A study of impact of social media influencers on customer buying decision for VNG corporation

THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLTON

A study of impact of social media influencers on customer buying decision for VNG Corporation

Lecturer : Dr David Ratcliffe Supervisor : Ms Begum Asma

Student‟s name: Nguyen Tu Nguyet Vy Student‟s ID: 2124792

Email: ntv5ocd@bolton.ac.uk

Course : BSc Business Management

Date : 1 May 2023

Acknowledgement

First, I would like to thank the organizations as well as the individuals who have helped me in the process of studying and training at university Thanks to that, I can equip myself with knowledge for the future This is also my last subject at university, so I appreciate it and try my best to complete it To complete the dissertation, I would like to thank Mr David Ratcliffe, Ms Begum Asma, Ms Pham Thi Tuyet Trinh, University of Bolton, and Banking University for creating opportunities for learning, training, knowledge, and skills to perform during the course

This dissertation was conducted over a period of more than 2 months At the beginning of my research, I also had difficulties because it was my first time doing this research for such a long time and it required a lot of knowledge and skills Although I've tried, I'm sure there will be shortcomings Therefore, I am always ready to listen to teachers' suggestions to improve my knowledge

Finally, I wish all of teachers a lot of health and joy in life so that you can contribute to the education industry in the future

Best regards

Table of contents

Page Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Influencer Marketing 7

1.2 Overview of the game industry and research context of Vietnam 8

1.3 Research objective 9

1.4 About VNG Corporation and research context 10

Chapter 2 : Literature Review 2.1 Social Media Influencers (SMIs) 12

2.2 Social Media Influencers‟ reputation dimensions 13

2.3 Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of Reasoned Action- TRA 14

2.4 Philip Kotler's model of customer behavior 15

2.5 Disadvantages of SMIs 19

2.6 The conceptual model and hypothesis 20

Chapter 3 : Research methodology 3.1 Research philosophy 23

4.2 Information about data coding 34

4.3 Sumarizing characteristics of testers 36

4.4 Analysis of Descriptive statistics 37

4.5 Analysis of One Sample T-test and Independent T-test 39

4.5.1 One Sample T-test 39

4.5.2 Independent T-test 39

4.6 Check the reliability of the scale using Cronbach's Alpha 40

4.7 Correlation analysis 41

4.8 Multiple linear regression analysis 42

Chapter 5 : Discusion and conclusion 5.1 Discusion 46

5.2 Recommendation 47

5.3 Conclusion and limitation of study 48

References 50 Appendix 61

Table and Figure

Figure 1: BSI Top 10 Vietnam‟s Influencer on social media February 2023 Figure 2: Theory of Reasoned Action- TRA

Figure 3: Model of the customer purchase decision-making process in five stages (Kotler and Keller, 2012)

Figure 4: The conceptual model "Study the impact of social media influencers on customers' purchasing decisions for VNG Corporation"

Table 1 : Variables coding

Table 2 : The scale table of variables

Table 3 : The brief result of descriptive statistic Table 4 : The brief result of One-sample T-test Table 5 : Group Statistics

Table 6 : Results of Independent T-test of observed variables of the factor Table 7 : The brief result of checking reliability of Cronbach‟s Alpha

Table 8 : The brief result of checking Pearson correlations

Abbreviations

VNG : Vinagame VND : Vietnamdong IM : Influencer Marketing

SMIs : Social Media Marketing BSI : Best social influencer

Purpose : The purpose of the study is to evaluate the influencing factors of social media influencers on customers' decision to buy VNG Corporation products Because there have been many marketing campaigns that VNG Corporation combined with influencers to do marketing campaigns However, they get the interaction is not as high as expected On that basis, this research helps VNG Corporation to get a better social media influencer marketing strategy for their products and the impact of social media influencers on purchasing decisions of customers

Methodology: Data is collected from customers to evaluate many different components through a certain tool used for research The research method is quantitative research In the quantitative research analysis, descriptive statistics, scale testing, Pearson correlation, multivariate regression analysis and testing the differences between groups of consumer were performed The number of samples selected for the survey is 201 customers who have purchased products of VNG Corporation, which is conducted through a survey questionnaire and randomly selected individuals The content questionnaire was used to collect their perceptions and evaluations of the company's social media influencers marketing strategy The study used multivariate regression analysis through the software SPSS 20.0

Findings: The study will give results on the level of customer desire about VNG Corporation's social media influencer marketing campaigns and how it will affect their purchasing decisions

Contribution: It's very common for social media influencers to be used for marketing However, social media influencer marketing with online games has only grown in recent years as the Internet has grown Therefore, this study was conducted to explore customer excitement about social media influencer marketing strategies and its impact on their purchasing decisions From there, identify the weaknesses to overcome and promote the strengths to get the marketing strategy

Key word : Influencer marketing, consumer behavior, social media influencers, buying decision, games, VNG Corporation

Chapter 1 : Introduction

1.1 Influencer Marketing

„Influencer marketing is the art and science of engaging people who are influential online to share brand messaging with their audiences in the form of sponsored content‟ (Sammis et al., 2016, p 7) While Scott (2015) defines Influence marketing is a type of marketing approach that makes use of people's or leaders' power to influence customer brand awareness and purchase behavior Additionally, brands that want to expand their audience and find loyal customers, influencers are the ones who authenticate and trust in this relationship (Sudha and Sheena, 2017) In summary, influencers are marketing methods that businesses base their influence on on social networks These are the people who have the largest fan base, then they use social media posts to promote brands and products to consumers

