To investigate the impact of social media marketing on customer engagement

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To investigate the impact of social media marketing on customer
engagement

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ABSTRACT
Social media marketing aims to gain high attention from customers through social media
sites and gives higher emphasis on healthy relationship with customers for promoting
products and services. The main purpose of the current study was to assess the impact of
social media marketing on customer engagement by considering Morrisons in UK as case
study. Morrisons in UK was selected for the study, since the firm is highly recognized for its
effective social media marketing and solid online customer base.
For the purposes of successful development of research study, the researcher has
considered interpretivism philosophy and inductive approach. For collecting the data
required for the study the researcher has considered case study and survey strategy. For
developing the case study the researcher has considered secondary sources such as annual
reports of Morrisons, company reports and documents, online books and journals etc. For
collecting qualitative as well as quantitative data the researcher has conducted self
administered survey with 30 customers of Morrisons by visiting 3 Stores of Morrisons
located in Glasgow, Stirling and Witham in UK. Main findings of the study revealed that
Twitter and YouTube were the most performing social media channels of Morrisons. The
researcher from the study revealed that Recipes and tips and offers and promotions were
the most active social media activities of Morrisons. The researcher based on findings
recommended that Morrisons need to improve its brand activity on Facebook and
Instagram and also recommended to resolve customer grievances through social media.

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Contents
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................2
LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND TABLES.....................................................................................5
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................7
1.1Introduction ......................................................................................................................7
1.2 Research background.......................................................................................................7
1.3. Rationale..........................................................................................................................9
1.4 Research aim..................................................................................................................10
1.5 Research objectives........................................................................................................10
1.6 Research questions ........................................................................................................10
1.7 Research significance .....................................................................................................11
1.8. Purpose of the study .....................................................................................................11
1.9. Structure of the dissertation.........................................................................................11
1.10 Summary ......................................................................................................................12
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................13
2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................13
2.2 Understanding the main variables of study ...................................................................13
2.2.1 Social Media Marketing ...........................................................................................13
2.2.2 Customer Engagement ............................................................................................14
2.3 Social media marketing components and elements ......................................................14
2.4 Metrics used for identifying customer engagement .....................................................16
2.5 Social Media-Customer Engagement model..................................................................17
2.6 Impact of social media marketing on customer engagement .......................................18
2.7 Analyzing the impact of social media marketing on customer engagement in UK .......20
2.8 Link between existing studies and researchers own work ............................................22
2.9 Conceptual framework...................................................................................................23
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY............................................................25
3.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................25
3.2 Research philosophy ......................................................................................................25
3.3 Research approach.........................................................................................................26
3.4 Research purpose...........................................................................................................27
3.5 Research strategy...........................................................................................................28

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3.6 Data collection methods ................................................................................................29
3.7 Sampling size and sampling methods ............................................................................30
3.8 Data analysis plan...........................................................................................................31
3.9 Ethical issues ..................................................................................................................32
3.10 Accessibility issues and research limitations ...............................................................32
3.11 Summary ......................................................................................................................33
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS .....................................................................34
4.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................34
4.2 Plan of analysis...............................................................................................................34
4.3 Case study of Morrisons in UK .......................................................................................34
4.4 Quantitative analysis......................................................................................................42
4.5 Identifying gaps..............................................................................................................54
4.6 Judgment of findings......................................................................................................54
4.7 Summary ........................................................................................................................56
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..........................................................57
5.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................57
5.2 Conclusions.....................................................................................................................57
5.3 Evaluation of results.......................................................................................................59
5.4 Recommendations .........................................................................................................60
5.5 Research Limitations ......................................................................................................60
5.6 Recommendations for future works ..............................................................................61
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................62
APPENDIX 1: CUSTOMER SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE................................................................71

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LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND TABLES
List of figures
Figure 2.1: Customer engagement model……………………………………………..17
Figure 2.2: Online retail sales 2015-2016……………………………………………...22
Figure 2.3: Conceptual Framework……………………………………………………..23
Figure 4.1: UK supermarkets share of chats…………………………………………..35
Figure 4.2: No of new followers on Twitter (2016) …………………………………….38
Figure 4.3: Number of posts per day on Twitter………………………………………..39
Figure 4.4: Customer engagement through Facebook………………………………..39
Figure 4.5: Twitter performance of Morrisons- August 2016……………………….…40
List of charts
Pie chart 4.1: Age of the customers participated in survey……………………………43
Pie chart 4.2: Gender of surveyed customers………………………………………..…44
Pie chart 4.3: Years of relationship with Morrisons………………………………….…45
Pie chart 4.4: Frequency of using social media platform of Morrisons…………….…46
Pie Chart 4.5: Performance of Morrison’s on social media platforms……………..…51
Pie Chart 4.6: Satisfaction Rate……………………………………………………….…52
Pie Chart 4.7: Customer Loyalty……………………………………………………….…53
Pie chart 4.8: Areas of social media marketing of Morrisons that need
improvements………………………………………………………………………………54
Bar chart 4.1: Customer rating for SMM performance of Morrisons……………….…48
Bar chart 4.2: Customer rating for social media marketing activity of Morrisons……50

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List of tables
Table 4.1: Customer rating for the social media performance of Morrisons…………47
Table 4.2: Customer rating for social media activities of Morrisons…………….……49

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1Introduction
Innovative and technologically improvised marketing schemes through social media
websites such as Instagram, Twitter, Yelp, Facebook, Google+, etc. combined with the
procedures of attaining web traffic gains comprises social media marketing at an
organization. According to Ming and Yazdanifard (2014), effectual marketing via social
media’s and an organization’s influential social presence largely inspires customers and
hence has a positive impact on attributing to the relationship with customers. However as
Icha and Edwin (2016) determines, ineffectiveness in this marketing scheme produces
adverse impacts on organizations and hence continuous up-gradation to facilitate dynamic
customer relations is essential.
This chapter investigates the significance of these variables; social media marketing and
customer engagement by developing research background and ascertains its contemporary
significance and future implications. It also frames aims and research questions so that the
whole dissertation can be designed accordingly.
1.2 Research background
The advent of internet has put forward a new dynamic platform that has brought multitude
of people together dissolving geographical barriers. It can be seen from the scholastic
researches that the arena of networking has abruptly transformed to a cluster of different
methods such as blogs, websites and other numerous web based applications like
instagram, twitter etc (Nyambu, 2013).
Parallel to these developments, power of customers has also been raising significantly. With
social media, they are always connected and are able to transform the whole purchase
experience. Product information is exchanged incessantly through reviews and updates
using this platform. This novel trend exerts organizations to think new ways for engaging the
customers. As studied by Balakrishnan, Dahnil and Yi (2014), customer experience can be
enhanced by delivering consistent and relevant communication and real time and
personalized experiences are the factors that determine the social media landscape. Hence,

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companies adopt different tactics that leverage relationship with the customers (Sashi,
2012).
It is already established that to sustain growth, organizations need to engage their
customers. Hence, it has been of high interest to organizations to understand those social
media marketing tactics to build the components that can increase the propensity of
customers to engage with the company (Heller Baird and Parasnis, 2011) Consequently,
several factors such as content, trust, extent of interactions, company’s involvement have
been identified as pivotal and the negation of these can disrupt the relationship with
customers, argue Treem and Leonardi (2013).
From the viewpoint of retail industry especially grocery chain, effective networking is crucial
to attain competitive status and technological innovations have further revolutionized the
internet services to be more interactive. It presents with myriad opportunities to the
organizations to collaborate with its audience. Recent statistics show that the retail
industries will double its use of social media to an enhanced value of £3.3bn (Mallinson,
2015). More than 60% of the people make researches for product information prior
purchasing and according to report by Global Ecommerce, more than 40% of customers use
media like Facebook, Instagram etc to explore and investigate on the products (Nielson,
2014). Therefore social media marketing has turned in to become the significant
determinant of increasing brand promotion, position and value among customers.
This portrays the importance of social media in the retail industry. Therefore the researcher
considers Morrisons to assess the significance of it as a strategic tool to drive organizational
performance.
Morrisons is one of the leading super market chains of UK and is one among the big four
supermarket chains of UK with numerous super and local stores and has also been listed as
the component of FTSE 100 Index of organizations. In spite being listed among big four
grocery category, reports by Hall (2013) state the inefficiency of Morrisons in attaining
online presence and social media marketing. Hence through this work researcher intends to
evaluate this title, and thus provide suitable recommendations for Morrisons to enhance
their social media marketing schemes.

