Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify the visibility of social media marketing

during the holiday season; investigate consumer’s desired level of involvement through social

media; compare involvement of consumers on social media to business activities; and generate

social media market strategies to further engage consumers in the holiday season. The research

will illuminate potential areas of development through integration of consumer content and brand

interactions.

Literature Evaluation: Secondary data analysis will be considered as validation or revocation

of primary data findings. Preliminary secondary data analysis has revealed the following insights

in the way of social media usage and consumer involvement.

Social Media: From a 2011 Nielsen report on social media, active social networkers are twelve

percent more likely to shop online than the average adult Internet users (State of the Media).

Companies have reflected that increased social media marketing has led to greater search engine

optimization. There are indications of considerable growth for marketers to gain by social media

marketing; the top three advantages are increasing exposure, traffic, and building new business

partnerships (Stelzner).

Users tend to be under the age of 50, with the domineering cohort of users between the ages of

18 to 29 representing 83%. Women are more likely than men to be users; urban-living users also have higher activity than rural internet users (Duggan). Users exposed to a brand’s social media platform are found to show greater brand loyalty. “Of consumers participating in social media,

those exposed to a brand’s influenced social media spent 20 percent more time online compared to those exposed only to social media relevant to a brand’s category” (Copeland).

Consumer Involvement: A collaborative survey administered by Domo and Column Five Media

in 2012 explored user generated content on popular social media platforms, and the saturation of

photos, videos, blog posts and check-ins on them. The results indicate: 684,478 pieces of content

are shared through Facebook, 100,000 tweets sent, and 48 hours of video content are uploaded to

YouTube per minute (Tepper). Research by Deloitte in 2012 investigates social media use and its

impact on holiday consumption. 54% of consumers used social media to look for sales and

discounts, while 53% researched gift ideas, and 28% actively shared and commented on stores

and sales ("Usage of Social Media for Holiday Shopping in 2012."). To generate gift ideas, 41%

of social media users incorporate product reviews while 11% discuss gift items with friends

online ("Usage of Social Media for Holiday Gift Ideas in 2012.").

The discovery-oriented research opportunity is proposed: What opportunities are there to further

consumer involvement with social media during the holiday season?

As a hypothesis, research findings will conclude that varying cohorts with widening social media

involvement should be the prime targets for digital marketing initiatives as they continue to

demonstrate strong social media exposure to conversion correlations.

Methodology: Stemming from an in-depth interview with the client, a better understanding of

the client’s objectives and current application of social media, leading up to, and during the

holiday season, was obtained. Additionally, the promotional and financial opportunities, along

with future partnered projects, were discovered through the interview process. The research is

intended to uncover potential consumer engagement opportunities for consumer involvement,

desired levels of involvement, and methods to expand social media market strategies.

In order to fulfill the aforementioned research objectives, it was determined that the exploratory

research design would be an optimal fit for the project. For the research, the primary methods of

data collection consist of cross-sectional descriptive studies through quantitative surveys, in-

depth interview, and semi-structured field observations. After deliberation on the survey’s

sampling frame, it was agreed upon that consumers most representative of the target population

would be those who use social media during the holiday season. The sample frame includes

consumers in an urban environment; demographics vary amongst income, education, household

composition, and gender. The sample plan proposed is a non-probability, convenience sample

where participants are readily accessible, and willing to contribute, but also align with the pre-

determined sample frame. Falling under the umbrella of the sample selection, key traits of

consumers are families, couples, and individuals eighteen years or older. After compounding the

research results, a focus group moderator guide will be generated that will used by the client to

conduct focus group interviews. In order to structure the moderator’s guide in a manner that

fosters discussion amongst the participants, open-ended questions will be methodically

constructed.

