The New Emerging Trend In Social Media

The New Emerging Trend in Social Media 1
Chapter 1.0: Introduction
Web1.0 is a trend that occurred during the beginning of the internet. In that era, we saw
books, news, music and everything else being moved into digital format. This is still
going on and will probably never end as new data that is available will be made available
online. As time passes, we see a significant wave of change and innovation occurring in
the internet. Users shifted their focus from plainly just posting data online to sharing
them with other users which brings us to Web 2.0. According to Wikipedia, Web 2.0 is
the trend in the use of technology and web sites that aims to enhance information
sharing, creativity and most notably, collaboration among users.
We observed a new rising trend in the blogosphere includes celebrity blogs that highlight
a company’s product or service, at the same time enhance the company’s credibility and
worth to consumers by tapping into society’s obsession with public personalities. Few
years ago, the blogosphere was all about individual bloggers making a name for
themselves. In today’s society, apart from blogging merely just as a hobby; creating a
blog has becomes a way of earning side income such as registering under middle agent,
Nuffnang. Next, we saw the emerging of Friendster, then MySpace, follow by Facebook
and Niche Social Networks that allow users to carry their basic profile information,
friends and privacy settings around with them which will lead to new forms of contextual
and behavioral targeting. Just like the emergence of B2B social networks such as
creating internal social networks for employees and microblogging.
Also, more and more advertisers are using video on their websites and banner ads. Plug-
ins are no longer needed for the most part, the technology is embedded into the video.
Memorable videos will capture people’s attention and can become viral. Sound and
motion seemed to draw a deeper connection and engagement with users. Users liked
the ads to be placed with related content and likeability depended on length. Wikis is
another technology that was first developed to edit an online encyclopedia is now being
used by companies for additional applications such as writing software, mapping cell-
phone base stations and launching branding campaigns. Wikis are primarily a PR
platform. It can be used in conjunction with a branding campaign. This is particularly
useful in a global economy where engineers in Asia can pick up a project as Europeans
go to bed.
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Folksonomies are social bookmarking that allows users to store and organize bookmarks
of Web sites and pages they find useful and would like to visit again. These bookmarks
can be shared with the public or with individuals. Examples of folksonomies are
Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon and Digg. In these communities, users submit stories and
multimedia assets they think their community is interested in. Then users vote on them
to help determine priority. RSS allows people to conveniently read new content posted
on a company’s website or blog. Audience is constantly updated without having to
remember to visit a particular site, waste time “surfing” or registering their email
address. This technology has been adapted to online advertising allowing it to stay
current. Also, many companies display individual RSS feeds as well as combined feeds
on their sites to further enhance readers' experience.
Mashups help combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool; an
example is the use of cartographic data from Google Maps to add location information to
real-estate data, thereby creating a new and distinct web service that was not originally
provided by either source. The medium has moved from being dominated by individual
podcasters to an integrated and heavily used tool of radio stations. Companies can
create their own podcasts. Advertisers can create an audio commercial to be inserted
into a third party podcast. Apart from that, widgets have moved from consumer to
business use. Initially begun with consumers using widgets to enhance their personal
web experiences, or the web experiences of visitors to their personal sites, corporations
are now using to improve their Web sites using syndicated content and functionality from
third party providers.
Web 2.0 becomes an all-encompassing name for the new generation of companies
running second generation services on the internet. It refers to participatory web tools
and platforms which enable the user to tag, blog, comment, modify, select from rank
and generally talk back to the contributions of others. The objective of this research is to
identify the fundamental shifts in consumer behaviour which offer a significant
opportunity for growth for those companies that know how to adapt. By knowing the
consequences of Web 2.0 for the corporate world, companies can sort out new
approaches to boost performance and growth.
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Chapter 2.0: Literature Review
2.1 Media Landscape
The fifth Malaysian Media Congress (MMC) was held on August 7, 2008 at Sime Darby
Convention Center and was packed with 250 media, advertising and marketing
professionals to obtain a clearer idea of the new Media 2.0 landscape.
Harmandar Sngh, Chairman, MMC (2008) states:
“By embracing Web 2.0 technology, media professionals are moving to where
consumer-controlled media is undoubtedly the new paradigm. If AIDA (Attention,
Interest, Desire, Action) was the mantra for Media 1.0, the catchphrases now
swirl around Aggregation, Attention, Convergence, Engagement and
Personalization.”
