losing our consumer interest. (Grönroos, 1994)

In the cloud of a lot of theories and description Gronroos have tried explaining the concept of
Marketing in essence of relationship management as a process of recognizing and forming,
sustaining, and improving, and cutting off the relationships with the consumers when and how
needed along other stakeholders, to generate at revenue, hence to satisfy the needs and wants
of all entities involved in the process; and this is can be achieved by sincerity of promise and
developing mutual dependency (Grönroos, 1997)
Another scholar during the same era have explained the importance of relationship marketing
and how it can contribute in developing long term, trust worthy relationship among the
consumers and the companies.
Figure 3Relationship marketing: the transition curve; (source: Strandvik and Storbacka, 1996)

The above figure highlights the difference between the traditional marketing approach and how
it was limited to the product features only versus the new relationship marketing approach
which the competency oriented. As the figure depicts the relationship marketing approach has
increased the resource base. Similar views are expressed by Gummesson in one of his articles
where he mentioned that the successful adoption of relationship marketing requires a
revolutionary mindset compared to the traditional marketing management approach
(Gummesson, 2002).
2.4 Advertising and Promotion
The area of marketing has developed rapidly in the past two decades as more companies have
sprung up, and everyone has been scramming to obtain their share of the market. Due to this
reason, the marketing tools have been developed over the years with varying effective impact
depending on the product, industry and the target consumer base (Ellis-Chadwick & Doherty,
2012). Some of the most common types of online advertising techniques are (Boundless.com,
n.d.):
1. Banner Advertising (PrettyGoodPlan.com, n.d.)
The banner advertising refers to the graphical images of ads; they are subdivided into the
following categories:
a. Floating Ads- includes ads that float or move over the screen and the content on the
webpage
b. Wall paper advertisements-these ads appear as a background to the current site

c. Pop-up Ads- These ads appear in a new window that pops up in front of your existing
window
2. Semantic Advertising- This type of advertising uses different search engine optimization
techniques to target their customers with more personalized ads.
3. Blog Advertising- Blog advertising is a very effective form of advertising especially in the
professional business settings (Laudon & Traver, 2014). People write blog articles
providing general tips and guidelines and along with that promote their products by
suggesting possible benefits and usage procedures.
4. Promotional Advertising- This type of advertising is used to engage customers in buying
products through promotions, which may come in the form of discounts, coupons,
flyers, complementary tokens etc.
5. Pixel Advertising- The pixel advertising is a new concept where the cost of your ad is
determined by the number of pixels it occupies on the window screen.
6. Affiliate Advertising- This type of advertising is used by advertisers to run campaigns
with publishers who have access to a large group of audience.
7. Social Networking- Companies use different social networking sites including Facebook,
Twitter, and LinkedIn etc. to keep their customers engaged and up to date.
8. Mobile Advertising- Mobile advertising has become an amazingly essential tool for
marketing and promotion as mobile users are exponentially increasing.
There are many variables which define the success of any marketing campaign and three of the
most widely used measures include campaign efficiency, channel value and media interaction

as these three commonly five an overview of how successful the tools applied can be in
delivering the company’s message to it consumers (Whan Park, et al., 1998).
Any company can reach its consumers through several forms of media including television,
press, outdoors and online are the four major categories. The Return on Investment on each of
those tools varies according to their implementation and usage (Hadadi & Almsafir, 2014).
Companies keep a regular check on the reach, the conversion rates and thus calculate the ROI
on different tools regularly. Using that feedback, the advertisers create a different promotional
mix for each subsequent campaign to achieve the maximum benefit and to drive sales (Joy, et
al., 2009).
With the advent of E-Commerce, companies who have physical presence have become live, this
dual presence have complemented these offline store and saved them the effort for promoting
a completely online business (Laudon & Traver, 2014). Moreover, E-commerce has completely
revolutionized the business transactions, with the ease of online payment, home delivery, and
the combination of two, i.e. online payment, store-pick up and vice versa people are more
comfortable with their buying accessibility (Laudon & Traver, 2014). It has reduced customers’
search cost, saved time and reduced retailers’ overheads (Chan, et al., November-December
2011). However the increasing online trend and lower barriers to online commerce have made
the revenue generation highly competitive. The study by Chana, Chengb & Hsiena attempts to
provide some strategies for businesses to sustain in the market. the study suggest to divide the
customers into various segments and target each segment based on its pricing preferences. The
price listings are established on the basis of CRM and customer classes and hence the

promotions would than be made in pricing to reincline purchases. The same approach was
used for an elctronic store and its before and after promotion sales were compared. The results
showed a significant increase in the sales. However the study is limited to one online electronic
store case, which brings the effectiveness of this strategy to question. Also there are is a
limitation to the product category, the same strategy in clothing or home furniture category
might not produce similar results (Chan, et al., November-December 2011) .
There has been a growing trend in the promotion and discount advertising in the recent years.
Companies have been utilizing the opportunities of promotional sales by introducing them
during various cultural events and social movements (Laudon & Traver, 2014). Many regions of
the world celebrate days of special discounts and sales especially in areas like United States and
United Kingdom. A study highlights the rising fashion of price promotions in USA and UK
(Bogomolovaa, et al., July 2015). The study identifies that there have been a dominating
increase in price promotions after the Global Financial Crisis. The national brand industry
seemed to be more prevelant in the inception of these pricing promotions (Bogomolovaa, et al.,
July 2015).
One of the important factors in devising advertising strategies in the consumer behaviour and
background. It is important for company to understand if the consumers have sound
understanding of internet and it’s sources, how much of its customers are users of online media
and how much time they spend browsing through the internet (Laudon & Traver, 2014). A study
was conducted to analyze and compare the reaction of experienced and new users of internet
to various promotional ads and discounts. The results suggested that experienced users are

