The study of the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention: A case study of blueseed digital company

INTRODUCTION

Overview of social media marketing

Social media is becoming more and more popular nowadays It has become an alternative communication tool between people around the world (Gautam and Sharma, 2017) In recent years, the number of users on social media platforms are enormous According to Dixon (2023), the number of users of Facebook in the world in the fourth quarter of 2022 was approximately 2.96 billion monthly active users In Viet Nam, from the report of the Ministry of Information and Communication of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (2022), in September 2022, Facebook had the highest number of users in the country with 75.6 million active users, followed by Zalo, a local social media platform, with 74.1 million active users With a huge user base and the rapid growth of social media platforms, marketers now can have more options to approach target customers that can reach a million people in a few seconds As a result, social media has changed the world of marketing (Dash et al., 2021)

Felix et al (2017) stated that social media marketing is the concept that uses social media together with other channels to create value for stakeholders to achieve the goals of the organization Social media marketing had an effect on customer engagement (Barger et al., 2016) Also, Du et al (2017) stated that an opinion of a person may change due to social networking sites The contents in social media marketing are various and flexible to catch the attention of customers However, sometimes, it can be annoying that people ignore social media advertisements (Liu et al., 2021) This

2 demands marketers to understand more about aspects of the customer as well as social media marketing to have an effective marketing campaign

Many studies about social media marketing were conducted thoroughly Nevertheless, the research about the influence of social media marketing on purchase intention was little and the related studies in Viet Nam were rare Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of social media marketing on purchase intention in Viet Nam.

Overview of Blueseed Digital company

Blueseed Digital Joint Stock Company is a marketing agency that focuses on social media marketing, content marketing, data-driven service, etc The company is established in 2014 Blueseed Digital became Vietnam’s top 1 Video Ad Network and Vietnam’s top 2 multi-platform Ad Network that reached 9 million video users in 2015 Blueseed Digital became partner with Google, Facebook, Tiktok, etc The company is an expert in digital marketing that has customers from various industries like the banking industry, delivery services industry and soft drink industry, … The company already has in-house marketing This allows the company to implement detailed plans from the beginning of the process to finally evaluate and report the results to the client.

Problem statement

Blueseed Digital company is a marketing agency that helps clients (brands) promote products/ services to attract their target customers The company was very successful in working with small brands and organizations However, Blueseed Digital company currently faces a big challenge The company struggled with normal and luxury brands,

3 in social media marketing field The support of the company was no longer as effective for the clients as it used to be in the past With this problem, the company can lose its clients in this sector to competitors For the company, the most important thing is what factors affect purchase intention in social media marketing and why it happened There are a lot of theory and empirical studies about the influence of social media marketing on purchase intention (Kim and Ko, 2010; Balakrishnan et al., 2014; Mai and Tran, 2016; Gautam and Sharma, 2017; Laksamana, 2018; Almohaimmeed, 2019) However, nearly no research uses qualitative research and is conducted in Viet Nam market.

Research aim and objectives

This research aims to investigate the influence of social media marketing on purchase intention of customers in Viet Nam to help firms understand and improve the quality of social media marketing plans To do it, the following one will be the objectives:

1 To explore the factors of social media marketing that affects purchase intention of customers

2 To evaluate the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention

3 To propose recommendations for improving social media marketing of Blueseed Digital company

Research question

After the research objective is the research question

1 What factors of social media marketing affect the purchase intention of customers?

2 What is the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention?

3 What could be done to improve the social media marketing of Blueseed Digital company?

Research scope

The research was conducted to analyze the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention

In terms of space: The interview is conducted for people who have interacted with social media, in Ho Chi Minh city, in Viet Nam

In terms of time: This research is carried out in 5 months from December 2022 to April 2023

Research significance

Previous studies were lack of qualitative research and not analyzed in Viet Nam market This research was qualitative research and conducted to explore the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention Also, it builds an appropriate research model that is suitable for the situation of Viet Nam This research contributes and enriches academic research about social media marketing In addition, the research results become a resource for future studies in this topic

This study explores the factors of social media marketing that affect the purchase intention of customers in Ho Chi Minh city, in Viet Nam In addition, this study evaluates the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention From the results of this

5 study, the author suggests some appropriate implications and strategies This supports Blueseed Digital company to provide better products and services to help clients catch the attention of target customers.

Research structure

This research contained five chapters:

In this chapter, the author will present background information, the reasons for choosing this topic, then discuss research objective, research question and research scope Also, the author will provide research contributions and research structure

In chapter two, the author will conduct a critical literature review about the concepts and roles of social media, social media marketing and purchase intention Then, it reviews about the theoretical base and previous studies, related to this topic

The third chapter will present and make justifications for the choices, including the research philosophy, research approach, research strategy, research choice, time horizon, technique, procedure and research ethics

In chapter four, the author will demonstrate the results through thematic analysis From this, the author discusses and evaluates the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention

Chapter five will summarize the findings to make a conclusion and some recommendations Also, in this chapter, the author will show the academic and practical contribution as well as limitations of this research for future research.

Conclusion

In chapter one, the author demonstrated the overview of the research topic about the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention, problem statement, research aim, objectives, research question, significance and the structure of the study

In the next chapter, the author would discuss the literature review of this study

LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

In this chapter, the research would have a critical literature review with the definitions, beliefs and arguments about social media marketing and purchase intention

In addition, the research also discussed theories and empirical studies Firstly, the study would discuss social media, followed by explaining about social media marketing and purchase intention Then, theoretical framework and previous studies were presented in the later section After that, the research discussed the research gap and conclusion.

Social media

Social media can be defined as a group of Internet applications that were built n Web 2.0 that allow users to exchange and create the contents (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010) Social media was also defined as technology webs use to interact and communicate to share and create knowledge and information with public communities without any boundaries (Zahoor and Qureshi, 2017) However, Almohaimmeed (2019) argued that social media was based on two main elements, that are the Internet and public interaction

Social media has become a part of many people in the world that become an alternative communication tool (Gautam and Sharma, 2017) The number of users of social media increased significantly in recent years, which can be seen clearly in many social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Reddit, … For example, according to Dixon (2023), the number users of Facebook in the world in the fourth quarter of 2022 was approximately 2.96 billion monthly active users Social media

8 supported customers to gain information about preferred products with good price options and reviews from other customers (Yadav and Rahman, 2017) Social media created private space that everyone was anonymous With it, consumers could freely and directly review the products and share their buying experience with other people

From time to time, besides being a means of communication and connection between users, social media has gradually become a source of information and a place to advertise the products to consumers Balakrishnan et al (2014) emphasized that social media has become operational method for human interaction in the 21st century With enormous users in social media site networking, companies can utilize social media to communicate and understand customers more (Qin, 2020) Therefore, social media was an effective means for firms to engage with customers (Voorveld et al., 2018) and to build a solid reputation with the public (Szwajca, 2017)

Dash et al (2021) claimed that the appearance of the Internet and social media have changed the world of marketing It influenced the way firms connect and communicate with the customers, even with big or small brands Kim and Ko (2012) pointed out that social media created opportunities for integrated marketing activity with less cost and effort because of no restriction on time, place and media Now, marketers not only can approach consumers from traditional media but also from social media (Dehghani and Tumer, 2015) As a result, any business could have the opportunity and potential to grow and compete with opponents in the market.

