RESEARCH PROPOSAL
EFFECTS OF IT ON MARKETING CASE STUDY OF ASDA
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION.. 1 RESEARCH AIM.. 1 Research Objectives. 2 PROBLEM STATEMENT. 2 LITERATURE REVIEW... 2 Role of information technology in today’s changing world. 2 Marketing through Information technology. 3 Effect of Information technology on marketing. 7 OUTLINE OF PROJECT. 7 TIME TABLE. 8 REFERENCES. 10
INTRODUCTION
According to Cagliano, Caniato and Spina (2010) information technology plays the most crucial role in today’s globalized world. It can be described as a growing field that offers various techniques such as storage of information as well as manipulation of data in context of any business. On the other hand, marketing is an important concern for any organization nowadays. With the help of adopting proper marketing tactics, companies can easily attract and retain more number of customers. According to Melville, Kraemer and Gurbaxani (2004) communication is the major concern which helps an organization in growing and creating various relationships. It also allows people to better interact with each other and to resolve their any type of queries. Information technology covers wide range of area such as Internet, social media, mobile phones as well as customer relationship management system. These technologies greatly affect the way through which companies communicate with their customers. It is also considered as a significant way of marketing and business promotions as well. Further, it is being determined that information technology highly affects the marketing of any organization. Chadwick, Doherty and Anastasakis (2007) stated that with the presence of IT, companies are able to develop their worldwide presence. They can grow their business by proper marketing through social media and their own website. The present study is based on the case study of ASDA which is an American owned British supermarket retailer which mainly serves different grocery items as well as retail products. They offer a wide range of services to their customers and attract them on the basis of quality. They have developed their online presence in order to attract more number of customers. It is the best way through which ASDA has developed their presence worldwide. More number of customers can make online purchasing just with the few clicks of mouse. ASDA can also keep up with their marketing through social media marketing and also, it can take several reviews from their customers online. It helps them in improving their services and providing quality products to their consumers. With the help of IT, they have gone through several transformations as well as innovation within their business processes.
RESEARCH AIM
To examine the effects of Information Technology (IT) on Marketing of organization: A case study of ASDA
Research Objectives
1. To identify the role of information technology in today’s competitive era. 2. To analyse various information technology sources through which marketing can be done by ASDA. 3. To examine the role of IT on marketing of ASDA. 4. To recommend various ways through which ASDA can improve their marketing.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
In today’s competitive era, Information technology is increasing on its rapid pace. It is a vast area where companies need to decide the appropriate tool which would help them in enhancing their customer base. According to Multhaupt (2007) effective marketing is all about getting messages in front of potential customers in appealing way that can influence the purchase decisions. In order to do this, it is essential to use various information technology tools. It helps organizations in managing their own schedule by keeping up with previous contacts distributing marketing oriented information via email and online marketing channels. Due to the several technologies, it is quite difficult for companies to decide which strategy is best suitable for their firm. Another major problem is to decide the benefits by selecting the most suitable marketing online tool.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Role of information technology in today’s changing world
IT is a vast and innovative area which plays a big role in today’s modern age. With the introduction of computers, the business world was changed and Information technology system ensures that their departments run smoothly (Li 2007). Most of the companies nowadays are using information technology within their different departments such as human resource, finance, security, etc. With the help of this, it can be determined that information technology plays the most important role these days and helps companies in communicating with their customers. By developing online presence, organizations can go with the proper communication with their customers. Thong, Hong and Tam (2006) stated that Information technology has allowed business to keep up with their supply and demand. By using Information technology like Amazon, ASDA is working to help busy consumers. They can make their purchasing within very less time and select the option of home delivery. It makes the life easier for busy people and they can easily save their time. Within this rapid pace of Information technology, just with the few clicks on mouse, an individual can submit an order and system will send that order to company. According to Cagliano et.al (2010) with the increasing IT, globalization has increased the number of competitors and companies are trying to adopt some of the best marketing strategies. With the help of proper marketing, companies can easily reach out to more number of customers. Communication has become cheaper, faster and easier with the help of Information technology. People can now speak to each other by the way of communicating through conferencing. Multhaupt (2007) stated that social media is another most effective area of communication. It has given a huge rating to all the business class people as well as organizations. Due to social media, there is a huge transformation in the era of business. E-mail marketing, social media marketing, advertising, websites, e-commerce etc. These are the areas of development of marketing through IT. ASDA is highly focused with IT strategy and they are having massive users of Google, Facebook etc. Due to this transformation ASDA is also focusing on their developing identity. From past so many years they have started establishing their online presence more appropriately. They are taking several feedbacks from their customers across the globe and try to maintain their quality services as well. Through their online presence they are able attain better and effective marketing as well. However, there are some negative effects of information technology also have been identified such as cyber bullying, when someone steals information of other person and use it for their own purpose. Further, it can be determine that Information technology has proved to be the most expanded field of changing era.