more likely to be inspired by the online discounts and gifts and indicate greater purchasing
intention. However the display of web promotions impact both the groups in similar way that’s
is about their attitudes and perceptions about the brands. There is no significant difference
between a new user and an experirnced user response to a promotional advantage (Crespo-
Almendros & Barrio-García, February 2015).
In the research (Calder, et al., 2009), the authors have discussed the customer engagement
over the virtual media and how can it be a possible factor towards the effective advertising. The
article proceeds with the idea of “engagement” and how its definition differs among various
advertising research experts. The paper is structured in two parts; the first part talks about the
consumer engagement over websites and their respective experiences whereas the second part
deals with analysis and comparison of the diverse views and findings. It has been suggested
that consumer engagement comes with the series of experiences they have with the websites.
The study highlighted Uses and Gratification theory which reasons the people’s use of social
media is for Information, Personal identity, Integration and social interaction and
entertainment. Although a number of other writers have given critical responses to this
approach but what everyone agrees upon is the fact that websites may provide a different type
of experience than the traditional media sources. One of the reasons for why customer
experience affect the website advertising is “Affect Transfer” as suggested by Broniarczyk in his
article “The importance of Brand in Brand Extension”. (Broniarczyk & Alba, 1991). The study
(Calder, et al., 2009), have identified two types of customer engagements; personal
engagement which gives the user almost the same experience as reading a blog or a newspaper

magazine, social interactive engagement differentiates the traditional engagement by providing
an interactive and communicative platform over the web.
Another aspect that advertising caters is the consumer ability to recall and relate their products
when making purchasing decisions. In the study by (Herrewijn & Poels, July 2015) an
experiment has been conducted to analyze the effectiveness on In-game Advertising (IGA). The
selected sample of people was made to play online video games which contained IGA in various
social media interactions. The results had highlighted two major components contributing
towards brand recollection and brand awareness; social presence and player’s interactivity.
(Herrewijn & Poels, July 2015)
A study suggests that the boom of business to business commerce over the internet will each
trillions in the next few years. This exponential growth in the electronic commerce brings to
questions various traditional commerce practices. And hence made the marketers concerned
about their online visibility and the usage of technological mediums to keep up with the market
trends. Manufacturers are concerned about that practices should be adopted to cater the
communication and market needs of business by reaching a wide range of consumer market.
The marketing communication includes electronic advertising, sales promotions, public
relations and direct marketing. The online media has been personalized access easier and
effective. The research under discussion took the sample size of 188 from the 500 online
Fortune manufacturer websites which use various forms of marketing communication. After
careful study and analysis, the research produced the following conclusions. One, that the
online platform provides manufacturers a lot of opportunity to build constructive and

interactive communication strategies using the website presence and the second important
result of the study was the emerging competition; e-commerce have opened various
opportunities for the business people giving lower market entry barriers and little investments
to set up a website. All this have made the commerce environment very competitive and
consumer oriented and as a result e-businesses demand a lot of effort to cut through the edge
to meet the business profits and beat both the small and large competitors (Perry & Bodkin,
2002)
2.5 Conceptual Framework
Figure 4 The Conceptual Framework to measure effectiveness of E-Advertising
On the basis of the literature review, the above figure-3 depicts the conceptual flow of this
research. The study intends to describe some of the promotional tools that have been used by
Unilever for the Dove Beauty Campaign. It will then explain the actual message that was
Effectiveness of
the campaign
Reachingthe
target audience
Combinationsof
promotional
tools used
The brand
repuationand
message

intended to send across to the audience. It also talks about how the idea was generated and
why the above campaign was used. Later it explains how the campaign was formulated and
recorded; how were the people who became the part of this video selected. The issues and
critical scenarios faced during its development. And finally it reaches the market, receives the
audience reaction and finally the results of the campaign are deduced. Some of the key terms
used in the above figure are described as follows:
Terms Description
Promotional Tools Promotion is a way of delivering a company’s message to its
target consumers. The tools used for promotion include:
advertising, sales, public relations, direct marketing, word of
mouth, print media, online media, events, influencers etc.
(ManagementStudyGuide.com, n.d.)
Brand Reputation Brand Reputation deals with the customer perception of a brand
or a product. It is generally organization’s perceived status which
it wants to achieve. (Kotler & Armstrong, 1991)
Target Audience Target Audience is that intended segment of people or market for
which company has made or offered a particular product. (Kotler
& Armstrong, 1991)
Effectiveness Effectiveness is defined as the level to which the desired objective
or aim is achieved. (Laudon & Traver, 2014)
Campaign Campaign is a group of promotional activities design to get across
an idea, theme, thought, or business product. (Kotler &

Armstrong, 1991)
Relationship Marketing A type of marketing strategy which focuses on building flourishing
customer relationships. To build long term relationships,
companies tend to study customer buying patterns and activities
over the social media (MarketingSchools.org, 2012).
Brand Awareness The recognition of a product or brand by its potential customers.
Brand awareness play vital role to promote company’s sales
(Investopedia, n.d.)
Brand Loyalty It’s the level of likeness or trust a customer shows in a brand by
repeatedly buying products from the same brand (Investopedia,
n.d.)
Consumer Retention The process of keeping consumer engaged in the products or
services a company offers through reminders, emails, promotions
and other interactive activities (Jao, 2014)
2.6 Literature ReviewGap
There is a substantial amount of past research available for use by the researcher regarding
advertising, promotion and the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry but all the available
research is either contextual with no experimental basis or the research is too narrow to predict
the overall effect of e-advertising in businesses. They try to convince that online advertising can
impact a business with regard to brand awareness, brand relevance, brand recognition and
building consumer trust. But none of the research implied the case to be just. The case studies

discussed have the limitations of their own and are narrow in scope. It has been suggested that
the experimentation could be made more realistic by devising real time scenarios where
consumers are naturally tested over their reactions rather than being intercepted. Another
limitation highlighted in the previous studies was the sample size was smaller in number, it was
recommended that larger sample size can ripe pure and less biased results. There is a lack of
relevant literature available regarding Unilever’s products or even the Dove Real Beauty
campaign, which is being used to present the case in this research study. This gap does not
provide the researcher with enough insights in this case, so as to develop the perfect
methodology. Instead the researcher has to formulate a plan of action to simulate the research
and to analyze its findings so as to serve the research purpose. This study intends to fill that gap
by analyzing the variables of e-advertising and companies’ revenues. It throws light on the
factors which influence the relation between the two. The study takes a more realistic sample
size by rotating the survey online; hence like previous work, the sample size in not related to a
specific group or focused to a particular area. Moreover it studies the direct impact of
electronic advertising on sales and revenue, previous researches do consider advertising as an
important factor but none tends to relate its effectiveness toward revenue generation specially
discussing the electronic form of advertising.