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1.3. Rationale
What is the research issue?
Today’s business world’s focal point has shifted to social media as the current statistics
show huge proportion of consumers’ presence in this landscape. More than 90% of the
brands rely on this platform for marketing activities and as per the study, retail industry hold
high degree of connectivity. By disseminating customer-oriented tactics through the social
media, brands strive to enhance their customer base. In line to this, Icha and Edwin (2016)
opines, accomplishing efficient strategies to effectively build platforms to communicate with
customers is obligatory in this scenario. Otherwise, company status is at stake as the
ineffective online presence make customers switch to newer options.
Why is it an issue and why now?
According to the reports of Sillitoe (2015), Morrisons is indexed as one of top three
organizations in FSTE 100 index in regards to its performance in mobile websites and also
has numerous social media followers. However, current reports depict the lagging online
updates, website issues and the complaints and negative comments concerning Morrisons
(Marketing, 2014; Hall, 2013). As studied by Dokyun, Hosanagar and Nair (2014), factors like
relevance of content and company’s ability to track audience needs, effectiveness to
respond timely influence the effectiveness of social media.
Poor performance of Morrison’s in customer satisfaction index also indicates the
ineffectiveness of customer engagement activities of the Company (The Institute of
Customer Service, 2016). Current sales decline by 2.6% can also be read in conjunction to
this (Butler, 2016). Hence, this study tries to investigate whether the SMM ineffectiveness of
Morrisons has any linkage to the decline of customer disengagement.
How and when is it going to be investigated?
For accomplishing this investigation, researcher will collect both primary and secondary data
in relation to the research variables; social media marketing and customer engagement.
Further, surveying customers of Morrisons, UK will help researcher to collect quantitative
data regarding the effectiveness of strategies implemented by organization. Thus

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considering six months time frame, data collection will be immediately done after literature
study.
What could this research shed light on?
Many scholars have already recognized the indispensable role of social media in reaching
out wider customers who are more equipped and knowledgeable in technical areas.
However academic literature pertaining to this research issue is limited. Hence key intention
for doing this research is with regard to the relevance of social media for organizations in
widely promoting products, services and the brand. This work will comparatively analyse the
diverse faces of social media marketing and its impacts on customer engagement. Hence by
recommendations this would aid Morrisons and similar industries to understand their flaws
in the current social media marketing schemes and hence would help them to improvise, so
that organizational performance will be enhanced.
1.4 Research aim
The fundamental objective of this investigation is to assess the diverse effects of social
media marketing in enhancing customer engagement. In order to analyse the real time
aspect of this working title, researcher considers Morrisons as the case study.
1.5 Research objectives
 To analyse the social media marketing activities of Morrisons
 To analyse the customer engagement of Morrisons
 To analyse the impact of social media marketing in enhancing customer engagement
considering the case of Morrisons, UK
 To provide recommendations to Morrisons, UK to improve its social media marketing
techniques so that customer engagement can be enhanced
1.6 Research questions
1. What are the major social media marketing techniques of Morrisons, UK?
2. Are the prevailing social media marketing strategies of Morrisons, effective?
3. What are the various components that comprise customer engagement?

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4. What can be done to improve the social media marketing of Morrison’s so that
customer engagement is strengthened?
1.7 Research significance
Social media marketing strategies of Morrisons is determined to be unproductive and this
has caused to topple the sales growth indicating the decreased level of engagement by
customers. Hence this investigation providing a detailed analysis over this issue would help
Morrisons to determine their flaws in social media aspects and thus be able to overcome
these problems. Therefore this investigation is significant for Morrisons and similar
industries to achieve enhanced performance by adopting efficient social media marketing
techniques.
1.8. Purpose of the study
The present study’s purpose is to explore the different impacts of social media on customer
engagement, particularly in the context of Morrisons, UK. As social media have attained a
wide reception among people all over the world, it has become significantly important for
organizations to cope up with frequently varying technological possibilities. Hence, by
comprehending the association of social media marketing with customer engagement in the
context of Morrisons, the researcher will disclose the present impact of social media
marketing strategies of Morrisons, its customer engagement statistics and will suggest apt
recommendation to better its current social media marketing strategies for attaining
improved performance. Hence this would aid the organization in overcoming challenges if
they faced any, post implementing social media marketing practices.
1.9. Structure of the dissertation
Chapter 1
Introduction
Discusses the research background, aim and objectives of the study,
rationale, statement of the problem and purpose.
Chapter 2
Literature
Review
Includes previous study reviews and literature regarding social media
marketing, different social media marketing strategies, its diverse effect
on the customer engagement.

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Chapter 3
Research design and
methodology
Discusses the different types of research investigation and methods used
to collect adequate data for accomplishing the research study. Also, this
chapter includes ethical and accessibility issues as well as the research
study limitations.
Chapter 4
Results, analysis and
interpretation of data
Includes the presentation, analysis and interpretation of the information
accomplished with the assistance of different research techniques and
methods.
Chapter 5
conclusions and
recommendations
Places the research study’s findings and additionally proposes suitable
recommendations for Morrisons and organisations similar to Morrisons.
1.10 Summary
It can be inferred that social media marketing has acquired a pivotal role in this technology-
driven world of businesses operations. Besides, social media marketing has also become a
predominant part of retail sector which functions through a highly complicated distribution
and deliverance network. Hence, along with offering umpteen positive possibilities to reach
out wide customers, social media marketing with regard to complex nature of retail sector
possess risk factors as it may negatively impact upon a company’s status by disrupting the
relationship with customers. For investigating the effect of social media marketing on
organisational performance, this chapter has outlined the study objectives, background,
rationale, statement of the problem, purpose and an overview of the chapters needed to
attain the study aim.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
The current author has prepared this chapter to critically review existing studies on social
media marketing and customer engagement and identify the relation existing between the
two. Moreover this chapter has identified how social media marketing influences customers
in UK. The main sources of literature extraction included academic journals, online
publications, business reports, websites, academic books and other sources. Additionally, on
the basis of the literature review, the researcher has prepared conceptual framework at the
end of this chapter.
2.2 Understanding the main variables of study
2.2.1 Social Media Marketing
A clear definition to social media marketing has been provided by Hudson et al. (2015) and
the authors say that any type of marketing that utilizes internet platform could be termed as
social media marketing. The recent study done by Godey et al. (2016) and Harrigan et al.
(2016) have confirmed the above definition by citing that social media consists of website
related services, particularly social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook etc. The authors
mention that social media marketing is the activity used by organizations to improve
interactions and relations with diverse group of customers. While studying about social
media marketing, Icha and Edwin (2016) observed that social media provides individuals
with a platform to cultivate and nurture social relationships irrespective of race,
background, nation and culture and hence more than acting as a medium for socializing,
social media has turned out to become an efficient marketing tool.
In the opinion of Alharbie (2015) majority among today’s organizations have effective social
media presence and the main presence of social media marketing is found in online
marketing. As Ming and Yazdanifard (2014) studied, business houses are facilitated in
understanding what each category of customer needs and what obstacles could arise
between the company and its customers using social media marketing. With increased level
of interactions, customers are also updated about organizational services and products
through social media marketing. Agreeing with Saravanakumar and SuganthaLakshmi (2012)

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the current researcher finds that effective social media marketing has become an
indispensable marketing strategy for organizational growth and progress and in improving
customer interactions. Considering the significance of social media marketing in strategic
level, it can be stated that social media marketing is significant in relationship building. It
helps to increase conversations and engagement between organisation and customers and
thus gains importance in current marketing practices.
2.2.2 Customer Engagement
Existing studies available on customer engagement explicitly indicated that it is the
psychological process that leads to the development of loyalty. The exploratory study
conducted by Maecker, Barrot and Becker (2016) based on telecommunications industry
revealed that customer engagement is based on the three distinctive dimensions such as
behavioural engagements, cognitive engagement and emotional engagement. This study
suggests customer engagement as more complicated concern among marketers. Previous
studies of Hollebeek, Conduit and Brodie (2016) indicated customer engagement is an
ongoing process which is dependent up on positive experiences and feelings received from a
product or service. Past studies conducted by Jayasingh and Venkatesh (2015) based on the
evidences from social media marketing revealed that the customer engagements in social
sites is measured in terms of click through rates, likes and sharing of contents. Thus, it can
be revealed that the findings of Maecker, Barrot and Becker (2016), Hollebeek, Conduit and
Brodie (2016) and Verhoef, Reinartz and Krafft (2010) contributes more for the current
research since it discusses about customer engagement and social media marketing.
2.3 Social media marketing components and elements
A wide variety of social networking sites has now laid platform to become effectual
marketing device and it includes Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Yelp etc
(Berger and Milkman, 2012). The study done by Bowden (2009) has found that continuous
updating in these marketing media assist organizations to have consistent online presence
and thereby obtain customer attention. However Godey et al. (2016) and Guesalaga (2016)
are of the opinion that mere presence of social media marketing will not result in any
customer engagement. In order to enhance customer engagement, organizations need to
plan social media marketing activities by considering the below elements (Alharbie, 2015):

