The Impact and Influence of Social Media on Consumer Branding and Relationships (Dissertation Sample)

    The Impact and Influence of Social Media on Consumer Branding and Relationships                       Name This Dissertation is submitted to (Institutional name) as partial fulfillment requirement for a degree in (Course) July 20, 2015     DECLARATION This dissertation paper has been completed through my efforts and nothing has been done in collaboration with other parties. I therefore submit it to the University for free use for education and teaching activities or any other activities as may be deemed necessary.   ……………………………. (Name)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful for the guidance offered by …… (1^st Supervisor)…… and (2^nd Supervisor) for their efforts in assisting me complete this dissertation. In the same line, I wish to thank …. (Interviewees)…for their contribution towards the completion of this dissertation.                               Forward “It is no secret that the networked market through social media has great influence on marketing than business organizations. Whether the information shared on networked social sites is bad or good on a particular business or brand, it is exposed to everyone and thus has a potential of affecting organizations positively or negatively”
Abstract The focus of this project was to assess the influence and impact of Social Media on consumer brands and relationships. The influence of social media has eroded marketers control over market information, brands and consumers relationship. Most consumers are having conversations with other consumers over which brands to buy but little conversations with the brands o the marketers. It is now widely believed that social media defines brands and consumer relationship. The study has achieved the research objectives spelt out in the study. Objectives of the study were to assess the influence of social media on consumer branding and relationship (marketing strategies). The study adopted a qualitative approach in primary data collection. After analysis, the explored literature and research findings provided insightful information on how social media influences organizations marketing strategies, consumer value, branding and relationships. The study recommends organizations to adopt and use social media sites as strategies of enhancing their brands, retain their competitive advantage and maintain good relationship with consumers.                       Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1  Background of the study………………………………………………………………..7 1.2  The purpose of the study………………………...………………………………………10 1.3  Who benefits from this study……………………………………………………………11 1.4  Research Problem, Aims and Structure……………………………………………….11 1.5  Research Problem………………………………………………………………………14 1.6  Parameters of the Study………………………………………………………………..11 1.7  Approaches used in the Study…………………………………………………………..12 1.8  Research Objectives…………………………………………………………………….12 1.9   Structure of the Dissertation……………………………………………………………13 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………14 2.1Introduction………………………………………………………………………………14 2.1.1 The Aim of the literature review………………………………………………14 2.2 Exploring the marketing strategies...…………………………………………………..14 2.3 Decline in Organization marketing Strategies…………………………………………15 2.4 Challenges of value creation…………………………………………………………….15 2.5 The Emergence of ‘New Consumer’…………………………………………………....17 2.6 Challenges of consumer decision in brand purchase and Relation..……………………18 2.7 Challenges of branding…………………………………………………………………19 2.8 Factors working against brands…...………………………………………………….19 2.9 Inadequate marketing orientation by organizations……………………………………..20 3.0 The influence of social media…………………………………………………………21 3.1 The Challenges of creating consumer relationships……………………………………21 3.2 Influencing Consumer behavior through social media………………………………..23 3.3 How the social media influence brands.………………………………………………23 3.4 How the social media impacts on Organizations marketing strategies…………………24 3.5 Value creation through Social media……………………………………………………25 3.6 Social media as a source of competitive advantage……………………………………..25 3.7 Creating consumer brand through social media………………………………………26 3.8 The overall impact of social media on consumers’ engagement and brands…………27 3.9 Summary of the Literature review…………………………………………………….27 4.0 Conceptual Framework…….…………………………………………………………29 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Approaches used in this study…………………………………………………………30 3.2. Research Path…………………………………………………………………………32 3.3 Secondary data collection (Literature Review)…………………………………………33 3.4 S...