Chapter Three- ResearchDesignand Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This chapter provides a framework, design and structure of the research conducted and how
data in intended to be calculated. The chapter explains two major research approaches namely
deductive and inductive. It further explains the research framework and the hypothetical
approach the study intends to take. This section also explains the usage and impact of
dependent and independent variables on research results and help defining patterns. The
Research approach section has brought to light both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of
the problem under consideration. The next section talks about different research sampling
techniques. The study intends to use probability sampling methods or more specifically the
simple random sampling technique. The sample size for this study has been discussed further.
The data collection tools section follows next. It explains to the reader various types of data
collection tools used for both primary data collection and secondary data collection. For the
case of this study the primary source of data is a questionnaire survey and secondary sources

consists of case studies, research articles, books and journals. The next section throws light on
ethical matters and data accessibility complexities followed by data analysis section. The
chapter concludes by discussing the validity, reliability and limitations of the collected data.
3.2 Deductive vs. Inductive Approach
There are two types of approaches that are commonly used to find knowledgeable results from
a research or experiment; the deductive approach and the inductive approach. The inductive
reasoning is based upon the observation of a specific event and then the results are induced to
a general principle. Whereas deductive reasoning starts with some general knowledge and tries
to find results that are relevant to a specific instance (Hyde, 2000).
The deductive approach begins with an idea, or an assumption; it is a problem oriented
methodology which tends to seek the solution by designing some hypothetical situations and
analyzing various effects on variables by putting them under different circumstances. It is
basically a cause and effect model, effects are noted to gain insight of the causes (Overmars, et
al., July 2007). After testing the hypothesis through a number of experiments, it is either
approved or dis-approved based upon the results (Saunders, et al., 2009).
In the inductive method or research, all the relevant data about the research topic is collected
in the beginning. This data is then examined to find specific patterns, once a pattern is
discovered the researcher tries to explain the phenomenon using some kind of theory or
previous knowledge, so that the findings are be generalized on to a larger group. To keep the
scope of the research focused, the researchers use various research questions. This

methodology tends to formulate new discoveries based upon the existing knowledge or
observe an already existing theory from a new perspective (Saunders, et al., 2009).
It is important to understand that each of the methodology has its own advantages and
drawbacks. Therefore, it is important to consider the purpose of the research being conducted
and the results which need to be deduced before choosing any of the two approaches.
For the purpose of study, the deductive approach is used for this research. The study intended
to develop a hypothesis to support the problem statement. It examined e-advertising and
profits through the cause and effect model which would best be studied through the deductive
approach. The study has developed a hypothesis on the basis of research topic and purpose of
research. This hypothesis has then been analyzed for being applicable or not on a specific case
that is the Dove Real Beauty Campaign. As a lot of tools were used by the Real Beauty
Campaign, its effectiveness has been examined for each medium of communication used for
electronic advertisements and compared. The hypothesis is either be accepted or rejected
based upon the campaign effectiveness resulted from e-advertising. In case of approval the
hypothesis will be generalized to all FMCGs for using e-advertising to uplift the profitability. In
case of disapproval or indecisive results the study will be open to be used as a base for further
research and experimentation. Recommendations for further study have been made and an
effort to disclose the factors causing the results to deviate has also been made. The limitations
to the current research will also be highlighted so that the readers who tend to take the
research forward have a trail to start from.
3.3 Research Framework

There are various kinds of investigation methods in the field of research, and their application
and usage depend on the nature of the study. These include exploratory, descriptive and
hypothesis testing investigations of which hypothesis testing is the most relevant to the case at
hand as it tests the cause and effect relationships. In this study, the cause is the e advertising
done by the FMCG companies and the effect being measured the effectiveness in obtaining
profitability for the company. This cause and effect relationship was intended to be proved or
disproved through this study, and the findings were to be provided the final, conclusive remarks
about whether the impact is positive or negative. More over to support the research thesis
further, the collection of data has been through various sources. A questionnaire survey has
been also conducted as the primary source whereas case studies, previous research papers,
books, past surveys were used as secondary tools. The data was analyzed and in the end results
were delivered based on patterns examined in the findings of the survey and the literature
review.
3.3.1 Variables
The research variables are the values that tend to directly or indirectly affect the study results.
The influencing factors of any study can be indicated based upon their behavior, they can then
be manipulated and their values can be measured through various equations. The behavior of
these variables may be different under different circumstances and hence they can highly
influence the experimental results. There are many different types of variables but the ones
most popular in the field of research and experimentation are classified as Independent
variables and dependent variables (Anon., n.d.).

The independent variables are the main drivers of the experimentation and therefore are
separated and handled by the researcher. The dependent variables on the other hand are
measurable and indicate changes in the outcome of experimentation. The independent
variables are assumed to be the causes and the dependent variables as effects of the cause
(Anon., n.d.).
3.4 Research Approach
There are mainly two types of research, qualitative and quantitative and a study can be either
one of them or combination of the two.
Qualitative research helps understand and analyze the behavior of the target audience. It also
tends to realize the thought process which drives the consumers to such response. This type of
research uses in-depth study of a specific group of people to develop a more relevant
hypothesis. The results from this type of research are descriptive in nature. This type of
research is useful in better interpreting the respondent reaction by observing their verbal and
nonverbal communication. It gives the opportunity to get respondents thoughts apart from
basic and restricted structure of a survey and give them the chance to explain their responses
(Anon., n.d.). Quantitative research is more structured and focused. The researchers generally
intend to find some hard core numbers and statistics for a particular experiment. The method
attempts to collect quantitative data through surveys, questionnaires etc. Variables play vital
role it deriving the effects of particular experiment. This approach is narrow in scope and helps
deduce useful results through limited but meaningful data (Willis, n.d.).

