“Social Media Marketing to Customer Engagement”

Researchers:
Agusan, Dianne Abigail B.
Borja, Early Joy L.
Celestial, Colleen L.
Celestial, Swennee Cate T.
Tano, Julius A.

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to the Subject BACC 12: Thesis

Writing for the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in
Financial Management 4th year Students

Bukidnon State University

College of Business
City of Malaybalay

2022
Chapter One
THE PROBLEM

Introduction

Social media has been on a pedestal which recently gained

tremendous fame, considered as a highly impactful communication channel.

Businesses have shifted from traditional corporate communication practices

to public relations that utilize social media. Social networking was greatly

accepted by the society in which businesses may penetrate. It is considered

as a new trend and rapidly growing in which businesses can easily

communicate with their targeted customers.

More than half of the world’s population uses social media (58.4%),

specifically 4.62 billion people with the average daily time spent of 2 hours

and 27 minutes (Chaffey, 2022). In the Philippines, there were 92.05 million

social media users equivalent to 82.4 percent of the total population (Kemp,

2022). Social media, with its instantaneous features and reliability opens a

broader avenue for organizations to conduct business.

Social media has larger scope, can reach individuals globally, open,

interactive, and real time which changed customer behavior, expectations

and decision process (Dutta, 2019). This is true, particularly in business

communication, information is now more accessible to consumers than they

ever had before. In the past, consumers would start buying products on

popular and big brands until they narrow their choices and decided which

one to buy. Now, consumers buy products even if they’re not popular or

from big brands, they just need to view if the reviews are satisfactory.

Accordingly, it seems like that the most effective social media platform

for over the world are Facebook, whats app, twitter, Instagram, which has a
varied range of audience with over billions of users (Stelzner, 2016). Also,

smartphone users are growing every day by using social media platforms for

online shopping, socializing, share knowledge and information about

products or brands (Al Tawara and Gide, 2017). The internet affect

individuals on their way of communication and has been widely accepted by

all kind of people, this helps them to develop and maintain connection

within their personal level and even at work.

Today, considered as one of the most essential communication tools is

social media, by both individuals and businesses, which share customer

experiences with a certain product and their opinions and compare them

with other consumer experiences. Social media marketing is kind of

marketing which uses websites of social networking for marketing the

products and services. Organizations are now building and maintaining

social media public pages to improve their social network salience, enhance

interest in their organizations, and build relationships with the online public

(Parveen et al., 2015).

The evolution of social media has changed both businesses and

customers. Understanding customer behavior in the social media marketing

context has become a key competitive advantage for businesses that aim to

build a customer-centric standard (Busalim, Hussi, & Iahad, 2019). During

the repeated and meaningful interactions of the business and individual,

the emotional attachment experienced by the customer refers to customer

engagement. This engagement is obtained through loyalty, satisfaction and

excitement (Bansal, 2016). The results of the study of Balathandayutham &

Anandanatarajan (2020) revealed that social media marketing have positive

relationship with customer engagement.

With all this into mind, researchers intend to focus on the relevance of

social media in marketing but there are gaps to these studies and customer

engagement in businesses changes over time. Arguments are still found

claiming further studies to reveal the strategic role of social media. Another

research gap is on the challenges of assessing the efficiency of marketing

through social media and the way through which the engagement of

consumers can be enhanced within digitalized business era (Dissanayake,

Siriwardana, & Ismail, 2019; Balathandayutham & Anandanatarajan,

2020). This paper will fill the gap between the sources and studies

mentioned for the purpose of knowing the influence of Social media

marketing to customer engagement.

Framework of the Study

This study is anchored on Chaffey’s theory of social media marketing.

This theory monitors and facilitate customer’s interaction, participation and

sharing through digital media to encourage positive engagement with a

company and its brands leading to commercial value. Interactions may

occur on a company site, social networks and other third-party websites.

According to the theory, human networking and communication are

the core of human behavior, specifically customer behavior. Chaffey (2016),

social media marketing entails marketing concepts that are intended to be

maintained and managed among followers and supporters which enhances

product awareness, then encourages the customers to identify, purchase,

consume and repurchase the said product, cultivating brand loyalty.

This study assumes that the influence of social media marketing in

customer engagement. Social Media Marketing entails how business owners

feel about their business and how they think about it. It offers business

owners the possibilities for advancement and, in certain cases, even creates

advertisement materials for the promotion of their business. As a result, the

firm and organizations will receive the high-quality service that they desire.

