BU7002 Management Research Methods Assignment Sample 2023
Title
Analysing brand community interactions via social media and implications on sales: A case study of MacDonald’s.
Introduction
Background of the study
A brand community is a specialised globally bound community and is based on a social relationship among the admirers of the brand and it helps customer share a set of interest in the product and mutually interact for better requirements of the customers towards the brand (Jibril et. al. 2019). It is a set of customer-centric communities where brand-consuming experiences can be shared. It is a community formed on the basis of the attachment customer have towards the brand. A brand community can be defined as the self-selected group of people that share a value, standard, and represent the brand while recognising the bond towards the brand as a member. A brand community interaction via social media is the communities that form groups in social media platforms and it enhances brand loyalty through the use of the brand with various interactions that create value towards the customer transforming them into loyal users.
Almost 51% of people interact with a brand via social media and leave reviews mentioning the brand up to 31% helps the brand to recognise the efficiency of the service provided (Lima, Irigaray & Lourenco, 2019). The direct message, tweeting at brand, mentioning a brand at their profile enhances the brand recognition and communication with brand users for effective value creation. Social media interaction is a factor that enables two-way conversation between the company and the customer. In social media platforms, people expect brands to communicate and understand their requirements which helps to increase brand loyalty. If a company likes a tagged post, interacts with problems, and appreciates connecting with the brand tends to have a huge impact on customer satisfaction and customer retention (Kaur et. al. 2018). Every positive interaction has the potential to turn the casual shopper into a lifetime fan that has huge growth in sales. Due to constant changes in customer expectation and social media growing users, 80% of customers expect companies to interact with them on social media.
Therefore, this research topic will focus on the area of brand community interaction via social media to check the implication on sales with proper communication focusing on McDonald’s. This paper will focus on exploring various brand community interactions conducted by the company that is increasing the sales in modern society. Along with that, the changes required by the McDonalds to interact with the community via social media will also be evaluated for fitting well in the changing industries. The research paper will be conducted based on a systematic literature review via secondary data collection method.
The rationale of the study
Almost 90% of people are interacting on social media platforms and social media is conversational by nature. A great conversation between brands can have a huge impact on sales while increasing brand interaction among target customers (Carlson et. al. 2018). A positive interaction in social media with a brand is increasing the willingness of consumers to buy the brand products or services by 78% more. 77% of people with good interaction choose brands over others and recommend the brand-enhancing the sales. 70% of the people develop a strong bond with the brand as loyal fans that will help to increase the brand value. Every time a brand replies to its customer on social media a company demonstrates the care of the customer’s opinion that encourages the customer to interact more with the brand (Cheung, Pires & Rosenberger III, 2019). This is a process of increasing the engagement rate that helps businesses to get in front of the eyes of the customer.
Therefore, the social media brand community interaction will help to identify and analyse McDonald’s implication on sales. It will help to understand the value of brand interaction and customer loyalty base in McDonald’s due to the social media interaction. The research study will help evaluate the importance of social media interaction in modern society for bringing required changes in the company for future growth and efficiency.
Aim and Objectives
Aim
The aim of this research is to analyse and evaluate brand community interactions via social media and implications on sales: A study on MacDonald’s.
Objectives
The objective will be based on the SMART objective model.
| Specific | To access the contribution of brand community interaction via social media on sales of McDonald’s |
| Measurable | To analyse and evaluate the sales achieved by McDonald’s via social media interaction. |
| Attainable | To access resources provided in the journal, articles, e-books to retain the data of brand community interaction activities conducted by McDonald’s to increase sales. |
| Relevant | To evaluate the sales implication and identify the changes required in McDonald’s for effective growth in the company. |
| Time-based | To collect the data for fulfilling the goals within 8 weeks from now. |
Research Question
- What is the contribution of the social media interaction on sales of the McDonald’s?
- What are the recommendation for the required changes in McDonald’s for effective growth in the business?
Literature Review
Brand community interactions
As per Coelho, Rita & Santos, (2018) brand community interactions can be described as a place where people have an emotional connection with the brand. In simpler terms, the brand community focuses on highlighting brand loyalty at its best. Brand community interaction helps in developing community with individuals that are emotionally invested in the company, they will buy products from the company and will focus on doing word-of-mouth advertisement by telling their friends and family. A brand community is highly different from brand awareness. Individuals that buy or know about the brand don’t mean that they are a part of the brand community. The brand community can be described as the group of individuals that follow all of the content on social media that are focused on sharing the product and services or content with others (Wang, Chih & Hsu, 2020). These interactions with the brand involve everything the brand does. However, the brand community is described as a place where people form an emotional connection with the brand and can connect with the brand and with each other as well.
Theory of Brand loyalty
Theory of brand loyalty describes the relation of customer with brand of a company. The theory defines positive behaviour of a customer towards brand which has mainly three aspects such as emotional attachment, behavioural aspect and brand evaluation. In this regard, the organisation must have a strong existence on social media. It is the primary duty of the organisation to develop the brand community and connect with them directly. Along with that, developing strategies that help individuals involved in the community so they can interact with each other. It has to be noted that brand community is a powerful tool.