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 Social Planning: As researched by Tuten and Solomon (2014) developing a
competent plan for social media marketing is very important. The authors cite that
aligning objectives with these plans and dividing goals according to priority will assist
organizations to handle all categories of customers in proficient manner and provide
them with satisfactory services, products and updates. Furthermore Bernabé-
Moreno et al. (2015) say that having a social planning will help organizations to
identify competitors and analyse their content strategies to develop own content
that has competitive advantages.
 Social Influence: The next area that firms need to focus is on ensuring social
influence of its social media marketing (Guesalaga, 2016). It has been explained by
Tuten and Solomon (2014) that understanding target audience preference, issues,
income, occupation etc., developing attractive contents and involving in
conversations, discussions and sharing relevant information’s that reveals credibility
and communal supports etc are main elements in ensuring social influence of social
media marketing activities.
 Social Community: Identifying relevant connections and trusted networks is very
important when it comes to social media marketing. According to Harrigan et al.
(2016) this component is important especially in cases where the organization is
facing low response in social media profiles. In such cases a buyers profile can be
created which would help the organization to identify the target customers, it will
also aid the organization to identify the customer needs (Tuten and Solomon, 2014).
 Social Results: This constitutes tracking social activity outcomes and timely respond
to queries. In the view of Maecker, Barrot and Becker (2016) tracking tools like
Google analytics could be employed by firms to identify the strategies that are least
effective in generating/ improving customer engagements. The latest study of Godey
et al. (2016) has also found that attaching tags for tracking social media marketing
could be highly helpful in improving customer conversations and engagement.
 Social Attitude/ Tactics: In social media marketing Godey et al. (2016) find that
researching the platform were the accounts are to be created is important. The
author explains that customer feedback systems are best suited in developing

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efficient social tactic in social media marketing. It will ensure that top priority is given
to customer responses and this will improve the overall engagement level among
company customers (Ming and Yazdanifard, 2014).
2.4 Metrics used for identifying customer engagement
Studies performed by Jayasingh and Venkatesh (2015) revealed that marketers adopts
significant effort to create healthy relationship with customers. Some of the metrics used
for assessing customer engagement is illustrated below:
Frequency of visit: Studies of Verhoef, Reinartz and Krafft (2010) highlighted that
marketers can leverage the database of customer visits for measuring the depth of
customer engagement. Customers satisfied with products and services offered are more
likely to make frequent purchase from particular service provider by making regular visits
(Barhemmati and Ahmad, 2015). For e.g. marketers, by using social media platforms tends
to analyse customer engagement with the brand by analysing their frequency of visits.
Activity time: Customer engagement can be measured by tracking the time spends by
customers to make use of services offered and this process is known as activity time
(Verhoef, Reinartz and Krafft, 2010). Activity time measures the inactive time of customers
and helps to identify customer engagement level with the services offered. The customer
engagement in social media platform could be measured by monitoring their activity time
spend in terms of liking, commenting and sharing.
Consistency of core actions: Consistency in user actions as defined by the services is one of
the positive indications of customer engagement (Greve, 2014). Higher emphasis on
customers to explore new features and consistently in performing the actions indicates
customer engagement towards particular products or services. For e.g. in online platform,
customer engagement can be measured by evaluating the active participation of customers
to join and invite peers to make use of applications and services.
Volume of interaction: By tracking customer feeds and conversation rate, it would be
possible to identify the active participation of customers with social media platforms.
Studies of Barhemmati and Ahmad (2015) conducted based on social media marketing of

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revealed that customer engagement can be measured by identifying the repeated
interaction of customers with the products or services.
Dissemination of contents: Customers satisfied with products or services are more likely to
pass on its unique features, usability and other attributes to others (Greve, 2014). This
enhanced participation of customers to articulate brand or product features to public in a
nut shell reveals the degree of customer engagement.
2.5 Social Media-Customer Engagement model
As indicated by Verhoef, Reinartz and Krafft (2010) in the theoretical study of marketing, it
was the profit volume, customer interactions, monetary value, and share of wallet and
frequency of visit, the major yardsticks used by marketers to measure customer
engagement towards the brand. From the model pounded below, it can be realized that
customer engagement is dependent up on three distinct forms of engagement and they are
emotional engagement, behavioural engagement and cognitive engagement.
Figure 2.1: Customer engagement model
Source: Hollebeek, Conduit and Brodie (2016)
As per the recent studies of Jayasingh and Venkatesh (2015), on an average customer
almost spend every five minutes for engaging in social media platforms. Almost 94% of

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marketing departments of firms have established their extensive presence in social media
platforms for promoting products services to customers. The complicated concept of
customer engagement with social media marketing can be measured by referring three
dimensions of engagement i.e., behavioural engagement, cognitive engagement and
emotional engagement.
As per the above defined model, the main indicators used to assess customer engagement
with brand relationship includes trust, involvement, commitment and satisfaction with the
brand and on the other hand it was the physiological state of being present and perceived
ease of use, the major factors determining customer engagement in social media platforms.
The resources indicated between antecedents and customer engagement includes time and
effort taken by the customers (Hollebeek, Conduit and Brodie, et al., 2016). The above
frame work reveals that the two desired outcomes that could be generated from the
relationship between online social media platforms and customer engagement is word of
mouth and behavioural brand loyalty. Higher level of behavioural engagement of customer
directly leads to the establishment of behavioural brand loyalty (Verhoef, Reinartz and
Krafft, 2010). In short, it can be said that customers brand repurchasing trends will increase
when the time spend on online social media platform increases. Additionally, the intention
of customers to recommend the brand to others will be increased with respect to the
influence of emotional engagement. Moreover, customers will be more likely to promote
the brand to others by way of word of mouth as a result of higher emotional engagement.
This relationship hence proves that, creating emotional engagement is essential for
marketers to achieve business objectives and higher profits and sales. Cognitive
engagement is dependenet up on the quality of contents included in the online platforms
(Maecker, Barrot and Becker, 2016).
2.6 Impact of social media marketing on customer engagement
Increasing market competitions persuades companies to adopt the best Social Media
Marketing (SMM) strategies as it has a great influence in persuading customers, determines
Men and Tsai (2015). The findings of this author suggest that SMM influences the human
emotions thereby developing a healthy and robust organization-customer relationship.
Although SMM does not has a direct correlation on customer engagement, influencing the

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various elements such as customers behaviours, purchase decisions, emotions, etc. it
develops a correlation with this variable. Due to this reason every market domain
endeavours in implementing the most effective and technologically advanced SMM
techniques. However the findings of Zhu and Chen (2015) has a different opinion on this
perspective. The authors determines that US organizations has invested $5.1 billion in 2013
for improving its SMM however has not been able to persuade and highly influence its
customers. Thus making a comparative analysis on the various SMM strategies and
customers attitudes, Zhu and Chen (2015) argues that rather than simply extending the
SMM strategies, an organization must be effective in comprehending customer behaviours
and thus must align its SMM techniques based on the social media user requirements.
The various digital marketing techniques most commonly used in eastern European
countries and the significant role of SMM in the existing marketing technology has been
investigated by Jayaram, Manrai and Manrai (2015). Analysing the numerous business cases,
these authors ascertained that SMM has a significant role in determining competitive
advantage of organizations.Schillaci (2015) findings also points towards the increasing
importance of SMM in determining the purchase decisions of customers. According to the
opinion of Schillaci (2015) 3 out of 4 customers always refer to social media before deciding
their purchase attitude. The investigations of Rishika, et al. (2012) also determined a
positive correlation between SMM and customers. According to the findings of these
researchers, SMM of organizations highly influenced the frequency of customer visits to an
organization and hence has an important role in determining company profits. Reports from
Social Times (2015) also indicates that social contents highly influence the lifecycle of
customers. As SMM provides a detailed understanding to the customers on the product
innovations, loyalty programs and brand image, it enhances the level of customer
awareness.
SMM also exerts significant impact on other industries such as oil and gas, food consumers
and telecommunications, etc. In accordance to the role played by SMM in oil and gas
industry is that, the digital media is utilised as business tools. For instance, the use of
intranet facilitates the employees as well as customers associated to the industry in easy
communication with each other. As per the findings in the reports of Foster Marketing
(2013) certain business strategies enhanced in accordance to SMM in oil and gas industry

