The social media as an entry strategy for a company marketing female clothing in Beijing

Topic

The social media as an entry strategy for a company marketing female clothing in Beijing

Aim

To critically analyse the impact of the social media as an entry strategy for a company planning to win Beijing’s apparel market in order to realize maximum profits at high competition.

Research Questions

• How are the female clothing shoppers in Beijing utilizing social sites such as Renren, and Baidu to purchase wears?
• What are the risks facing clothing companies such as Forever 21 in taking over the Chinese market through Renren and Baidu networks?
• Which are the current dominants of the Chinese female apparel industry and what strategies do they use to dominate the market?

Objectives

• To evaluate how female clothing customers living in Beijing use Renren, Baidu, Weixin, Weibo, and other social sites to shop for clothing
• To assess and classify the risks faced by a company venturing in the Beijing apparel market through the social media
• To make recommendations on how to enter into the Chinese female clothing industry using the social media as an entry strategy

Research methods

In this case, I will use both qualitative and quantitative methods of research. Qualitative research gives researchers the tools to evaluate complex phenomena in their contexts. The qualitative research methods will be used to analyse case studies of previous works on the sales from the following five companies: Zara, H&M, Forever 21, Nike, and Adidas. The information from previous research will be used qualitatively to acquire information on the sales margins of these companies in Beijing. The survey will outline the number of customers purchasing female clothes and other products such as handbags through the social media sites; a sales marketing called online branding.

The second method of research used will be quantitative research. Through this method, statistical data will be collected through an online survey and telephone calls for the above mentioned companies. I will interview the five marketing managers through telephone and get information such as how much sales they realize from marketing their brands through the social media, specifically Renren, Baidu, Weixin, Weibo, and Youku. The data from the telephone calls will be recorded, compiled, and analysed. It will then be compared with data from case studies using statistical modelling. Thirdly, data will be retrieved from the online questionnaires. Participants from different social sites from Beijing will fill in the online questionnaires, and the results analysed suing statistical methods of analysis such as pie charts and graphs. The outcome of the results will be analysed, and the risks involved drawn from the conclusion of the results.

Justification of the research

This research is critical to gather data for a company venturing in Beijing to market female clothing. China is among the leading economies and no doubt, that companies with deep roots in the Country realize big profits. This research will outline the risks of venturing in Beijing since it will evaluate the ethical and judicial restrictions from the government, as well as the price regulations. It will also assess the risks done by other researchers from their case studies. The research will help young entrepreneurs planning to start female apparel companies and use the social media as their entry strategy into Beijing.

Methods of data collection

Different methods of collecting data will apply in this research. These methods include:

• Data collected from case studies

I will look at the previous cases done on the five companies, that is, Zara, H&M, Forever 21, Nike, and Adidas. These cases will help me to formulate a qualitative research by analysing the existing data with the raw data I will get from telephone interviews and the online questionnaires.

• Telephone Interviews

Telephone interviews will be done on the managers of the five companies, which include Zara, H&M, Forever 21, Adidas, and Nike. The expected outcome of the results includes the sales realized from online marketing and branding, specifically through the social networking sites, the number of customers, for examples, the number of likes of the company’s page on Renren, the risks faced by the companies, and the social and economic implications of using the social media as an entry strategy. The information of interest is the purchases made on female clothing.

• Online Questionnaires

The online questionnaires will be conducted over several social networking sites targeting female clothing customers in Beijing. The questionnaires will be directed to online customers who shop female clothing using Renren, Baidu, Weixin, Weibo, and Youku as their shopping platform. The online questionnaire link is https://chinesefemaleapparel.speedsurvey.com

Reason for the chosen methods, time commitments, and data analysis

First, case studies bring complex issues to a clear understanding by experiencing and strengthening what is known from previous research. Examining these company’s previous research will give me a clue of what to expect in my research, thus will pave a clear way for the other methods of research applied in my project. Second, case studies emphasize on detailed contextual analysis using limited conditions and events conducted many years ago, and compared to recent research. This will enable me to track the changes that may have occurred in a number of years prior to my research. Collecting the case studies from the sources will take approximately 5 days.

Telephone interviews will create an open environment where the interviewee speaks openly and provides more information with many details. The interviewee clarifies the ambiguities arising from the questions. In case I have a question that is not clear, I could ask the manager to clarify since we will be communication one-on-one. They are very flexible and cheap, unlike face-to-face interview, which require a lot of travelling. I will only spend a few hours on the telephone, which could cost me negligible cost compared to travelling all the way to Beijing and conducting face-to-face interviews. The interviewer structures the questions in such a way to get the desired answers. The method of analysis will be generalized linear methods of statistics. In this research, the telephone interviews are expected to take approximately 20 days.

Online questionnaires are quick for conducting surveys and analysing the data. These surveys are generally more accurate, easy to access and use for the participants, cheaper, faster, easy to analyse for researchers, more honest, easy to style, more selective, and overly flexible. For example, my online questionnaire is very simple and does not request for private information, thus customers will not face any difficulties in filling out the information. This way, the survey will be easier to conduct than any other form of questionnaires. I will use charts for statistical data modelling. Since these surveys are quick, the estimated time of completion is estimated at 10 days.

Number of participants

For the telephone interviews, the number of managers to be interviewed is five, for the top five apparel companies that have successfully ventured in the Chinese major cities, including Beijing. The companies include Zara, H&M, Forever 21, Nike, and Adidas.

The online questionnaires will be conducted on the major social networking sites including Renren, Baidu, Weixin, Weibo, and Youku. The interviewees will fall under the age brackets of 20-29, 30-39, and 40-49, which are the most active groups in the social media. Other factors for consideration include employment status, ethnicity, and education. The estimated number of participants in Beijing is 1000. This could be both male and female customers because the survey does not bias—different people can purchase clothes for their relatives, spouses, or even friends.

Recruiting the participants

The major methods for recruiting the participants for the telephone interviews will be through booking personal appointments, as well as through personal networks. The online questionnaires will be conducted by posting links and advertisements through major ad companies such as Baidu. The links will redirect the participants to the questionnaires thus filling the information required. The case studies information will be retrieved from online libraries.

Location of the research

For telephone interviews, I will call the major offices of the companies in Beijing. I expect to conduct at least 80% of the research from the marketing managers of the outlined companies. The online surveys are easier to conduct since they will be conducted online. The case studies are available on the internet; therefore, I will retrieve the information from online libraries.

Online Questionnaire Details

Homepage: http://web-online-surveys.com/auth/Report.aspx?a726d22ab8784a8a840da7eab807a638

Username: ChineseApparel

Password: chineseapparel

You will use the above username and password to access the homepage host of your survey. The link below should be posted to social networks to collect your data.

Survey Link: https://chinesefemaleapparel.speedsurvey.com (You will post this link On Facebook, or via mails, anywhere where you know you can get help by people filling in this information)

NOTE: for you to get better results, you can upgrade your account via PayPal, $20/month. This will boost the limit to your survey and also extend the deadline. I advise you upgrade it. To collect the results, you will go to the results tab on the homepage of the questionnaire. All the best my friend.

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