Social media marketing

Social media marketing was the tool that the company uses to connect, build and maintain relationships with customers in order to gain profit However, there was no

9 explicit definition for social media marketing There were many schools of thought about the definition of social media marketing Choi et al (2016) considered social media marketing as a tool for communicating and interacting with customers to build relationships through social network sites However, according to Zahoor and Qureshi (2017), social media marketing was considered an extensive part of traditional marketing that uses social media tools Conversely, Yadav and Rahman argued that (2017) social media marketing was defined as the process the companies use social media platforms to deliver online marketing to stakeholders about existing and trending products and services With Felix et al (2017), social media marketing was the concept that uses social media together with other channels to create value for stakeholders to achieve the goals of organization Similarly, Tuten and Solomon (2018) believed that social media marketing is to make use of social media platforms to interact with customers and exchange offerings to bring value to the organization

Social media marketing can be characterized and analyzed from different perspectives, depending on the purposes Teo (2005), Chan and Guillet (2011) used digital marketing framework (relate, attract, engage, retain, and learn) of Kierzkowski et al (1996) for social media marketing studies However, there were disagreements between authors in the questionnaire items for general framework Meanwhile, for luxury fashion brands, according to Kim and Ko (2010), social media marketing was measured by five factors: entertainment, customization, interaction, word of mouth, and trend This was to explore the influence of social media marketing on customer relationships and purchase intention However, it was slightly different with Balakrishnan et al (2014), social media marketing can also be measured by electronic word of

10 mouth, online communities and online advertisements This aimed to understand the impact of social media marketing medium on purchase intention and brand loyalty among generation Y In comparison, Almohaimmeed (2019) classified characteristics of social media marketing from the perspective of the customers as social effects, application types and enabling technologies Laksamana (2018) measured the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention and brand loyalty in the retail banking industry by five factor entertainment, interaction, trendiness, customization, electronic word of mouth Depending on the purpose of the study, every classification had its value and contribution to academic research

Social media marketing was a method to advertise products or services of firms to customers Before making a decision, consumers usually find detailed information about products or services through the Internet and social media According to Du et al (2017), an opinion of a person could be changed or shaped by social networks A great advertisement can leave a good impression on customers A first impression can overshadow the latter one and had a long effect on the behaviors of a person (Muthukrishnan and Chattopadhyay, 2007; Hirshleifer et al., 2021) In the future, when choosing a product among brands, customers may buy the one that had a strong impression on their minds

Moreover, social media marketing helped firms reduce the gap between firms and customers With social media, firms can quickly receive the complaints and buying experience of the customers From the feedback, the company can flexibly make adjustments in the strategy to meet the demand of the customers (Nguyen et al., 2015) With enough information, giving brilliant marketing campaign was possible, social media

11 marketing helps firms gain more online presence and catch the attention of target customers

In addition, people nowadays received numerous pieces of information daily This can lead to information overload and constant social media interaction (Yu et al., 2018) So, Zhu and Chen (2015) believed that marketers needed to understand the needs and motivations of using social media of users Different purposes need different strategies in social media marketing Therefore, people classified social media marketing into five types of social media marketing, including content marketing, sponsorship, influencer marketing, social media management, paid media Content marketing was a way to attract attention and engage audiences with firm by creating and distributing contents through videos, blogs, … (He et al., 2021) According to O'Reilly and Madill (2012), sponsorship can be known as a way for corporate to affect consumer-oriented objectives and promote products or services through an event While, influencer marketing was a marketing communication tool that requested influencer who has an impact on consumer buying intention to advertise products (Ye et al., 2021) Social media management was related to managing the resources in social media to gain the best results Finally, paid media was explained that a firm bought advertising space on social media platforms to promote products.

Purchase intention

Scholars and researchers have shown the relationship between social media marketing and purchase intention Many researchers agreed that social media marketing has significant effect on purchase intention (Kim and Ko, 2010; Balakrishnan et al., 2014; Gautam and Sharma, 2017; Laksamana, 2018; Almohaimmeed, 2019) So,

12 it was important to understand the concept of purchase intention to have comprehensive knowledge of this research

Purchase intention was referred to the willingness to purchase a product or service According to Spears and Singh (2004), purchase intention was considered an intentional plan of customers to buy a product However, Kim and Ko (2010) argued that purchase intention can be defined as the possibility that customers will purchase in the future Also, Balakrishnan et al (2014) expanded this definition and explained that purchase intention can be known as the willingness to buy product in the future and repurchase the product Similarly, purchase intention was a promise to oneself to buy a product next time (Kudeshia and Kumar, 2017)

Besides the Internet, social media was full of customer reviews and suggestions This provided users a chance to read honest opinions about the products However, among them, consumers can see the promotions of firm through social media posts From this, consumers could get more information about firm’s products and decide to buy products So, purchase intention can be used as a tool to measure the effectiveness of a marketing strategy (Lal and Sharma, 2021) When measuring the purchase intention of customer, marketers could design marketing activities to reach the target customers and catch their attentions easier.

Theory of Planned Behavior

Theory of Planned Behavior was developed by Ajzen (1991) from the foundation of Theory of Reasoned Action This theory was one of the earliest theories to predict human behavior In this theory, the behaviors of a person were affected by intentions and behavioral control Also, intentions were influenced by three components (attitude,

13 subjective norm and perceived behavioral control) This relationship was shown in Figure 1 below Ajzen (1991) claimed that the more the intention of a person engaged with the behavior, the more possibility that person performed that behavior

Figure 1: Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991)

- ―Attitude towards the behavior‖ was the degree that a person shows positive or negative attitude toward the behavior

- ―Subjective norms‖ was known as what an individual can do or not under the pressures of society and the perceived expectations of other people

- ―Perceived behavioral control‖ was the ability to control an individual to perform a behavior

The Theory of Planned Behavior can be used to anticipate different intentions and behaviors This theory provided a basic knowledge to understand the impact of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control toward the intention Also,

14 intention had influence on behavior With this, the theory can be expanded and developed more in other fields This theory contributed and was successful in predicting many behaviors in many previous studies such as pro-environmental behaviors (Oreg and Katz-Gerro, 2006), passenger behavioral intention for low-cost carriers (Pan and Truong, 2018), mask-wearing intentions on airplanes (Pan and Liu, 2022), etc

However, Ajzen (1991) also claimed that for predicting behaviors, the three factors in the theory can have various results due to different situations and contexts The study of Kim et al (2013) agreed with this point of the author that perceived behavioral control has no impact on the intention in eco-friendly restaurant situation Also, Kim et al (2013) also believed that emotion was an independent variable, that played an important role and was different from attitude In addition, Sniehotta et al (2014) argued about this theory that it is less predictive when using objectively measured and longitudinal design

Though the Theory of Planned Behavior of Ajzen (1991) had some limitations, this dissertation would use this theory as a main reference to conduct this research This theory was applied in different fields to predict the intention of people and the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention Exploring the factors that affected purchase intention was crucial for the study Additionally, the theory provided researcher valuable insight It was analyzing from difference perspectives to build appropriate model The factors influenced purchase intention that could be related to ―Attitude towards the behavior‖, ―Subjective norms‖ or

Empirical studies

The impact of social media marketing on purchase intention was an interesting topic that was conducted and developed in many studies Three empirical studies would be discussed in detail in this section

Among the studies, the research of Kim and Ko (2010) was the most suitable for this study The research framework of Kim and Ko (2010) provided general knowledge about this topic and was later expanded and developed by many scholars that can be used in many industries such as e-commerce industry (Yadav and Rahman, 2017), retail banking (Laksamana, 2018), ready-to-drink industry (Aji et al., 2020), … In the second research, Mai and Tran (2016) conducted the research with the same country and topic as this research With the third study, the research of Almohaimmeed (2019) was one of the newest studies in this topic However, there was no research that used qualitative method and carry out in Viet Nam

2.6.1 The research of Angella Jiyoung Kim and Eunju Ko (2010)

In ―Impacts of Luxury Fashion Brand’s Social Media Marketing on Customer Relationship and Purchase Intention‖ by Kim and Ko (2010), the purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of social media marketing on customer relationship and purchase intention in luxury fashion industry through five factors (entertainment, customization, interaction, word of mouth, and trend) Customer relationships were measured by intimacy and trust Because of the economic downturns and threats from lower sectors at that time, this study can help improve social media marketing performance and attract customers The study was quantitative research that the data were collected in Seoul metropolitan area, in Korea 133 respondents out of 150 were satisfied with the research The survey questionnaires had 25 measurement items that

H3 were five points Likert-types scales The results showed that social media marketing had significant effect on customer relationships and purchase intention Also, customer relationships had an impact on purchase intention Moreover, entertainment had the most impact on other variables Therefore, the study suggested focusing more on the entertainment factor in this industry to increase brand performance and to build good relationships with the customers However, this research was an initial effort of the authors in this topic So, there could be some possible errors that need to be researched further

Social media marketing Customer relationship

Figure 2: Research model of Kim and Ko (2010) Entertainment

2.6.2 The research of Mai Ngoc Khuong and Tran Thi Huong (2016)

The research of Mai and Tran (2016), ―The influence of social media marketing on Vietnamese traveler’s purchase intention in tourism industry in Ho Chi Minh city‖, was a quantitative research The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between social media marketing and purchase intention through online advertising, online communities, electronic word-of-mouth, and evaluate the mediate role of trust between those variables The primary data was collected through paper questionnaires The valid responses were 400 people, who was young and had high demand for traveling, in Ho Chi Minh city, in Viet Nam The results of this research indicated that online advertising and electronic word-of-mouth directly had positive effect on purchase intention, while online advertising and online communities indirectly affected purchase intention through trust Also, online advertising had the most effect on purchase intention that the authors suggested focusing more on this factor to catch the attention of the customers The limitation of this research was conducted a long time ago in Viet Nam There could be some possible events that makes significant changes in Viet Nam For example, according to National Institute for Finance (2022), after Covid-19, there were huge changes in daily life of Vietnamese people So, it is important to conduct and update with the current situation of Viet Nam

