Based on a fresh problem stated by Mark Zuckerberg in a conference about being unsure of implementing a dislike button on Facebook. Hence, in this proposal you will find the selected appraoches of the methodologies and sampling procedures for the research

1. Coursework Header Sheet
221068-36
Course MARK1215: Insidethe Customer's Mind Course School/Level B/PG
Coursework Market Research Proposal Assessment Weight 20.00%
Tutor KH Phairor Submission Deadline 06/01/2015
Courseworkis receiptedonthe understandingthatitisthe student'sownworkandthat it hasnot, in
whole orpart, beenpresentedelsewhereforassessment.Where material hasbeenusedfromother
sourcesithas beenproperlyacknowledgedinaccordance withthe University'sRegulationsregarding
CheatingandPlagiarism.
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MARKET
RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
SHOULD FACEBOOK ADD A DISLIKE BUTTON?

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Contents
COURSEWORK HEADER SHEET...................................................................................................................0
TITLE AND KEYWORDS.............................................................................................................................4
BACKGROUND ANALYSIS..........................................................................................................................4
DEFINITION OF PROBLEM AND SCOPE ..........................................................................................................4
OBJECTIVES ..........................................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................................................5
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS...............................................................................................................5
SAMPLING ............................................................................................................................................6
TIMELINE .............................................................................................................................................6
PROPOSED BUDGET................................................................................................................................6
ETHICAL CONSIDERATION.........................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................7

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Title and Keywords
ShouldFacebookadda dislike button?
Keywords:Facebook,Socialmedia,Facebookdislike button
BackgroundAnalysis
Facebook is thinking to add a new feature that has a significant amount of request from people for a
long time; “the dislike button” (flynn, 2014). Similarly, while in a Q&A session in California, He
emphasized that the team would have to search for a unique method to ensure it does not become a
direction to demean people posts (lee, 2014). On the contrary, in the article Warc (2014) Mark
Zuckerbergmentionedthe importanceregardingthisissue “oftentimes usersshare things on Facebook
that are depressing,sorrowful andsadmomentsintheirlives.He furtherstates in the Q&A session that
mostof the time people toldusthattheydon’tfeel comfortablepressingthe likebuttonaslike is not an
appropriate sentiment. Furthermore flynn, (2014) stated the views of CEO Zuckerberg on expressing
sentiments that “You know you can always comment” while he also accepted that clicking a button is
simple than thinking and writing a witty comment. Conversely the former chief technology officer of
Facebook Mr. Taylorargued thatit may have a lot of negative consequences. Although he suggests if a
userwant to dislikesomething,itshouldlikelybe expressedinacomment. Because there is expectedly
a word for what you want to say.
Definitionof problemand scope
From the above section,itisevidentthatbecause of the demandsfrompeople, Facebook is looking for
ways to integrate this new feature in a way that does not directly have an impact on the posts, and is
still unsure if thisdecisionwillbenefitthe organization.Onthe contrary,the argumentative viewsabove
betweenMr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Taylor develops an opportunity to investigate this further and find if
the upcomingimplementationof the dislikebuttonwillbenefitordamage the organization’sreputation
in near future.
Objectives
As Mr. Zuckerberg mentioned that often time’s people express sad and depressing moments on
Facebookusersfeel reluctanttoshowa positive behavior(liking the post), and are still finding the best
suitable tointegrate thisfeature withoutgivinganimpression to demean the posts. Therefore, putting
this in our research objectives, I would want to explore and evaluate the usage expectations and
attitudefor the dislike button withamore qualitative approach, and in the end the results may show a
clearer picture on the three mentioned research objectives above.

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Researchmethodology
Since I am tryingto solve afreshproblem, therefore,one of the biggest obstacles is to look and find for
similar literature, and there is hardly any. Which is why, I will be continuing with the exploratory
research method.Mooi andSarstedt,(2011) statesthat exploratoryresearch is used to define and look
for a problemandsituation.Moreoverthe author further explained that this approach can help derive
organizations problems. In relation to the problem, this chosen methodology will help us to find the
main causes and symptoms as translated by the decision maker’s (Universal teacher, 2015).
My methodsfor conducting exploratory research will include personal interviews, and online surveys
about Facebook itself, with these two approaches I will decipher the research objectives using the
consumer attitude model which according to Clow and Baack, (2013, pp.86) breakdown in three steps
that are 1) affective (consist the feelings and emotions one has for a particular topic or issue), 2)
Cognitive (understanding and the interpretations of the issue) and lastly the conative (the one’s
intentions, behavior). As explained the basic theory that is relevant to the issue and will be given
importance while gathering the research data using the above methods.
In contrast, to minimize the chances of errors in collection of data in both methods, precautions like
keeping an extra recording device, with and additional memory stick and batteries to ensure the data
collection process go smoothly while interviewing, however for survey proof reading of questions,
ensuringthe surveyisdistributedtothe rightaudience.Once all the dataisanalyzed,thenI will present
hypothesismentioningthe possibilities and acceptance of this new feature in the market based on the
results upon each question.
Data collectionandanalysis
As I have chosentwodifferenttypesof data collection methods the one is directly observed (personal
interviews) and will be evaluated based on the responses from the users, and secondly the online
surveys will be created using Google surveys which will help to present the raw data in visual format.
However, the face to face interviews will be taken 5 days per week on different locations in London,
mostly targeting the students. However, the allocation of times for the interviews for both of these
groupswill be different to each other and strategic based on their routines. For example: most of the
studentsthatbelongwithinthe targetgroupcanbe accessedwithindifferentlocationsof the university
radius all time of the day till the university is open. Therefore, the interviews will be conducted from
studentsthatbelongtodifferentfacultieswhenthey will be finished with their class and going back to
their home or at work with a relaxed and in a happy mood. On the contrary, the social media surveys
will be sharedmostlyatnighttimingsfor5 days perweekincludingincreasedactivityon the weekends.