This research study is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative hence the data has
also been collected accordingly. For a more illustrative analysis, the majority part of the data
collected is quantitative. The survey has been conducted online, and that survey is accustomed
build to contain both qualitative and quantitative questions. The quantitative questions had
provided certain options for the participant to select and had also made use of scales such as
the Likert scale to obtain more reliable data for the research. The survey had a total of 15
questions, out of which 13 were quantitative in nature, and the remaining two happened to
serve the qualitative study in nature. The qualitative data had been obtained by asking open-
ended questions, but only a few lines were provided to answer them in order to obtain data as
per the scope of the study. These questions had then been analyzed separately and the findings
were also to be stated as is done in the case of qualitative research.
3.5 Research Sampling Method
Sampling is a way of choosing a small portion from the targeted population, for study and
analysis, which can be generalized to be the fair representation of the whole population.
Sampling Unlike physical and mathematical quantities, sampling of population is relatively
complex, as it involves a lot of uncontrollable variables. There are various sampling techniques
available including probability and non-probability sampling. These two broad categories of
research are then further divided into techniques that are used as per the nature of the study
and the data required (Trochim, 2006).
Non-probability sampling is a sampling technique which does not use random selection of
units, hence the samples collected through this process does not get the same probability of

being selected unlike the probability sampling (Trochim, 2006). Non- Probability sampling
techniques include convenience sampling, consecutive sampling, quota sampling, judgmental
sampling, snowball sampling, purposive sampling and reliance on available subjects (Anon.,
2009). This type of sampling is used when the researcher is short on time, budget and human
resources. It is preferred when the study tends to indicate some kind of common characteristic
that is shared among the whole population and when huge population size is taken and
randomization is a tiresome job. This type of sampling can also be used when researcher
intends to apply the qualitative approach to research. It can also be used when generalizations
of the result are not intended for the whole population and hence representation for everyone
is not required. And finally it can be used as an initial study in which other sampling techniques
will follow for extensive study later.
The other type of technique for sampling is the probability sampling method, which tends to
use some sort of random selection. The thing that differentiates probability sampling from non-
probability sampling is that this method ensures that every unit in the population has equal
chance of getting selected. The equal probability of being chosen is achieved by following some
procedures which assure equal representation (Anon., 2006).
Probability sampling includes the techniques of simple random sampling, systematic random
sampling, stratified sampling, cluster random sampling, and multi stage sampling (Anon., 2009).
This method ensures transparency from both systematic and sampling biasness. The random
selection sampling if done accurately represents the whole population under consideration.

Consequently, this minimizes the difference between the results of sampling and results of
analyzing the entire population (Anon., 2006).
3.5.1 Selected Sample
During this research, the technique of simple random sampling had been used. The survey was
made using Survey Monkey and had been rotated among the people on an online forum and
the first fifty completely filled answers surveys were used as a sample for this research. This
allowed the sample to be a good representative of the target population as well as ensured the
removal of any unwanted biases in the research process. This also ensured that the data values
were not obtained within a certain trend but are randomly sampled. The data used for analysis
can be fairly generalized to the whole population set. This data set also can be used to conduct
further research if required.
3.6 Data Collection Tools
Data collection is a process of accumulating all the information on an issue under consideration
and establishing a method to convert it into meaningful form so that it can be used to analyzed
and measured against different variable to derive required results. It helps to develop
hypothesis for a study and devise tools to test the data and compute results. The integrity of a
research is based upon the accuracy of data collected. Hence choosing the right set of tools for
data collection will help gain integrity and reduce the chance of error occurrence during
manipulation and experimentation (Anon., n.d.). Some of the questions which should be
considered before starting data collection include:

 What type of data needs to be collected?
 What are most effective tools for data collection relevant to our study field?
 Who should be collecting data?
 What is the most suitable time to collect data?
Some of the most commonly used tools for the collection of principal data are:
 Case Studies- a case study generally consist of detailed explanation of practices,
procedure, experiences of a specific organization. They usually explain problems faced
by organizations, what were the causes and effects of the issues identified? How the
causes were detected, what actions were taken to resolve them? What are preventive
measure and recommendations? This tool is the mixture of quantitative and qualitative
data collection (Rosenblatt, 2012).
 Check lists- Checklist are generally used for observations and inspections. They contain a
list of tasks or criteria which could me marked if present or unmarked if not available.
They are simpler and structure form to data collection. Observers use them to provide
consistency of structure among their peers (Rosenblatt, 2012).
 Interviews- Interviews are in-depth one to one interactive way of collecting data. Every
interview has an interviewer those tend to ask questions and directs the flow of
information with a few numbers of interviewees. They are helpful to investigate the
respondent’s view on the topic of research (Rosenblatt, 2012).