Companies can take beneficial advantage of brand community interaction as the people that use the brand products regularly, share blog content, provide general feedback and more can be used for testing new product mock-ups (Haverila, Haverila & McLaughlin, 2022). This community can also benefit the brand in making customer-driven decisions and can-do word-of-mouth advertisements. Along with that, ensure that the brand must focus on developing a strong community that focuses on rewards and thrives the community members.
Social media tool to develop brand community
It needs to be noted that developing brand community and enhancing interaction with community people is necessary to follow trends and demands so they can feel connected (Pradhan, 2018). Every brand focusing on increasing their sales and growth must have strong brand community interactions with their consumers so they can promote and share the content with their family and friends. Social media can be used to develop brand community utilising two ways including engaging through the platform or creating a social media group. McDonald’s believe in building a strong brand community so they can attract and target new customers effectively. In the case of McDonald’s, the company uses social media for advertising its new products or services, reports on community engagement, and sweepstakes.
Furthermore, McDonald’s has a strong social media presence. It can be observed that developing global brand status is highly beneficial for retaining the attention of current followers and brand loyalists. The primary strategy used by McDonald’s in developing the brand community focuses on building localised social media channels so they can build brand community efficiently (Haverila et. al. 2021). They build brand communities differently because of diverse menus, restrictions, promotions, and more in different countries worldwide. Using different social media accounts helps the community members in establishing an emotional connection as they can communicate in the language they prefer or speak. For instance, they can communicate in non-English languages, developing a more personal connection with their community members and it is beneficial for customers that don’t live in English-speaking countries.
Moreover, for developing strong brand community interactions with consumers, it is must to note that brands that can take advantage of hashtags will make it look unique and different from other organisations. Similarly, McDonald’s portrays a relatable and humorous personal on their social networking sites (Wijaya et. al. 2020).
Branding theory
Branding theory provides assistance on some major components of a brand including business standards, awareness for people towards brand, relation with customer and brand development. It is their primary strategy to use social media in a friendly manner so they can attract their consumers and primary community members. On the other hand, using Twitter they majorly play with the world using hashtags and Hash Browns in the bio is the finest way of attracting community members or followers. Further, from the different social media platforms, Facebook is the major platform that is used for enhancing community interaction. It is the primary platform where most of its customer interacts with the brand and they focus on keeping their post-light-hearted and fun (Jibril et. al. 2019). The brand uses different strategies for building brand community interactions. For instance, on Instagram, they take advantage of links and emojis to attract people. It can be observed that various strategies have been utilised by the company to connect with their communities and it is beneficial for increasing sales.
McDonald’s social media strategy for developing strong brand community
According to Lima, Irigaray & Lourenco, (2019) social media networking is increasing all around the world as every individual utilise social networking platform so they can interact with their customers effectively. To develop strong brand community, McDonald’s utilises social media for responding to customer queries and focus on rectifying their problem. It helps them in building emotional and strong connection with their brand by communicating with them constantly. Brand community interaction is all about communicating with the members of community members so they feel satisfied and share the brand with other individuals as well (Tien, 2019). The post uploaded by McDonald’s on social media is covered with comments from both happy and unhappy customers. But the priority is to keep them happy by replying to their comment so they can get respond to their queries effectively. Getting social is the key for brands to manage a healthy, good and effective brand image. The majority of queries have been asked on Twitter by customers and unlike other social networking sites, these messages are not hidden in comments but pops up in the front of eye.
Other than that, the advertising techniques used by the brand on social media help them in building strong brand community interaction as well. The brand focuses on sharing about new products, and services they are going to launch to keep their customers about the meals they can enjoy. These organised campaigns are relevant and timely which helps in communicating with the customer as well. It can be observed that developing a brand community on social media helps them in analysing the changes in consumer demands (Hong et. al. 2018). For instance, consumers are becoming more health-conscious nowadays and their trends are shifting to have more nutritional food. McDonald’s has taken advantage of social media platforms to reach community members and position their brand as a healthy and all-natural choice for the customers. Looking at the changing trends and demands of consumers they have also added various healthier options like wraps, salads, and various nutritional options.
Conclusion
It is analysed that social media interaction with the community members helps in implicating on sales as well. It can be observed that the well a brand communicates and connects with their customer, the more they will be able to keep them satisfied. Building strong brand community interactions through social media helps in increasing their sales as it helps them in promoting their new products and services that reach millions of followers and subscribers easily and quickly (Yazdanpanah, 2020). It attracts the community to try new meals and enjoy the services offered by the brand. Hence, the brand community interaction of McDonald’s through social media not only helps in increasing sales but also helps in advertising new products and resolving the queries raised by consumers.
Research Methodology
The methodological choices made by the researcher while conducting the research study plays a significant role in accomplishing the objective with authenticity. Therefore, the various methodological choices that will be implemented in this research study will be explained below:
Research Philosophy
Research philosophy tends to have a major role in influencing the overall quality of the research study. In general, it can be defined as the belief about the way in which data about the situation can be gathered, analysed, and used (Bairagi & Munot, 2019). In this research study, the researcher will use positivism as the research philosophy. This philosophy will help to view factual knowledge gained from the research topic while doing the research that will make the study more relevant.