Figure 3: Research model of Mai and Tran (2016)

2.6.3 The research of Bader M A Almohaimmeed (2019)

The aim of ―The Effects of Social Media Marketing Antecedents on Social Media Marketing, Brand Loyalty and Purchase Intention: A Customer Perspective’’ by Almohaimmeed (2019) was to explore the influences among the factors in one model (antecedents of social media marketing, social media marketing, brand loyalty and customer purchase intention) However, the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention in the research of Almohaimmeed (2019) was discussed particularly, since other factors are quite not related to the research of this dissertation Social media marketing was measured through application types, social effects and enabling technologies A questionnaire was distributed to 500 people randomly in three malls in Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia However, only 377 respondents were returned and valid for this quantitative research The results revealed that social media marketing was found to have a statistically significant effect on customer purchase intention (Almohaimmeed, 2019) The limitation was the measurements that were based on a small number of indicators The research needed more indicators in the measurement to increase the validity and credibility

Figure 4: Research model of Almohaimmeed (2019)

Conclusion

There were some gaps that was found in the literature review Firstly, many studies about the influence of social media marketing on purchase intention were conducted and carried out in different countries but rare in Viet Nam Different countries may have different results There could be possible changes in customer behavior So, it was essential to study about the influence of social media marketing on purchase intention in Viet Nam Secondly, previous studies used quantitative methods to conduct and lack of qualitative research Therefore, this research used qualitative method From the literature review above, this study would use Theory of Planned Behavior and the study of Kim and Ko (2010) as main reference resources for the analysis the influence of social media marketing on purchase intention Next chapter would discuss and explain the methodology of the research

METHODOLOGY

Introduction

After the literature review, in this chapter, the author would demonstrate and explain the choices in the methodology of the research This research used the research onion model of Saunders et al (2007) Each layer of the model gave detailed information about the stage of the methodology for the researcher Bell et al (2019) stated that the effective methodology had direct influence on the trustworthiness and rationality of the research Therefore, making decisions in each layer of the model not only made a systematic research that follows logical flow, but also increased the validity of the research to achieve the aim and objectives of the study

Figure 5: Research onion model (Saunders et al., 2007)

Branches of philosophy

Before going to the first layer of the model, it was very important to have some knowledge about the branches of philosophy that constituted the research philosophy There were many branches of philosophy They helped researcher design the research methodology and had influence on the interpretation of the results (Crotty, 1998) However, this research discussed two main branches, that are ontology and epistemology Ontology can be explained about the nature of the world and how researchers can investigate and understand it, while epistemology was about human knowledge that how knowledge can be gained and transferred (Burrell and Morgan, 1979)

Among the assumptions, the author chose epistemology With epistemological assumption, the knowledge can be numbers, texts, visual data… (Saunders et al., 2007) The research used qualitative data and the viewpoints, emotions, and experiences of participants were valuable and the source of knowledge So, epistemology was suitable for the research.

Research philosophy

In the first layer of the research model, the decision of a specific philosophy that was used would affect the latter layer of the research onion Research philosophy helped researcher have valuable knowledge to find suitable methods, understand what to do and recognize the limitations when employing (Easterby-Smith et al., 2012) There were many research philosophies such as pragmatism, positivism, realism, interpretivism, etc Under the epistemology, there were two main positions, that were

22 positivism and anti-positivism, which can be known as interpretivism (Burrell and Morgan, 1979) The author chose epistemology in the previous part So, the author only discussed positivism and interpretivism

Positivism was scientific study to find knowledge that was outside of the world and viewed things objectively, that personal viewpoint of the researcher was not included (Park et al., 2020) There was no human interest in the research and the data was collected through observation with huge number of participants With positivism, the knowledge of the researcher was based on former theory, previous research and used quantitative method to conduct and analyze the results (Saunders et al., 2007) However, the result was descriptive and lacked theoretical insights in the study, since this research philosophy was about observation

On the other hand, interpretivism believed that knowledge was affected by subjective views, the contexts of culture, opinions and emotions of people With interpretivist philosophy, the researcher was more active than positivism that researcher interact with participants (Chen et al., 2011) So this philosophy was more subjective than positivism Interpretivism explored people’s feelings, perceptions and experiences to gain meanings and understand the motivation for their behaviors (Creswell et al., 2007) The knowledge generated from the results was meaningful and relative with time, culture and environment The limitation of this philosophy was subjective that can lead to bias of the researcher and time consuming However, with these subjective factors, the qualitative research was more valuable and in-depth (Alharahsheh and Pius, 2020)

This research was a qualitative research, with small samples, that investigated the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention, that opinions and ideas of participants can affect the research In this research, the subjective factors such as perceptions, motivations, and emotions of participants were meaningful, valuable and qualitative data was a source of knowledge Therefore, the research philosophy for this research was interpretivism.

Research approach

Moving to the second layer of the research onion, the selected approach had influence on the decision of research design and methods (Babbie, 1995) There were two main approaches, including deductive approach and inductive approach

Deductive approach used previous theories and hypotheses to test the theory, while inductive approach was from themes of the research to build theory (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007) Deductive approach began with general and ended with specific, whereas inductive approach was from specific to general at the end (Trochim and Donnelly, 2008) With deductive approach, data was collected to test the hypothesis to know whether the theory was verified or not Inductive research focused on ―why‖ questions and used data to find the patterns and themes to establish framework So, inductive approach was normally used with qualitative research However, qualitative method can still be used in deductive approach (Saunders et al., 2007) Also, with inductive approach, the findings of the research can be quite similar to previous theories

From chapter one and two, the purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention Also, based on the research gap, this study used qualitative method to explore the factors of social media marketing, affecting purchase intention, in the context of Viet Nam Due to the differences in cultural contexts, the behavior of people was different (Douglas and Craig, 1997) It was crucial to develop a model that was suitable for Viet Nam situation The framework of this study would be provided at the end of chapter four Therefore, the suitable approach for this research was inductive approach.

Research strategy

In the third layer of the model, research strategy showed how the researcher conducted the study (Saunders et al., 2007) The research strategy included experiment, survey, case study, action research, grounded theory, ethnography, archival research In this study, the author chose case study research

Case study was an in-depth study about a subject to gain deep understanding It can be about people, topics, issues or programs (DeMarrais and Lapan, 2003) The objective of the case study was to gain detailed knowledge in the particular situation According to Bryman (2012), case study research was the evaluate a single subject to find main features and to generalize the findings The case study research helped organization understand more about its case (Blumberg et al., 2014) So, the implication of findings and results would bring more value and trustworthiness for specific subject, that was studied in the research Different from other historical research, case study evaluated contemporary case to explain and understand the issues of the organization (DeMarrais and Lapan, 2003)

This research used interpretivist philosophy, inductive approach with qualitative method that looks for in-depth understanding of the case Also, the context of Viet Nam was essential to build a suitable framework The research had limited time and the issue was about the effectiveness of social media marketing on buying intention of Blueseed Digital company Therefore, case study research was a suitable research strategy for this study.

Research choice

In this layer, the research choice was how the data (quantitative or qualitative) was used in the research In the research onion of Saunders et al (2007), there were three research choices, comprising mono method, mixed-method and multi-method Mono method was about using a quantitative or qualitative method, in the research According to Hesse-Biber (2010), mixed-method was when the study used both quantitative and qualitative in collecting and analyzing data, while multi-method was the combination of methods by using two or more methods in research

Before deciding the research choice, it was crucial to know what quantitative and qualitative approaches were According to Grove and Gray (2018), quantitative method was known as a systematic process that tested the relationships between variables as well as evaluates cause-effect relationship between them Creswell and Plano Clark (2007) stated that the quantitative data was used to test existing theory to support or against the hypothesis The limitations of quantitative methodology were needing a large population and huge statistical data to ensure reliability and validity to conduct the research

On the other hand, qualitative method was used to have a better understanding and deeper insight into the behaviors and motivations of people (Barnham, 2015) Qualitative approach focused more on ideas, opinions and perceptions of participants The research collected information from participants and analyzed themes to develop theories (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007) The qualitative approach explored and understood what was behind the phenomena (D O'Gorman and MacIntosh, 2015) This was what quantitative approach did not have The population for quantitative approach was small, compared to quantitative approach However, qualitative approach was time- consuming, since it required researcher to record the responses of participants and identify patterns, themes from the records Also, due to the bias in the research through collecting to opinions of people, the validity was low

The author decided to choose mono method with qualitative methodology Firstly, the choices in previous layers of the research, including interpretivist philosophy, inductive approach and case study research, linked with qualitative approach All these decisions aimed to have more in-depth investigation and understand the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention of Blueseed Digital company Secondly, from the literature review, there was a gap, that many previous studies in this topic were quantitative studies (Kim and Ko, 2010; Balakrishnan et al., 2014; Gautam and Sharma, 2017; Laksamana, 2018; Almohaimmeed, 2019) and lack of qualitative research Thirdly, mono method for qualitative research was suitable for the study, since this research had limited time and resources.