Variables are important to understand because they are the basic units of

the information studied and interpreted in this paper. Researchers carefully

analyze and interpret the value(s) of each variable to make sense of how

things relate to each other’s. The researcher will examine how Social Media

Marketing is related to Customer Engagement. Concern for Data Privacy

have consumers' level of control over personally identifiable information is

measured. In connection to that, Perception of Reliability is a reliability

expectations of customers Firms that do not supply the fundamental service

that customers believe they are purchasing directly fail their clients. While

Social Media Security on social media, protecting brands, executives,

employees, and customers is crucial for modern corporate success.

However, Involvement is a created environment in which an employee

participates more in the day-to-day decision-making which leads to a better

relationship with the manager. While Satisfaction has a metric for

determining consumer satisfaction with a company's products, services, and

capabilities. Also, Commitment is a person's sense of responsibility for the

aims, mission, and vision of the organization with which he or she is

affiliated. And Trust is a strong economy is built on trust within businesses,

between businesses, and between customers and enterprises.

Figure 1 shows the schema of the study.

Social Media Marketing Customer Engagement

 Concern for Privacy  Involvement

 Perception of Reliability  Satisfaction
 Social Media Security  Commitment
 Trust

Figure 1. Schema of the study

Statement of the Problem

This study seeks to assess the influence of social media marketing to

customer engagement. Specifically, this study attempts to answer the

following questions:

1. How do the respondent perceive social media marketing in terms

of;

1.1 Concern for Data Privacy

1.2 Perception of Reliability

1.3 Social Media Security

2. How do the respondents perceive customer engagement in terms

of;

2.1 involvement

2.2 satisfaction

2.3 commitment

2.4 trust

3. Is there a significant relationship between customer engagement

and social media marketing?

Hypothesis

Few academics have discussed the relationship between social

media marketing and customer involvement in the relationship

marketing literature. In the case of relational communication via social

media, individuals' dedication to social media sites naturally leads to the

cultivation of relationships. Online stakeholders make direct

commitments to the firm and other consumers by participating in

conversations on the firm's social media page (e.g., commenting on the

company and its products, expressing support and criticism, sharing

information with social connections). Customer engagement in the field of

relationship marketing encompasses not only the relationships built

between buyers and sellers, but also every possible combination of future

and present clients; non-clients; society in general; and other

stakeholders.

Scope and Delimitation of the study

The study focuses on the Social Media Marketing to Customer

Engagement. The time period of the study is until the end of the 2 nd

semester of the school year 2021 and 2022. This study shall be

conducted in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, City Proper, and will utilize a

quantitative research design and target respondents are the registered

individuals of Malaybalay City who are involved in consumption of goods

and services through social media, and businesses registered in

Malaybalay City who are engaging social media marketing.

Significance of the Study

The significance of any human endeavor is measured by its relevance

to solving human problems.

Business Owners. The researchers assure that the business owners

who uses social media platform for their business can benefit the

outcome of the said study.

Customers. Findings of this study would also help consumers to

identify the problems associated with social media marketing and

customer engagement of this study.

Future Researchers. The results of the study could be beneficial to

other future researchers who intends to explore more on the variables

being covered.

Definition of Terms

Social Media Marketing. The term social media marketing (SMM)

refers to the use of social media and social networks to market a

company's products and services. Social media marketing provides

companies with a way to engage with existing customers and reach new

ones while allowing them to promote their desired culture, mission, or

tone.

Customer Engagement. Customer engagement is the ongoing

cultivation of a relationship between the company and consumer that

goes far beyond the transaction. It's an intentional, consistent approach

by a company that provides value at every customer interaction, thus

increasing loyalty.
Chapter Two

Review of Related Literature

A detailed review that talks about knowledge and findings from

existing literature relevant to this topic. These are previous studies

and concepts that were determined to be relevant to the current

investigation in this paper.

For us to be able to execute this research, we will first have to

study secondary literatures to know and learn more about previous

studies related to the topic. These include results and conclusions

from previous research studies.

Customer Engagement

Customer engagement is what businesses really prioritize, to

not only gain profit but also build a relationship with the consumers.

Without security and data privacy and reliability, it’s hard to obtain

involvement, satisfaction, commitment, and trust from potential

customers through social media. Businesses will have really a big

chance to attract potential customers if they use of social media in a

right way, which is mainly proper interaction with people.

Social Media Marketing

Primary topics that are involved in the research study’s

problem will be discussed in this section. Concern for Data Privacy,

Social Media Security, Perception of Reliability, and Utilizing Social

Media are the four topics to be discussed here.

