A New Paradigm: The Influence of Social Media Advertising in The Retail Sector

Abstract

The continual development of social media has given organisations a new platform on which to expand their advertising capabilities. Consumers are shifting towards social media based platforms rather than traditional methods of advertising. The arrival of social media provides new types of interactive medium platforms. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of social media advertising within the retail sector. Primarily a qualitative method of data collection was used for this research to gain reliable findings. Data was collected by conducting interviews amongst top hierarchy management positions at retail companies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to give the researcher flexibility and to allow respondents to clarify complex issues in further detail. Moreover, a deductive research approach was used to test the hierarchy of effects model of advertising amongst respondents to see whether or not there is consensus between the literature and respondents. Based on the findings an inductive approach was then applied to develop a conceptual framework. The study found that despite respondents recognising how social media is greatly beneficial for organisations they also acknowledged some of the limitations that social media can bring. In terms of benefits, social media provides retailers with new opportunities to build stronger relationships due to its interactive characteristics. Furthermore, the social media advertising process model has been developed through literature and primary findings based on the traditional advertising process; the new features of social media provides customers to share their opinions and share contents online which could affect the retailers in a positive or negative way. Consequently, the customers conveying positive comments toward the brand will further lead to securing beliefs and attitude of the hierarchy of effects model to securing brand loyalty.