 Observation- Observation is another useful way of data collection. It could be informed
or uninformed where the subjects are not aware of the fact that they are being
observed. In some cases you can interact with the subjects to better understand the
process which is the direct observation approach. Observation can be continuous or
periodic process (Rosenblatt, 2012).
 Survey or Questionnaires- These are used for survey research. The data intended to be
collected through surveys in standardized, structured and much focused to the topic
under consideration. Surveys are generally used in collection of information related to
specific areas, location, demographics etc. which is limited to a specific group of
audience. There are a lot of online tools available which help develop customized
research surveys (Rosenblatt, 2012).
 Focus Group- a focus group is a small group of targeted people who get together to
express their views about a particular product or topic (Rosenblatt, 2012).
3.6.1 PrimaryData
Primary data is focus on collecting tailor and specific research related questions and issues
specially designed by researchers on the basis of data they need. They help the researchers to
better explain the research purpose and derive meaningful results (AtWork, 2008). For the
purpose of this study, the primary data source used was the questionnaire.
3.6.2 Questionnaire
The source of primary data in this research is the survey questionnaire. The questionnaire is
developed after careful study of the literature and understanding of the major variables. The
most important thing to be considered before developing the questionnaire is to concentrate

on the objective you want to achieve through the questionnaire. All the information which
needs to be collected from the survey should be clearly stated. Once the questionnaire is
designed it should be tested against the intended data results. The sequence of questions
should be simple and the difficulty level should be ascending in order. The structure should be
kept intuitive and should provide smooth transition from one question to the other for the
respondent. All these issues were kept in mind while designing the questionnaire. It consists of
fifteen questions, most of the questions are quantitative in nature to serve the purpose of
questionnaire and get meaningful data from the recipients. The questionnaire is attached in
Appendix 1.
3.6.3 SecondaryData
The secondary data sources include census, previous data records, book, periodicals, journals in
libraries etc. in the related field of study. Secondary data is inexpensive to get and is readily
available. It does not constraint the researcher with respect to time, budget and resources.
Both data gathering techniques have their merits and demerits. The technique to be used is
dependent upon the scope and approach of the study (AtWork, 2008).
3.7 Accessibility Issue
It is difficult to physically access the target population as the Dove users may be spread
worldwide and can be both males and females. It would be very difficult to physical collect
them together and approach them in order to conduct the study. For this purpose, the
accessibility issue will be bypassed by conducting the survey online by uploading it on
surveymonkey.com and uploading the link on to online forums for Dove Real Beauty campaign

where the users are actively participating for around the globe. This ensures the accessibility of
an ideal sample from the target population while also removes the physical barriers and allows
the researcher to easily communicate with them on a one-to-one basis if needed. Also, as a
participant has easy access and can answer the survey from the comfort of their homes, they
are more likely to participate and provide relevant answers ensuring the validity and reliability
of the information.
3.8 Ethical Issues
Voluntary participation needs to be ensured in order to carry ethically out the study. Forcing
people to participate against their will would eventually push away the loyal customers from
the brand itself. Captive audience must not be used for this research (David B. Resnik, 2001).
Informed consent must be taken, meaning the participants must be informed regarding the
research process and also of any risks involved in the research, and then give their consent. In
this case scenario, however, since there are no risks, a little briefing can ensure informed
consent. Ethical standards have a prerequisite for informed consent and convey that a
participant in research must not be put in danger to carry out the research procedures (David B.
Resnik, 2001).
Non-disclosure of confidential information is a prerequisite that must be stated to the
participants. Participants who are not able to trust the professionals would not provide
accurate details even if voluntarily participating which would affect the data collection process.
It must be communicated to the participants that their identifying information would not be
accessible to people who are not a part of the research team and the information would be

respected as confidential and would only be used for data analysis purposes (David B. Resnik,
2001).
3.9 Data Analysis
The data analysis was performed once all the relevant information had been gained by the
completion of the survey. The data was first gathered using the sample size of 50 surveys that
ask for the required information, the data had been collected through online survey web
application, once that is done the data was then tabulated, and the results had been illustrated
for easy representation and interpretation. Tools such as Excel were utilized for easy analysis of
the information and to calculate and tabulate results. The results had been depicted using
various charts and graphs where needed to better depict the patterns and changing trends. The
analysis had then been drawn on the basis of incorporating learning's acquired and the
research application and the analysis drawn had been discussed and used to reach definite
conclusions regarding the study. The conclusion had been used to make specific
recommendations pertaining to the Dove real beauty campaign. This helped in answering the
questions about how successful was the dove campaign? How effective were the use of e-
advertising tools towards the success of this campaign? What was in the impact of this
campaign on the sales and profits generated by Unilever? And most importantly how was e-
advertising a factor towards the revenue uplift?
Based on these results the validity of our hypothesis had been accessed. The result had been
supported by discussed deductions and experimental findings. The data analysis had also
reflected the findings on the effectiveness of the e-advertising in achieving profitability of the

FMCGs industry in general. During analysis, all biases must be avoided, and the prior learning
would be implemented to understand the changes and the process designs. Also, while
evaluating the data the credibility of the source would be held accountable as the complete
evaluation would be from the data collected.
Furthermore, when critically analyzing the data, trends had been observed and highlighted for
the Dove real beauty campaign and research had established an identity of the brand and the
effects of its promotional tools of advertising. These results were then being generalized using
the deductive approach over other FMCGs’ profit enhancement strategies.
3.10 Validity, Reliability, and Limitations
Quality, scope, and value of research may be impacted by several forms of research limitation
that inhibit the continuation of the research process beyond a certain point. With respect to the
study, the first and foremost are the time, budget and resource constraints as these are the
most primary limitations to this scope of the study. The research respondents are limited as it
can only be filled by the respondents available online and within the UK. Another limitation is
that of the gap in the literature review as this gap does not help the researcher to learn from
previous researchers in any way. There have been a lot of research in both the advertising and
revenue uplifting domain but none of the studies take the two variables and analyze the cause
and effect of one over the other. This makes it very difficult for this research to develop the
base for the problem in question. Due to this gap, a lapse is created between the methodology
and the tool employed, as the methodology is relatively based on traditional methods but the
tool would employ advanced current techniques which make it difficult for the researcher to

bring the two at the same level and perform accurate measurements. Another limitation may
be incurred in the form of consumer bias, evaluation benchmarking dilemma (gap in the
benchmark of the individual and the company) and the subjective nature of the research,
whereby as both parties are correct in their own rights and in their own ways and so reaching a
decision becomes a difficult task. Also survey is restricted and limited in focus which does not
give the respondent any chance to clarify one’s point of view. However, in effect, this study
may prove to be of help for future researcher, studying this field in particular and will set the
base for future research in this area.