Marketers and advertisers should explore the cultural behaviour on how people build,
consume and share media across the globe and how these social media communities and
networks are transforming the marketing and media world today. From Figure 1.0, we
saw a radical shift in media consumption by the networked generation. The reduced
consumption of other media such as newspapers, magazines and radio, amongst this
age-group compared to the general population, has also thought to have been driven by
the net. This generation has grown up with new technologies and it is this generation for
whom the uptake is instinctive. They are leaving the traditional media and moving
towards new media.
Figure 1.0 Reduced Consumption Driven by the Net
When the media landscape was once dominated by TV, now many of those ad budgets
have been redistributed to other forms of media. More than 60% of consumers are in
time-shifted environments and 92% estimated of TV ads are being skipped over (Maria
Mandel, Executive Director of digital innovation for Ogilvy Interactive). It suggests that
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over the next 5 years linear television viewing may fall by 20-30%, to be replaced
largely by the increased use of on-demand services. A similar pattern is anticipated for
audio programming (ofcom). Approximately 73% of marketers now allocate up to 20%
of their budget for new and emerging media (American Advertising Federation Study,
Brandweek).
W.H. Auden states:
“Every human being is interested in two kinds of worlds. The Primary, everyday
world which he knows through his senses and a secondary world or worlds which
he not only can create in his imagination, but which he cannot stop himself
creating.”
Referring to the 1% Participation Rule, if you get a group of 100 people online then 1 will
create content, 10 will interact and the other 89 will just view it (guardian.co.uk). The 5th
“P” of marketing mentioned that social media makes relationships easier to create and
maintain because of participation and participation is the future of marketing (Peter Kim,
Forrester Research). Peter advocates that participation be added to the well-established
4 Ps of marketing (produce, price, place and promotion).
J. Matthews, CEO, Macomm Management Services Sdn Bhd (2008) states:
“Advertising is the most visible activity of a business; people don't usually see a
company's manufacturing operations or its finances. Advertising is the first target
of attack. We have to be in the forefront to know something before the industry
gets attacked. This is Malaysian nature; we're very friendly people. It (sharing a
secretariat) allows for savings in manpower and rental costs, and you have a
secretariat which knows exactly what is happening in the industry and can see
different points of view.”
Apart from that, we also saw that many mainstream media platforms could be
fragmented. Some good examples would be the television from the original 3 channels
but this is now reaching almost 100 channels while the 3-4 radio stations is now in
excess of 20. Also, newspapers are getting thicker and brands encounter an increasing
challenge in communicating their brand messages through the clutter. There is too
much information available in the market that consumers have now learnt to filter it.
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Table 2.0 Ad Spending by Media
From Table 2.0, we observed that the Malaysian advertising market enjoyed buoyant
growth of 22 percent in the first half of 2008, hitting RM 2.9 billion compared to the
same period in 2007. The growth was mainly contributed by Terrestrial TV: +37%,
Point-Of-Sale: +33%, Radio: +22% and Newspapers: +16% (Nielsen Advertising
Information Services). Ad revenues in the Asia Pacific are forecast to increase by 5.6%
to $91.1 billion in 2008, the rate of growth will fall to 2.5% in 2009, according to Media
Partners Asia (MPA), rising back up to 6.4% in 2010. The -2.5% growth rate for 2009,
when ad spend will reach $93.4 billion, is the lowest growth rate since 2002.
Vivek Couto, Executive Director, MPA (2008) states:
"Global contagion has clearly hit Asia. We expect advertising to decline in Japan,
Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as in Australasia, next year. There will be a
slowdown in China, India and Indonesia, though growth in these markets will
remain relatively robust. In other markets, including Korea, Taiwan and much of
ASEAN, there will be little growth next year."
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2.2 Brand
Branding is such an important element in the marketing and advertising arena and there
is so much being written on branding which tend to sound very impressive yet confused
people at the same time. So, what is branding all about?
Jacky Tai states:
“Many people still mistake branding as logo design. While it did originate with a
logo (remember how cattle owner’s singe their logo or initials into the rumps of
cows?), that logo is there for a purpose—differentiation. Before you can build a
brand, you need to first know what branding is. The form of branding might have
changed over 4,000 years but its function has remained the same.”
2.2.1 Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As)
The 4As was founded in the 1960’s with an objective to uphold good advertising and
create awareness among the community on the accessibility of goods and services. This
will support the interest of ad agencies with their customers, the advertisers. The
Association deals with industry issues, supplies recommendations to its members and
negotiates for better practices with the other industries either co-related or not to the
advertising business. Apart from that, 4As also conduct training programmes such as the
Shine Leaders and Shine 9.
