The impact of social media in
political campaigning around the world is undeniable. Latest statistics show that close to three fourth of U.S. adults use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, with social network use becoming almost ubiquitous among young adults, according to recent data from the Pew Research Center (2018). Globally, an estimated 2.62 billion people use social networks on a daily basis in 2018, with that number projected to reach 2.77 billion by 2019 (Statista, 2018). With their tremendous growth, social media have become an indispensable part of modern political campaigning, both in the United States and internationally. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or Reddit have changed how political campaigns are run; how politicians and the public access and share political information; and the way we learn about politics, form opinions and attitudes, and ultimately engage in or disengage from the political process.
While social media have clearly affected our understanding of political
communication and its effects on the public, it is difficult to see clear monolithic effects. A 2009 meta-analysis showed that Internet use in general had positive, although relatively small, effects on different aspects of political engagement (Boulianne, 2009). Similarly, a 2015 meta-analysis demonstrated only limited effects of digital media use on political participation, showing that only half of 170 reported effects from 36 selected studies were statistically significant (Boulianne, 2015). Yet another meta-analysis found generally positive effects of social media on three different dimensions of engagement, namely, social capital, civic engagement, and political participation, when surveying 116 relationships/effects reported in 22 different studies (Skoric, Zhu, Goh, & Pang, 2016)
Background to the study
Social media campaign exhibits a broad penetration with over 71% of Internet users all around the world staying connected with the help of social networking websites (eMarketer, 2017a). Moreover, 60% of the worldwide social network users can be reached just via Facebook (eMarketer, 2017b). Therefore, it is not surprising that manufacturers and retailers are increasingly using some form of social media marketing to promote their services or products (Baum et al., 2013, Davis et al., 2014, Kacker and Perrigot, 2016, Yadav et al., 2013, Yahia et al., 2018). According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), social media refers to online applications which enable Internet users to create and exchange content. Especially in the case of the market launch of new products, the implementation of social media campaign may be beneficial for firms due to several advantages that these campaigns provide: first, more people can be reached in a shorter period of time (Cruz and Fill, 2008). Thus, many consumers may be reached due to social media’s broad penetration and thus receive information about the firm’s (new) product (Hu et al., 2018). Second, the spread of positive word-of-mouth via social networks may influence potential customers’ decision making and possibly increase their purchase intentions (Jansen et al., 2009). One special form of such social media campaign that try to foster the impact of positive word-of-mouth are social media campaign. social media campaign are an experience-based advertising approach where some product testers are motivated and incentivized to share their positive product experiences online (Oberhofer et al., 2014). In this case, firms have recognized that first-hand experiences from consumers that already tried the (new) product have been shown to have a higher impact on potential consumers than information stemming from the firm (Willemsen et al., 2011). Taken together, these advantages are beneficial for a successful new product launch and extensive previous research already investigated the impact of online word-of-mouth on product success (Chevalier and Mayzlin, 2006, Marchand et al., 2017, Zhu and Zhang, 2010). Therefore, the focus of this paper is to analyze the impact of a social media campaign which is one special form of social media campaigns, on the success of a new product introduction.
In particular, this paper addresses the following research questions: i) what is the impact of a social media campaign on consumers’ attitude toward a new product?, ii) what is the impact of a social media campaign on consumers’ purchase intention?, iii) what is the impact of a social media campaign on consumers’ recommendation behavior? and iv) what is the influence of actual testing the product on consumers’ attitude, purchase intention and recommendation behavior?
To answer these questions, the authors analyze survey and behavioral data of a social media campaign and its related online community on Facebook, which was implemented to support the market launch of a new durable product (i.e., high-end binoculars).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Table of Contents
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
- Background to the study
- Statement of the Problem
- Research questions
- The Objectives of the Study
- Significance of the Study
- Scope of the Study
- Operational Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Review of Related Literature
2.2 Empirical Studies
2.3 Theoretical Framework
2.4 Review of Relevant concept of social media campaign
2.5 Summary of the literature
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Population of the Study
3.3 Sample Size and Sampling Techniques
3.4 Research Instrument
3.5 Validation of the Research Instrument
3.6 Reliability of the Research Instrument
3.7 Research Procedure
3.8 Methods of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULT AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
4.1 Data presentation and analysis
4.2 Testing of hypothesis
4.3 Discussion of finding
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Summary of Study
5.3 Summary of Major Findings
5.4 Recommendations
5.5 Limitation of the Study
5.6 Suggestions for Future Research
References
Appendix
List of the Tables
4.1 Analysis of Research Questionnaire Administered
4.1 Distribution of Respondents by Sex
4.2 Age Distribution
4.3 Marital Status Distribution
4.4 Educational Qualification Distribution
4.5 Years of Service Distribution
4.6 Research Question One
4.7 Research Question Two
4.8 Research Question three
4.9 Research Hypothesis One
4.10 Research Hypothesis Two
4.11 Research Hypothesis Three