Research Approach
There are two types of research approach which are deductive and inductive and the research topic decides the research approach to be chosen. For the current research topic, the researcher will make use of the inductive research approach. This approach will allow the researcher to understand in detail how social media interactions are being used and how it will implicate the sales of McDonald’s (Pandey & Pandey, 2021). In this research approach, systematic aim and objectives will be designed for conducting the research systematically. It will help to analyse topic from specific observation to broad generalisation of the topic to accomplish the goals.
Research design
There are two types of research methods depending on the research nature and it is divided into two groups which are analytical and descriptive (Mohajan, 2018). For the current research, researcher will make use of analytical method to make use of facts and information which is already available. In this regard, the information and facts will be analysed to make critical evaluation of the available information. It will focus on particular area of topic to analyse brand community via social media and gather detailed information about the implication on sales from various brand community interactions.
Data collection method
The data collection method helps to gather the information and it’s of two types; one primary and another secondary data collection method. In this study, the researcher will make use of the secondary data collection method for collecting detailed information regarding the topic. The major reason for selecting the secondary data collection method is to collect the information related to the topic in detail which is already available with valuable facts (Newman & Gough, 2020). The benefit of using secondary data collection method is that the data will be easily accessible in terms of published form for a better understanding of the impact of social media interaction on sales of McDonald’s. The research will also be easily conducted in a cost-effective manner with the help of secondary data collection techniques.
Inclusion criteria: For collecting the data on the topic, the researcher will use key words for collecting data from the sources of journals, e-books, articles, magazines, and other published sources (Basias & Pollalis, 2018). All the sources that will be collected will be within 5 years of published data for the authenticity of the report.
Key words: Brand community, social media, sales implications, Brand management.
Exclusion criteria: All the data and information available before 2017 will not be added or selected for the research. The information, articles and journals will be added only related to the topic.
Data Analysis
Analysis of the data collected through the method of data collection is important as what type of data analysis technique will be used is directly based on the type of data being collected by the researcher. For this study, the researcher will use thematic analysis technique in order to compare the literature with secondary findings (Ragab & Arisha, 2018). In this regard, themes will be made on selected topic using articles and other information material for critical evaluation of findings. The method is useful in analysing the qualitative data that enables the process of describing the data but also involves common themes to identify through the collected data, and then be analysed in a systematic manner. Source of information from where data is collected are: Science direct, research gate, springer, online library, emerald.
Sampling
Sampling is used to select specific people from a large population to be included in the research. Sampling helps in making research size manageable, saves costs and time and provide opportunity to process data and information in a more systematic and effective manner. There are two types of sampling method known as probability and non-probability sampling (Newman & Gough, 2020). For the current research, systematic random sampling method will be used to select 15 articles and journals based on the research topic. This will allow research to select systematic information to be presented for thematic analysis and critical evaluation.
Ethical Consideration
Ethics have a significant role to play in every individual life and for the research studies, the researcher has to follow ethical practices to conduct the research effectively. In this research, the researcher will have to ensure the data protection rights and the privacy of the people whom information is involved in the study and should follow confidentiality of the target area that is focused on by the researcher. The researcher must ensure that all the data gathered from the literature sources should be retained ethically with no manipulation of the words. The researcher will collect the data and will interpret it honestly with the relevant representation of the data. The quality and relevancy of the research is the main focus and highly authentic data from the literature sources are required to be gathered for interpreting the information (Melnikovas, 2018). Therefore, it can be said that the research study will be conducted with proper ethical consideration without any breach of ethical practices.
Time-plan and Deliverables
Gantt chart
| Activity | W-1 | W-2 | W-3 | W-4 | W-5 | W-6 | W-7 | W-8 | W-9 | W-10 | W-11 |
| Introduction to the topic | |||||||||||
| Framing research aim, objectives and questions | |||||||||||
| Collecting secondary data | |||||||||||
| Analysing the data and sampling out the data | |||||||||||
| Addressing key deliverables | |||||||||||
| Developing research paper | |||||||||||
| Concluding the results |
Key Deliverables
The introduction section of the research had primarily focused on identifying the concept of brand community interactions and the way it can help the brand in building a strong relationship with its customers. It can be observed that there is a huge difference between brand community and brand awareness and the research will clearly distinguish both terms. Following that the literature will focus on different concepts. In today’s developing era, the utilisation of the internet among individuals is increasing and they stay active on social networking sites all day. Their active role on social networking platforms increases the opportunity for the brand to attract and target its community members. It is must to develop an emotional connection with people that knows the brand, buy a product from it, and share the content with other members. It helps in enhancing the members of the community group.
Furthermore, the research also aims at understanding the primary role of social media in developing brand community interaction. Other than that, it will also highlight different ways utilised on social networking sites to reach out to consumers. The case of McDonald’s will be discussed in broad terms along with discussing the strategies being used by them to increase brand community interactions. They also use social media to resolve queries of their community so they can enhance their satisfaction. Along with that, the research has also described research methods utilised to meet the aims and objectives.
References
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