Although social media companies publish their privacy policies

online, these policies are still inadequate to protect the users’

information. This is why users and consumers are still really

concerned about the data that they put online. But social media

companies does whatever they can to protect information and this is

one of their major concerns. Their privacy policies may have loopholes

in it but protecting them has always been a social media’s priority.

The concerns of privacy makes security in social media an important

factor to customer engagement. Social media websites need to

enhance their security procedures in order to gain trust and increase

the consumer’s confidence to buy products and services through the

use of social media.

Social media websites has improved their security over the

years. Consumers have to be more cautious of any transactions made

in social media. Consumers will just have to find ways to prove that

online sellers are credible enough to be trusted. That’s why the use of

social media has grown over the years, it’s no longer just about

conversations, business owners and sellers have used the platform to

attract and gain potential customers. Businesses have the ability to

increase exposure and reduce their marketing expenditure.

Transactions are now being made through the use of chat in social

media, which makes it easier to communicate to consumers.

Businesses can rely on social media to disseminate information

about their product and services. It is easier to reach potential

customers online since most of people nowadays own social accounts.

Erik Qualman (2012) said in his book that analyzing social data is not

just about whether a Facebook post receives a “like” or if a Twitter

post gains a retweet. One must go further into the discovery of how

the content, conversation, and engagement impacts your customers

and business. It will inform and impact not only marketing strategies,

but also business strategies as a whole. According to Junfen Zeng

(2017) Businesses can also develop loyal fans, marketplace insight,

leads, better business partnerships, and reduced marketing spending

through the use of social media as a marketing tool. If done correctly,

promoting the company or the products of the company by building a

social network can seriously enhance customer loyalty (Divya, S., &

Regi, B. 2014), of course this includes the participation of the

company's consistency and honesty towards its customers.

Overall, studies have been conducted to know the influence of

social media marketing to customer engagement, but there are gaps to

these studies and customer engagement in businesses changes over

time. This paper will fill the gap between the sources and studies

mentioned for the purpose of knowing the influence of Social media

marketing to customer engagement.

Chapter Three

METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with the research methodology of the study,

Including the research design, research locale, respondents or

participants of the study and sampling procedure, research instruments

and research ethics, data gathering procedure and method of analysis. It

also includes validity and reliability of the instrument and statistical

techniques.

Research Design

In this study, the researcher will make use of a quantitative

research approach, aiming to determine the influence of social media

marketing to customer engagement. The Quantitative research approach

emphasize objective measurements and the statistical, mathematical, or

numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires, and

surveys, or by manipulating pre-existing statistical data using

computational techniques.

The Research Locale

The study will be conducted in the City proper of Malaybalay

City, Bukidnon. This place was selected for knowing the customer

engagement of social media marketing. The city is mainly the center of

all product distribution to other places in Bukidnon and its nearest

neighboring provinces, most of its distributors have already involved

in social media marketing strategy since the start of the pandemic and
eventually become the most sufficient means of business transaction

nowadays.

Participants of the Study

The participants of the study are individuals who are registered

individuals of Malaybalay City who are involved in consumption of goods

and services through social media, and businesses registered in

Malaybalay City who are engaging social media marketing. This

individuals could be at any age, for as long as it engaged itself in social

media marketing. The researcher will have both respondents on the

internet and in real life.

Sample Size and Sampling Techniques

Simple random sampling method will be used to identify our

respondents. Each qualified person in the population will have a number

assigned to them. To determine our respondents, we will pick them

through a random number generator. We will have a total of thirty (30)

respondents.

Instrument for Data Collection

The researcher will make use of the most appropriate and suitable

instruments for data collection. The instrument is survey

questionnaire that will be generated in line with the research

questions in a simple and clear grammar to enable the respondent

understand and respond to the research questions.

In this study, the researcher will also employ other instruments for

data collection like personal observation and interview.

Research Instrument

The researcher will gather data through adapted questionnaires.

Below are the survey questions to be use in gathering the data.

Validity and Reliability of the Research Instrument

We will conduct a pilot testing for our research instrument wherein

we will have a sample Size of 30 to determine the validity of its contents

and then we performed a conbach’s alpha test to check its reliability.

Reference

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Appendix A

Questionnaire

May ___, 2022

Dear Participants,

We are conducting a study of The Influence of Social Media

Marketing to Customer Engagement. Please fill in the needed information

in the information sheet below. Rest assured that your responses will be

taken with confidentially. Thank you very much.

