1.1. Background
Advancement in technology has brought about improved communication methods. Improved communication means has in turn greatly impacted the business world, particularly the marketing landscape. In particularly, emergence of social media and mobile technologies have facilitated customized marketing approaches where corporations directly reach out to their target customers and communicate to the targeted market segments in a way that appeals to every individual customer. Leppaniemil et al (2008, p. 22) define mobile marketing as the utilization of contemporary mobile technology in promotional marketing and marketing communications. Similarly, Tunsakul (2011, p. 190) refers to mobile marketing as the process of distributing advertisements and promotional messages to potential customers through wireless networks.
The emergence of instant messaging applications, which are part of social media, has also revolutionized the marketing landscape. While various forms of social media have been investigated in existing literature on marketing, little attention has been given to Whatsapp’s effectiveness in marketing. One probable reason for such little attention on Whatsapp regards its newness in the social media paradigm. This research seeks to investigate the influence that social media has in regard to marketing, particularly on the customer decision-making process.
1.2. Problem Statement
Mobile marketing has been presented as a good marketing approach that is both cost-effective as well as efficient in conducting customized marketing communications. In comparison to traditional marketing communications approaches such as paid advertising, mobile marketing is relatively cheaper. While this has been reviewed empirically in existing literature as a potential marketing opportunity, real life case studies of mobile marketing effectiveness have not been documented. Precisely, contemporary marketing communications literature reveals a direct influence of mobile promotion communications on customer decision making. However, a bunch of existing literature has failed to specifically point out the impact of specific mobile marketing communications strategies on consumer decision making. Precisely, research on how Whatsapp marketing communications influences consumer decision making has not been conducted so far. A major assumption that most researchers have made is the consideration of the findings on the broader mobile marketing as equally applying to specific mobile marketing strategies such as Whatsapp and telegram marketing approaches. However, the current researcher feels that Whatsapp has a greater degree of impact and therefore, its degree of impacts on customer decision making should also be different from the mainstream generalization. Hence, lack of studies on Whatsapp as a mobile marketing strategy constitutes a significant literature that needs to be filled.
1.3. Research Objectives and Questions
1.3.1. Main Objective
To investigate the impact of Whatsapp marketing on consumer decision-making process.
1.3.2. Specific Objectives
1. To investigate the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on potential consumers’ need recognition.
2. To investigate the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on potential consumers’ information search.
3. To investigate the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on potential customers’ evaluation of existing product alternatives.
4. To investigate the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on potential consumers’ actual purchase decision.
5. To investigate the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on collection of feedback from consumers following a successful purchase decision.
Main Research Question
What is the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on consume decision making process?
Subsidiary Research Question
1. What is the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on consumers’ need identification?
2. What is the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on consumers’’ information search?
3. What is the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on consumers’’ evaluation of choices?
4. What is the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on consumers’ actual purchase decision?
5. What is the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on consumers’ post-purchase behavior?
1.4. Expected Outcomes
The researcher predicts that findings will indicate a positive impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on consumers’ decision-making process. In case the findings turn out to be as predicted, SMEs and large businesses will have been presented with a perfect Whatsapp marketing approach whose implementation guarantees increased market share, hence subsequent revenue and sales.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Theoretical Review
2.1.1. Four Ps of Marketing
The four Ps of marketing is a decision-making and management framework in marketing used to drive a product to the market and ensure its success in the market. The framework consists of four elements; product, place, price, and promotions. Product refers to a corporation’s offer and its unique features (Borden, 1964, p. 4). Place is the strategic location of a business to ensure maximum sales. Price refers to the strategic pricing mechanism designed to attract consumers as well as ensure high corporate profitability. Lastly, promotions refer to strategies designed to entice potential consumers to purchase particular products. Promotions include public relations, communications, and advertisements.
2.1.2. Consumer Decision-making process
The consumer decision-making process is a framework originally developed by Payne et al (1991) to explain the process that consumers go through in order to make a purchase decision. The process generally consists of five steps. The first step is the need recognition stage at which a consumer identifies a need that should be satisfied. The second stage is the information search stage. At this stage, the consumer conducts an initial search for information search about existing products or services which will certainly satisfy their need (Melis, 2016, p. 45). The marketing communications strategies should also entice the potential buyers (Darley et al, 2010, p. 115). Third, a customer evaluates existing alternatives in the market in order to make the best selection (Ström, 2014, p. 1103). Fourth, the customer makes the actual purchase of the product. Consequently, the fifth stage entails the post-purchase behavior of the consumer. Post-purchase behavior determines whether the customer will come back or not (Fodness, 1992, p. 13).
2.2. Impact of Mobile Marketing on Consumer Decision Making
Firstly, a study conducted by Shankar and Balasubramanian (2009, p. 120). Initially, the researchers identified four key issues. Firsts, mobile marketing is driven by the need to reduce marketing costs as well as improve efficiency of marketing communications. Second, the researchers found that mobile marketing has positive impacts on consumers’ judgment making. Another study was conducted by Persaud and Azhar (2012, p. 27) on whether consumers are ready for mobile marketing communications. Findings illustrated that consumers’ brand trust, value, and shopping styles were probable motivators for their engagement in mobile marketing.