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are brainstorming, discussion, leadership strategies, etc. This facilitated the organisation to
enhance a hand-in-hand relationship with public.
While in hotel industry, Leung, Bai and Stahura (2015) states that the attitude-toward-the-
ad model (Aad) was modified by the hotel industry as attitude-toward-social-media-page
model. As per the observations attained by the author, it was identified that the attitude-
toward-social-media-page model facilitated the hotel industry in enhancing hotel booking
intentions and further spread of hotel reputation through electronic word of mouth.
Furthermore, according to Nyambu (2013) the major attributes that forms the key
innovation in the field of telecommunications are network location and network
competence. Social networking has been identified by the author as an efficient means for
better organisational performance. Although, SMM influence every fields in a positive
manner, retail sector has the most influence among all other sectors. As per Mallinson
(2015) social networks acts as a measure in enhancing direct e-commerce sales in the retail
sector.
2.7 Analyzing the impact of social media marketing on customer engagement in UK
While researching about the scope of social media marketing in UK, Chahal (2016) observed
that social media marketing has gained immense response in the nation. The reporter found
it striking that compared to Facebook and Twitter, customers in UK were more engaged in
social media sites like Snapchat and Instagram and in Whatsapp messaging apps. However,
another study by IBM Global Business Services (2011) observed that Facebook also had
immense role in social media marketing in UK. The report says that almost 17% marketers
believe in creating customer leads and forming a social commerce plan with Facebook as
significant. The report cites ‘JC Penny’ and ‘The Gap’ to be the top two retailers in UK which
have actively improved customer interactions and engagements using Facebook pages.
These stores even began a Facebook store to fund in on their customer engagement
(Teuber, 2012). Due to the growing significance of social media marketing, wide ranges of
studies have been conducted in the nation and the survey study done by Chahal (2016)
found that customers wanted organizations to respond through social media than any other
platform. From the organizational perspective Pickup (2016) was surprised to find that

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almost 93% firms in UK used social media marketing as a main strategy to communicate
with customers and improve their engagement levels.
The above facts go in line with the study of Clayton (2013) where the author revealed social
media marketing improved organizational sales by 49% through higher customer
engagement levels. The case of Retail firms in UK discussed by Teuber (2012) in The
Guardian newspaper also provides insight into the impact of social media marketing on
customer engagement. Teuber (2012) mentions that social networking provides UK retail
brands the chance to create social influence through building a link with millions of
consumers and also talk to them personally. A recent research conducted by SpinMe
(Imaging Technology Company) found that 92% of UK retailers actively engage in social
media platforms to improve frequency of visits and references of customers (Leggatt, 2015).
According to Centre for Retail Research (2016) the online retail sales in UK increased by
14.9% in 2016 to more than £60.04 billion, which is clear evidence that UK retailers are
taking their social-planning adequately.
Figure 2.2: Online retail sales 2015-2016
Source: Adapted from Centre for Retail Research (2016)
Despite 16% of the top UK retailers not indulge online sales; they are still using social media
for promotions and to motivate customers to make a purchase (Leggatt, 2015). JWT

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Intelligence has also studied the impact of social media marketing on customer engagement
and identified that approximately 40% of males and one third of females are prone to buy
something if friends has suggested it on social community sites (Teuber, 2012). The study
also showed that the volume of interaction was increased through social media marketing
activities of UK retailers and this led to higher customer engagement through these
platforms.
As per the research released by Wetpaint and Altimeter Group which ranks among the top
100 international brands on the basis of customer engagement in social media, there is an
important association between a firm’s social media marketing and customer engagement.
The research revealed that organizations with innermost social media marketing engaged
customers to highest extent and this simultaneously augmented their revenue to 18% in
2008, while the firms with small social meadi marketing presence faced decline of 6%
(Wetpaint, 2009).
The above findings thus show that social media marketing has popularity among UK firms
and that it has direct and positive impact on the level of customer engagement.
2.8 Link between existing studies and researchers own work
Various studies have been contributed by many researchers and marketing practitioners to
provide in-depth theoretical information related to relationship between social media
marketing and customer engagement. Recent study conducted by Greve (2014) by
considering Facebook fan page of students in Hamburg School of Business Administration
revealed that social media platform have significant impact on enhancing customer
engagement towards brand. Previous studies carried out by Vinerean et al. (2013)
considering online activities of 236 social media users revealed that there is a positive and
significant relationship in between social media platforms and online customer buying
behaviour. Studies conducted by Mersey, Malthouse and Calder (2015) revealed that social
media marketing is highly significant in strengthening customer engagement and also the
study suggested that the degree of customer engagement could be measured in terms of
commitment , involvement and degree of interactions. Past studies of Barhemmati and
Ahmad (2015) conducted by considering 50 respondents in the campus of National
University of Malaysia identified that there exists significant and positive relationship

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between customer purchasing behaviour and social networking. Though there exists many
studies to explore the relationship between social media marketing and customer
engagement, the studies concentrating up on specific industry as well as measuring
customer engagement in terms of emotional, cognitive and behavioural is considerably low.
Hence the current study by covering the gaps in previous research tends to explore the
impact of social media marketing on customer engagement by considering Morrisons in UK
as case study.
2.9 Conceptual framework
Figure 2.2: Conceptual Framework
Source: Created by author
After reviewing the literature, the researcher found that social media marketing which
followed proficient social planning, influence, community, results and tactics were much
efficient in improving the engagement between organisation and customers. The researcher
confirmed that effective social media marketing had the power to increase frequency of
visits, activity time, interaction volume, core actions and dissemination of contents among
customers and this improved the level of customer engagement. These findings have been
depicted as a conceptual framework above. Through the framework, the researcher has

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finally explained the positive relation between social media marketing and customer
engagement.
2.10 Summary
In this chapter, the researcher discussed basic concepts of social media marketing and
customer engagement and found that there exists positive relation between these variables.
The link between previous works and the present work as well as a conceptual model has
also been presented at the end of this chapter.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
Research methodology can be defined as the theoretical and scientific methods used to
collect the data required to carry out the research study efficiently, research methodology
as also be defined as the process used to collect the data for decision making process. This it
is one of the most important segment of the research study. The research methodology is
classified into different sub methods to collect different data as per the requirement of the
research such as research approaches, research philosophies, research purposes, research
strategies, sampling methods and data collection techniques, etc (Panneerselvam, 2014).
Further the research also provides suitable justification to the methods use and how it aided
the researcher to accomplish the objectives effective also the various ethical issues and
limitations faced by the researcher in this study will be discussed in this chapter.
3.2 Research philosophy
Bell and Waters (2014) state that, research philosophy is a path way for the researcher by
which the researcher can proceed the research study in an effective manner. It gives a
general outline regarding the methods used to accumulate the data required to carry out
the study effectively. It can be classified into three types ‘positivism philosophy, Realism
philosophy and interpretivism philosophy. Thepositivism philosophy is closely associated
with the objective perspective using which the stable nature of the reality is closely
observed. This method uses statistical analysis to carry out the observations, here the
human interests is given the least priority. In realism the values and believes of the
individuals are given priority and believes of the individuals towards the real cases are
considered and compared to the general view and believes towards the situation (Singh,
and Nath, 2010).
This method is closely associated with Social constructivism. In Interpretivism philosophy
the interpretations of the researcher is given top priority. Here the opinions of the
individuals associated with the research is taken into consideration to and these data’s are
interpreted by the researcher to come to conclusions. This methods is considered to be the
most effective as it is highly interactive, subjective and participative (Dawson, 2009).