Nowadays, influencers are important factors for businesses for a many reasons First, it needs to be underlined that influencers help increase brand loyalty as well as new users, communities, ignite action, enhance concepts or ideas, and increase brand recognition (Trivedi and Sama, 2020) Customer relationship management (CRM) is an important element of a marketing strategy Plus, incorporating marketing through social media influencers can fundamentally change traditional marketing strategies These are considered the most popular and effective marketing methods today and have lower costs than other methods Second, the increase in Internet use among young people makes it so that if companies want to attract younger generations then SMIs are the marketing method that is considered suitable (Ki et al., 2020)

Social media is becoming common among young folks Millions of people now follow blogs and vlogs (video blogs) (Lin et al., 2018) YouTube has 1.86 billion users globally

(Statista, 2021), and more than 500 million people view videos on Facebook per day (Statista, 2023)

Figure 1: BSI Top 10 Vietnam’s Influencer on social media February 2023

Source: Buzzmetrics, 2023

Social media is quickly expanding and spreading around the world, and Vietnam is no exception (Pham et al., 2021) Based on many criteria and interactions on Vietnamese social media channels and online newspapers, the top 10 most influencers on social media in February, 2023

1.2 Overview of the game industry and research context of Vietnam

Online gaming was the main source of entertainment for the majority of Vietnamese children, according to a 2010 survey by Viettrack on the activities of Vietnamese children Vietnam's digital economy in 2018 is comparable to a "dragon being unleashed" (Worldbank, 2020) NewZoo's Global Game Market Report 2020 once assessed that Vietnam has great potential and makes a breakthrough in the game field in the world (Vietnamnet, 2023) According to Wolf (2015), the growth of video games as a form of entertainment will continue to be steady and limitless because there are no physical boundaries that would prevent its expansion Furthermore, the worldwide development and growth of the video game industry have taken distinct courses in various national settings (John, 2006) In particular, Vietnam is currently one of Southeast Asia's two largest online gaming marketplaces, with China Taiwan, and it is featured in the top 100 nations by game revenue, coming in at position 27, thanks to its outstanding growth rate (Phan, 2019) Many Vietnamese young men are frequently observed engrossed in their gaming screens; some even neglect eating and sleeping in favor of playing video games for the most of the day

However, Grubb (2014) predicted that Vietnam will have the largest increase of gamers in Southeast Asia Online games have consistently been a favorite among Vietnamese youth, even when government actions are involved For instance, the Circular 60 (Thông tư 60), which was implemented in 2006, set a daily playing time cap of 5 hours The Ban policy in 2010 restricted imported games Decree 72 (Nghị định 72), which added further restrictions to internet activity, was published in 2013 The most recent regulation to further limit online gaming was Decree 27, which was published in 2018 Therefore, the game industry is subject to many prejudices The media only mentions the negative side of the game industry, making parents and society view people who play games and make games in a very bad way Online games are one of the healthy and time-consuming online entertainment options that young people are accepting Besides, in 2019 online games were also selected as one of the official competitions at the 30th Seagame

1.3 Research objective

Game is one of the fast-growing fields and is gradually interested in parallel with the development of information technology and Internet But for more people to know to download and buy game products, marketing is an extremely important strategy In particular, the marketing strategy through social media influencers is currently a popular marketing trend in Vietnam Especially when the percentage of Internet users in Vietnam is accounted for 74% of the population in 2021 (Worldbank, 2021)

The purpose of this study is to identify factors of influencers which influence customers to buy VNG products through social media advertisement From there, the framework will help to identify the effectiveness of social media influencers in influencing buying decision of customers Finally, this study provides suggestions and recommendation to improve social media advertisemusing influences in the case of VNG Corporation

1.4 About VNG Corporation and research context

VNG was established in 2004, the original name was Vi Na Games Joint Stock Company (Vinagame), charter capital of 15 billion VND Through 16 times of capital increase, the capital scale of VNG is now more than 358 billion dong In which, foreign shareholders hold 49% of shares, domestic shareholders hold more than 31%, the rest are treasury shares of nearly 20% If calculated by the number of outstanding shares (excluding treasury shares), foreign investors have a voting rate of more than 61% and this part is held by only one shareholder (Nhandan, 2023) VNG is a Vietnamese technology company with 4 main product segments including online games, connectivity, payment and financial platforms, and cloud services In particular, the field of video games has made steady progress in the overseas market and has begun to gain success in the Indian and Russian markets The segment that brings the most revenue for VNG is online game services, accounting for about 70-80% of total revenue in recent years (Vnexpress, 2023) By the end of 2022, VNG has total assets of more than 9,189 billion VND Consolidated equity reached VND 5,579 billion (Nhandan, 2023) After more than 15 years in the market, VNG is an enterprise that greatly inspires the community through programs such as charity, sports, and education, thereby helping society to have a more sustainable development

In recent years, VNG has applied marketing through influencers to reach customers in order to maximize profits and increase recognition in the market The most recent example VNG has partnered with Micro Influencers, Vo Lam Truyen Ky 1 Mobile reaches out to a group of role-playing game veterans via social media with the main content of in-game activities in order to increase product recognition across the board The VNG team additionally adjusts the frequency and guarantees engagement in each player section at the same time To keep the material relevant and appealing to each target audience, the team makes use of innovative ad formats from media partners including Facebook, Google, TikTok, and Youtube Recently, VNG cooperated with Influencers (influential celebrities) including prominent names such as Nguyen Huong, Tra Dang, An Nhien - Boi Boi to make short videos with high virality In addition, VNG also cooperates with 4 satellite ambassadors including game streamer MisThy, singer Karik, actors Tran Thanh, Kathy Nguyen and Tuan Tran in TVC advertising on Facebook for the game Vo Lam Truyen Ky (Brandvietnam, 2021) The choice of these 4 ambassadors has assisted VNG in connecting with their fan base on a deeper level and raising awareness among the younger generation of gamers