Time horizon

Time horizon was about the length of time to collect data to complete the research From the research onion model of Saunders et al (2007), there were two types of time horizon, including cross-sectional and longitudinal time horizon The author chose cross-sectional time horizon Cross-sectional study was when the data was collected at certain point in time (Levin, 2006) Because of conducting the study at a specific time, it was more affordable for the researcher than longitudinal However, cross-sectional was not effective, when evaluating the behaviors of subject in long run, because it focused on certain point at a time but not a whole period

This research used cross-sectional time horizon Firstly, the research had limited time and resources to conduct the study This research was carried out within about 5 months Cross-sectional time horizon was more suitable than longitudinal time horizon

If conducting in a long time, the academic contribution of the research may be ensured, but was not supportive for the situation of Blueseed Digital company at the time.

Techniques and procedures

Saunders et al (2007) stated the decisions in this layer have significant influence on the reliability and validity of the study In the final layer of the model, the author would discuss and explain the choices about the techniques and procedures for collecting data in this section

Interview was the process that researcher and participant participate in a conservation with questions related to the study (DeMarrais and Lapan, 2003) The interview can be conducted through face-to-face, telephone and online meetings, …

This research used semi-structured interview It had the features of both unstructured and structured interviews (Cachia and Millward, 2011) Semi-structured interview had plan for the core questions to ask the participants This helped researcher ensure that the interview was more systematic, comprehensive and not out of the topic (Jamshed, 2014) Kallio et al (2016) stated that this type of interview had flexibility that depended on the responses of participants, follow-up questions would be used to gain information However, because of open-ended questions, it had high risk of research bias, leading to low validity of the research The respondents could change their behaviors and answers to please the researcher due to Hawthorne effect According to Wickstrửm and Bendix (2000), Hawthorne effect was known as the change in the behaviors of participants when being observed Also, this method required certain level knowledge of the researcher (Kallio et al., 2016)

The semi-structured interview focused on investigating the influence of social media marketing on purchase intention of Blueseed Digital company It took approximately 20 minutes for each participant with 7 questions about the research topic Before conducting the semi-structured interview, a small trial would be used to test and adjust the questions for the interview

This study had a population of 6 respondents There was no specific sample size for qualitative research and small sample size does not mean ineffective It is more important to have sufficient data to make conclusion According to Boddy (2016), in qualitative research, the sample should be based on characteristics of the study with clear justification

The non-probability technique method was used to conduct the study To be more specific, purposive sampling was adopted With purposive sampling, the researcher decided the subject, involved in the study (D O'Gorman and MacIntosh, 2015) The sample was based on the knowledge and experience of researcher to achieve the goals of the study So, purposive sampling took less time and money With limited time and resources, this method was suitable for the study However, because the sample depends on the judgment of researcher, this could result in observer bias and low validity for the study (Andrade, 2021)

With purposive sampling, the researcher selected the participants, based on the working process of Blueseed Digital company Blueseed Digital company was a marketing agency that helped clients (brands) promote products/ services to attract their target customers Blueseed Digital company, clients and customers of clients played important roles in making a successful marketing campaign So, the data needed to have the viewpoints of social media marketing experts, mangers from clients of Blueseed Digital and customers Firstly, social media marketing experts were skillful in this field with many years of experience, that knew how to promote effectively Secondly, managers from brands knew the demands and needs of the customers and had valuable insights about their customer’s behaviors Finally, the target customers directly perceived the marketing campaign and were affected Therefore, it was crucial to have three perspectives in the sample of this study

In this research, primary and secondary data were both utilized The primary data was original data and used specifically for the goals of researcher The primary data can

30 be collected through surveys, interviews, … (Bryman, 2012) Although it was costly and time-consuming, it is more accurate and reliable Primary data was collected by own researcher, that understand well the issue of the study In this study, the primary data was collected from results of semi-structured interview It was then used as input data for thematic analysis

On the other hand, secondary data was available data that was conducted in the past with different purposes Secondary data can be collected through websites, newspapers, government reports, etc The advantage of this data was time-saving, cheap and easy to access (Cowton, 1998) However, this data was unreliable, since it is out-of-date, has different purposes with research topics and may have biased views of previous collectors In this study, secondary data was collected through existing academic literature, reports, journals and articles, related to the topic of the study The secondary data was used to help researcher have a comprehensive understanding of the concepts and opinions of scholars, related to the topic

With data analysis, thematic analysis was used in this research Thematic analysis focused on identifying and describing the insights in the qualitative data to find the themes (Guest et al., 2012) From thematic analysis, the researcher gained rich and detailed account of data (Braun and Clarke, 2006) This method analyzed qualitative data to create the code and themes to establish a theory However, the issue of reliability was the limitation of thematic analysis, due to the biases and errors during the analytic process (Guest et al., 2012) The thematic analysis was still suitable for this study, since the study investigated and wanted to understand deeper about the impact

31 of social media marketing on purchase intention The study followed 6 steps of Braun and Clarke (2006) to use thematic analysis They included familiarization data, coding, generating themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and writing up With the support of these steps, the researcher could conduct thematic analysis thoroughly

Qualitative research commonly was considered to have low reliability and validity due to lack of scientific rigor (Noble and Smith, 2015) Reliability referred to the consistency of the methodological procedures, while validity was about the accuracy of the findings that can reflect the data (Rose and Johnson, 2020) Rolfe (2006) stated that there was no universal way to judge the validity of qualitative research and instead, the research should appraise its own merits The author made justifications to increase the reliability and validity of the research

Firstly, the opinions, experiences and emotions of participants had value for this study Although they may be biased and change over time, from epistemology and interpretivism, their contributions to the research were considerable and they are sources of knowledge The subjective factors helped qualitative research to be more valuable and in-depth (Alharahsheh and Pius, 2020) Also, the study was to have in- depth understanding about the topic to solve Blueseed Digital’s problem

Secondly, the researcher selected the suitable time when the participants can freely express their opinions and stories Also, the author followed ethical guidelines

32 and ensured that during the interviews, the participants were not forced or under pressure of coworkers, friends, seniors, … to answer the questions

Thirdly, the research followed the steps of the research onion of Saunders et al (2007) In addition, the author used previous studies by researchers and scholars as reference resources to gain knowledge and reduce bias to conduct the study This created systematic research that followed logical flow, but also increased the validity of the research to achieve the aim and objectives of the study

Finally, the researcher used data triangulation in this research The participants included social media marketing experts, managers from brands and target customers Triangulation is used to improve the rigor of the research (Long and Johnson, 2000) The research needed the data from these three perspectives to have comprehensive understanding and establish the research framework.

Research ethic

In the research, ethics needed to be considered and followed in every single step of the process (Johansen and Frederiksen, 2021) Zimmer (2010) stated that the privacy of participants in the research must be protected The respondents had the right to not share information that has impact on their normal life (Golder et al., 2017)

Therefore, this study collected data from participants and ensured that the given information was risk-free The personal information, including full names, company names and jobs, was confidential and anonymous Also, the goal of this research was shown at the start of the interview and the participants can view their interview reports

In addition, the research ethics checklist form of University of Bolton, which was shown in Appendix 1, was filled in to make sure the author follows the ethical guidelines.