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In this research study researcher had adopted interpretivism philosophy because, it
enhanced the researcher in understanding how the social media marketing influenced the
customers of Morrison. This philosophy is more concerned about the interest of the
researcher. This aided the researcher in carrying out the research in an appealing manner.
By adopting this method the researcher was successfully in achieving the objectives of the
study. Interpretivism philosophy supported the researcher in performing critical analysis on
the collected primary and secondary data. The researcher analysed and comprehended the
customer engagement strategies offered by Morrisons so as to enhance customer loyalty.
This means the philosophy facilitated the researcher in analysing the aspects that were in
concern with Morrisons and how social media marketing influenced its customers. The
researcher identified the techniques adopted by Morrisons marketing its products through
social media and critically analysed these factors. Furthermore, the researcher provided
certain suggestion in improving the social media marketing of Morrison, UK.
3.3 Research approach
Research approach is an effective tool for obtaining the goals and objectives of the research
work in a consistent mode. Inductive and deductive methods are the key phases of the
research approach, says Olsen (2011). In the inductive method the theories are not
dependent on pre-determined theories hence this method is considered as flexible when
compared to other theories and in deductive approach the hypothesis is developed based
on the existing theories. Deductive method is also known as top down approach and
inductive is known as bottom up approach. In the deductive model the flow of the research
is from general analysis to that of a particular model and in the inductive method the model
is first created and later on compared to the existing theories opine Dawson (2009).
As inductive approach is closely linked with interpretivism philosophy the researcher prefer
to apply this approach in this present study. This approach is flexible and it assisted the
researcher in facilitating necessary alterations during the research work. It is a bottom-up
approach which will enhance the knowledge level of the researcher regarding the present
market scenario and how Morrison’s strategies regarding social marketing influenced the
customers. This approach availed the researcher in performing an in-depth study on the
impact of social media marketing so as to enhance customer engagement in accordance to

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the case study of Morrisons, UK. Through inductive approach the researcher was able to
attain generalized conclusions regarding the research problem. This approach mainly
concerns about pre-existing theories and thus this enriched the researcher in being capable
of understanding the serious issues faced by Morrisons for attracting the customers through
social marketing and also enable the researcher to form certain theories which will help the
future research studies.
3.4 Research purpose
Research purpose is effective in understanding the goals of the present research study and
help to solve the research issues in an easiest way. Exploratory and explanatory are the
most common methods used for accomplishing this task, views Pruzan (2016).Explanatory
research purposegives the relation between the independent and well as the independent
variables. Descriptive researchpurposes one were the topic of the research is explained in
detail and does not concentrate much on the in-depth history of the research topic. The
exploratory research method is the used when the researcher needs additional information
on the research This method helps in understand the research problem in detail, this
method is the most useful when the researcher has no prior knowledge regarding the back
round of the research
Exploratory research design was identified by the researcher as a suitable method in
guiding the research in a successful way. This method in its crucial form endorsed the
researcher in understanding the important strategies employed by Morrisons for catching
the attention of the customers. This method ameliorate the researcher in viewing the
research problem from different point of views. Through this exploratory method the
researcher can explore the connection between effective marketing strategy and customer
attraction. This aided the researcher in identifying the impacts of social media marketing on
customer engagement. This also enabled the researcher in providing sufficient
recommendations to Morrisons in improving its customer engagement through varied social
media marketing strategies. This method will also aid the author to collect necessary data
for the study, which is how to use secondary data effectively. Furthermore this method will
provide an advantage of gaining additional knowledge of social marketing techniques
adopted by the companies in this modern world.

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3.5 Research strategy
According to Sekaran and Bougie (2010) a structured and organised way of gathering
relevant data in enhancing specific research objective is termed as research strategy. It
would facilitate researcher with both qualitative and quantitative data that is essential for
the research study. It would also provide support to the researcher in identifying and
recognising the issues related to the research topic. Zikmund (2012) says, Interview, survey
and case study are the main strategies used for carrying out the research study. These
strategies are essential for identifying the main issue of the research and to analyse it’s after
effects. Survey facilitates the researcher in gathering quantitative data from a large sample
size in an inexpensive manner. According to Lynn, Erens and Sturgis (2012) this strategic
type facilitate the researcher in analysing the varied characteristics among a huge sample
size that would be variable and dependable in accordance to nature. While case study
provides a detailed study based on a specific organisation or situation in a narrowing down
perspective. On the other hand Creswell (2014) justifies interview as an act of
communication performed in a bi-directional pattern with the aid of face-to-face interview,
telephonic interview, video conferencing, etc.
In this research study the researcher facilitates with case study and survey research
strategies. This aided the researcher in accomplishing the research study effectively and
efficiently. The case study based on Morrisons, UK was enhanced by the researcher in this
research study. The case study helped the researcher in identifying and analysing an overall
perception upon the organisation and to narrow down the identified issues to the research
topic. This enabled the researcher in identifying the impact of social media marketing on
customer engagement. The researcher performs self-administered survey which will help
out to collect data from a massive group. This is an efficient, inexpensive way of
accumulating the needed information. The survey was facilitated among customers of
Morrisons, UK. This enabled the researcher in understanding the impact of social media
marketing on customer engagement. The data obtained as a result of survey also enhanced
the researcher in providing recommendations based customer engagement and social
media marketing influence on customers.

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3.6 Data collection methods
The process of gathering sufficient and relevant data associated to the research topic in
accordance to the attainment of research objective in termed as data collection. Data
collection methods are crucial for obtaining vital and adequate information which are very
essential for obtaining the objectives of the research. Panneerselvam (2014) observe that,
Primary as well as secondary data collection methods are equally important for interpreting
and analyzing the important information concerning the research. Primary data collection
method supports the researcher in gathering both qualitative and quantitative data that are
essential and relevant in accordance to the research topic (Wiid and Diggines, 2010). The
accumulation of primary data are facilitated through three major technique namely,
qualitative, quantitative and observation. On the other hand, secondary data collection
methods aids the researcher in gathering essential information through third party that
comprise of websites, journals, books, magazines, etc. As per the justification provided by
Olsen (2011) such data are gathered from both internal and external sources. Company
websites, annual reports, audit reports, etc constitute the internal sources. Whereas, books,
magazines, online publications, articles, etc. inculcate the external sources of secondary
data collection method.
In attaining the research objectives of this research study the researcher utilized both
primary and secondary data collection methods. The primary data collection involves self-
administered survey that assisted the researcher in gathering the quantitative as well as
qualitative data from the participants. The survey was performed among the customers of
the organization and in sharing their views, opinion and suggestions regarding social media
marketing within the organization and its impact on customers. These primary data was
assessed by the researcher for generating more generalized explanation regarding the
present research topic. Apart from this secondary data collection enabled the researcher in
increasing the depth of knowledge based on the current research area. The secondary data
collection performed in accordance to the research topic enabled the researcher in
performing an efficient and effective case study on Morrison’s UK. Secondary sources was
collected from the books, journals, online sources etc.The online sources and books that
were utilized by the researcher aided in enhancing an in-depth analysis on the social media
marketing impact upon the organizational as well as customers and the varied strategies

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adopted by the researcher in developing and enhancing customer engagement within the
organization. These data helped the researcher in understanding the different social media
marketing techniques and its impact on the customer engagement of Morrison, UK.
3.7 Sampling size and sampling methods
Lim and Ting (2013) states that that the studies on the basis on sample selection would
facilitate the researcher in performing, cost and time efficient research study through the
achievement of research objectives. Salkind (2010) observes, sampling is a method by which
the samples are extracted from the whole population. Sampling is an effortless process for
carrying out the research in a fruitful manner. The major elements of sample selection is
population and sample size. Population determines the set of elements that would enhance
the researcher in accomplishing the research efficiently and effectively. Sample size
determines the size of the selected samples among the population by the efficient
execution of sampling methods so as to perform the research study in a cost efficient and
time efficient manner (Kumar and Reinartz, 2012).
According to Salkind (2010) carrying out the research study on a vast population is highly a
risky task as it consumes more time and cost. Thus for choosing the required samples from
the entire population sampling techniques are used by the researcher. Mainly there exists
two sampling methods and they are probability and non-probability sampling methods,
observes Levy and Lemeshow (2013). In non-probability sampling method the samples are
chosen as per the resolution of the researcher and it is highly biased in nature whereas
unbiased method is followed in the probability sampling method and in this method all the
elements acquires similar opportunities to be selected as sample (Lohr, 2010).
The population of the current study will be the total number of customers and managers of
Morrison, UK. 30 customers of Morrisons were chosen by the researcher as sampling
performing self-administrated survey on customers of Morrison respectively. Thus, the
researcher performed the survey among customers by enhancing visit among 3 Stores of
Morrisons located in Glasgow, Stirling and Witham in UK and thus, gathered necessary
information required for evaluating the present research problem. The gathered data
enable the researcher in comprehending customer feedback based on the impact of social
media marketing on customer engagement. Thus by adopting suitable sampling techniques