Marketing through Information technology
Organizations nowadays are adopting various techniques which help them in promoting their business firm. According to Melville et.al (2009) with the help of using Information technology sources companies can promote their products and services worldwide. There are some of the latest information technology tools that marketing professionals can use in today’s competitive era such as: Blogging: It is the widely used concept in which many marketing professionals are involved. This process helps the organization in managing all their blogs for their companies. In this, companies can update any type of information which they want to provide to their customers. Customer relationship management: It is the most effective and innovative system of maintaining relationship with customers. According to Michie (2006) most of the companies are using CRM application software in order to keep record of all their customers’ information. They can go with the customer contact, including sales calls, presentations and many more. These are the feasible options of CRM which helps the company in going through the proper marketing. It is the best way to keep in touch with the regular customers and provide them whole information. Computerized presentation: Marketers are often responsible for making best presentations about the services of company. For this, they can create computerized sales and marketing presentation by using power point and various other applications (Brodie and et al, 2007). It also covers up with the user of computer systems and makes it easier for marketers to present any type of information in front of customers. E-mail communication: It is another most effective tool which can be used by companies for better promotion of any type of information. Most of the marketing professionals heavily rely on the one-on-one email communication. It is the best way to accomplish their work. It is the most common technique through which companies can send any type of e-mails to their customers Li (2007). It is the best way of marketing and their message can also be reached out to customers in an effective way. Website: It is quite essential nowadays to have appropriate web design as well as development maintenance skills for all those who work within the field of marketing. By having own company’s website they can easily go with the high level of marketing and communication with their customers. It is another most effective and defined way where companies can keep up regular updates about their products and services. It helps them in promoting their business services and motivating their customers to come up for repeat purchasing. By having a customer review and feedback form on the website of company, they can go through the necessary and required changes by customers. Companies can provide different advertisements on their personal websites regarding any up gradation of products and services as well (Brodie et al, 2007). At the time of marketing through online website, some marketing professionals are expected to handle every aspect of creating website, including design, content development, security etc. On the other hand, some of them go through the outside web development firm on the technical aspects of site management. Further, these are the different qualities required by different companies from their marketing professions. In addition to this, it can be define as a most important way of worldwide marketing. Social media: Nowadays there are so many companies who are incorporating social networking into their promotional as well as marketing efforts. It proves to be very successful as most of the people regularly visit social networking sites. Melville et al (2004) stated that social media is the best tool for attracting new businesses as well as building up customer relationships. Marketers are often responsible for managing Facebook pages as well as Twitter account of company. Due to the increasing and rapid advancements in the era of technology people are using most of the social networking sites on rapid pace. They are addicted towards it and using it 24/7. Facebook is a social site where people can easily contact with each other and maintain better relation with them. These are the free services and companies do not requires spending any type of additional amount on such sites. ASDA is having their Facebook brand page where they can link up all their customers and resolve all their queries by providing them quality responses. Here, company can advertise their latest services as well as any type discount offers. ASDA has still not developed its presence in top manner. In this way, it can be stated that it is the most attractive tool of marketing.
Effect of Information technology on marketing
All the above stated tools are most important techniques through which companies can promote their services and go through the effective marketing. According to (Cagliano, Caniato and Spina, 2010) there is a huge role of information technology in today’s developed era. There are several new technologies in online marketing such as smart phones, CRM system and social media. These tools can aid marketers in reaching new and existing customers (Chadwick, Doherty and Anastasakis, 2007). Further, it can be stated that Information technology has totally changed the era of marketing. Companies can directly communicate with their customers through the internet and easily promote their services in an effective way. It defines that IT plays a major role in effective marketing of company. Here, ASDA can reach out to their target customers by advertising their latest discount offers and promote their services on their personal Facebook fan page. It does not require any type of additional amount and financial source of data. By this, all the messages of company reach out to their customers and though different social networking sites. Appropriate communication can takes place through the help of comments as well as live chat options. Social media helps in gaining attention through social media websites and it is the best way to attract more number of customers. Company’s wants to understand their customers for enhance their market share. It can be easily done by the way of taking online reviews and feedbacks from customers (Reichgelt and Duggan, 2006). By this, companies can select best and effective way to marketing their products.
