Question

A study to analyze the relationship between income and spending on furniture in Saudi Arabia and how social media marketing can influence this decision.

Proposal Title of the Dissertation

Can Social media help the declining furniture market in Saudi Arabia?

Rationale for the Study

The rationale for the study is to analyze one way relation between income and spending on the product called furniture. With the decline in disposable income and rising prices of furniture, the demand has gone down in the country. Hence the study would try to judge the effectiveness of social media marketing and how it can be used by furniture companies to reduce cost of marketing and attract new customers. This study has become more important as furniture organizations are facing this crucial problem of declining sales which is making their business unfeasible. Such and similar organizations are looking for ways to boost their business where certain fundamental questions can be answered. If certain model can be developed which can develop the right kind of marketing strategy so that customers can be approached and retained. 

In the wake of this scenario identifying new marketing platforms and tools have to be identified and worked upon so that new business opportunities can be built. This will not just help the furniture suppliers but also the other similar industries that will benefit from this study. The rationale is also focussed on the analysis of social media and how it has evolved as one of the main mediums lately. The entire marketing has changed to become more digital and hence requires complete reformulation of marketing strategy from the consumer point of view.

Context of the Study

Studies would be analyzed which try to understand the impact of income and spending on purchasing decision. Then other studies related to impact of social media marketing on consumer buying behaviour. Conceptual framework would be developed based on the literature studied and analysis done. The other context is to understand how furniture buying has changed over time and involves which kind of variables and factors while deciding it. Also this pinch of declining sales is being observed by all retailers even of the size of IKEA. 

Hence it becomes critical to study and do a research in this context to know these variables deeper and evaluate them more precisely. Also the context requires a greater analysis to be undertaken at the functional level of marketing which means how marketing is done in today’s scenario. This needs an understanding of new age tools and techniques which can be adopted by organizations for improvement of their overall marketing and sales.

Aim

The aim is to find out practical implication for developing better marketing strategy for furniture companies. Also the objective is to understand the relation between income and spending on furniture as a product for household purchase. Also the impact of social media platforms and its marketing. For this an elaborate analysis would be undertaken of IKEA which have identified social media marketing for their marketing purpose. The main aim of the study is to also analyse the factors of consumer psychology with that of the psychographics, demographics, income levels, lifestyle patterns, etc so that a correlation can be drawn for further analysis which can be used by organizations. Each study and research is focussed towards bringing out such answers and analysis which can help the industry in making better decisions for future growth. 

Objective

The objective of any study is the purpose behind the research and how it can be understood in a more appropriate manner. These objectives are right pathways to do the research in the most appropriate direction so that the desired results can be achieved. Objectives can also be termed as research objectives which have to be achieved through the research being conducted. For the current study the following objectives can be suggested: 

1.  To study the reasons behind decline in the sales of furniture
2.  To analyze the impact of current marketing strategy being adopted by furniture companies
3. To investigate the growing relevance and efficiency of social media marketing
4. To understand the role of social media in improving the sales of furniture in Saudi Arabia
5. To evaluate the role of social media in the new age marketing strategy

The central research question would be to know whether social media can increase the purchase of furniture in Saudi Arabia. Other aspects related to this would be to know the applied research questions which will help in answering the main central question. These would be to judge the income patters, spending patterns, furniture industry, marketing challenges, new age marketing techniques, impact on buying behaviour, etc.

Proposed Methodology

Methodology is the step by step process that would be followed in order to execute the research which is being conducted. This would involve systematic sequence through which this would be done so that the right steps and techniques can be executed. Various aspects that would be covered are the research design, research tools, sampling methods, sampling technique, sources of data, statistical tools and other descriptive techniques.

For the dissertation purpose both primary and secondary research has to be undertaken which would help reach a conclusion for the study. Secondary research would be undertaken during literature review and variables and factors would be judged. For primary research survey questionnaire would be administered on the general consumers. This would then be analysed through tabulation, graphical correlation, and statistical findings.

The research design chosen for the study would be descriptive so that elaborate analysis of the consumer buying behaviour can be done. Also this study is aimed at developing a relationship between the income, spending, buying pattern, marketing influence, etc on the buying of furniture in the country.

The sampling area for this study would be Saudi Arabia. The sample size would be around 100 consumers. The sampling techniques would be convenience sampling on people shopping in furniture stores in the Saudi Arabia markets.

Limitations of the Study

The various limitations of the study are time constraint, cost constraint and operational aspects which may be an obstacle in conducting the research. It would also involve undertaking survey in the market which may bring up many ground and operational issues difficult to handle. Getting the survey filled up can be problematic as consumers are not willing to adjust and fill up data which we need for the research.

Also there is a problem of unavailability and inability of the respondents to provide answers to the survey. This is difficult to obtain sometimes due to unwillingness and sometimes due to inability of the people to answer. Then other issues can be compilation of data to be analysed for the research to be conducted. Many descriptive and statistical problems may arise due to the fact that data may be incomplete and missing values have to be managed.

Another limitation is the uncontrollable factors which affect any research from the external environment but may have important impact on the results of the data. This can happen with internal data sources and implications also. The faults which the researcher can make, in developing the objectives, hypothesis, tools, techniques are very real. Also many limitations can exist in the data collection process.

Delimitations of the Study

The limitations of the study would be minimized through planning the research properly and giving adequate time for each individual to respond. Other limitations also would be reduced by undertaking the costing and time frames according to the research which has to be undertaken.

Many areas can be improved upon by proper planning and following the guidelines of the research process. Certain limitations can be worked upon by allocating the task according to the profile of the people involved in the research process. Other delimitations can be to propose targets to achieve based on strict deadlines so that each researcher knows and understands what is expected from him in the entire research.