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and also selecting the samples in an impartial way enabled the researcher in accomplishing
the research study efficiently and effectively.
In this research the researcher has adopted convenience sampling method under the
classification of non-probability sampling for carrying out self-administered survey on the
customers of Morrisons, UK. Convenience sampling method highly enabled the researcher
to choose the samples per the convenient proximity. With the help of this method the
researcher was able to choose 30 customers of Morrrisons, UK as the sample size and it also
helped the researcher to select the customers in a more accessible manner. This sampling
method facilitated the researcher to analyze the research issue in an easiest way. The easy
analysis also facilitated the researcher in efficiently gathering information among
customers.
For selecting the required number of cases criterion sampling method was used by the
researcher. This method aided the researcher to choose 10 cases for the study and also
enabled in achieving relevant information regarding the research topic. Thus with the cases
the researcher was able to develop an effective background for the study.
3.8 Data analysis plan
The researcher for gaining detailed information regarding the impact of social media
marketing on customer engagement has adopted both primary and secondary data
collection methods. Descriptive method has been adopted to explore the current issues in
the research study. With the secondary data an in-depth case study explaining the various
social media marketing techniques and its influence on customer engagement was
developed by the researcher. The secondary data was mainly collected by reviewing
different external and internal secondary sources such as magazines, company documents,
journals, online publications, sales and annual reports etc. The researcher collected the
quantitative data with the help of primary data collection methods. By conducting self-
administered survey on the 30 customers of Morrisons, UK the researcher gathered the
quantitative data required for the study. Both the case study and survey was analysed with
the help of descriptive analysis method and for representing the quantitative data the
researcher has used pie charts, tables and bar charts. The researcher also cross evaluated

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the primary and secondary data for reaching at appropriate conclusions and for analysing
the impact of social media marketing on customer engagement at Morrisons, UK.
3.9 Ethical issues
The researcher has highly complied with the ethical policies and procedures and have also
given all the respondents with equal consideration. For highly ensuring the privacy and
confidentiality of the data collected the researcher has strictly pursued the Data Protection
Act, 1998. The researcher has highly protected the personal details of the respondents and
have used it for academic purposes only. The researcher has also given a detailed outline
about the importance of the research study and the research objectives. None of the
respondents were forced by the researcher to partake in the data analysis. The researcher
has also maintained a proper and appropriate reference list for the secondary data collected
from various external and internal secondary sources.
3.10 Accessibility issues and research limitations
At the starting of the study every researches faces accessibility issues. The main accessibility
issues faced was in collecting the primary data as most of the respondents showed
reluctance to participate in the study due to the fear of revealing their personal details. The
secondary data collection also induced accessibility issues as certain sources highly claimed
payments and were not accessible in nature and it also demanded the permission of the
authorities. Some of the documents of the company also were highly preserved and the
researcher faced high difficulties in accessing them. The researcher also faced accessibility
issues in maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of the collected data and personal
details.
The researcher faced limitations due to the cost and time constrains. Due to the time and
cost limitations the researcher had to choose low samples for the study and this highly
affected the accuracy of the information collected. The low sample size selected highly
induced biasing in the data collection. Sample size has limited the applicability of this study
into a wider extent. Moreover, the legitimacy of the secondary sources also created barrier
for the scope of the study. Also the allotted time affected the accuracy of the research
study. The scope of the study was highly limited due to the cost constrains and

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unwillingness of the participants to reveal their personal details also induced research
limitations. The current research study was mainly based on a single organization Morrisons,
UK and this highly reduced in understanding the research issue in a broad manner.
Researcher has also attained prior permissions from the higher authorities before
performing the research.
3.11 Summary
The various research methods and techniques were explained in this chapter. The
researcher has discussed the research methods such as research philosophy, research
approach, research design, research strategy along with sampling methods, data collection
methods and data analysis plan. In addition to this the researcher has also explained the
accessibility and ethical issues and research limitations. For all the research methods
adopted proper justification has been provided by the researcher.
For carrying out this study in an effective manner the researcher has employed
intepretivism philosophy and inductive approach. With the exploratory research deign the
researcher was able to analyse the research issue effectively. Both the primary and
secondary data collection methods were adopted by the researcher. With the survey
analysis the researcher was able to collect the quantitative data. The researcher by using
convenience sampling has chosen 30 customers of Morrisons, UK as the sample size of the
survey analysis. Case study was used by the researcher for analysing the impact of social
media marketing on customer engagement and this highly enabled the researcher to gather
both qualitative and quantitative information. The researcher selected the number of cases
by using criterion sampling method. With the secondary data the researcher was able to
develop a profound case study for this research based on Morrisons, UK. The researcher
discussed the ethical and accessibility issues faced while conducting the research study as
well as the research limitations through this chapter.

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CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Introduction
Information collected through primary and secondary data collection methods are analysed
through this chapter of the study. This chapter of the study discuss the case study of
Morrisons and also analyse the major case study findings on the basis of literature review
observations. The following section of the chapter deals with descriptive analysis of
customer survey findings. The identified gaps between primary and secondary data findings
and judgment of finding will also be covered in this chapter.
4.2 Plan of analysis
The researcher has used case study and survey strategies for collecting data for the study.
The researcher has conducted case study of Morrisons for identifying the major social media
marketing strategies of Morrisons. However, for analysing the efficacy of social media
marketing of Morrisons for improving customer engagement, the researcher has surveyed
customers of Morrisons. Annual report and official websites of Morrisons, books, journals,
etc were reviewed by the researcher for conducting case study of Morrisons. The researcher
selected 30 customers as sample size of survey. For analysing the collected information, the
researcher has adopted descriptive analysis method.
4.3 Case study of Morrisons in UK
Established in Bardford in 1899, Morrisons is the 4th biggest chain of supermarkets in UK
with across 11% market share in UK supermarket sector. After the takeover of Safeway
supermarket chains in 2004, Morrisons presence in UK increased and as of 2015 it has 662
stores, including 140 M local stores, across UK (Morrisons, 2016). Morrisons employs
around 125,000 people across its outlets and in 2015 the firm achieved £16.122 billion
revenue. Morrisons possess a well-established reputation among UK customers and the
retailer has been listed on London Stock Exchange and FTSE 100 Index also (Sillitoe, 2015).
As part of its integrated marketing communication activity, Morrisons use social media
marketing to attract new consumers and to construct a long-term association with them.
Social media marketing enables Morrisons brand promotion at the same time helps in

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communicating with customers at personal level (Hobbs, 2016). As per eDigitalResearch
(2016) report, Morrisons major competitors have a wide social media following but fails to
attract as big as a following as Morrisons. The company has been able to attain 17% of
supermarket share of chats in 2014 (Marketing Magazine, 2014).
Figure 4.1: UK supermarkets share of chats
Source: Marketing Magazine (2014)
As part of social media, the Morrisons indulge in marketing through the top most demanded
social networking sites Twitter and Facebook. According to the results of Retail Social Media
Benchmark from eDigitalResearch (2016), Morrisons is one of the supermarket sectors
quickly growing social media company, topping Twitter progress league table. The recent
research reveals Morrisons climb an extraordinary 76 places in the benchmarks top 20
Twitter league table, getting over 160,000 new users due to their enhanced online presence
and cost aware product offerings. Some of the major Twitter activities by Morrisons include
campaign like ‘cel-egg-rity names’ and ‘Your new cheaper Morrisons’, hashtags like
#gotgotneed (Morrisons, 2016).
Morrisons also uses Facebook platform, where its consumers are spending much time. Till
date, the Morrisons Facebook has 549,188 likes and #botanical, #MorrisonsBakesIt,
#WineFestival etc are some of the major Facebook marketing campaigns by Morrisons