Conclusion

In this chapter, the researcher discussed the methodology and made justifications for the choices in the study First, the researcher explained why this study was epistemology, interpretivism, inductive approach, case study, mono method for qualitative methodology with cross-sectional time horizon Next, the author decided to choose non-probability purposive sampling with 6 participants through semi-structured interview and used thematic analysis At the end of the chapter, the reliability, the validity and the ethics of the research were presented Next chapter presented the findings from the thematic analysis of the data

FINDINGS

Introduction

This chapter presented the findings, that were analyzed through 6 participants In the first section, the demographic information of participants was shown to understand the sample of this study Next, the research presented four themes of this study through thematic analysis, including ―Content of the advertisement‖, ―Information of the product in the advertisement‖, ―Electronic word-of-mouth‖ and ―Interaction between brand and customers‖ Also, there were three subthemes to explain ―Content of the advertisement‖, including ―Meaningful message‖, ―Entertainment in advertising‖ and

Description of the sample

In this research, there were 6 participants All participants had some knowledge about social media marketing From the table below, the information of participants was displayed First of all, the participants ranged in age from 20 to 39 years old Secondly, there were three males and three females, that each gender accounted for 50% Also, the name of every participant was confidential due to research ethics So, in this study, the participant was called by jobs This highlighted the opinions of participants during thematic analysis In addition, there were three types of participants, since the research used data triangulation From the perspective of consumer, there was coder and student Sales manager and IT helpdesk manager were from the opinion of manager level of brands Also, from the point of view of experts in social media marketing, there were marketer and digital marketing agency

Table 1: Demographic information of participants

Thematic analysis

From the interview transcripts of participants, there were lots of codes, that were created Most of them were merged into four main themes, including ―Content of advertisement‖, ―Information of the product in the advertisement‖, ―Electronic word-of- mouth‖ and ―Interaction between brand and customers‖ Four themes were illustrated in the figure below

All participants contributed to this theme ―Content of advertisement‖ was related to the factors that caught the attention and affected purchase intention of customers From the thematic analysis, there were three subthemes to explain this theme, including

―Meaningful message‖, ―Entertainment in advertising‖ and ―Right time for advertising‖ They were explained in the later part

―Meaningful message‖ referred to a message in the advertisement, that was delivered to customers to touch their hearts and left a good impression on their minds From the extract below of IT helpdesk manager, he described a meaningful message, including ―meanings‖ and ―touch my heart‖ He believed he could control buying behavior under the impact of social media marketing through ―never‖ and ―strict for myself‖ However, he pointed out that the advertisement still had some influence on his purchase intention by using ―first priority‖

It carries the meanings and touches my heart I never want to buy anything just through advertising or marketing I am quite strict for myself However, it will be my first priority when looking for products (IT helpdesk manager)

While with the marketer, she said this product was ―not necessary‖ with her age This could be explained that when she was older or at a suitable point of time, she may buy the product Also, she added ―pay more attention‖, so this illustrated that meaningful message impacted her purchase intention

Currently with my age, it is not necessary However, I will pay more attention to

In terms of digital marketing agency, he perceived that meaningful message needed to have some value for consumer From his extraction, it was about national pride that brand reminded and convinced him to buy goods During the interview, he said this in a strong and proud tone This highlighted the way that meaningful message affect purchase intention

The message of the marketing was to encourage Vietnamese people to buy products of local brands The special thing about this marketing is not talking about “it” (product), but about “us” We bought a couple shoes from this brand

Apart from meaningful message, this subtheme highlighted that during advertising, when approaching the customers, they must feel relaxed, happy and entertained to affect their purchase intention Marketer described an advertisement that needed to ―create interest‖ She strongly believed that entertainment was an important factor for marketing to catch her attention and affect purchase intention With her logic, the brand did not have this factor in their advertisement, then the brand did not try to promote product, resulting in the product was not worth buying This evidenced that entertainment affected the purchase intention of customers

The image in the content of the advertisement needs to be eye-catching and create interest, when I click it I mean if it is not outstanding, why should I click it, right? If brand does not put effort in it, I do not think it is worth to have a look

The coder described the influence of entertainment in advertising on purchase intention through color and music He used ―vivid‖, ―colorful‖, ―looks yummy‖, ―catchy tune‖ and ―upbeat tempo‖ These were positive words to describe color and music This indicated that he was affected by the advertisement This was strengthened by his words ―encouraged me to buy‖ and ―want to buy‖

The color of the advertisement was vivid, colorful that really encouraged me to buy it It looks yummy…the song has a catchy tune and upbeat tempo is comfortable to listen to This makes me want to buy it more (Coder)

Compared to others, student was quite different She described entertainment in advertising can be from a person that she liked, to affect her buying decision In the interview, she used ―my favorite singer‖ and ―handsome‖ with a cheerful tone It showed that she was satisfied with the advertisement Then, her purchase intention was reinforced by her description of the product as ―absolutely amazing‖ and ―great design‖

I believe the thing that affected my buying intention was that my favorite singer was very handsome When he wore the shoes, I strongly believed that these shoes looked absolutely amazing in my eyes I mean the shoes were great designed, but it needed someone to show its real value (Student)

With this subtheme, participants emphasized the importance of choosing the right point of time to influence the purchase intention This referred to choosing the most suitable time, when purchase intention of customer was easier to be driven by the promotion For the digital marketing agency, the right time was the period when he demanded and needed the products From his extraction below, during Covid-19, he wanted to protect himself, that used ―especially care‖ and ―more willing to pay‖ to show his high demand for products It could be assumed that promoting products for preventing Covid-19 would affect his purchase intention

It can be a time that I especially care about the product Like, during Covid-19, I cared about goods that can protect me from this Coronavirus like masks, hand sanitizer, … At that time, I was more willing to pay money for these kinds of products (Digital marketing agency)

Conclusion

In this chapter, the thematic analysis was used in this study with the sample of 6 participants The research indicated that social media marketing had impact on purchase intention of the customer, through four themes and three subthemes Four themes were ―Content of the advertisement‖, ―Information of the product in the advertisement‖, ―Electronic word-of-mouth‖ and ―Interaction between brand and

48 consumer‖ Three subthemes of ―Content of the advertisement‖ included ―Meaningful message‖, ―Entertainment in advertising‖ and ―Right time for advertising‖ The most important factor was ―Interaction between brand and consumer‖, followed by ―Electronic word-of-mouth‖ In the next chapter, the author would discuss more about findings and summary of the study

CONCLUSION

Discussion of the findings

This research aimed to investigate the effect of social media marketing on purchase intention of Vietnamese people Based on the qualitative analysis in the case study of Blueseed Digital company, with 6 participants, the results of the study indicated that social media marketing had huge impact on purchase intention Previous literature had similar results that social media marketing had impact on purchase intention (Kim and Ko, 2010; Balakrishnan et al., 2014; Mai and Tran, 2016; Gautam and Sharma, 2017; Laksamana, 2018; Almohaimmeed, 2019) This influence of social media marketing was measured by four themes from the thematic analysis They were

―Content of advertisement‖, ―Information of the product in the advertisement‖,

―Electronic word-of-mouth‖ and ―Interaction between brand and customers‖

Firstly, ―content of the advertisement‖ was related to the factors that caught the attention and affected purchase intention of customers There were three subthemes to explain this theme, including ―Meaningful message‖, ―Entertainment in advertising‖ and

―Right time for advertising‖ With meaningful message, participant referred to a message that could touch their hearts and left a good impression on their mind From the study, the result highlighted that this factor in content of advertisement affected purchase intention With ―Entertainment in advertising‖, it was quite similar to

50 entertainment factor of two previous studies (Kim and Ko, 2010; Gautam and Sharma, 2017) This subtheme was explained as the interest of customers when watching advertisement The participants indicated when an interesting advertisement influenced purchase intention In terms of ―Right time for advertising‖, participants described it as a suitable time to promote product With good timing, the purchase intention was easier to be driven by the advertisement So, it had impact on purchase intention

Secondly, ―Information of the product in the advertisement‖ was consider as the demand of customers for full and detailed information about goods to affect the purchase intention With insufficient information, some participants hesitated to buy product, while others did not want to buy or care about the product The information in the advertisement had impact on purchase intention

Also, ―Electronic word-of-mouth‖ was perceived as the suggestions of other people on social media that had impact on purchase intention This factor was mentioned in previous studies and had influenced purchase intention (Kim and Ko, 2010; Mai and Tran, 2016; Gautam and Sharma, 2017) From the data, participants wanted to have detailed information about the product in an advertisement to have purchase intention, but they also did not believe in the information and the image in the advertisement They looked for the comments and suggestions of other people The results showed that it had more impact on purchase intention than content and information in the advertisement

Finally, with participants, ―Interaction between brand and customers‖ was the interaction with customers It could be the interaction between brand and customer or other customer This was the most important factor in the model that had impact on

51 purchase intention Sales manager indicated that bad impression from the interaction could make customer angry and never buy product again, even with good content and detailed information in the advertisement IT helpdesk manager showed that this factor had more influence on his purchase intention This theme was slightly connected with interaction factor in the studies of Kim and Ko (2010) and Gautam and Sharma (2017) These studies had same results that interaction affected purchase intention.