Survey Design: The proposed survey is built through Qualtrics, an online survey tool, and

strongly emphasizes gamification in its design, to facilitate user engagement. The survey’s

interactive capabilities support the participants’ experience, and allows them to overcome survey

induced fatigue. In order to further fuel the research’s gamification theme, iPads will be used to

facilitate a modernized approach, and support the intended game-like feel to the data collection

process.

The survey questions are built around four question structure categories: nominal, ordinal,

interval, and ratio. Nominal types are intended to put a name to a category and are presented as

multiple choice questions. One such example from the proposed survey asks consumers to select

which media resources were used in the planning of holiday activities on The Magnificent Mile.

Ordinal questions attempt to rank response options within a category. Interval question types

employ an interval scale for respondents to indicate their satisfaction or frequency of

consumption. An example of ordinal and interval questions from the survey ask the consumer to

rank the likelihood of participation within various activities, and to indicate the frequency of

participation in these same activities. Lastly, ratio type questions are classified as open response

and results provide meaning through the quantitative values that are provided. The proposed

survey incorporates ratio questions in asking consumers to indicate time spent at various Lights

Festival events.

To combat unwanted bailout, the survey has been strategically designed with the potential

likelihood taken into consideration. Questions are framed in a way that gains information in the

event of that there of, as well as the positioning throughout the survey. The length of the

proposed survey is twenty questions to further minimize bailout and to mitigate a lack of

participant interest.

Primary data collection through surveys allows for collection of data directly from the desired

consumer segment. The proposed survey design will grant more concentrated data to be

extracted than is available through secondary data. For example, secondary data has revealed

only consumption related uses of social media for the holiday season, while primary data can be

tailored to address other uses of social media through the season.

Implications: Organizations must be responsible for assessing the value of social media in

fostering consumer relationships, while further recognizing social media user involvement habits

and desires, in order to promote brand visibility and engagement. The relationship between

social media usage and consumption during the holiday season, explored by the research, will

exhibit the degree of importance in integrating social media as a means to cultivate brand

innovation, while drawing insights and feedback from the public. Correlations existing between

consumer involvement with social media and consumption patterns may appear through the

research, allowing organizations to better define their target for social media activity during

holiday months, allowing the most engaged consumers to contribute to brand innovation.

The research will give brands and companies the ability to develop improvements on current

social media platforms, and create new consumer tailored social media outlets, allowing for a

more engaging experience and deeper relationships and between the consumers and businesses.

Works Cited

Copeland, Chris. The Influenced: Social Media, Search and the Interplay of

Consideration and Consumption. Rep. N.p.: GroupM Search, 2009. Statista. Web. 20 Oct.

2013. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/20703026/The-Influenced-Social-Media-Search-and-

the-Interplay-of-Consideration-and-Consumption>.

Duggan, Maeve, and Joanna Brenner. The Demographics of Social Media Users — 2012.

Rep. Washington, D.C.: Pew Research Center, 2013. Statista. Web. 19 Oct. 2013.

<http://pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_SocialMediaUsers.pdf>.

State of the Media: The Social Media Report. Rep. N.p.: Nielsen, 2011. Statista. Web. 18

Oct. 2013. <http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/reports-

downloads/2011-Reports/nielsen-social-media-report.pdf>.

Stelzner, Michael A. 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. Rep. N.p.:

SocialMediaExaminer.com, 2010. Statista. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.

<http://marketingwhitepapers.s3.amazonaws.com/SocialMediaMarketingReport2010.pdf>

.

Tepper, Allegra. "Mashable." Mashable. N.p., 22 June 2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2013.

<http://mashable.com/2012/06/22/data-created-every-minute/>.

"Usage of Social Media for Holiday Gift Ideas in 2012." Statista RSS. EMarketer, Nov.

2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://www.statista.com/statistics/248037/usage-of-social-

media-for-holiday-gift- ideas/>.

"Usage of Social Media for Holiday Shopping in 2012." Statista RSS. EMarketer, Nov.

2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://www.statista.com/statistics/248055/usage-of-social-

media-for-holiday-shopping/>.