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(Morrisons, 2016). Instagram is the other social networking platform adopted by Morrisons
and till date 30.2k followers in Instagram. Meet Anne & Terry video, #charity video,
#wimbledon2016 etc are some of the major Instagram posts that highly enhanced customer
engagement (Marketing Magazine, 2014).
Morrisons also indulge in advertising through YouTube as it helps the firm in interacting
with concerned clients. The company posts adverts such as Christmas adverts, #doghnuts,
Morrisons Make It etc on YouTube to offer platform for bespoke communication and due to
the efficacy in addressing target audience (Morrisons, 2016). The firm understands that
marketing via social media is effective only when it is posted in the principle website of the
firm, notes Ruddick (2013). Hence, the major campaign links, hashtags, videos etc are
posted on the home page of www.morrisons.co.uk page in order to attract customers.
There has been a clear shift in the social media strategy of Morrisons in 2013. Prior to 2013,
Morrisons mainly used social media channels for pushing offers and other promotional
contents. Golding (2013) identified that Morrisons used auto responders to interact with
customers on Twitter. One of the main drawbacks of this method was the lack of
personalisation. Moreover, most of the customer conversations were redirection messages
that asked for customers phone number so that customer service desk can call the
customers. This means that Morrisons was not effectively using the social media channels in
engaging customers prior to 2013.
The report of Golding (2013) further revealed that 75% of customers of Morrisons were
happy with the level of engagement offered by the brand through Twitter. However, only
50% of customers of Morrisons received grievance redressal through social media
platforms. 10% of customers noted that they did not receive further engagement from
Morrisons after received auto response messages. From this it can be understood that
though Morrisons engaged in social media marketing prior to 2013, it was not very effective.
The shift in social media strategy of Morrisons is also visible in the introduction new social-
CRM in the company in 2013. The company implemented a new multi-channel CRM for
engaging customers by partnering with Capgemini. The new social-CRM of Morrisons help
the company in engaging customers by understanding their personal preferences and tastes
and also links with social media channels of the brand (Capgemini, 2013).

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As per Hobbs (2016), Morrisons consciously do not use social media platform for pushing
sales-based messages anymore. Andy Atkinson, the marketing manager of Morrisons, the
core aim of social media marketing of Morrisons is to engage customers and create
connection with them. For example, the ‘Morrisons Makes It’ Easter campaign of the
company focused on the role played by Morrisons as food maker during Easter rather than
pushing its products. This approach has helped Morrisons in gaining loyalty in social media.
For example, Morrisons gained 160,000 new followers on Twitter in 2016 which represents
1106% growth in customer engagement through Twitter compared to 2015. It was found
that the quality of Morrisons’ charity efforts and customer service were the main thing
discussed by customers on Twitter.
Figure 4.2: No of new followers on Twitter (2016)
Source: eDigitial Research (2016)

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The above table shows the increase in no of new Twitter followers of leading retail brands in
UK. From the table it can be understood that Morrisons has performed admirably in
engaging customers through Twitter. As per eDigitial Research (2016), the main reason
behind the substantial increase in Twitter followers of Morrisons was due to the brand
engaging customers through positing recipes, offers, competitions and polls regularly
through Twitter. This not only helped in increasing awareness among customers but also in
understanding their views and opinions.
Figure 4.3: Number of posts per day on Twitter
From the above figure, it is clear that Morrisons performs above industry average in terms
engaging customers through Twitter with more than 5 posts per day. However, the
performance of Morrisons in other social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram
were not ideal. Morrisons did not feature among the top retails brands on Instagram while
the brand performed below industry standards in Facebook customer engagement.

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Figure 4.4: Customer engagement through Facebook
Though Morrisons added 71,138 new followers on Facebook, the brand performed the
worst among other retail brands in terms of customer engagement measured in terms of
‘Talking about’ numbers. The data shows that only 7600 customers were ‘Talking about’
Morrisons in Facebook while the main competitors of Morrisons such as Asda and Tesco
were generating more than 40,000 ‘Talking about’ numbers (eDigitial Research, 2016).
Figure 4.5: Twitter performance of Morrisons- August 2016
Source: Fashionbi (2016)
The brand activity of Morrisons on Twitter in August 2016 was assessed by Fashionbi (2016).
This study revealed that customer retweets, replies and mentions on Twitter of Morrisons

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has increased in 2016 August compared to the 2015 data. This shows that the brand has
succeeded in improving customer engagement through social media especially Twitter.
Case study analysis
In this section, the researcher analyses the findings of the case study in comparison with the
literature review in order to identify and assess the implications of the findings of the case
study.
From the analysis of the case study the researcher was able to understand that Morrisons
gives importance to social media marketing. The findings of the case study reveal that the
brand had previously used social media only for pushing offers and promotions and did not
use social media for engaging customers (Golding, 2013). However, Morrisons has improved
the use of social media marketing due to the ability of the social media channels in engaging
customers (Hobbs, 2016). The report of Hobbs (2016) revealed that Morrisons understands
the implications of social media in developing positive relations with customers. This view
regarding the importance of social media marketing in customer engagement was
mentioned by Men and Tsai (2015) in the literature review. This means that the findings of
the case study are in line with the findings of the literature review.
From the literature review, volume of interactions and consistency of core actions were
identified as the main metrics for measuring customer engagement in social media
platforms (Greve, 2014; Barhemmati and Ahmad, 2015). Verhoef, Reinartz and Krafft (2010)
also point out that customer interaction with the brand is a yardstick of customer
engagement. Similarly, in the case study of Morrisons indicates that Morrisons posted more
than 5 posts per day on Twitter and thereby attracted more than 160.000 new followers in
2016 (eDigitial Research, 2016). This shows that the volume of interactions by Morrisons on
Twitter is high. The increase in customer retweets, replies and mentions of Morrisons in
Twitter is also an indicator of the increase in customer interactions (Fashionbi, 2016). These
also classify as core actions of Twitter. Hence, it can be inferred from the case study data
that customer engagement by Morrisons on Twitter has increased in 2016 as both volume
of interactions and consistency of core actions show increase. From the discussion it is clear
that the findings of case study uphold the views of Greve (2014) and Barhemmati and
Ahmad (2015).

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Another finding emerging from the case study is related to the impact of social media
marketing on attitude of customers towards the brand especially brand loyalty. The report
of Hobbs (2016) identified that the social media campaign of Morrisons during Easter
seasons of 2016 named ‘Morrisons Makes It’ celebrate the role of Morrisons as a food
maker and thus helped in developing positive outlook among customers. It was also found
that this campaign helped in increasing brand loyalty of customers. These findings reveal
that there is a direct correlation between social media marketing and customer outlook
towards brands. Similar opinion was made by Schillaci (2015) and Rishika et al. (2012)
regarding the impact of social media marketing on customer attitude and behaviour.
Moreover, the customer engagement model outlined by Hollebeek, et al. (2016) also
outlines the link between social media platforms and brand loyalty. This means that the
findings of case study concur with the findings of literature review.
The study of Jayasingh and Venkatesh (2015) indicate in the literature review that customer
engagement in social media is measured in terms of liking and sharing of contents. The case
study of Morrisons reveal that that sharing/retweeting and mentions of Morrisons brand by
customers has increased considerably in 2016 compared to the figures of 2015 (Fashionbi,
2016). From this it can be understood that customer engagement by Morrisons through
Twitter has increased in 2016 in comparison to 2015. This also means that social media
especially Twitter has helped Morrisons in achieving better engagement of customers. From
the discussion it can be understood that the findings of the case study of Morrisons also
showcase the impact of social media on customer engagement in line with the study of
Jayasingh and Venkatesh (2015).
From the analysis of the case study, it is clear that the social media activities of Morrisons
have helped the brand in engaging customers especially through Twitter. The case study
findings also reveal that social media marketing impacts customer attitude, behaviour and
loyalty towards the brand and that the volume of interactions and customer activities on
social media such as sharing and liking of contents were used for measuring customer
engagement.