Datuk Vincent Lee, President, 4As (2008) states:
“The only way to encourage local companies to build strong brands is to do brand
evaluation. This is not an award but recognition. This is the time we want to push
our local top brands to compete globally. Obviously, local companies have the
financial resources and expertise. With the help of Interbrand, a lot of these
brands can compete in the world within a short period of time; we can be top in
Asia. Hopefully within a decade, some brands will go to the top 100 of the world
global brands. The study must act as a catalyst to inspire the big players in this
country to work towards to being in the global top 100 brands.”
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2.2.2 Malaysia's Most Valuable Brands (MMVB)
4As aims to give impetus to local companies to focus on brand building through a
national brand valuation study called Malaysia's Most Valuable Brands (MMVB). The
study aimed to create awareness of the importance of brand building among local
companies and encourage those outside the top 30 list to be more aggressive in building
their brands and getting a place in the list next year.
The top five brands had each been valued at over US$1bil (RM3.35bil) would have the
potential to make it to the 100 global brands. Maybank, as the top of 30 of Malaysia's
most valuable brands, with a brandname worth RM9.6bil (US$2.7bil), followed by Public
Bank at RM6.9bil, Maxis (RM5.3bil), Genting Bhd (RM4.6bil) and Celcom (RM4bil). 4As
and Interbrand see DiGi, Genting, CIMB and AirAsia as the potential at the top five
ranking. DiGi's potential was due to its incredible financial results for the last one year;
Genting in making big leaps in the region's gaming sector; CIMB in seeing tremendous
growth due to its merger with Southern Bank Bhd; and AirAsia, for having covered more
routes, built up its brand and has reported strong financial results.
Ho Kay Tat, editor-in-chief of The Edge (2008) states:
"MMVB’s objective is also to highlight best branding practices and present the
most valuable brands as role models for other companies. This valuation exercise
will allow the top brands to compete more confidently on the world stage by
leveraging on the strength of their brands."
To qualify as one of the most valuable brands in Malaysia, the brand or the company
owning the brand must have Malaysian origins or be listed on Bursa Malaysia, or be
owned by a listed company headquartered in Malaysia for at least 10 years. Malaysia’s
Most Valuable Brands calculates the net present value of the earnings that the brand is
expected to generate in the future for its owner. Interbrand Malaysia managing director
Shehara de Silva said establishing a value for its brand would give a business a basis for
making important strategic decisions, which in turn would help sustain and grow the
business, and ultimately brand value. Interbrand, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Omnicom, has conducted similar country ranking studies for 12 other countries,
including Singapore, China, Canada and Australia.
The evaluation of MMVB 2007 was completed in March 2007. The top 30 brand ranked
by brand value is listed in Table 3.0.
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Table 3.0 Malaysia Top 30 Brand (2007)
Rank Brand Industry
Brand Value
( RM millions )
Brand Value
( US$ millions )
1 Maybank Banking 9,645 2,764
2 Public Bank Banking 6,866 1,967
3 Maxis Telecoms 5,308 1,521
4 Genting Leisure/Entertainment 4,588 1,315
5 Celcom Telecoms 4,073 1,167
6 CIMB Banking 3,422 981
7 Astro Media/Entertainment 3,303 946
8 Hong Leong Banking 3,099 888
9 Perodua Automotive 2,445 700
10 DiGi Telecoms 2,095 600
11 Giant Retail 2,065 592
12 Malaysia Airlines Airline 1,719 493
13 Sime Darby Property/Infrastructure 1,524 437
14 TV3 Media 1,098 315
15 Petronas Energy 920 264
16 YTL Property/Infrastructure 731 210
17 RHB Bank Banking 653 187
18 Ambank Banking 651 187
19 AirAsia Airline 333 95
20 The Star Media/Entertainment 318 91
21 Dutch Lady Food & Beverage 300 86
22 Kurnia Insurance 291 83
23 Proton Automotive 239 68
24 MAA Insurance 232 67
25 Affin Bank Banking 228 65
26 Padini Apparel 212 61
27 Parkson Retail 125 36
28 Sunway Property/Infrastructure 89 25
29 Mamee-Double Decker Food & Beverage 87 25
30 Bonia Apparel 75 22
Total value of the Top 10 brands 44,844 12,849
Total value of brands #11-30 11,816 3,386
Total value of the Top 30 brands 56,660 16,235
2.2.3 Brand Extension
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Brand extension took place when a company introduces new products or new product
variants or product improvements by leveraging the brand equity of the existing parent
brand. When Tesco decided to extend its Finest brand into the home ware market and
other non- food products, it re-launched the Finest brand with new packaging that use
metallic-based ink to create a better depth and shine and hundreds of new lines to gain
acceptance for the new product line.