Source : Facebook, 2021

Chapter 2 : Literature Review

2.1 Social Media Influencers (SMIs)

SMIs are seen as an independent third party that influences the shaping of viewers' attitudes using blogs and other media (Freberg et al., 2011) In conventional power systems, consumers' position has arguably undergone a fundamental transformation as a result of the pervasive connectedness made possible by the growth of social media and entirely altered how consumers interact with companies (Lamberton and Stephen, 2016) According to study, SMIs qualities including attractiveness, expertise, knowledge, and interaction significantly enhance consumers' opinions of influencers as

opinion leaders (Ki and Kim, 2019) The viewer's desire to imitate SMIs and WOM intents is influenced by these favorable sentiments Viewer preference for SMI can predict WOM positivity from viewers through several studies (Taillon et al., 2020) Similarly, it appears that the relationship between the follower and the SMIs can better predict followers' WOM intentions the stronger their relationship is (Dhanesh and Duthler, 2019) In sumary, „A social media influencer is a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry A social media influencer has access to a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach‟ (Glenister, 2021, p.17) Influencers can also participate in social media as a brand's supporter and consumer (Lamberton and Stephen, 2016) The use of SMIs by brands allows for the co-creation of the brand's online persona by the SMIs and their followers (Martnez-López et al., 2020) Brands use SMIs in particular to promote favorable consumer reactions to their interests The factors interact with each other and influence the purchasing decisions of different goods Specifically, according to Casaló et al (2018), interpersonal communication has a higher impact on behavior and decision making than other mass media Because they trust them, followers are more likely to copy influencers' behavior and adopt their product preferences (Audrezet et al., 2018)

Digital distribution networks and online game stores are thriving and driving gaming as a service more than ever Social communication and interaction is one of the key components driving the popularity of games, and they will continue to impact the way games are marketed and played (Liu et al., 2017) Many content creators who are gamers are active, talented in creating new trends and influencing fans These content creators and gamers have millions of people following and interacting with the content they create every day Based on these creative content, game advertisers can dig deeper into the gaming community to improve their strategy and optimize the user experience In addition to large reach with a large number of users and high views, influencers bring game publishers a diverse set of creative solutions to build a full-funnel marketing strategy, reach customers used at every touchpoint in the game's lifecycle In a diversified marketing strategy, influencers can promote products with businesses in

each stage of user action, from the stage of increasing awareness in the market to the stage of conversion and bringing huge sales for the brand

2.2 Social Media Influencers’ reputation dimensions

There are four dimensions of communication skills, influence, authenticity, and expertise, which make up the measurements of SMIs's reputation, showed appropriate construct dependability and validity (Ryu and Han, 2021) Firstly, good communication skill plays important role with influencers when they interact with potential customers Not only communicate well but also this is your way of sharing information with customers This mean that influencers express point of views in their way Influencers's communication skill are becoming crucial, in part because they have recently used real-time video broadcasting to explain and sell products SMIs are connected in real time with customers on social networks through the content they reach and communicate to many people in recent It can be seen that the views and attitudes of customers can be derived from criticisms and suggestions from SMI Therefore, this is a commercial benefit that businesses today are taking advantage of to develop the market (Liu et al., 2015)

Influencers can create many effects as well as let customers feel more empathy and trust with other media Thirdly, authenticity has already shown to have a significant impact on a celebrity's reputation SMIs have directly influenced the purchasing decision process of customers by providing them with information Information is interpreted as if it were personally communicated by friends, and influencers' real-life experiences are taken as authentic material The communications from SMIs are viewed as „one of the few forms of real, authentic communication‟ (Scott, 2015, p 295) After all, customers subscribe to influencer content because influencers have an advantage over celebrities in terms of authenticity An influencer with understanding of specialized material may have a substantial impact on customer awareness and purchase behavior From this perspective, influencers must back their credibility with knowledge, linking emotional components to competence This is due to the fact that an influencer can only be authentic if they possess both the talent and the emotional components

2.3 Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of Reasoned Action- TRA

The theory of rational action (TRA), which was created in 1967 by psychologists Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen, is based on earlier social psychology research, models, and models on ideas of attitude and recovery According to Fishbein's views, there is an association between conduct and attitudes (A-B connection)

Figure 2: Theory of Reasoned Action- TRA

Source: Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975

According to the TRA theory, attitudes and outcomes are directly related; people are more likely to experience a pleasant outcome if they feel that a particular conduct will result in the desired or desired consequence with good frame of mind towards the activity The subjective norm factor can be measured through people related to the consumer (such as family, friends, influencers, etc.) Furthermore, whether or not people really engage in the action depends on societal standards Consumer behavior and other participants' subjective motives are subjectively influenced by the persons involved and their influence (Schiffman and Kanuk, 1987) People form normative views about what is and isn't appropriate conduct, in accordance with TRA These ideas affect

Belief in those belonging to the product province; Measuring trust in product provinces

Belief in influencers who will think that I should or should not buy the product; Motivation to follow the will of influencers

Attitude affects behavior

Propensity to buy

Subjective standards

Buying behavior

how a person perceives conduct and influence whether or not they intend to engage in it

2.4 Philip Kotler's model of customer behavior

Making a decision also involves making a decision between two or more alternatives (Shanton and Roelich, 2021) Consumer behavior is the act of making choices about products and ideas or experiences to satisfy consumer needs and preferences (Solomon, 1996) Understanding the purchase decision-making process of consumers presents difficulties for any business There will be changes to the approach and client feedback on it by the time the company's managers are aware that they can value every customer There are situations where the company is impacted by unexpected client responses, every favorable and unfavorable reaction to the product being introduced, or the marketing campaign being run As a result, several academics made an effort to understand how consumers make purchasing decisions Five stages are taken by purchasers while making purchases of products and service in the "Five-stage customer buying process model" (Figure 1)