Chapter 4 Results,Analysis and InterpretationofData
4.1 Introduction
The aim of this research was to explore the impact of electronic advertising done; Dove Real
Beauty Campaign in particular on the companies’ revenues. For this purpose, a questionnaire
was designed using online survey building tools and rotated among the internet users. The
results were then collected, filtered from ambiguity to avoid missing fields and un-attempted
questions and were finally represented in table form for better understanding and analysis of
data. The tables provide us with an overall view of the results obtained and provide an easy
comprehension of the tabulated data values. Along with data, each question is also graphically
depicted. While the graphical illustrations allow for a bird’s eye view of the results obtained.
The reader can understand the results obtained at a single glance and study them in depth
using the tables, and the analysis and interpretations description.
This chapter covers the results obtained from the research. The data tables are included in this
chapter, and so is the interpretation and the analysis of the responses gained from the online
users. The data gained from a large number of users would have been impossible to decipher
for any researcher. For this reason, a sample was selected and each and every question asked
from the respondent was studied individually. The aim of the research was not to gain data;
instead the aim was to gain information. By studying the questions individually, meaningful
information was attained and illustrated through charts and graphs. The diagrammatic
illustrations can give the reader an overview of the findings of the research at a glance. The
analysis and interpretations of the question will be followed by an overall analysis and then the

conclusion. The tabulated responses of the survey questionnaire have been included in
Appendix.
The purpose of this chapter to attain meaningful information from the data collected through
the research. The sequence of the chapter starts with a quick introduction, and then the
findings are presented; showing the structure of questionnaire and type of questions, this
section also provides a summary of responses and the frequency of each response,
presentation of findings is followed by data analysis and interpretation. The analysis section
further breaks down the survey into single questions and provide a graphical representation for
individual question responses and frequency percentage along with the description of each. As
it is not sufficient to provide explanation of the graphic figures, the interpretation section
therefore, compare and contrast the gained details and highlighting the possible reasons
behind those findings. It discusses if the variable under consideration are related or not, how
their relationship is are affecting one another and if the results deduced are consistent with the
hypothesis and the previous studies.
In the end conclusion from the analysis have been discussed which provides the summary of
the above discussion. The results concluded from the analysis and interpretation. The
steadiness of the results with the earlier research is also accessed. This then allows the
researcher to ensure that all the research objectives have been focused on and that the
research question has been answered in lieu of the analysed information. Once the conclusion
is drawn and the research question has been answered, the purpose of this research study will
be achieved.

4.2 Presentation of findings
To meet the research objective and to develop a better understanding of the data collected
through questionnaire survey, the data have been presented in forms of tables, graphs and
charts as needed. This makes is easier both for the researcher and the reader identify all the
covered research objectives through the survey derivations. To categorize various questions
with varying structure and type of information being deducted, separate tables have been
designed and similar data is represented together to analyze trends and patterns. Furthermore,
to enhance understanding the quantitative data is grouped in one section and the qualitative
data is grouped separately.
The following tables represent the responses collected from the survey, divided on the basis of
structure of questions.
Table 1: Responses of Q1, Q7, Q8 and Q9
OptionsSelected Frequency
Q1 Q7 Q8 Q9
A 20 50 31 28
B 30 0 19 22

Table 2: Responses of Q3 and Q4
Q3 Q4
A 16 32
B 12 16
C 12 2
D 10 0
Table 3: Responses of Q2, Q5 and Q6
Q2 Q5 Q6
A 14 0 29
B 16 7 6
C 7 19 14
D 13 18 1
E 0 6 0

Table 4: Responses of Q11, Q12 and Q13
Q11 Q12 Q13
1 0 7 3
2 3 6 6
3 12 11 8
4 28 11 13
5 7 15 20
The questions were arranged in the following order:
Quantitative Group:
Questions 1, 2, 3: Provide general information about the respondent; gender, profession, and
age of the user, so that we can have a little background of our respondent.
Questions 4, 5, 6, 12 and 13: Ask about the respondent’s usage of internet and exposure and
interaction to online advertising
Questions 7, 8 and 10: Respondent’s awareness of the brand and the Dove Real Beauty
Campaign
Questions: 9, 11 and 12: Analyse the impact of campaign on the respondents
Qualitative Group:
Question 14: This is an open ended question about respondent’s general perception of beauty.
Question 15: This is an open ended question asking respondent about how they felt after
watching the Ad.

4.3 Data Analysis and Interpretation
This section conducts the descriptive and inferential analysis of the collected data using the
deductive approach of data analysis as explained in the methodology chapter. By the end of
this section, it is intended that the reader must be able to understand the relationship between
the given data and identify patterns and trends as they move along.
As mentioned above, the study is using the deductive approach, this section evaluates the
validity of our hypothesis that e-advertising tends to impact the sales and consequently the
revenues of FMCGs effectively uplifting the profits. To test the validity of hypothesis, the
statistics derived from collected data will be used. Alongside, the results from the analysis will
be interpreted by comparing and finding sound explanation to the relationships.
4.3.1 Quantitative Analysis
This section gives an analysis and interpretation of data collected through the survey which is
quantitative in nature. It consists on thirteen questions; each question is presented in tabular
form, along with the frequency of responses, their percentage and the cumulative percentage.
The questions are further represented in form of graphs and charts where needed to help the
reader better understand the data trends.
Table 5: Analysis and Interpretation of Q1
Q1. Gender
SelectedOption Frequency Percentage (%) Cumulative percentage (%)
Males(A) 20 40 40