Essential factors that impact brand extension success are:
(a) Fit between parent brand and brand extension
(b) Parent brand conviction and parent-brand experience
(c) Retailer experience
(d) Marketing support
2.3 Internet
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Wikipedia define Internet as a global system of interconnected computer networks that
interchange data by packet switching using the standardized Internet Protocol Suite
(TCP/IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of private and public,
academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by
copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies. The
Internet carries various information resources and services, such as electronic mail,
online chat, file transfer and file sharing, online gaming, and the inter-linked hypertext
documents and other resources of the World Wide Web (WWW).
2.3.1 Internet Subscribers in Malaysia
Referring to Table 4.0, the Internet users rose steadily from year 2000 to 2007 with the
growth of population in Malaysia. However when the population drops in 2008, the
number of internet users continue to rise which reflected the growing importance of
internet as Malaysia moves towards advanced information, communications and
multimedia services.
Table 4.0 Internet Usage in Malaysia (2000-2008)
YEAR Users Population % Pen. Usage Source
2000 3,700,000 24,645,600 15.0 % ITU
2005 10,040,000 26,500,699 37.9 % C.I.Almanac
2006 11,016,000 28,294,120 38.9 % ITU
2007 13,528,200 28,294,120 47.8 % MCMC
2008 14,904,000 25,274,133 59.0 % MCMC
Dr Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek, General Manager of Strategic Development Division,
Telekom Malaysia (2008) states:
“The number of the Internet subscribers in Malaysia is expected to reach the 10
million mark in the next five years. In 2004 the number of subscribers was 2.9
million, in 2005 it increased to 3.5 million subscribers, and in 2006 the number of
subscribers in Malaysia was close to five million.”
2.3.2 Internet and Telecommunications in Malaysia
During the late 1990s when economic crisis occured, Malaysia continued allocating
capital to invest in information technology and telecommunications infrastructure. A list
of Malaysia Search Engines and local directories are shown in Table 5.0. Apart from tha,
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the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) project has successfully attractd many high tech
companies to set up in Malaysia. One bright spot in the market has been WiFi, and
service providers begin to rollout their ‘hotspot’ services. The building of Malaysia’s
telecommunications infrastructure has seen extensive fibre optic networks installed
across the length and breadth of the country. Malaysia is pontential of becoming one of
the information technology hub in the Asia region.
Table 5.0 Malaysia Search Engines and Local Directories
NETWORK MALAYSIA English Malaysia Directory and Search Engine.
CARI English The first Malaysian search engine, in English
and Malay.
GOOGLE Malay and
English
Google, Malaysian search engine. Site in
Malay.
CATCHA English Catcha, the Malaysian Search Engine.
MALAYSIA CENTRAL Bi-lingual Bi-Lingual: English Search & Carian Bahasa
Malaysia.
MALAYSIA DIRECTORY English Malaysian directory and search engine.
Colossus English Search Engine Directory for Malaysia.
YELLOW PAGES English Malaysian Yellow Pages. Also searches white
pages, government, and embassies.
NOW SELL English Directory of Malaysian search engines. It
Features the links for sending your URL.
2.4 Online Networking and Advertising
Three main social networking sites that have been popular in the last six months are
introduced as mini case studies that demonstrate the power of social networking. The
case studies represent a collection of presentations made by media proprietors during
the researcher’s observation period. The data is useful in that it allows those who are not
in the media industry to develop a basic understanding of social media’s potential as an
advertising and marketing medium.
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2.4.1 Friendster
Friendster was founded by Jonathan Abrams in March 2002 and has becomes the
number one social network in Malaysia. In Malaysia, Friendster has over 7.6 million
monthly unique visitors to Friendster.com as of July 2008. Referring to Table 4.0, there
are approximately 15 million Internet users in Malaysia. And about 51% percent of
Malaysia visited Friendster in July. With over 5 million registered users in Malaysia, about
34% of Malaysia’s Internet users have a Friendster account. A typical user spends 30
minutes a day on Friendster and visits Friendster several times a week, communicating
with friends and sharing and consuming content through a suite of features.