Figure 3: Model of the customer purchase decision-making process in five stages (Kotler and Keller, 2012)

Need recognition

A customer can initially identify the need or the issue This identification results from a need, requirement, or replacement situation that results from a change in the way of life Physical and psychological requirements are the two basic categories into which this need is divided (Michael, 2006) According to Maslow (1954), personal needs may be divided into needs for social interaction, self-esteem, physical health, safety, and self-actualization The customer will identify the demand as a result of the prior need and will

never be entirely fulfilled For instance, a gamer discovers that his PlayStation contains both too few and too outdated games

Information Search

After the demand has been identified explicitly, the client may start searching for the solution or sufficient solution Both external and internal sources inside the process might be trusted by the public The knowledge a consumer has already encountered serves as the fundamental and essential foundation The customer may seek out additional sources of information to be acquired, unless that knowledge is insufficient and there are differences in the methods used to identify the need or solve the problem It also suggests that the buyer could limit their search to prior experiences if the product is of low importance and is not necessary for their life (Oliver et al., 2011) The customer seeks for information that can give solutions for problems to be solved as well as further information about the product, alternatives, and other options that are accessible for purchase, as well as a compelling argument for choosing to buy the chosen product Customers in this digital world have access to data at their fingertips (Punj and Moore, 2009) For example, the gamer is more likely to sign up for a gaming website that has all the necessary game-related data Information can be found through internal or external means Internal search refers to the player's ability to recall prior experiences with games or recommendations from gaming influencers In this instance, a web page is used as the external channel via which the search is conducted (Kotler and Keller, 2009)

Evaluation of Alternatives

Customers' information gathered from utterly unrelated platforms was evaluated for suitability to the purpose Specified alternatives have been assessed taking into account all benefits and drawbacks as well as using totally distinct criteria of evaluation and decision-making The concrete advantages that the consumer may consider, such as the product's quality, effectiveness, and other features, are the firm's hard attributes While intangible benefits like appearance, flavor, reputation, and brand awareness are considered soft product features

Any of these other game kinds can be purchased as alternatives in the early phases of the purchasing decision-making process Because of the aforementioned social and cultural elements, each player has their own game preferences Personal considerations like income may also have an impact, but only early in the decision-making process whether the player would buy a game at all, not which game they will pick

Purchase Decision

According to Inman et al (2009), a buyer may wind up making certain unintended purchases when making a chosen purchase arrangement for a product Such unforeseen purchases are the consequence of alluring offers or are solely due to the buyer's characteristics While the buyer may have carefully followed all the processes, Hoyer and Macinnis (2008) found that the choice to buy frequently rests on the availability of the impact of the merchandise and shop management If it's available, the player purchases the selected item In contrast to a typical product, video games may be purchased through a variety of ways No longer is it necessary to enter a store to purchase a game Nearly all retailers have their own websites where customers can simply buy games for the same price they would pay in-store, plus delivery costs More and more, the video game business distributes titles directly through online retailers like the PlayStation Shop and Xbox Live store This lowers or even eliminates the publisher's portion of game revenues and distribution fees, making the game far less expensive for both the customer and the creator to purchase As he possesses the necessary console and Internet connection in this situation, the player chooses to purchase the game via the PlayStation Store

Post-purchase Behavior

Whether or not the needs have been met will determine if the purchase is adequate If the criterion is met or the issue is resolved, there is a likelihood that the customer will be able to recommend the product to others, and consumers will buy the same product the next time around All business wants to make its customers happy since that is how it

builds brand loyalty The buyer won't place much weight on the post-purchase review if the product fulfills their needs Also, until the consumer is a leader in thought, the buying assessment won't be completed totally The companies are happy that the customer bought the goods, thus they will not provide much value to the post-purchase evaluation The businesses may overlook the reality that client feedback will be the most important consideration for any future purchases or references Other people's views and unexpected environmental events have an impact on the choice to buy (and are quite significant factors in the decision-making process) Influencers can significantly impact on a person's purchase decision (Kotler, 2009)

As the player's preference for a genre is deeply ingrained in their sociocultural behavior and is unaffected by whatever factor the publisher or developer may have established, contentment or discontent with the game will have no bearing on the player's decision In it, there is a form of marketing using the influence of influencers in the gaming community to promote the game This is considered a form of marketing that brings high confidence to players Many studies have been conducted on digital marketing and how it affects customer choices This study focuses on how social media influencers affect consumers' decisions to buy game products from VNG Corporation

2.5 Disadvantages of SMIs

Previous studies have looked into possible problems with influencer marketing The detection, characteristics, and behaviors of SMIs as well as the development, commercialization, and caliber of SMIs' eWOM are the key causes of these problems For instance, finding the most appropriate and important SMIs to work with may be difficult for businesses to do quickly (De Cicco et al., 2020) The creation of engaging and excellent eWOM material can sometimes be difficult When SMIs work with brands, brands' intrusion into their eWOM material may have an impact on the production and authenticity of their eWOM (Sundermann and Raabe, 2019) Studies in the past have examined potential issues with influencer marketing The main sources of these issues are the identification, traits, and behaviors of SMIs as well as the creation, marketing, and quality of SMIs' electronic word of mouth (eWOM) For instance, it may be

challenging for firms to rapidly identify the most pertinent and significant SMIs to deal with (De Cicco et al., 2020) The mismatch of brands and SMIs might endanger the credibility of SMIs and negatively affect how customers perceive and intend to use the supported brands (Breves et al., 2019) It can occasionally be challenging to come up with outstanding and interesting eWOM content

2.6 The conceptual model and hypothesis

Figure 4: The conceptual model "Study the impact of social media influencers on customers' purchasing decisions for VNG Corporation"