OUTLINE OF PROJECT
In the present study there are various research methods which will be incorporated in order to attain best results. In this way, it can be determine that Inductive research approach will be taken into consideration in the present study as it helps in accumulating relevant data as per the given subject matter (Silverman, 2010). On the basis of this, several theories will be developed. In addition to this, descriptive research strategy will be the most suitable in this study as it helps in gaining deeper insights into the effects of information technology on the marketing of ASDA. It is an empirical method which consists of observation and then describing the actions of subjects without manipulating them in any manner. Primary and secondary both sources will be used for data collection and it also helps in developing valid conclusion as well. Primary data will be collected from the marketing employees of ASDA about the impact of Information technology on their marketing (Yin, 2014). They can give better justification about how information technology has changed the era of marketing within their firm. With the help of questionnaire survey different questions will be asked from them. For this, sample size of 20 marketing employees of ASDA will be incorporated who can give better response about the use of IT in their work profile. One of the major reasons behind selection of marketing managers of ASDA is their evidences and their work experience. On the basis of their experience they are able to provide appropriate information regarding all the marketing and promotional tools used by them related to the Information technology. They can give better justification about the use of IT from their marketing perspective. In order to ask them such questions a survey takes place in which several questions are already enclosed and they have to fill that questionnaire on the basis of their knowledge and experience. For this, purposive sampling technique will be utilized which helps in gathering appropriate sample from the whole population. On the basis of secondary sources also information regarding the effects of IT in a marketing will be gathered such as online articles, magazines etc. Further, data will be analysed by the way of using qualitative technique under which thematic analysis and graphical representation will be taken into consideration (Goddard and Melville, 2004). After gathering varied responses of different respondents researcher will able to frame most suitable findings on the basis of their responses. Different managers are having different viewpoint about company’s marketing strategy and the role of IT within this. It is thea most effective and suitable way through which appropriate findings can be framed. With the help of this, appropriate conclusion can be drawn upon it. It helps in framing appropriate findings about the role of Information technology and its impact on the marketing of ASDA.
TIME TABLE
Activity 1th Week 2nd Week 3rd Week 4t Week 5th Week 6th Week 7th Week 8th Week 9th Week 10th Week Drafting Research Proposal Literature Review Setting aims and objectives Drafting literature review Drafting of methodology Developing questionnaire Collection of Data Analysis of Data Draft Findings Analyse data Remaining chapters completion
REFERENCES
Brodie, R. J. and et al., 2007. Is remarketing coming of age? An examination of the penetration of e-marketing and firm performance. Journal of Interactive Marketing. 21(1). pp. 2-21. Cagliano, R., Caniato, F. and Spina, G., 2010. E-business strategy: how companies are shaping their supply chain through the internet. International Journal of Operations & Production Management. 23(10). Pp.1142-1162. Chadwick, E. F., Doherty, F. N. and Anastasakis, L., 2007. E-strategy in the UK retail grocery sector: a resource-based analysis. Managing Service Quality. 17(6). Pp.702–727. Chaffey, D., 2009. E-business and E-Commerce Management. 4th ed. FT Prentice Hall. Goddard, W. and Melville, S., 2004. Research Methodology: An Introduction. Juta and Company Ltd. LI, F., 2007. What is E-business: How the Internet Transforms Organizations. Wiley. Melville, N., Kraemer, K. and Gurbaxani, V., 2004. Review: Information technology and organizational performance: An integrative model of IT business value. MIS quarterly. 28(2). Pp.283-322. Michie, J., 2006. Street Smart Internet Marketing: Tips, Tools, Tactics & Techniques to Market Your Product, Service, Business Or Ideas Online. Street Smart Internet Market. Multhaupt, D., 2007. Internet Marketing Via Search Engines with an Emphasis on Platforms and Pay-per-view Portals. GRIN Verlag. O'Leary, Z., 2004. The essential guide to doing research. Sage. Patton, M. Q., 2005. Qualitative research. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Reichgelt, H. and Duggan, W.E., 2006. Measuring Information Systems Delivery Quality. Idea Group Inc. (IGI). Silverman, D., 2010. Qualitative research. Sage. Tanriverdi, H., 2005. Information technology relatedness, knowledge management capability, and performance of multibusiness firms. MIS quarterly. pp. 311-334. Thong, J. Y., Hong, S. J. and Tam, K. Y., 2006. The effects of post-adoption beliefs on the expectation-confirmation model for information technology continuance. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 64(9). Pp.799-810. Yin, R.K., 2014.Case study research: Design and methods. Sage publications. m
I upvoted you.