According to Adoi Magazine, Friendster has enabled its millions of users in Malaysia to
subscribe to Friendster Text Alerts, refer to Figure 6.0 which was launched in May, 2008.
This feature will let Friendster users to get notice via SMS regarding their network
activity. Shortly speaking, with this feature, Friendster users will be able to receive text
message alerts for events such as friend request, new messages, comments, bulletins,
and more. Aside this activity, they can also share and communicate on Friendster by
sending a text message to Friendster to update content on their profile such as shotouts,
create bulletins, send message and reply to friend request. Friendster users who want to
use this service will just need to enter their mobile phone details and choose which
mobile text alerts they wish to receive without paying any service charges or fees to
Friendster. But users are subject to text messaging usage fees from their wireless
service provider.
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Figure 6.0 Friendster Text Alerts
David Jones, Vice President of Global Marketing, Friendster (2008) states:
“Friendster users tell us they want to stay connected with the latest updates
about their friends and all of the sharing and communication that occurs on
Friendster. Since SMS text messaging technology is universally available on
mobile phones, our millions of users in Malaysia with mobile phones can now
subscribe to Friendster Text Alerts to stay in touch, even when away from a
computer.”
2.4.2 TwoMads
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TwoMads was founded by Alex Ho and James Lim in 2008 which applies the concept of
pixel advertising. This new method helps to support local and overseas investors to
broadcast information of their products and services. When a company decided to
purchase pixels from TwoMads, as shown at Figure 7.0, it will gain more attention as
there will be an image, an ad banner with description and a link to the company website
which will remain at TwoMads homepage for a minimum of 3 years. Apart from that, it
also benefits the community as customers can make comparison by picking close
products or services competitors from the pixel list during pre-purchase stage.
Figure 7.0 Everyone Can Advertise with TwoMads
Alex Ho, Founder, TwoMads (2008) states:
“Part of the income we make from this pixel advertising will be give as a donation
to the old folks and orphanage home in Malaysia because we as a Malaysian
Citizens do realize how hard is the life for them right now without the support in
the form of mentally and financially from their family members, relatives or close
friends. So we are glad to create a LOVE generation from the fund we will have in
selling out all the pixels.”
Advertisers that have bought pixels from TwoMads will automatically entitle to
participate in the Cash Prize Contest – “TwoMAds.com is giving out RM200000 to be won
worldwide!” Contest period and cash prizes are shown in Figure 7.1.
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Figure 7.1 TwoMads - Anyone Can Win Contest
Apart from that, there are two more contests which are open to the public that subscribe
as a member either through TwoMads homepage or Facebook TwoMads application. First
of all, the Spot the Mistake contest, as shown at Figure 7.2, where the public are given 2
weeks time to search for answer and stand a chance to take home fabulous prize if he or
she submitted the right answer in the shortest period. The second contest is the Spot Me
contest, as shown at Figure 7.3, where the public are require to link TwoMads homepage
at their own websites such as personal blogs.
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Figure 7.2 TwoMads - Spot the Mistake Contest
Figure 7.3 TwoMads - Spot Me Contest
Chapter 3.0: Methodology
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The data that has been gathered by the researcher can be categorized into primary and
secondary data. The primary data consists of an e-survey and an interview transcript
where both are reproduced in the Appendix A and B. The researcher has registered as a
member of the esurveypros.com and created an online questionnaire that consists of 13
questions, as shown at Appendix A (I), then distributed to users at social networks which
includes Friendster and Facebook and blog communities through BlogFlap and Blogspot .
The targeted respondent’s age ranged from teens to young adults (15-25). Within one
week, the researcher managed to collect 500 respondents. Out of 500 respondents, only
one of the surveys has not completed. Result of the e-survey is shown at Appendix A
(II).
The data collected are been presented and analyzed in Chapter 4.0.
The interview is the second research method to collect primary data where the
researcher utilizes an informal style of interview via email correspondence, as shown at
Appendix B. The researcher chooses this method as it is flexible. This approach allows
the interviewer to structure the question to understand the perspective of the
interviewees with no time limit. The researcher has interviewed Ian Stewart the Senior
Vice President of MTV Networks Asia, Dr. Paul Leow the President of AARM Management
Group USA (Canada), Wong Weng Wah an expert in Advertising and Marketing and last
but not least Alex Ho the founder of TwoMads. Through these informal interviews, the
researcher gained valuable feedbacks and was enlighten to view the new emerging trend
in the social media from various perspectives.