Researchers

Part I

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Home Adress:
Part II

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Score the statements (5 = Strongly Agree, 4 = Agree, 3 = Undecided, 2 =

Disagree, 1 = Strongly Disagree)

Adapted and revised from the survey conducted by BUCHANAN, T.,

JOINSON, A. N., SCHOFIELD, C., & REIPS, U.D., (2007). Development of

measures of on online privacy concern and protection for use on the

Internet.

Concern for Data Privacy 5(SA) 4(A) 3(U) 2(D) 1(SD)

1. I am concerned
about online
organization not
being who they
claimed they are.
2. I am concerned
about my privacy
while I am using
the internet.
3. I am concerned
about online
identity theft.
4. I am concerned
about people online
not being who they
say or they are.
5. I am concerned
about being asked
too much personal
information when
registering online
purchase.
Adapted and revised from the survey conducted by TSOURTOS, G.,

& WARD, P., R. (2010). Operationalizing the Theory of Social Quality:

Analysis of the Reliability of an Instrument to Measure Social Quality.

Perception of Reliability 5(SA) 4(A) 3(U) 2(D) 1(SD)
1. I think that most
people would take
advantage of me if
they had the
chance.
2. I trust my
government to do
what is the best
interest of their
citizen most
especially the use
of social media?

3. I trust the various

social media
applications?
4. I trust various
groups of people
I’ve met in the
social media.
5. Generally, I think
the most people in
social media can be
trusted.

Adapted and revised from the survey conducted by JELOVCAN, L.,

VRHOVEC, S., & FUJS, D., (2018). Protection Motivation on Social
Networking Sites: University of Maribor Students.
Social Media Security 5(SA) 4(A) 3(U) 2(D) 1(SD)
1. I believe that social
network providers
would act in my
best interest.
2. The internet service
provider is
interested in my
well-being not just
its own.
3. I believe that it is
within my control
to protect myself
against hacking
into my accounts.
4. It highly bothers me
when social
network asked me
about my personal
data.
5. I always think twice
before submitting
my personal data to
social networks.

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

Score the statements (5 = Strongly Agree, 4 = Agree, 3 = Undecided, 2 =

Disagree, 1 = Strongly Disagree)

Adapted and revised from the survey conducted by KARAMI, A.,

BOZBAY, Z., & ARGHASHI, V., (2018). The Influence of Social Media
Trust on Consumer Behavioral Intention in Tourism Industry.
Trust 5(SA) 4(A) 3(U) 2(D) 1(SD)
1. Based on my
experience with
Facebook, I know it
is honest and care
about users.
2. I would seriously
contemplate buying
from the shop’s fan
page.
3. It is likely that I am
going to book my
room in a hotel’s
fan page.
4. I use social media to
find obtain useful
travel information.

5. I would use social

networking site to
rate the hotel I
book.

Adapted and revised from the survey conducted by GUPTA, S., &

BASHIR, L., (2018). Social Networking Usage Questionnaire: Development

and Validation in an Indian Higher Education Context.

Satisfaction 5(SA) 4(A) 3(U) 2(D) 1(SD)

1. I use social
networking site
to create my
social identity.
2. I use social
networking sited for
sharing pictures.
3. I use social
networking sites
for strengthening
interpersonal
relationship.
4. I use social
networking sites to
learn about my
curricular aspect.
5. I use social
networking sites

Adapted and revised from the survey conducted by PRZYBYLSKI, A,

K., MURAYAMA, K., DEHANN, C. R., & GLADWELL, V. (2013). Social

Media Engagement.
Involvement 5(SA) 4(A) 3(U) 2(D) 1(SD)
1. Do you often use
social media in less
than 15 minutes
before going to
sleep?
2. Do you often use
social media when
eating breakfast?
3. Do you often use
social media when
having less work?
4. Do you often get
involve to any
social media
like Facebook?
5. Do you use your
social networking
sites when in bed?

Adapted and revised from the survey conducted by CHUNG, N.,

TYAN, I., & CHUNG, C. H., (2017). Social Support and Commitment
within Social Networking Site in Tourism Experience.
Commitment 5(SA) 4(A) 3(U) 2(D) 1(SD)
1. I spent time
browsing travel
information and
tourism
experiences share
by other in the
Social Networking
Sites.
2. I prefer to use social
networking site is
primarily based on
the similarity of my
values and those
presented by the
social networking
sites.
3. How hard I work on
social networking
sites is directly
related to how
much I am
rewarded.
4. It is necessary to
express the right
behavior or attitude
on social media.
5. I feel I will fit into
the social
networking group
when I share my
knowledge through
social media