A person's physical attractiveness has an important impact on judgments about a person meeting for the first time (Baker and Churchill, 1977) Besides, there have also been many previous studies showing a positive relationship in the relationship between the attraction of SMIs and consumer behavior (Petty et al., 1983; Erdogan, 1999) From here, the hypothesis is :

 Hypothesis 1: The attractiveness of influencers will have a positive (+) impact on buying decision for VNG products

Customer’s buying decision

The attractiveness of influencers

Informative value Relationship between influencers and products The credibility of influencers

Expert knowledge of influencers H3+

Liengpradit and Anuntavoranich (2014) compiled 1000 Facebook postings and came to the conclusion that users are impacted by the quality of the content Also, they emphasize the benefits of shared knowledge According to Cheung et al (2009), positive information influences customer behavior, and unsponsored social media advertisements are significantly less reliable than comments regarding an offer, a product, or a service Young adult love to watch creative as well as informative content (Croes and Bartels, 2021) In a digital media campaign, quality content is considered as one of the important factors for that campaign to be successful (Jin and Phua, 2014) From here, the hypothesis is :

 Hypothesis 2: The informative value of post content created by influencers has a positive (+) impact on buying decision towards VNG products

Liengpradit et al (2014) supossed that the significance of the bond between influencers and companies The relationship between SMI and product is defined as the association between SMI and product and brand attributes (Kirmani and Shiv, 1998) Karmin and Shiv (1998) have suggested that this relationship have positive effects on consumer attitudes In other words, choosing an influencer that reflects the brand, suits it, and has connection to its goods and services is crucial since doing so affects consumer trust and influences their choice to make a purchase From here, the hypothesis is :

 Hypothesis 3: Relationship between influencers and products have a positive (+) impact on buying decision for VNG products

Credibility can be understood as the truth, integrity, and ability of an endorser to be trusted (Erdogan et al., 2001) Influencers has high credibility, their words and information will have a strong impact on consumers' attitudes and behavior (Ohanian, 1990) In addition, according to Dwivedi et al., 2015, when influencers have high credibility, their messages with a positive point of view are more effective Lou and Yuan(2019) supposed that the impact of influencer credibility on consumers' desire to make a purchase So, it is a key and crucial variable that has to be incorporated into our study model on the effect of influencer marketing on social media on consumers' buy intentions Therefore, the author hypothesized the following :

 Hypothesis 4: The reliability of influencers will have a positive (+) impact on buying decision for VNG products

Expertise is considered as the level of knowledge and understanding of a person in a field (Reichelt et al., 2014) For influencers, expertise is measured by knowledge, experience, and skills related to the products or services they promote (Till and Busler, 1998) According to Maddux and Rogers (1980) assert that when influencers with high expertise are often more persuasive than those with low expertise This positively affects to customer behavior Therefore, the author hypothesized the following :

 Hypothesis 5: Expert knowledge of influencers will have a positive (+) impact on buying decision for VNG products

Chapter 3 : Research methodology

3.1 Research philosophy

Management research addresses both theoretical and practical concerns, in contrast to research in the physical sciences and even the social sciences (Lancaster, 2005) According to Johnson and Clark et al (2006), business and management researchers need to be mindful of the philosophical commitments making through selection of research approach Based on the 'onion' model of the research process, many methodologies, strategies, and data gathering techniques may be found across the continuum of research philosophy (Saunders et al 2003) There are four significant epistemological stances that have made the most contributions to the credibility of research philosophy (positivism, interpretivism, realism and pragmatism)

Positivism

According to Saunders et al (2009), positivism is a useful master theory for accumulating information Comte placed a strong emphasis on the scientific interpretation of social events using the scientific method, which is to build an analysis on observation, categorization, and use of evidence A key element of the positivist method is that performed in an objective and value-free manner The stance of positivism on values is to clearly distinguish between problems, claims, and norms (Flick, 2007) In addition, positivists hold that an objective reality apart from one's own experiences exists and has its own set of cause-and-effect linkages (Neuman, 2006) Saunders et al (2009) supposed that the approach taken to summarize by and the vast amount of information generating results objectively According to Smith (2008), positivist sport pedagogy scholars in particular frequently employ quantitative techniques to acquire quantifiable numerical data Also, this research's use of positivism supplied the data collecting for interpretation, generalization, and statistical analysis The positivist method emphasizes evaluation with a large number of participants to examine actual facts, establish, and interpret the results since it permits repeatability and highly ordered procedure (Bell et al., 2019; Saunders et al., 2016)

Interpretivism

The philosophy of interpretative research is hermeneutics and phenomenology, and interpretive researchers hold the view that reality is formed via social interactions (Boland, 1985 cited in Myer M 1997) This interpretivism thesis results in a completely new method for gathering various interpretations of each person According to Henning et al (2004), the practice within a particular context is entwined with a participatory, field-based inductive technique, which in turn forms the foundation of the interpretative understanding It is difficult to capture the socio-environmental factors of the study participants from their research point of view (Saunders et al., 2012) Whereas symbolic interaction relies on the interpretation of the subjective (symbolic) meanings that emerge from the interactions, phenomenology focuses on comprehending the subjective experience of natural occurrences (phenomena) or events and their relationships (Denzin, 2008) Those who subscribe to interpretivism tend to think that social contexts are too complicated to understand, hence interpretivism analysis

stresses the value of researching individuals and their social behavior in the business context (Bell et al, 2019) Therefore, it is the idea used in company management to examine organizational challenges from various group members's viewpoints (Saunder et al., 2016) In conclusion, qualitative approaches are more suited for the interpretative paradigm whereas quantitative methods are better suited for the positivist paradigm

Pragmatism

The philosophy of pragmatism is common sense It focuses on human inquiry with a goal (Saunders et al., 2016) When problems arise and are identified, inquiry is seen as a never-ending process that acknowledges the qualitative dimension of human experience Critical thinking is used to dispel uncertainty before it is finally put to the test in practice It is the ideology of common sense since decisions are made based on how they will affect real-world situations