Next, the secondary data consists of data from online resources from the Internet,
newspapers and books, which are listed in the list of references, figures and tables. The
researcher sourced a significant volume of secondary data from the literature, trade
journals and case studies. The researcher has used three small case studies which
include Friendster as shown at Chapter 2.4.1 and TwoMads as shown at Chapter 2.4.2.
The main purpose of utilizing case studies is to increase knowledge about real,
contemporary communication events in the new social media context. These case studies
will be introduced to provide an understanding of how successful campaigns can work in
the social media environment. These secondary data are as important as the primary
data as they provide useful information regarding historical events and statistics which
help the researcher to make comparison and analyse them.
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Chapter 4.0: Data Presentation and Analysis
An e-survey was carried out and successfully gathered feedbacks from 500 respondents.
From Figure 8.0, 252 respondents (50.50%) spent more than 4 hours online daily,
followed by 123 respondents (24.65%) who spent 3 to 4 hours per day, 87 respondents
(17.43%) who spent 1 to 2 hours, 6 respondents (1.20%) who spent less than 1 hour
and lastly 31 respondents (6.21%) who do not use the Internet on a daily basis. It
shows that majority of Malaysian teenage and young adult are spending at least 3.35
hours a day consuming media.
Average hours spent per day = Total hours
Total respondents
= (252 x 4) + (123 x 3.5) + (87 X 1.5) + (6 x 0.5)
252 + 123 + 87 + 6
= 3.36 hours per day
Figure 8.0 Time Spent Online
Next, as shown in Figure 8.1, every respondent was engaged with at least one social
network. The top two social networks that teens in Malaysia actively engage in are
Friendster with a percentage of 40.04% (444 respondents) and Facebook with a
percentage of 34.63% (384 respondents). Next, followed by MySpace with a percentage
of 9.02% (100 respondents), Tagged 7.03% (78 respondents), Zorpia 1.98% (22
respondents) and other social networks such as Plurk, Multiply, MyYearBook, Biz Face
and Hi5. Through social networks, they can easily track down what their friends are
doing and at the same time broaden their networks as they get to know new friends
around the globe which give a sense of belonging. These social networks provide a
common platform for teens around the world to speak up their mind, share information
and contribute their ideas.
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Figure 8.1 Types of Social Networks
Besides social networking, majority of the respondents also engage in blogging.
Referring to Figure 8.2, 43 of them own more than 3 blogs (8.62%), 93 of them have
two blogs (18.64%) and 283 of them own one blog (56.71%). This left only a small
portion of respondents (16.03%) who do not blog. Blog has becomes a common ground
for teens to pour out their thoughts and express themselves with words, diagrams,
music and videos. Teens tend to customize their blogs which help to reflect their own
unique characters and personalities. Different blogs are created for different purpose.
Figure 8.2 Blog Participation
Although the percentage of hours an average teen in Malaysia spend online is growing
rapidly (refer to Chapter 2.3 Internet, Table 4.0 Internet Usage) but most of them have
not purchase anything through the Internet before. From Figure 8.3, only 188 of them
(37.68%) who had actually bought something through online while 311 (62.32%) nod
their heads. Some of the reasons that prevent respondents to buy online are the wrong
perceptions implanted in them such as buying online is not secure and is far more
expensive. This group of respondent prefers the traditional buying method which
requires one to pay the particular physical shop a visit just to get the products or
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services. In addition, another reason that prevents this group of respondent to buy
online is not having any credit card.
Figure 8.3 Purchasing Experience through the Internet
However, from Figure 8.4, Malaysian teens still prefer branded items. Out of the 500
respondents, 263 respondents (52.71%) agreed that they do shop for branded items
while 236 respondents (47.29%) purchased items without considering much whether
they are branded or not. Those who go after branded items perceive that branded goods
are usually better in terms of quality and long lasting which they do not mind to pay a
higher price for such premium goods. A few established brands that have successfully
build a strong reputation among these respondents are Nike, Zara, Armani Exchange,
Guess, Adidas, Roxy, Topshop and Gap. On the other hand, those who do not really care
much about brands, think that it is not rational to solely just make a buying decision
based on brands as there are still many other factors that one has to consider before
purchasing an item. These factors include feature and usefulness of the products,
packaging and lastly a reasonable and affordable pricing range.
Figure 8.4 Does Consumer Goes for Branded Goods/ Services
299 of them (59.92%) agree that advertisement do influence them during the buying
process as shown at Figure 8.5. This group of respondent will usually refer to
advertisement as a guideline before purchasing any items. Advertisements allow them to
make comparison on the features, price and after sales service of the products they plan
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to buy. On the other hand, 200 respondents (40.08%) disagree with the statement.
