Dissertation proposal (The Level of Interest within Generation Y Essay

Dissertation proposal (The Level of Interest within Generation Y towards Social network Marketing) - Essay Example Background of Research Questions Social Network Marketing has gained prominence in the last decade as more and more companies are marketing primarily through social networking sites. The main purpose of social networking sites is to connect users with one another. As the internet age blooms with every passing year, social networking has become the most widely used communication tool by users around the world. ‘Compete.com (2008), a Web traffic analysis company, reported that the largest online social networking site (as of November 2008) was MySpace, with 56 million unique visitors per month, closely followed by Facebook, with 49 million unique visitors’ (Trusov, Bucklin and Pauwels, 2009). This addiction towards social networking presents marketers with a good opportunity of reaching towards consumers. Through social networks, brands develop a personality and provide a forum for the users to interact with the brand, thus making way for a more informal form of marketing. With the saturation in market that most industries are now facing, it becomes increasing hard to capture the attention of the consumers who have become cynical towards advertising and marketing in general. Social networking sites allow consumers to share their opinions, ideas and reviews about products and services. On account of this, social networking sites support word-of-mouth, which is the most effective form of advertising and specifically for the younger generation. With advertisers taking full use of their creative license, consumers have become wary of products advertising impossibility shiny long hair and a perfect social life. They simply do not believe these advertisements. This research will aim to uncover the connection that Generation Y has with social networking sites. With the advertising world changing at a very fast pace, it is important that marketers are able to connect with the Generation Y through their preferred platform. This research provides a way forward to marketers. Literature Review ‘Today’s Generation Y, encompassing individuals born between 1980 and 1995, represents an era of teens and young adults who grew up with technology and are among the most avid users of social networking’ (Rutledge, 2008) . Social Networking sites have become part of the life of Generation Y. As important as it is to have residential addresses, Generation Y considers it equally important to have a social networking address. Given the popularity of social networking sites among Generation Y, organizations have begun exploring advertising on these sites. ‘Social Networking is just one of the many consumer technologies, including blogs, wikis and virtual worlds, to cross over to the corporate world’ (Smith and Salvendy, 2009). But the advertising content must differ since Generation Y has become used to the traditional advertising techniques. They tend to tune out the advertising of women falling around men with just one spray of a perfume. To reach Generation Y, organizations have to more honest and direct in their advertising techniques (Garland, 2007). Generation Y is more of a rebel and has shaped their opinions and views around the opinions of views of their own peers. Parents have not been the guiding figures in the lives of Generation Y since they were raised in a time when both parents