Realism

Realism is defined as modality from sharing the positivist notion that knowledge has been passed through prior scientific process (Saunders et al., 2003) According to Blumberg et al (2011), realism is a research philosophy that adheres to the positivist and interpretivist tenets Realists acknowledge the significance of comprehending how people's socially created meanings and interpretations relate to reality and share certain philosophical tenets with positivists The belief that there is a reality that is based on human perceptions and presumptions is the cornerstone of realism This method solely relies on the mind's existence and the presence of its contents Direct and critical realism help to better understand the concept of realism (Saunder, 2016) In conclusion, focus groups or in-depth interviews may be used to get accurate and legitimate data for a study in line with the realism paradigm

Philosophy of this study

Epistemology is described as connected knowledge that is acknowledged in all academic disciplines (Saunders et al., 2009) In this study, positivism is used as epistemological approaches The concepts of positivism also include the need to

identify, examine, and comprehend the factors that influence behavior in people According to Neuman (2006), the fundamental idea is that behavior is produced by something, and if this concept could be grasped, it might be utilized to explain and forecast human behavior As a result, the positivism approach is used to identify the role of social media influencers on consumers' decisions to purchase VNG products in this project The research's theories were put to the test to see if these social media influencers actually matter or have an effect on a certain segment of society The researcher used the surveys to gather data, which was then evaluated and examined as part of a scientific investigation In order to examine the significance of characteristics of SMIs including information value, attractiveness, credibility, expert knowledge, relationship between products and influencers affecting on the consumer's purchasing behavior

3.2 Research strategies

According to Yin (2003), every research method might, in theory, be used to the various sorts of research questions, but some research strategies are better suited to particular types of research questions are some further research methodologies Research strategies are defined as the plans that researchers devise to answer research questions about a topic (Saunders et al., 2009) Besides, research strategy is considered as a visionary approach to conduct for broad research (Bryman, 2008) A research strategy directs the design, carrying out, and evaluation of the study These approaches might be integrated in a study since they are not mutually exclusive (Yin, 2018) Research strategy is based on the purpose, depth of field knowledge, available resources, and the researcher's philosophical background Because it is a research approach for analyzing customers‟s purchasing decisions, the case study in this study concentrated on VNG Company On the other hand, case study, experiment and survey would be used to analyze one company in order to achieve triangulation, and many approaches (quantitative and qualitative) could be used The dissertation will concentrate on an in-depth analysis of the real-world condition of VNG's product purchase choice as it relates to social media advertising, as well as the efficiency of social media influencers in influencing consumer purchasing behavior

3.3 Research approaches

Deduction, induction, and abduction are the three study methodologies (Saunders et al ,2012) Deductive approach starts with a theory or hypothesis and ends with the existing theory being confirmed or changed The inductive method, on the other hand, starts with the research objectives and ends with the theory The third technique is abduction; in this way, information is passed from theory to information rather than from idea to evidence as in deduction and from information to theory as in induction Due to the large body of published theories and literature on the subject, this study used a deductive methodology This research uses correlation as its method of investigation and tests its hypotheses In order to determine and be able to characterize the features of the variables of interest in a scenario, a deductive method is used (Sekaran ,2003) This is carried out as a cross-sectional field research For this survey, a positivist philosophy with a logical approach and a quantitative method was employed

3.4 Research methods

In order to maximize the validity of the final results, a research design's primary purpose is to provide the researcher the ability to predict what the right research options are likely to be (Mouton ,1996) The methods and processes, including the forms of measurement, sampling, data collecting, and data analysis to be used for the proposed research, will be determined by the research topic (Zikmund et al., 2010) There are two methods discussed in this research :

3.4.1 Qualitative method

Qualitative analysis is more of an art than a science since it relies heavily on the manager's judgment and expertise, as well as the manager's intuitive "feel" for the issue (Denzin, 2008) The variety of epistemologies (theories of knowledge) that qualitative research methods draw from has an impact on how data is collected, and evaluate different methods (Cohen et al., 2007) The researcher starts by asking participants for specific information, which is then organized into groups or topics These themes are subsequently expanded into broad patterns, hypotheses, or

generalizations, which are then contrasted with first-hand knowledge or previously published material on the subject Therefore, the aim of any qualitative research interview is to observe the study issue from the respondents' perspective and to comprehend why they have a certain opinion Qualitative research that use theory (or another comprehensive explanation) as their conclusion are different from this theoretical viewpoint It is an inductive method of developing an extended model or theory from the facts to broad topics (Punch, 2005) According to these definition, qualitative research involves active participation from researchers in both the collection and processing of data

3.4.2 Quantitative method

Quantitative approach is “a set of interrelated constructs (variables), definitions, and propositions that presents a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables, with the purpose of explaining natural phenomena” (Kerlinger‟s, 1979, p 64) According to Henwood and Pidgeon (1993), quantitative research relates to numbers and quantity, whereas qualitative research relates to quality and figures Theoretical development therefore serves as an explanation to increase knowledge in certain disciplines (Murphy et al., 1997) According to Creswell (2003), the quantitative research method is suitable to study the attitudes, behaviors and opinions of the survey subjects Because the results are taken from a group of samples and will be aggregated into larger modelable garments On the other hand, quantitative research is a computational research method based on theory, inference, measurement of research factors or correlation test (Patton, 2001)