They said that advertisement is a threat use by marketers to brain wash consumers.
Unlike the previous group of respondents, these 200 respondents will usually filter all the
advertisements. They tend to think that the market place is flooded with too many
information and consumers are provided with too many choices.
Figure 8.5 Does Advertisement Affect Buying Decision
From Figure 8.6, 258 respondents (28.89%) followed advertisement regarding fashions
such as clothing, shoes and accessories. Next, follows by advertisement about
technology gadgets with 233 respondents (26.09%) and electronic devices with 182
respondents (20.83%). Only 98 respondents (10.97%) followed automobile
advertisements. Besides that, Malaysian teens are also interested in advertisement
regarding food, health and beauty products, cosmetics, music, books and stationary.
Figure 8.6 Advertisement Follow-Up Trends
According to Figure 8.7, only 207 respondents (41.48%) tend to over spend during
mega sales and promotion seasons. On the other hand, 292 respondents deny that they
did not over spend during sales or promotion seasons. They are slightly more rational
and tend to purchase only when is necessary for them. This type of respondent is hard
to persuade and need specific marketing strategies to capture their attention.
Consumers are getting smarter they tend to allocate their money wisely.
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Figure 8.7 Does Consumer Overspend During Sales
From Figure 8.8, 99 respondents (19.84%) have credit cards which encourage them to
buy online. This group of respondent also tends to contribute to the overspend
percentage especially during sales and promotion seasons as they could buy on credit as
shown in Figure 8.7. On the other hand, 400 respondents (80.16%) do not have credit
card. According to this group of respondent, without credit card has actually created a
barrier for them to buy products through the Internet which had contributed to the none
online buying experience as shown in Figure 8.3.
Figure 8.8 Does Consumer Possess A Credit Card
Appendix: E-Survey
Answers marked with a * are required.
Social Media Survey
KNLim AUG08 MI

Here is a social media survey to gather information for my entrepreneurial project. I would appreciate your cooperation in
answering the following questions.
1. How many hour(s) do you spend online every day? *
No, I don’t use the internet every day.
Less than 1 hour.
1 - 2 hours.
3 - 4hours.
More than 4 hours.
2. Do you join any of the following social network(s)? *
Facebook
Friendster
MySpace
Netlog
Tagged
Zorpia
Other (Please Specify)
3. Do you blog? How many blog(s) do you have? *
No, I don’t have a blog.
I have 1 blog.
I have 2 blogs.
I have more than 3 blogs
4. Have you purchased anything through the internet? *
Yes.
No.
5. Reason(s) for (not) purchasing through the internet.
6. Do you go for branded item(s)? *
Yes.
No.
KNLim AUG08 MI

7. Example(s) of brand(s).
8. Do advertisement(s) affect your buying trend/ buying decision? *
Yes.
No.
9. What kind of advertisement(s) that you often follow? *
Automobile.
Electronic devices.
Fashion.
Technology gadgets.
None of the above
Other (Please Specify)
10. Do you tend to over spend during sales? *
Yes.
No.
11. Do you have credit card(s)? *
Yes.
No.
12. I would consider buying a certain product because of: (Rank the following from 1 to 9 in order of preference) *
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Advertisement
Established brand
Friend's recommendation
Highly demanded product
Latest product/ trend
Personal use/ household
necessity
Product quality
Repurchasing
Sales/ promotion/ discount
KNLim AUG08 MI

13. How does advertising leave an impact on consumer’s behaviour in purchasing product(s)? (Rank the following
from 1 to 7 in order of preference) *
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Feature
Packaging
Popularity
Pricing
Promotion
Quality
Usefulness
Quit Finished
Create free online surveys with eSurveysPro.com.
<http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=2422e236-d60f-476d-854f-d78cc6edc141>
Appendix A (II) E-Survey: Results
Page 1. Social Media Survey
1. How many hour(s) do you spend online every day?
% of
Respondents
Number of
Responde
nts
No, I don’t use the internet every
day. 6.21% 31
Less than 1 hour. 1.20% 6
KNLim AUG08 MI

1 - 2 hours.
17.43% 87
3 - 4hours.
24.65% 123
More than 4 hours.