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Sampling
I will be using the stratified sampling method to take out most perfect samples for the research, from
our populationof different groups, I will define the strata from the population which will be based on
differentfacultiesfromthe university,andthenbasedonthe differentgroupsof strataI will take outmy
sampleswithinthe age of 18-26 forboth male andfemale.Inparticularforthe sample size, theymay be
30 for both male and female, which may increase. Conversely, one of the biggest challenges that may
arise using this method of sampling is to find and observe the right targeted sample from each strata.
Therefore,Iwill thenapplySRS (simple random sampling) within the different strata groups randomly
and choose the samples for interview.
On the contrary,The internetsurveywill be shared with mostly with the type of people who are more
like to respond instantly anything negative or harsh such as; (such as the online skeptic/religious
community). Moreover, there is a vast number of groups on Facebook that does not like Justin Bieber
(attachment 1), and I can use their names to get instant opinions about the research objectives
Timeline
As the market report has to be submitted by 30th
march, therefore keeping the research analysis and
conclusionsinmind,Iwill finishthe conductingthe face to face interviews by the end of January that is
31st
jan 2015, However,because the surveywill be consistingthe same questionsas will be asked in the
face to face interviews, therefore, I will also start taking the online surveys on Facebook by January as
well, and aim to finish it by 15th
February. Hence, I will then have enough time to analyze and come at
conclusions.
ProposedBudget
Here is the listof expecteditemsthatwillbe requiredtoconductthe research.
No Activities Cost (GBP)
1 Digital Recorder 38
2 Notebook 1.5
3 Printing 20
4 Travel cost (if neededtoresearchoutsideGreenwich) 16.5 (studentoyster)
Total 76
Ethical Consideration
An ethical approval forresearchwill be taken fromthe UniversityResearchEthicsCommitteeby filling a
detailedform(appendix).On the contrary, the information regarding the confidentiality, data security
and the privacy, Dawson, (2007) mentioned that according to data protection act 1998 that the taken
information should not be kept longer than necessary and ensuring that the data is kept secure.

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Furthermore inconfidentiality,he statesthatthe researchinformationshouldnotbe disclos-ed to third
parties. Moreover, about the privacy of the research participants that in any manner the participant’s
views should not be used against himself in any means.
Therefore, I guarantee not to use any names and personal information in the final report and not to
disclose any information to any third party group or any individual.
References
cashmore, p. (2014). Should Facebook add a dislike button? - CNN.com. [online]
Edition.cnn.com. Available at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/07/22/facebook.dislike.cashmore/ [Accessed 26
Dec. 2014].
flynn, k. (2014). Facebook Basically Teasing Us With 'Dislike Button' At This Point. [online]
The Huffington Post. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/12/facebook-dislike-
button_n_6314448.html [Accessed 26 Dec. 2014].
Herrold, T. and Kenshoo, (2014). Mobile Facebook advertising. [online] www.warc.com.
Available at: http://Mobile Facebook advertising [Accessed 26 Dec. 2014].
Lang, N. (2014). Why Facebook should never (ever) add a dislike button. [online] Salon.com.
Available at:
http://www.salon.com/2014/12/18/why_facebook_should_never_ever_add_a_dislike_button_par
tner/ [Accessed 26 Dec. 2014].
lee, d. (2014). Facebook ponders 'dislike' function. [online] BBC News. Available at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30447565 [Accessed 26 Dec. 2014].
Warc, (2014). Facebook adds more features. [online] Warc.com. Available at:
http://www.warc.com/Content/News/Facebook_adds_more_features.content?ID=c3ca0859-
bba4-499d-805d-acb13aa72883&q= [Accessed 26 Dec. 2014].
Clow, K. and Baack, D. (2013). Integrated advertising, promotion, and marketing
communications. Prentice Hall; 6 edition.
Mooi, E. and Sarstedt, M. (2011). A concise guide to market research. Berlin: Springer.
Universalteacher.com, (2015). Advantagesof Exploratory Research Design.[online] Available at:
http://universalteacher.com/1/advantages-of-exploratory-research-design/[Accessed4Jan.2015].

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Appendices:
Screenshotfromthe Ethicsapproval form (Universityof Greenwich)
Example fromFb.com/8shitmakingfunof Justinbieber.