Contribution of the study

Social media marketing has been the subject of many studies The studies about the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention have been conducted for a long time However, most of the studies are quantitative research in different country, but not in Viet Nam (Kim and Ko, 2010; Balakrishnan et al., 2014; Gautam and Sharma, 2017; Laksamana, 2018; Almohaimmeed, 2019) This study used qualitative research and was conducted in Viet Nam This study provided a new model about the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention in Viet Nam This study provides valuable insights for future studies in this topic Also, the study deepens the understanding about the effect of social media marketing on purchase intention.

Implications of the study

First of all, an advertisement needs a meaningful message to the customer that can catch their attention and leave a strong impression The content can be about family or health After the Covid-19, according to National Institute for Finance (2022), there were huge changes in lifestyles of Vietnamese people Many people lost their family and people were concerned about their health So, the topic about family and

52 health can catch their attention easier and touch the heart of customers to affect their purchase intention

Also, the entertainment factor and good timing for advertising are important The study offers to use short and funny videoes to the delivered message to advertise product within about 20 seconds A short video to make sure that people are comfortable and not annoyed with the promotions Blueseed Digital company should choose the right time to advertise when the demand is high and people are easier to be driven by this factor such as Christmas, Tet holidays, etc

Furthermore, the information of products within an advertisement and the electronic word-of-mouth needs to cooperate to have successful marketing The study suggests that Blueseed Digital company should provide special points of the products to the customer with accurate information At the same time, the company needs to collaborate with celebrities, influencers, key opinion consumers, etc They are people that share real experience about the product and customers trust them

In addition, the interaction between brand and customer needs to be considered carefully From the study, the participants showed that bad impression from the interaction could make customer angry and never buy product again During marketing campaign, the marketer should make sure that customers are respected and feel comfortable when promoting products

Moreover, from the research, the participants highlighted that sometimes, one factor can overwhelm other factors to affect purchase intention of the customer So, Blueseed Digital company needs to ensure that all factors work together effectively,

53 harmoniously and smoothly The research suggests the marketer should not focus only on one factor, but needs to have a comprehensive strategy for a successful marketing campaign.

Limitations of the study

Firstly, the limitation is the sample of this study The study planned to have 10 participants However, with a limited time for the research, 6 participants were interviewed Although there is no specific number for the participants, more participants can improve the trustworthiness of the study In addition, this study used purposive sampling to investigate the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention There might be some bias factors from choosing the sample, in the study So, the study should be applied cautiously

Secondly, another limitation of the study is the consideration of demographics The study was people in the age range of 20-39 Nowadays, people at a very young age can approach social media marketing through mobile phones, computers… and make a buying decision on their own Also, older people know how to use electronic devices to approach with promotions on social media platforms The age range of this study is not big enough to generalize a model for all ages So, more people from different age ranges can give more insightful findings.

Recommendation for future research

To have more generalizability of the result, the researcher suggests having a bigger sample size and age range of the participant Also, future studies can use a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative analysis This enhances the reliability and

54 validity of the study and also provides an in-depth understanding of the topic In addition, future studies could be conducted in different settings like urban and rural areas, or age range, or gender differences

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Research ethics checklist form

Appendix 1: Research ethics checklist form

RESEARCH ETHICS CHECKLIST Form RE1

This checklist should be completed for every research project which involves human participants It is used to identify whether a full application for ethics approval needs to be submitted

Before completing this form, please refer to the University Code of Practice on Ethical Standards for Research Involving Human Participants The principal investigator and, where the principal investigator is a student, the supervisor, is responsible for exercising appropriate professional judgment in this review

This checklist must be completed before potential participants are approached to take part in any research

1 Name of Researcher (applicant): Bui Duy Thuan

2 Status (please click to select): Undergraduate Student

3 Email Address: bdt1ocd@bolton.ac.uk

5 Project Title: The study of the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention: A case study of Blueseed Digital company

Section III: For Students Only:

6 Course title and module name and number where appropriate

7 Supervisor’s or module leader’s name: Anupam Mazumdar

8 Email address: A.Mazumdar@bolton.ac.uk

Declaration by Researcher (Please tick the appropriate boxes)

I have read the University’s Code of Practice

The topic merits further research

I have the skills to carry out the research

The participant information sheet, if needed, is appropriate

The procedures for recruitment and obtaining informed consent, if needed, are appropriate

The research is exempt from further ethics review according to current University guidelines

Comments from Researcher, and/or from Supervisor if Researcher is Undergraduate or Taught Postgraduate student:

Please answer each question by ticking the appropriate box:

1 Will the study involve participants who are particularly vulnerable or who may be unable to give informed consent (e.g children, people with learning disabilities, emotional difficulties, problems with understanding and/or communication, your own students)?

2 Will the study require the co-operation of a gatekeeper for initial access to the groups or individuals to be recruited (e.g students at school, members of self-help group, residents of nursing home)?

3 Will deception be necessary, i.e will participants take part without knowing the true purpose of the study or without their knowledge/consent at the time (e.g covert observation of people in non-public places)?

4 Will the study involve discussion of topics which the participants may find sensitive (e.g sexual activity, own drug use)?

5 Will drugs, placebos or other substances (e.g food substances, alcohol, nicotine, vitamins) be administered to or ingested by participants or will the study involve invasive, intrusive or potentially harmful procedures of any kind?

6 Will blood or tissues samples be obtained from participants?

7 Will pain or more than mild discomfort be likely to result from the study?

8 Could the study induce psychological stress or anxiety or cause harm or negative consequences beyond the risks encountered in normal life?

9 Will the study involve prolonged or repetitive testing?

10 Will financial inducements (other than reasonable expenses and compensation for time) be offered to participants?

11 Will participants’ right to withdraw from the study at any time be withheld or not made explicit?

12 Will participants’ anonymity be compromised or their right to anonymity be withheld or information they give be identifiable as theirs?

13 Might permission for the study need to be sought from the researcher’s or from participants’ employer?

14 Will the study involve recruitment of patients or staff through the

If ALL items in the Declaration are ticked AND if you have answered NO to ALL questions in Section IV, send the completed and signed Form RE1 to your Departmental Research Ethics Officer for information You may proceed with the research but should follow any subsequent guidance or requests from the Departmental Research Ethics Officer or your supervisor/module leader where appropriate Undergraduate and taught postgraduate students should retain a copy of this form and submit it with their research report or dissertation (bound in at the beginning) MPhil/PhD students should submit a copy to the Board of Studies for Research Degrees with their application for Registration (R1) Work which is submitted without the appropriate ethics form will be returned unassessed

If ANY of the items in the Declaration are not ticked AND / OR if you have answered YES to ANY of the questions in Section IV, you will need to describe more fully in Section V of the form below how you plan to deal with the ethical issues raised by your research This does not mean that you cannot do the research, only that your proposal will need to be approved by the Departmental Research Ethics Officer or Departmental Research Ethics Committee or Sub-committee When submitting the form as described in the above paragraph you should substitute the original Section V with the version authorized by the Departmental Research Ethics officer

If you answered YES to question 14 , you will also have to submit an application to the appropriate external health authority ethics committee, after you have received approval from the Departmental Research Ethics Officer/Committee and, where appropriate, the University Research Ethics Committee

If you have answered YES to any of questions 1-12 please complete below and submit the form to your Departmental Research Ethics Officer

Summary of issues and action to be taken to address the ethics problem(s)

Please note that it is your responsibility to follow the University’s Code of Practice on Ethical Standards and any relevant academic or professional guidelines in the conduct of your study

This includes providing appropriate information sheets and consent forms, and ensuring confidentiality in the storage and use of data Any significant change to the design or conduct of the research should be notified to the Departmental Research Ethics Officer and may require a new application for ethics approval

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For use by Departmental Research Ethics Officer:

 No ethical problems are raised by this proposed study - Retain this form on record

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 Please submit Departmental Application for Ethics Approval

 Please submit University Application for Ethics Approval

L:\AQAS\Common\Research\Research Ethics\Research Ethics Checklist Form RE1.doc

Retain this form on record and return a copy of section V to Researcher

Interview questions

Interview questions Demographic Questions: Can you briefly introduce yourself?

1 Can you tell me what do you understand about social media marketing?

- What do you like most in social media marketing?

- What is core value to have successful social media marketing from your opinion?

- How does it influence you before purchasing products through this?

2 What is your favorite social media platforms when think about marketing?

- Why is this? Are there anything special in it?

3 Can you share a social media marketing campaign that you found particularly memorable?

- What made it stand out to you? Why?

- Do you want to buy that products/ services from the social media marketing campaign? Why?