50.50% 252
Number of respondents 499
Number or respondents who skipped this question 1
2. Do you join any of the following social network(s)?
% of
Respondents
Number of
Respondents
Facebook
34.63% 384
Friendster
40.04% 444
MySpace
9.02% 100
Netlog
1.53% 17
Tagged
7.03% 78
Zorpia
1.98% 22
Other
(Specify)
5.77% 64
3. Do you blog? How many blog(s) do you have?
% of
Respondents
Number of
Responden
ts
No, I don’t have a blog.
16.03% 80
I have 1 blog.
56.71% 283
I have 2 blogs.
18.64% 93
I have more than 3 blogs
8.62% 43
4. Have you purchased anything through the internet?
% of
Respondents
Number of
Responden
ts
Yes.
37.68% 188
No.
62.32% 311
5. Reason(s) for (not) purchasing through the internet.
Number of Respondents 375
KNLim AUG08 MI

6. Do you go for branded item(s)?
% of
Respondents
Number of
Responden
ts
Yes.
52.71% 263
No.
47.29% 236
7. Example(s) of brand(s).
8. Do advertisement(s) affect your buying trend/ buying decision?
% of
Respondents
Number of
Responden
ts
Yes.
59.92% 299
No.
40.08% 200
9. What kind of advertisement(s) that you often follow?
% of
Respondents
Number of
Responden
ts
Automobile.
10.97% 98
Electronic devices.
20.38% 182
Fashion.
28.89% 258
Technology gadgets.
26.09% 233
None of the above
9.97% 89
Other
(Specify)
3.70% 33
10. Do you tend to over spend during sales?
% of
Respondents
Number of
Responden
ts
Yes.
41.48% 207
No.
58.52% 292
11. Do you have credit card(s)?
% of
Respondents
Number of
Responden
ts
Yes.
19.84% 99
No. 80.16% 400
KNLim AUG08 MI

12. I would consider buying a certain product because of: (Rank the following from 1 to 9 in order of preference)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Number of
Respondents
Advertisement 10% (52) 8% (41) 10% (52) 11% (55) 17% (85) 12% (62) 13% (68) 9% (45) 7% (39) 499
Established
brand
6% (32) 7% (37) 8% (43) 8% (44) 15% (75) 11% (59) 18% (90) 12% (64) 11% (55) 499
Friend's
recommendation
5% (25) 3% (19) 10% (50) 12% (60) 16% (83) 15% (79) 19% (97) 10% (53) 6% (33) 499
Highly
demanded
product
6% (31) 4% (20) 9% (47) 12% (61) 14% (74) 15% (75) 13% (66) 15% (76) 9% (49) 499
Latest product/
trend
5% (29) 5% (29) 10% (51) 9% (48) 13% (67) 17% (85) 14% (74) 12% (60) 11% (56) 499
Personal use/
household
necessity
16% (83) 6% (30) 4% (24) 4% (22) 9% (49) 11% (59) 11% (58) 18% (93) 16% (81) 499
Product quality 10% (50) 11% (56) 3% (17) 3% (17) 8% (43) 8% (41) 11% (58) 18% (93) 24% (124) 499
Repurchasing 6% (34) 6% (30) 10% (53) 9% (46) 15% (76) 14% (74) 14% (71) 10% (51) 12% (64) 499
Sales/
promotion/
discount
7% (35) 6% (33) 7% (38) 7% (36) 9% (46) 12% (64) 14% (74) 15% (78) 19% (95) 499
13. How does advertising leave an impact on consumer’s behavior in purchasing product(s)? (Rank the following
from 1 to 7 in order of preference)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Number of
Respondents
Feature 9% (49) 7% (35) 10% (50) 12% (61) 20% (101) 22% (113) 18% (90) 499
Packaging 5% (25) 7% (37) 9% (45) 14% (70) 22% (110) 21% (105) 21% (107) 499
Popularity 7% (38) 5% (27) 5% (28) 14% (70) 22% (113) 24% (124) 19% (99) 499
Pricing 9% (49) 7% (38) 6% (30) 12% (61) 14% (72) 20% (100) 29% (149) 499
Promotion 7% (39) 5% (29) 7% (37) 15% (76) 20% (100) 21% (106) 22% (112) 499
Quality 11% (58) 10% (52) 7% (36) 8% (41) 8% (43) 22% (112) 31% (157) 499
Usefulness 14% (74) 5% (28) 7% (36) 9% (45) 11% (56) 20% (103) 31% (157) 499
<http://www.esurveyspro.com/SummaryReport.aspx?surveyId=33448>
KNLim AUG08 MI

KNLim AUG08 MI

The New Emerging Trend In Social Media

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