There are many reasons to chooser quantitative method First, making a choice to buy something online is a fluid and extremely flexible process Choice-makers respond to choice tasks in an adaptive manner (Payne et al., 1993) Individuals make decisions regarding the decision-making process as it develops and may take several directions (Karimi et al., 2015) Second, representativeness is quite high, so the results of this method will consider the described criteria as a whole (Himle et al., 1993) It is applied to bigger samples and is an excellent tool for identifying trends in the behavior or profile of customers Finally, positive thinkers choose an analytical interpretation of

quantitative facts for the same reason (Druckman, 2005) Thus, positivism may be viewed as a method of doing social research that aims to use the natural science paradigm of inquiry as the starting point for inquiries into social phenomena and justifications of the social world (Denscombe, 2008) In conclusion, the researcher concluded that this project required quantitative data to ensure that the results are plausible and justified, thus the researcher chose this alternative The justifications for this choice are simple Also, utilizing a quantitative design enables the researcher to support their conclusions using mathematical, statistical, and scientific methodologies; as a consequence, it increases the validity and dependability of the study results

When customers of VNG Corporation are sent the surveys using a Google form survey SPSS 20 (a statistical program) processes the data through the following steps of analysis: descriptive statistics, assessment of the scale of concepts, adjustment to study models, test on the suitability of models by descriptive statistics, Cronbach‟s Alpha, correlation analysis, One Sample T-test, Chi-square test, Independent T-test, multiple linear regression analysis, and test on hypotheses mentioned above, and recommendations for improving social media advertisemusing influences

3.4.3 Methods of data collection

Data can be divided into two categories, primary data and secondary data The secondary data is accessible, handled through integration, and comes from various sources (Saunders et al., 2007) Compared to primary data, secondary data for this dissertation is quickly and inexpensively gathered from the internet, journals, and other similar resources On the other hand, primary analysis is the first analysis of data used in a research study By using primary sources, the researcher is able to organize the research questions such that they provide accurate statistical data related to the study's issue and do not include numerous other variables (Payne, 2007) Also, primary data aids the researcher in gathering information according to preferences, free from social, religious, and political prejudices While secondary analysis is the re-analysis of data used to address the original research question using more accurate statistical methods or to address other questions using the same data As the term implies, primary data

relates to information gained by the researcher, and secondary data refers to information gathered by earlier researchers Although there are many similarities between primary and secondary data, the main distinction is that primary data is current, authentic, and fresh Besides, secondary data is simply the examination and interpretation of prior research that has been carried out by other academics Druckman (2005) supposed that primary data is gathered to directly address the issue at hand, whilst secondary data is gathered for many additional purposes

In this research, customers who purchase items from VNG Corporation will receive the questionnaires and reply their respnd through Google form In addition, secondary data gathered from journals, the internet, and other business sources The questionnaire was used to study the influencing factors of social media influencers on the purchasing decision of VNG Corporation in this dissertation To demonstrate the precise target, the collected data is displayed and presented as tables, charts, and figures

3.4.4 Questionnaire

According to Bell et al (2019), questionnaires are frequently used in surveys to efficiently collect quantitative data from a large population Prioritizing a representative sample size and carefully designing and examining data gathering instruments (Creswell, 2002) The questionnaire was used to study the influencing factors of social media influencers on the purchasing decision of VNG Corporation However, this method also has the weakness that these questionnaire responses are not optimal for questions that require a lot of detailed information in written form (Cohen et al., 2007) This study is based on a quantitative survey that was carried out in April 2023 and used self-administered questionnaires to obtain data The questionnaire used in survey which will be detailed in Appendix 1

3.4.5 Interview

Utilizing interviews in qualitative research aims to discuss subjects with a certain audience through description (Gillham, 2001) The purpose of the interview was to find out the detailed causes, as well as find new elements in the answers (Kvale, 1996)

There are three types of interviews in these studies: structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews In fact, survey questions are given verbally and there is no flexibility in structured interviewing So these questions are managed quickly and simply Because of its simplicity, it will not answer detailed information for research papers that need depth (Gill et al., 2018) In addition, the interviewer should use the questions in the conversation to get answers and expand the information for the research paper During the interviews, the interviewer should observe the respondents during the interview process to assess the effectiveness of the interview process (McNamara, 1999) In summary, interviews aim to gather the opinions, experiences, beliefs and assessments of many people for a particular topic (Saunders et al., 2016)

3.4.6 Secondary data

Secondary data is a method of gathering information from assessments, analyses, documents from big data They can also encompass the whole range of empirical forms Therefore, secondary analysis is an important feature of the research and evaluation enterprise (Glass, 1976) Data that has been obtained secondhand via interviews, ethnographic reports, documents, images, or discussions might be considered non-numeric secondary data (Smith, 2008) There are many different types of marketing decisions, and these decisions require information from secondary data For example, a decision about market segmentation may require data such as demographics, geography, behavior, sentiment, etc Since this data is collected from readily available sources, they are easily accessible and readily available for use Since there is no need to manually collect data directly from the source, the use of secondary data can result in cost savings for researchers In contrast, secondary data is collected from many different sources, so they are heterogeneous in structure and format Processing and analyzing this data can be difficult without prior normalization (Saunders et al., 2007) With the above characteristics, secondary data has been widely used in the field of market research and marketing to make smart and effective decisions In this study, the secondary data used were government publications surveys (workforce surveys), media accounts (newspapers, TV), and industry reports

3.5 Triangulation, validity and reliability

According to Denzin (1970), triangulation in research refers to the use of two or more hypotheses, data sources, methodologies, or investigators in the investigation of a single phenomena According to Jick (1979), the advantages of triangulation might include boosting confidence in research findings, developing novel explanations for phenomena, disclosing novel findings, questioning or integrating hypotheses, and fostering a greater grasp of the issue In a triangulation of methodologies, the primary approach must be thorough enough to support the study on its own, while the additional method strengthens the research (Morse, 1991) Therefore, some researchers argue that the triangulation should no longer be viewed as a validity testing strategy, but as an “another option for data validity testing Enhancement research intensive, in-depth and best systematic in the process method (Flick et al., 2004) This way of thinking suggests that the funny triangle should be used for the purpose of data completeness (completeness) rather than just for information confirmation There are various ways to gather data, including surveys, observations, and interviews Each technique used for data collection must strike a balance between validity and dependability (Cohen et al., 2017)