Getyour 1st
4.4 Quantitative analysis
To comprehensively study the social media marketing (SMM) influence on the customer
engagement, researcher utilized primary data by surveying Morrisons’ customers. Direct
self-administered survey strategy was used so that individual outlooks on the Morrisons’
SMM effectiveness was thoroughly recognized. The details gathered by researcher by
surveying 30 customers at 3 different locations of Morrisons outlets located at Glasgow,
Stirling and Witham in UKis provided in the following sections. The interpretations
researcher attains by analysing these quantitative data are also discussed in the subsequent
section.
1. Age
Pie chart 4.1: Age of the customers participated in survey
13.33%
43.34%
30%
13.33%
Age
Under 25 years 25-40 years 41-55 years Above 55 years

Getyour 1st
Analysing the age of the respondents that partook in this survey program it was obtained
that majority of the participants, i.e. 43.34% customers belonged to the age group of 25 to
40 years. However reasonable participation was provided from all age groups. The increased
level of participation in 25 to 40 years indicated that these age groups were more interested
in providing opinion on Morrisons SMM effectiveness and its impacts on customer
engagements. Also it indicates the high influence of SMM on these age groups.
2. Gender
Pie chart 4.2: Gender of surveyed customers
36.67%
63.33%
Gender
Male Female

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As represented in the figure above most of the customers that contributed their individual
outlooks comprised the female category (63.33%). This indicates the increased females’
willingness to provide reviews for the supermarket retailer and also signifies the increasing
importance of SMM in current era. This also signifies the increased influence females
experience in Morrisons SMM strategies.
3. How long have you been a customer of Morrisons?
Pie chart 4.3: Years of relationship with Morrisons
6.67%
63.33%
23.33%
6.67%
Years of relationship with Morrisons
Less than 1 years 1-5 years 5-10 years More than 10 years

Getyour 1st
Analysing the retention rates of customers it was observed that majority of the participants
had a reasonable duration of relationship with Morrisons. 63.33% of the customers stated
that they had been the customer of Morrisons for about 1 to 5 years. Although only very
few fraction of customers had relationship more than 10 years, it noticeable that same
count represented population with less than 1 year relationship. Thus it can be inferred that
customers has a good relationship with Morrisons and further this organization has been
able to retain its customers in a moderate level. From this researcher interprets that SMM
approaches of Morrisons has been effectual in attaining improved customer engagement
and this findings in inline to the reports of Capgemini (2013) and Golding (2013).
4. How frequently do you use social media platforms for communicating with brands?
Pie chart 4.4: Frequency of using social media platform
33%
17%27%
23%
Frequency of using social media platform
Always
Regularly
Sometimes
Never

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The pie chart that is given above illustrates the frequency at which the customers use social
media platform for communicating with the brands of Morrisons, UK. This figure shows that
majority of the customers who participated in the survey always uses social media platform
for exploring the various products and other offers provided by Morrisons. The study of
Hobbs (2016) revealed that Morrisons uses social media marketing for brand promotion for
improving the communication with loyal customers of the company. Similarly, Marketing
Magazine (2014) has revealed that the company acquired 17percenrt of the supermarket
share due to the social media marketing. #botanical, #MorrisonsBakesIt, #WineFestival etc
are some of the marketing campaigns conducted by Morrisons in Facebook. It has been
identified by Golding (2013) that Morrisons has employed auto responders to communicate
with the customers through Twitter. The company has utilised social media channels for
promoting different offers provided by the company. However, the report of Golding (2013)
has revealed that the social media marketing of Morrisons was not effective as some of the
customers of Morrisons did not receive customer engagement from Morrisons even after
obtaining auto response messages. Moreover, Fashionbi (2016) has identified that the
company has improved the customer engagement through social media platform and this
has attracted the customers to prefer social media for exploring the products and latest
news regarding Morrisons.
5. How do you rate the performance of Morrisons in following social media channels?
(1=very good and 5=very bad)
Social media
channel
1 2 3 4 5
Twitter 16 8 4 1 1
Facebook 5 14 6 4 1
Instagram 1 2 5 17 5
Pinterest 4 5 16 3 2
YouTube 13 5 6 3 3

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Google Plus+ 1 4 8 12 5
Table 4.1: Customer rating for the social media performance of Morrisons
Bar chart 4.1: Customer rating for SMM performance of Morrisons
Analysing the customer rating provided for the various SMM strategies adopted by
Morrisons it is clearly visible that Twitter and YouTube attained the highest customer
support. While a moderate support was provided for Facebook and Pinterest, the Instagram
and Google Plus+ approaches of Morrisons attained highly negative opinions. These results
supports the reports of Golding (2013) that determined the high level customer
engagement and satisfaction in MorrisonsTwitteractivities. Further the low rating provided
by customers for some of the SMM techniques used by Morrisons indicating the
ineffectiveness in its entire social media platforms also is in parallel to the findings of Hobbs
(2016). However this result contradicts Marketing Magazine (2014) reports on Morrisons
SMM efficiency especially in Instagram posts. Further eDigitial Research(2016) findings that
Morrisons has a deprived Facebook performance compared to its competitors also is in
16
5
1
4
13
1
8
14
2
5
5
4
4
6
5
16
6
8
1
4
17
3
3
12
1
1
5
2
3
5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
YouTube
Google Plus+
Customer rating for Morrisons SMMtechniques
1 = very good 2 3 4 5 = very bad

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contradiction to the good opinion provided by customers. Thus comparing the assorted
customer ratingsattained through this survey question it is inferred that Morrisons does not
have a highly efficient SMM platform.
6. Rate the following social media activities of Morrisons on a scale of 1-5 where 1=very
good and 5=very bad?
Social media
marketing activity
1 2 3 4 5
Polls and
competitions
5 14 6 3 2
Personalised
messages
1 4 19 5 1
Recipes and tips 17 8 3 1 1
Offers and
promotions
14 7 5 2 2
Autoresponder
bots
1 3 5 15 6
Grievance redressal
through social
media
1 5 11 8 5
Table 4.2: Customer rating for social media activities of Morrisons

Getyour 1st
Bar chart 4.2: Customer rating for social media marketing activity of Morrisons
This question analysed the customer opinion on the various SMM activities of Morrisons.
While promotions, offers, recipes and tips were attained good customer ratings,
Personalised messages, autoresponder bots and grievance redressal through social media
were provided least customer support. Thus it can be inferred that every SMM activities of
Morrisonshas not been successful. This supports the prior survey results that entire social
media platforms is not highly efficient and hence some of its strategies has not attained the
expected results. The survey inference also supports the Golding (2013) findings that
Morrisons has not successfully accomplished the grievances addressing systems, auto
responses and personalization in its SMM platforms.
5
1
17
14
1
1
14
4
8
7
3
5
6
19
3
5
5
11
3
5
1
2
15
8
2
1
1
2
6
5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Polls and competitions
Personalised messages
Recipes and tips
Offers and promotions
Autoresponder bots
Grievance redressal through social media
Customer rating for social media marketing activity of
Morrisons
1=very good 2 3 4 5=very bad

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7. Has the performance of Morrison’s on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter or
Instagram) improved in the last 2 years?
Pie Chart 4.5: Performance of Morrison’s on social media platforms
From the above survey data it can be observed that the majority of customers of Morrison’s
feel that the performance of the company’s social media platform is increasing significantly
but not full successful because from the survey it can be understood there not all customers
support this fact. From the case study it was observed that Morrisons use social media
marketing to attract new consumers and to construct a long-term association with the
customers and the Social media marketing enables brand promotion at the same time helps
in improving the level of communication among the customers (Hobbs, 2016). As the per
data’s by Marketing Magazine (2014) Morrison’s by 2014 has attained 17% of supermarket
share of chats. Also the findings of eDigitalResearch (2016) support the survey findings that
in marketing through the top most demanded social networking sites Twitter and Facebook,
Morrison’s participate actively. Also it was observed by Morrisons (2016) that Morrisons is
one of the supermarket sectors quickly growing social media company, topping Twitter with
campaigns such as cel-egg-rity names, Your new cheaper Morrisons etc. The recent research
also reveals Morrisons raised to 76th place in the benchmarks top 20 Twitter league table,
20
50
12
18
Performanceof Morrisons on socialmedia platforms
To a high extent Significantly Not much Not at all

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getting over 160,000 new users due to their excellent online presence and cost effective
product offerings. But the survey findings also contradict the findings by Hobbs (2016) that
Morrisons consciously do not use social media platform for pushing sales-based messages
anymore and the performance of Morrisons in other social media channels such as
Facebook and Instagram were not ideal.
8. How satisfied are you with Morrisons?
Pie Chart 4.6: Satisfaction Rate
From the survey findings it can be interpreted that the majority of the customers of the
organization feel that the satisfaction rate of the company and its services are high. This
inline’s with the findings of the case study that as per Sillitoe (2015) Morrisons possess a
well-established reputation among UK customers and the retailer has been listed on London
Stock Exchange and FTSE 100 Index as one of the most customer rated companies in the UK.
Also as per the findings of Hobbs (2016) it was observed that Social media marketing
enables Morrisons brand promotion and also helps in improving the communication with its
customers at personal level. It has also been noted that a small percentage of the customers
50
20
14
17
Satisfaction Rate
Very high Moderate Not adequate Not at all

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