Females(B) 30 60 100
Table 6: Graphical representation of responses for Q1
Gender:
This question provides a ratio of responses from each gender so to have a representation of
each. 40% of the respondents were male and 60% were female. This means that out of the
sample size of 50, the number of women who responded to the survey is 30 and the number of
men who followed suit is 20. As the sample was taken your random sampling 40-60 is a very
good ratio for the representation of each group. It also reduces the gender bias, by giving every
group a considerable representation. One of the major misconceptions that exist in peoples
mind when it comes to beauty products is that they are centered towards women. However
giving each gender equal chance to express their views acknowledges the powerful market of
the brand among men.
Gender
Males
Females

Q2. Profession
SelectedOption Frequency Percentage (%) Cumulative percentage (%)
Academic 14 28 28
Professional 16 32 60
House Wife 7 14 74
Self Employed 13 26 100
Others 0 0 100
Profession:
This question asked people about the professions they work in. The respondents were give four
choices and an option of specify any other profession apart from the aforementioned ones
which included Academic, Professional, Housewife and Self-employed choices. Majority of the
people who responded to the survey were professionals, this covers about 32% of the
Profession
Academic
Professional
House Wife
Self Employed
Others

respondents whereas a large proportion also belonged to academic background, which was
around 28%, rest of the respondents were self-employed, which covers around 26% of the
responses. Only 14% were housewives. The 32% means 16 respondents belong to various
professional backgrounds, 28% represent around 14 academics, 26% represents 13 self-
employed respondents or Business owners where as 14% represent 7 responses from
housewives. This gives a very definite image of Dove’s target consumers, as we can see the
highest number of respondents are people working as professionals in different capacities;
these people are generally aware of market trends, brand equity and brand value. Another
interesting fact revealed through this division is the lowest ratio of responses came from the
housewives which in general are assumed to be the main target of beauty brands. Here the
turnover on responses provides a depiction of the potential market users which are generally
skipped by the brand while setting the market segmentation and devising branding strategies.
Q3. Please selectyourage
SelectedOption Frequency Percentage Cumulative percentage
Below20 years 16 32 32
20-30 years 12 24 56
40-50 years 12 24 80
Olderthan50 10 20 100

Age group:
The respondents for the case of study have been divided into four age brackets to help easy
data management and analysis, these groups are a. Below 20 years, b. 20-30 years of age, c. 40-
50 years of age, and Older than 50 group. 32% of the respondents that forms the majority were
below 20 whereas 24% of the respondents fall into the age groups of 20-30 years and 40-50
years while the rest of them, that is 20%, fall in the older than 50 above age group. The 32% of
the respondents are form by 16 responses, 24% by 12 each and the 20% by 10 respondents.
The diverse range of ages of the respondents implies a large market of Dove consumers across
all age groups and hence complements the brand loyalty and customer retention towards the
Dove products. This wide range also serves as a proof of strong marketing and consumer base
of the brand which obviously is earned through in-depth understanding of the target market
and building close relationships with the consumers. This also confirms Dove as a successful
FMCG brand over the years of effective presentation and advertising.
Age
Below 20 years
20-30 years
40-50 years
Older than 50

Q4. How oftendoyou come across e-advertisements?
Daily 32 64 64
Several timesa
week
16 32 96
Several timesina
month
2 4 100
Several timesina
year
0 0 100
Exposure to E-advertisements:
This question asked the respondent about their exposure to e-advertising. The respondents
were given four multiple choice options including; Daily, Several times a week, Several times in
a month and Several times in a year. No one selected the last option due to the high impact of
advertising over our environment. 64% of the respondents reported daily exposure to e-
advertisements whereas the 32% reported very often exposure within a week and the
Exposure to E-advertising
Daily
Several times a week
Several times in a month
Several times in a year

remaining 4% tend to come across e-advertisements several times a month. Is shows how
connected and technologically updated your audience is. These results also emphasize on how
much companies are focusing on the online tools for marketing and advertising their products.
Hence the electronic market is competitive and companies need to get creative enough to
stand out in the clutter. The above results throws light on two important aspects, one that
companies these days are putting a lot of emphasis on e-advertising and the online media has
revolutionized the way companies strategize their activities and second the e-advertising
environment is as competitive as the offline forms of advertising, what adds on to the online
advertising is the complexity of system and consumer behaviors.
Q5. How manyhours do youspentonsocial mediaeveryday?
I don’tuse Social
Media
0 0 0
1-3 hours 7 14 14
4-6 hours 19 38 52
7-9 hours 18 36 88
Others 6 12 100

Daily usage of social media:
This question asked respondents about their daily usage of internet; they were given four
choices and an option to specify range other than the above mentioned choices which included:
I don’t use social media, 1-3 hours of usage, 4-6 hours of usage and7-9 hours of usage. The
results to this question were in line with the trend of high internet usage. Around 38% reported
4-6 hours of internet usage whereas 36% reported 7-9 hours usage; also 14% reported 1-3
hours of usage and the remaining 12% opted for others towards the increasing trend of usage.
Interestingly none of the respondent selected they “I don’t use social media” option. This
shows a high percentage of social media use. In the modern world, social media has become a
necessity than an ease or option. We rarely find people who are not connected to any source of
online media. This high level of social communication flags companies towards a big platform
for marketing and branding their products. If every other person is socially available online it
means the fastest and effective way to reach larger audience is through the online channel,
which is social media in this case.
Daily Usage of Social Media
I don’t use Social Media
1-3 hours
4-6 hours
7-9 hours
Others