Validity

The degree to which an instrument measures what it claims to measure is a common definition of validity An instrument must be dependable in order to be valid, yet an instrument might be reliable without being valid (Saunders et al., 2009) For instance, a scale that has been calibrated wrongly could produce weight figures that are identical but erroneous Validity is not an inherent characteristic of the exam On the other hand, validity, is the degree to which the interpretations of test findings are supported and depend on the test's intended application (i.e., measurement of the underlying construct)

 Data was gathered to evaluate the problem's quality using questionnaires

 Additionally, the data gathered will be supported by secondary data from other sources

 The questionaire should be based on the theory outlined in the thesis to guarantee that the survey findings are on the proper track

 Consumers that respond to the poll must have bought VNG Company products

 The 2 week data gathering period

 Vietnamese-language questionnaires is used

Reliability

The "actual" score, which is unknown, plus the "error" in the measurement procedure make up any score received by a measuring device (the observed score), in accordance with traditional test theory The result that a person would have gotten if the measurement had been completely correct is known as the genuine score The process of creating and validating an instrument is largely concerned with minimizing measurement error The dependability of any metric may be estimated using a variety of methods According to Crocker and Algina (1986), the test's creator is obligated to identify the types of measurement error that would be most harmful to useful score interpretation and construct a reliability study that lets such mistakes to occur so that their consequences may be examined

 To maintain dependability for research, it is necessary to employ the same types of questions during data gathering

 The survey's questions must be narrowly focused on the main research concerns and guarantee that the survey is conducted with sound theoretical underpinnings

3.5 Research ethics

Ethical requirements must be completed in order to conduct the research (Saunders et al., 2016) In conclusion, the author shall ensure adherence to the ethical guidelines established by the University of Bolton in Research Ethics

Chapter 4 : Data analysis and interpretation

4.1 Introduction

Quantitative research design process

Survey time: The duration of the survey is more than 2 weeks (from March 27 to April 10, 2023)

Sampling :

Survey participants: those who have purchased products of VNG Corporation

Sampling method: Convenient non-probability sampling method by surveying according to the link created on Google Docs

Sample Size: 201

Purpose: To systematically empirically investigate the relevant factors of influencers on social networks to the purchase intention of VNG Corporation's products through specific data from the following variables: attractiveness, perception of the influencer's expert knowledge, credibility of the influencers, relationship between the influencers and the products, and the information value that the influencers are conveying affect consumer‟s purchase intention, especially for products of VNG Corporation in game industry

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4.2 Information about data coding

1I find Influencers product reviews to be true to the actual product.IM12I feel that the opinions of Influencers help me in making purchasing decisionsIM23I find the reviews made by Influencers have high credibilityIM34Brands that Influencers recommend have a good reputationIM45I can easily access the information that Influencers bring to meIM5

1The value of the influencer is compatible with the value of the brandRE12Influencers are suitable for VNG's target customersRE23 The image of the influencer matches the brand image that VNG wants to target in the game

1Influencers's qualification affects VNG who has high professional knowledgeEK12I feel that the influencer representing VNG is someone with many talentsEK23I feel that the person who represents VNG is someone who has a serious attitudeEK34I feel that the influencer representing VNG is someone who only needs good looksEK4

1Before experimenting with a new product or brand, I always seek the opinions of influencersCM1

The attractiveness of influencers

The informative value

Relationship between influencers and products

The credibility of influencers

Expert knowledge of influencers

Customer's buying decision

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Table 1 : Variables coding

(1) Totally disagree(2) Disagree(3) Neutral(4) Agree(5) Totally agree(1) Totally disagree(2) Disagree(3) Neutral(4) Agree(5) Totally agree(1) Totally disagree(2) Disagree(3) Neutral(4) Agree(5) Totally agree(1) Totally disagree(2) Disagree(3) Neutral(4) Agree(5) Totally agree(1) Totally disagree(2) Disagree(3) Neutral(4) Agree(5) Totally agree(1) Totally disagree(2) DisagreeThe attractiveness of influencers

The informative value

Relationship between influencers and products

The credibility of influencers

Expert knowledge of influencers

Customer's buying decision

Table 2 : The scale table of variables

4.3 Sumarizing characteristics of testers

According to statistics, 236 answers were recorded by the Google Docs system through an online survey and manual input by the study author After the screening process, the remaining number of valid answers is 201, accounting for 85% on total Screening process: Select the answers "Have bought products from VNG Corporation through social media influencers " If you choose "Yes" to continue the survey, the remaining answer will stop the survey After the screening results, 201 people were suitable to continue participating in the survey Detailed information about data sifting is shown in Appendix 2

Demographic overview (from question 1 to question 3) : The survey results show that the ratio of men and women is not too different Most of the trainees are 18-25 years old and have an income of over 5 million VND

 Regarding gender: Of the 201 respondents, 80 are female, accounting for 39.8%,

the remaining 121 are male, accounting for 60.2%

 Regarding age: Among 201 respondents, there are 35 people under 18 years

old, accounting for 17%, 131 people aged 18-25 accounting for 66%, 28 people aged 25-30 accounting for 13.6% and finally there are 7 people over the age of 30, accounting for 3.4%

 Regarding income: Among 201 respondents, there are 53 people with income

under 5 million VND, accounting for 25.7%, 105 people with income from 5 to 10 million VND, accounting for 52.4%, 39 people with income from 10 to 20 million