Karaatli and Suntornpithug (2010, p. 33) also established that the use of mobile devices as core communications platforms greatly improves shopper’s experience at different consumer decision-making stages. Findings also indicate that such communications positively influence consumers’ intentions. In a study conducted by Pescher et al (2014, p. 50) the findings revealed varying degrees of impact. Fundamentally, consumers who place greater importance and value to a viral message will likely forward it as compared to those who do not see any value in the message. Therefore, it remains the job of media marketing message designers to design messages that could influence even the otherwise trivial customers.
Strom et al (2014, p. 1010) conducted a study intended to investigate how consumers benefit from mobile marketing. Findings illustrated that mobile marketing particularly appeals to techno-savvy consumers. Contrarily, a research conducted by Petersen et al (2015, p. 45) indicates that mobile marketing alone does not have any significant degree of impact on consumer decision making process. Instead, the local culture within which a business is located greatly influences decision making. Hence, marketing communications efforts should not just consider the lucrativeness of emerging marketing technologies, but also grass-root cultures likely to influence decision making.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODLOGY
This section outlines the methods and approaches that the researcher will implement in the collection of data for the achievement of stated objectives. The section mainly comprises of the following sections which are discussed below.
3.1. Data Collection
The researcher will implement a primary data collection approach. Primary data consists of raw facts and figures which have not been processed in any way.
3.2. Research Philosophy
The core researcher philosophy for this study is the positivism approach. Positivism entails the formulation of research hypothesis, based on some particular theory, and the subsequent collection of quantitative data for hypothesis testing (Blaikie, 2003, p. 23).
3.3. Target Population
The main target population for this study will include a wide range of smart-phone users who have Whatsapp installed on their devices. A sample will be arbitrarily selected from a group of people aged between 18 and 30 years. This study does not require any specific sample; hence the random non-probabilistic sampling approach will be adopted (Bryman and Bell, 2015).
3.4. Data Collection instrument
The researcher will make use of the questionnaire as the main data collection instrument for this particular study. A questionnaire is a set of questions to which respondents provide their answers. The questionnaire will be closed-ended, and will contain a total of 5 sections and 25 questions.
3.5. Data Analysis Approach
The researcher will implement a quantitative data analysis approach whereby quantitative data sourced from the questionnaires will be analyzed using descriptive statistics. Precisely, the researcher will merely analyze data on customers’ view of Whatsapp marketing and its impact on their purchase decision making process.
4.0. Resources
The following resources will be required for successful completion of this study;
Resources
Quantity
Amount ($)
Purchase of reference material
50
250
Transport costs
N/A
150
Printing costs (Questionnaires)
300
50
Interview costs
N/A
200
Miscellaneous
N/A
200
TOTAL
N/A
850
Based on the resource implications identified above, the study is deemed viable.
5.0. Reflection
This research seeks to investigate the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on consumer decision making process. Existing literature indicates a scarcity in studies precisely addressing the essence of Whatsapp marketing communications in marketing. Consequently, specific objectives for the research regard the impact of Whatsapp marketing communications on each of the five stages of consumer decision making process; need recognition, search for information, and evaluation of choices, actual purchase decision, and post-purchase behavior. The researcher will collect primary data from respondents who will simply be persons aged between 18 and 30 years. The main data collection instrument will be the questionnaire. Quantitative analysis, manifested through descriptive statistics, will be used to analyze data. This research has one major short-coming; focus on a single social media aspect.
References
Blaikie, N., 2003. Analyzing quantitative data: From description to explanation. Sage.
Borden, N.H., 1964. The concept of the marketing mix. Journal of advertising research, 4(2), pp.2-7.
Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.
Darley, W.K., Blankson, C. and Luethge, D.J., 2010. Toward an integrated framework for online consumer behavior and decision making process: A review. Psychology & marketing, 27(2), pp.94-116.
Fodness, D., 1992. The impact of family life cycle on the vacation decision-making process. Journal of Travel Research, 31(2), pp.8-13.
Karaatli, G., Ma, J. and Suntornpithug, N., 2010. Investigating Mobile Services'impact On Consumer Shopping Experience And Consumer Decision-Making. International Journal of Mobile Marketing, 5(2).
Leppaniemi, M. and Karjaluoto, H., 2005. Factors influencing consumers' willingness to accept mobile advertising: a conceptual model. International Journal of Mobile Communications, 3(3), pp.197-213.
Melis, M., 2016. An exploration of the factors that influence consumer decision-making process amongst 18-30 years old young women in terms of healthy food (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin Business School).
Persaud, A. and Azhar, I., 2012. Innovative mobile marketing via smartphones: Are consumers ready?. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 30(4), pp.418-443.
Pescher, C., Reichhart, P. and Spann, M., 2014. Consumer decision-making processes in mobile viral marketing campaigns. Journal of interactive marketing, 28(1), pp.43-54.
Petersen, J.A., Kushwaha, T. and Kumar, V., 2015. Marketing communication strategies and consumer financial decision making: The role of national culture. Journal of Marketing, 79(1), pp.44-63.
Payne, J., Bettman, J.R. and Johnson, E.J., 1991. Consumer decision making. Handbook of consumer behaviour, pp.50-84.
Shankar, V. and Balasubramanian, S., 2009. Mobile marketing: a synthesis and prognosis. Journal of interactive marketing, 23(2), pp.118-129.
Strom, R., Vendel, M. and Bredican, J., 2014. Mobile marketing: A literature review on its value for consumers and retailers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(6), pp.1001-1012.
Tunsakul, K., 2011. The evolution of mobile marketing. Bangkok University Executive Journal, pp.187-192.