4 Have you ever clicked on a social media advertisement, but not made a purchase?

- If yes, can you share what stopped you from making a purchase? Why?

- If no, are there any problem with the advertisement? Why?

5 Have you ever made a purchase decision based on a social media advertisement?

- If yes, can you share the details of the product and the advertisement that influenced your decision? Why it affected you? And how?

- If no, can you tell me why? What is the problem?

6 Do you think that social media marketing is more effective for certain types of products or services than others?

- If yes, which types of products or services? And why?

- if no, can you explain why?

7 Do you follow any brands or businesses on social media?

- If yes, do their posts influence your purchase intention? Why?

- If no, do their random post pop up on your social media affect your purchase intention? Why?

Interview transcript of coder

1.Can you tell me what do you understand about social media marketing?

Social media marketing for me is an improvement of traditional marketing, with more advantages For me, social media marketing is fast, adjusts information and continuously updates with newest trends Also, in social media marketing, people are able to share their opinion and talk about their experience You know we gain different viewpoints of them

2 What is your favorite social media platform when think about marketing?

Um, … I strongly believe that it is Facebook Facebook is considered the oldest social media platform in Viet Nam with a huge user base With this advantage, you know, laugh, you can gain valuable and enormous information from the user experience to make a decision when see an advertisement

Also I mean I can make comparisons For example, when I go to Facebook, if I see an advertisement with low comments, discussions and sharing, trust me, I will never buy it It tells you that nobody cares about the product or the

77 product is not used by other people And the brand did not put effort into advertising it How can we trust the product when a brand doesn't try it best?

3.Can you share a social media marketing campaign that you found particularly memorable?

Oh, let me see… I am thinking about a yoghurt drink brand

I totally like it Up to now, I have still remembered the marketing and I became a loyal customer for this brand

[Laugh] This marketing campaign on social media really impressed me You know, the color of the advertisement was vivid, colorful that really encouraged me to buy it It looks yummy The slogan, I don’t remember, but the song has a catchy tune and upbeat tempo is comfortable to listen to

This makes me want to buy it more

4.Have you ever clicked on a social media advertisement, but not made a purchase?

Of course, yes Last time, when I wanted to buy a new laptop for my young brother I saw an advertisement on social media It looked fine, but there were lots of problems in this one [Disappointed] The information of this product is very little, just about 2 or 3 sentences The details of this product only tell me about the name, brand, color, and some brief information that all computers should have This pissed me off, because every computer has that same information So, I

5.Have you ever made a purchase decision based on a social media advertisement

No, I have not I think it is important to look for more comments from other users and friends on social media

Nowadays, you know, in Vietnam, brands can exaggerate the usefulness and edit lots of things to make their product appealing When other people already tried it, at least I know what the product can really do and their weakness

6.Do you think that social media marketing is more effective for certain types of products or services than others?

I think yes Um Like daily products like foods, fruits, drinks, dishwashers, … You know, I can instantly know how it works from just a quick glance It's really like you can immediately try the product for a moment While other products like TV, conditioner, … even with people comments, experience, but they last really long with the user I think I need to talk with the seller, in person, specifically Because when face to face,

I can know if I can trust them or not and gain more information

7.Do you follow any brands or businesses on social media?

Yes, I followed a computer brand I really love this brand

The way they communicate with users is really nice and kind I remember that last time, when there was a very small problem with the product about an application, they immediately announced it and apologized to the other user

This is really impressive right? Because the small problem was just about a rare application that nearly nobody uses,

Interaction between brand and consumer

79 and it should not be a case My IT (information technology) friends still laugh about this cute action, because it was just a minor issue that nobody cares about, but the brand still cares It is such a nice action I will definitely buy products from this brand

Interview transcript of marketer

1.Can you tell me what do you understand about social media marketing?

I believe that social media marketing is defined by using social media platform such as Facebook, Zalo, Tiktok, … to market products [Think for a few seconds] For me, a good social media marketing, the content of the social media marketing is the most crucial part in marketing Also, it needs to have keywords in the advertisement, so people can find it in Google… Also, the image in the content of the advertisement needs to be eye-catching and create interest, when I click it I mean if it is not outstanding, why should I click it, right? If brand does not put effort in it, I do not think it is worth to have a look

2 What is your favorite social media platform when think about marketing?

Well… Normally, I mainly watch Facebook and YouTube

Because … I mean these platforms are considered a daily part of people People use it every day to gain information, communication, etc So, using marketing in these platforms is a good decision You know… people use it daily, so they are

81 more tolerant with these advertisements and willing to watch

Well I just say that we get used to it Laugh

3.Can you share a social media marketing campaign that you found particularly memorable?

Honestly, I really like the social media marketing campaign of an insurance company It had the campaign called ―Tet as you wish‖ The way they use the words was really impressive This sentence in Viet Nam had two meanings It meant your life can be imagined as living in Italy The other meaning was live as you want They used the videos to deliver the message to customers But I didn’t buy, because it was about my finances

I want to invest my money in something else and currently with my age, it is not necessary However, I will pay more attention to it and suggest their products to anyone who needs or wants to know

Oh, also, the way admins communicate with user was really nice They were polite, had sense of humor and respected me

Sometimes, I just want to their buy product to make them happy

Interaction between brand and consumer

4.Have you ever clicked on a social media advertisement, but not made a purchase?

Yeah, I think I have Some have really great titles that instantly catch my attention, but when I click it, it is not persuasive Well,

I used a lot of products When I saw the advertisement and clicked it, I felt disappointed because the product did not have enough information for me to know whether it's superior to the same type of product that I use every day So, I am not willing

82 to change my product to buy new ones

5.Have you ever made a purchase decision based on a social media advertisement

[Thinking for a moment] I have to say no I am a kind person that even when seeing brilliant advertisements, I still want to get more reviews about the product, before buying anything

Like, I will read the feedback, review videos of other customers about the products You know, advertisements normally can exaggerate the functions of a product

6.Do you think that social media marketing is more effective for certain types of products or services than others?

I think yes I mean different products have different demands for their own promotions Some products need to have several videos, clips, so customers can approach them easier than other traditional methods like newspapers, leaflets, … Well, with me, I can have a comprehensive look and understanding about the product To be more specific, some products have only one tool for promotion that can be traditional marketing or social media marketing While, others need both of them for customers to accept the product and gain more information to make a buying decision

7.Do you follow any brands or businesses on social media?

Yeah, I followed many clothes brands To be honest, the posts of the brand do have influence on my purchase decision

[Thinking] Let me see… When I don’t have any intention to buy anything, but if I see the advertisement with promotions on some special days, I will try to get detailed information about it like the functions, material of it, the last day of promotion, … to

83 know whether it is a real bargain [Smile] Oh, special days are like Black Friday, holidays, … These days, people go crazy shopping and I am partly affected by them But, I also will consider buying it for future usage, even if now, it is totally unnecessary

Interview transcript of sales manager

1.Can you tell me what do you understand about social media marketing?

Simply, social media marketing is the way that brands promote products to customers through social media platforms

In my opinion, the content of social media marketing is important for me The content is important, that needs to be hilarious and interesting, that can catch the attention of people, but should not include race, culture discriminations, … I hate that advertisements have these factors When I feel comfortable and entertained, I can to let people introduce products to me I mean I am more tolerant with the approach of brands and the chance to make a decision to buy a product is higher

2 What is your favorite social media platform when think about marketing?

For me, it is YouTube I like YouTube This platform gives people high quality and trustworthy advertisements I mean there are a lot of unreliable ones, but it just accounted for a small proportion Also, when coming to YouTube, customers can see the reviews and discussion of other people This is a

85 strength of this platform When you have high quality products, there will be numerous good feedback YouTube is about videos and comments, so people will focus more on these, while the influence of other factors is less So, if I see many positive comments in this platform, I will consider buying the product

3.Can you share a social media marketing campaign that you found particularly memorable?