Most recent promotion utilized:
This question asked user to choose any three of their most recently used promotions over the
internet. They were given four options to choose from; social media interaction, online check-
ins, coupons and discount on a brand options. The seemingly vary complex diagram above
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
A B C D
Social Media Interaction
Online Check-in
Coupon
Discount on a Brand
Q6. What is the mostrecentpromotionyouavailedonline? Pleasechoose anythree.
Discountona
brand
29 58 58
Coupon 6 12 70
Online check-ins 14 28 98
Social media
interactive
competitions
1 2 100

tends to explain the mostly selected combination of three promotions they have recently
availed. The respondents were asked to choose any three of the online promotions they have
availed online from the given four choices. Majority of the respondents have utilized the most
common promotion of discount on brands, on number two is the online check-in; even though
the second one is gaining pace as the most growing preference of companies in recent times.
Online check-in makes users to visit company’s social media pages/blogs and sometimes
require following them. This helps the companies to keep in touch with the customers and keep
them updated about company’s activities. Coupons are the third most availed online
promotion. The advantage of using coupons is that they complement both online and onsite
sales and can help boost either of the two. The social media interactions are generally used by
organizations to keep people informed rather than giving promotions but the trend is changing
with changing consumer base and market requirements.
Q7. Have youseenthe Dove Real BeautyCampaignAd?
Yes 50 100 100
No 0 0 100

Dove Real Beauty Campaign’s Awareness:
The question asked the respondents about their awareness of the Dove Real Beauty Campaign,
and the options provided were either yes or no. This question really analyzes the effectiveness
of the Dove Real Beauty Campaign. In a sample of 50 people all belonging to various disciplines
of life but all being aware about the Dove campaign says a lot about the branding, strategic
success and in-depth consumer knowledge. The entire sample of respondents was aware of the
campaign; this shows Dove took right actions by designing a market strategy that caters to the
need of its consumer base and used the exactly the right medium to communicate to its
customers. Dove introduced exactly the idea that will touch the hearts of its consumers,
motivate them to take action and at the same time induce a sense of attachment with the ads.
Q8. Can yourelate the Adto your real life?
AwarenessAbout Dove Real Beauty
Campaign
Yes
No

Yes 31 62 62
No 19 38 100
Relevance of Ad to people’s life:
This question asked respondents about the relevance of Dove ads to their lives; in this case only
two options were given either yes or no. According to the Dove’s official site, the root idea was
to develop a sense of positive self-esteem by making people in general and women in particular
believe in their own beauty. The campaign sets around women who are asked to describe their
looks and then their description of themselves is compared with that of others describing them.
Since the way others describe them is more close to how they actually look and but better than
their own description, this generates the sense of beauty and consequently they tend to feel
good about themselves. 62% of the respondents were able to relate themselves to the
campaign whereas; rest of them couldn’t find any link. A high number of people being able to
relate to the campaign show that people in their lives are looking for inspiration and such
Revelance of Ad to People'slife
Yes
No

campaigns since display and discuss the situations faced by a lot of people, the campaigns make
them feel inspired and confident of who they are. The high number of people answering yes
means that Dove campaign was “effective”.
Q9. Have the Ad change yourperceptionaboutDove products?
Yes 28 56 56
No 22 44 100
Change in brand perception:
The question asked the respondents if watching the Dove Ad changed their perception of
brand. They were given two options of either yes or no to select from. The above graph depicts
the results about the change in people’s perception about the brand after watching Dove Real
Change in Brand Perception
Yes
No

Beauty Campaign video. 56% of the respondents reported in acceptances to the change in
perception of Dove as brand due to this campaign. The change in perception of 56% of the
audience can result in sales boost. This question has a very direct relation with the hypothesis
statement, when more than half of the sample population indicates an impact on their Brand
Perception through the campaign it indicates two things; one that the campaign was effective
enough to change people perception, two the change was positive. Hence this derives the
conclusion in favor of the build hypothesis.
Q10. What wordcomesto your mindwhenyouheard aboutDove?Please selectany
three options.
Inspiration 10 20 20
CelebratingBeauty 10 20 40
Positive Self-esteem 20 40 80
Softness 10 20 100

Dove’s Keywords
This question asked respondents what word come to their minds when thinking about Dove as
a brand. They were given four options and were asked to choose any combination of three; the
options provided include: Softness, Positive Self-esteem, Celebrating beauty and Inspiration.
The respondents were asked to choose any of the three options from a given list of options
about what words hint their mind when hearing about Dove. The above graph highlights the
mostly selected combination of words. Interestingly with a look deeper and trying to
understand the pattern between the above selections it can be identified that the three most
relevant words that people tend to relate to Dove are “Softness”, “Celebrating Beauty” and
“Inspiration”. If the campaign resulted in inculcating these words into the mind of consumer,
then it has achieved its objectives. If you closely look into the Dove official website on this
Campaign, you will realize that the output the Dove branding team was expecting from this
campaign was to build these words with their brands. This brings in the success on the
campaign as the required goals were achieved.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
A B C D
Softness
Positive Self-Esteem
Celebrating Beauty
Inspiration

Q11. Are youmore likelytobuyDove productsafterwatchingthe Ad?
Notat all 0 0 0
Notlikely 3 6 6
Maybe 12 24 30
Most likely 28 56 86
Always 7 14 100
Probability of buying Dove:
The respondents were asked to tell how likely they are going to buy Dove products in the
market after watching the advertisement. They were given five options on a scale of 1 to 5
where 1 meant not at all and 5 meant always. The above pie chart shows the response to the
question about how likely are respondents going to buy the Dove products after watching the
Ad. 70 percent of the responses turned in had opted in acceptance to the question with 56
Probability of buying the brand
Not at all
Not likely
Maybe
Most likely
Always

percent people selecting most likely to buy Dove and 14 percent of the people opting for
always buying the Dove brands due to its new awareness campaign and the cause it served. 24
percent people selected “may be”, this might be the case of people who are not direct audience
of the Dove brand but may be counted as potential target market. It is suggested that Dove
should reach out this group of people to understand their needs and target them to convert
this “may be” to a positive response. Hence the responses from this question indicate that the
campaign helped build a positive impression of the consumers and have impacted their buying
preferences.
Q12. What do youthinkaboutonline ads?
Useless 7 14 14
Mostlyuseless 6 12 26
None 11 22 48
Useful 11 22 70
Veryuseful 15 30 100

Effectiveness of e marketing case study of dove real beauty campaign

Effectiveness of e marketing case study of dove real beauty campaign

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