Let me see How to start the story…? It was a long time ago, but it is still memorable to me I handled quite a big social media marketing project for my brand My marketing project was expected to run at the end of August I prepared lots of things for several months like the contents, colours, videos, posts, However, they were not enough and I would fail if I was not reminded by my seniors about the importance of timing At that time in Viet Nam, it was the start of a new semester, so the parents spent lots of money for the education of the kid from fees to stationery They will hesitate to buy my brand’s product at this time of the year So, in the end, my project was delayed [Laugh] I was quite a little disappointed, but mostly happy that I avoided making mistakes and learned new things

4.Have you ever clicked on a social media

Of course, yes Recently, I saw a good advertisement with attractive content and detailed information about the product

However, the admin changed my mind Let’s consider the

86 advertisement, but not made a purchase? admin was a man He was rude and grumpy It just liked that I was begging him for the product I was angry Even if this product has lower price for the other products, I will never buy the product of this brand and customer

5.Have you ever made a purchase decision based on a social media advertisement

No I normally read more carefully about the information and function of the product then make a buying decision Once, when I wanted to buy a vitamin supplement, the advertisement talked about the benefits of the product It made people believe that the supplement can have multiple functions that are good for health But, it was fake Trust me, I asked the doctor

Although the functions of the ingredients in the product are right, the supplement only provides a little effect and needs time to make the difference Brands just overemphasize the benefits

6.Do you think that social media marketing is more effective for certain types of products or services than others?

Yes I mean each product has different demands When it comes to social media marketing, the product that has a target customer, approaching social media platforms easier than others This product can have more ―effectiveness‖ like you said But I have to say that the effectiveness can be considered from a different perspective and what is your viewpoint for this meaning For example, products in niche markets successfully attract their target customer, but when looking overall, the number of them would be very small, compared to products

7.Do you follow any brands or businesses on social media?

Yeah, I followed several brands Well, the posts of brands on social media can indirectly affect my choice I really like one page of a cake brand It usually shares short, funny and interesting stories about the customers Even though I am old and mature I still love to read them If I want to buy a cake, I will buy a cake from this brand [Smile] Even though the cakes are just normal, I am a loyal customer

Interaction between brand and consumer

Interview transcript of digital marketing agency

1.Can you tell me what do you understand about social media marketing?

Social media marketing is promoting products through images or videos in social media platforms that people use daily Well, social media marketing needs to promote products at the right time I mean when I am free, I can let people introduce their products and make a decision to buy or not later Or, it can be a time that I especially care about the product Like, during Covid-19, I cared about goods that can protect me from this Coronavirus like masks, hand sanitizer, … At that time, I was more willing to pay money for these kinds of products

2 What is your favorite social media platform when think about marketing?

There are three social media platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube They are the most popular with the highest active users in Viet Nam Facebook has advantages in strong communities to discuss different topics and Vietnamese people use it every day to talk and communicate with their friends, coworkers, … Tiktok is strong in making content from creators and the best in short-form video platform Whereas,

YouTube is a long-form video platform It is one of the oldest platforms and people can find various videos that they want to know or discuss

3.Can you share a social media marketing campaign that you found particularly memorable?

It was a social media marketing campaign for a shoe brand It was a successful campaign Or I can say that this is one of the most impressive social media marketing campaigns that I have experienced Sorry, but I cannot talk in more detail about this campaign, since it is quite related to my job So, you know, I will just briefly talk about this one The message of the marketing was to encourage Vietnamese people to buy products of local brands The special thing about this marketing is not talking about ―it‖ (product), but about ―us‖ From my understanding, people wish to be outstanding and unique, but they also want a sense of belonging to something like a club, a community, … This marketing was amazing Even though my friend and I used to wear shoes of other brands, we bought a couple shoes from this brand

4.Have you ever clicked on a social media advertisement, but not made a purchase?

Yes Let me think for a second Information from the advertisement of the product is not enough for me I need to confirm it again I usually search for more information from different sources like the official website of the brand, Internet,

… With adequate information, I can know whether it is useful and necessary I am not hesitate to spend money, if the

5.Have you ever made a purchase decision based on a social media advertisement

Maybe yes and no I only do this on some occasions like Black Friday You know, in this event, there are lots of promotions with big discounts Some products also have freebies I spent lots of money on this event For me, I buy products to relieve stress It is just my small hobby

6.Do you think that social media marketing is more effective for certain types of products or services than others?

Yes, and No Each product has a certain number of customers

They are all different It depends on various elements like the age of the customer, the industry, the common product, … For example, TikTok is a platform for young people When marketing products that have an affordable price for beauty, it will catch the attention of youngsters This marketing can be more successful than products for older people with the same platform However, young people through the same social media platform can buy goods like dietary supplements for their parents

7.Do you follow any brands or businesses on social media?

Yes I follow a few pages I don’t trust most of the advertisements of brands I know the purpose behind the marketing For me, I trust KOC KOC did not receive money to advertise products like influencer KOC gives opinions and shares their experience about products, without bias If KOC suggests a product that I do not like, I will give it a second chance to persuade me [Smile]

Interview transcript of IT help desk manager

1.Can you tell me what do you understand about social media marketing?

Social media marketing is using social media platforms to promote products to customers For me, I like social media marketing because it provides me with more choices with competitive prices Also, I can find goods with exact locations without searching around too much Social media marketing affects me a lot Every time I want to purchase something, I will search on the Internet Well, I want to know more about the product or I can say whether it is worth my money or not To be honest, the information from the advertisement typically was not enough for me

2 What is your favorite social media platform when think about marketing?

For me, it is YouTube and TikTok I think I like the video advertisement rather than reading the online newspapers or some random advertisements when I am online to find something The videos are easier to watch, short time and just point out the main points that need to focus It is simple and not complicated

3.Can you share a social media marketing campaign that you found particularly memorable?

I do not think that I have any in mind right now but I think I like some video to promote the products around the holiday, such as Christmas and New Year It usually delivers some great messages To be more specific, it carries the meanings and touch my heart, not useless like other normal promotion videos I never want to buy anything just through advertising or marketing I only buy something when I need it or I will need it in the future [smile] I am quite strict for myself However, it will be my first priority when looking for products

4.Have you ever clicked on a social media advertisement, but not made a purchase?

Yes, I think I prefer thinking carefully before buying anything

Actually, the recommendation from my friends can convince me to search about certain products and impact my decision to buy them Advertisements usually exaggerate the benefits of products and edit images to be more appealing I trust the real experiences, since people already used it and gave feedbacks

5.Have you ever made a purchase decision based on a social media advertisement

No I bought a hat from Etsy which appeared a lot on Facebook and caught my eyes It was recommended by many KOLs (influencers) However, the one that persuaded me was the admin of the page To be honest, I am quite annoyed when buying things, since I ask lots of questions She was nice and willing to listen to my requirements However, the product was not that good, or it cannot reach my expectations Actually, it was quite terrible

Interaction between brand and consumer

6.Do you think that social media marketing is more effective for certain types of products or services than others?

Yes It depends on the type of products I think consumers would like to buy products that have good prices and quick results While with other products, people will think more carefully and look for more information to make a decision

7.Do you follow any brands or businesses on social media?

Yes, I do, but the answer can be no I do not want to bias anything Honestly, I do not care much and it is extremely annoying when any advertisements continuously appear in my social media account

Interview transcript of student

1.Can you tell me what do you understand about social media marketing?

Social media marketing is using social media applications to introduce products to other people I like the wide range approach which goes beyond many geographical limits For me, It’s all about content that can catch my heart and attention

2 What is your favorite social media platform when think about marketing?

I like Tiktok because it is short, fun and lively You can understand the topic in it in a very short time Also, TikTok has more videos that are suitable for my taste I can also discuss and share videos with my friend when we chat

3.Can you share a social media marketing campaign that you found particularly

It is a social media marketing campaign of a shoe brand I like it I bought several shoes of this brand [smile] I believe the thing that affected my buying intention was that my favorite singer was very handsome [Embarrassing] When he wore the shoes, I strongly believed that these shoes looked absolutely amazing in my eyes I mean the shoes were great designed,

Image of product on social media marketing

96 memorable? but it needed someone to show its real value

4.Have you ever clicked on a social media advertisement, but not made a purchase?

Yes, a lot Like yesterday, when I saw the advertisement for a shirt, the product looked pretty good Actually, it was very cute

However, after I saw the comments of other users, I changed my decision Before buying anything, I have a habit of looking at the reviews of customers People discussed and showed the real picture of it It was totally below my expectations So, at the end, I did not buy it

5.Have you ever made a purchase decision based on a social media advertisement?

No I consider the demand of myself and the usefulness of the product first It is silly to buy a product just based on a pure advertisement I would like to find more detailed information about the product that I may buy I love buying goods, but only those are useful to me I don’t want to regret my decision

When I buy the wrong product, I feel unhappy and awful

Information of product in advertisement

6.Do you think that social media marketing is more effective for certain types of products or services than others?

I think that products that can be consumed quickly Because most people could understand what it is, with just a glance

Also, I think these products are affordable People just spend a little money to get them So it is more effective than other products Sorry, but this is what I know

7.Do you follow Yes, several pages I think the posts can affect my buying