SOCIAL MEDIA AS NEW MEANS IN PUTTING UP A BUSINESS AND ITS

COMPETENCY FOR ENTREPRENEURS

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A Research Paper Presented to the Senior High School Faculty of

Guiguinto National Vocational High School

Poblacion, Guiguinto, Bulacan

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In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Inquiries Investigations and Immersions (i3)

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Group 2 Proponents

Oliveros, Hazileene D.G

Inocencio, Ana Marie L.

Policarpio, Paul Emmanuel C.

Dela Cruz, John Mark A.

June 2021

CHAPTER I
 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

In today's world, e-commerce is becoming increasingly popular in emerging

economies. In 1995 e-commerce was born, it necessitates the use of digital commodities

in order to carry out transactions, and digital goods are goods that can be delivered over a

digital network (Laudon & Laudon, 2013). It's becoming a viable option for making all

of your purchases, whether you're at home, at work, or in another nation.You may

quickly inform your customers about special offers such as cash on delivery and special

discounts on online orders.

Social media has been a popular way for customers and businesses to engage in

recent years. Companies, on the other hand, struggle to determine whether their

investments in creating and managing brand pages on social media are meeting their high

expectations for developing and retaining customers. Customers and businesses can

communicate with each other through social media that are Internet-based applications

that allow customers and companies to interact by creating, sharing, or exchanging

information (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).

In this paper we are going to deal with issues like how social media affect the

business processes and how they use it as a platform in conducting their business.

According to (Leong & Gligorijevic, 2011) the social media platform has given

credence for consumers to share their experiences in their social networks and also to

review the recommendations or feedback given by customers on products and services

that you offer. In order to develop trust, elements like proper communication channels
and context of messages are very crucial. This will help the customers and company to

have a good relationship (Gligorijevic, 2011).

Many organizations active on the social networking scene have direct links from

their corporate websites to their social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn,

Instagram, Youtube and Twitter, and use these social media sites to promote brands and

support the creation of brand communities because the more energy the company invests

into their brand’s community, the more the loyalty the consumers will return to us

(Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Additionally a lot of studies and researches (Kaplan,

2012), (Mathew Mount, 2014), (Michaelidou et al., 2011) have been conducted on why

and how social media has attained such an importance in consumer’s mind and the rapid

explosion of social media in the global market.

Statement of the Problem

Customers, consumers, and their feedback must be involved in the process of a

business's growth, development, and provision of improved service to its customers. With

the extensive use and development of social media, it is now quite usual to have an online

business. This research aimed to determine how competent the social media platforms are

as new means in putting up a business.

Furthermore, we seek to answer the following sub-questions:

● How can entrepreneurs relate social media platforms as new means for

businesses?

● How can social media platforms as new means for businesses improve

entrepreneurs' daily living?

 ● How can social media platforms help entrepreneurs in advertising their business?

● What implications may be drawn from the findings of the study?

Conceptual Framework

Input Process Output

Social Media Entrepreneur

Interview (Data
Type of Online Gathering) Entrepreneur’s Daily
Business Data Analysis Living
Customers Online Entrepreneur’s Income
Shopping Habits
Online Advertisement

Figure no. 1

Shown in figure 1 is the input-process-output of the study wherein the input

includes the independent variable social media and the following factors that could affect

the output, also known as the dependent variable which are the entrepreneur’s daily living

and entrepreneur’s income, the process includes interview and data analysis from the

informants.

Significance of the Study

This study is deemed significant to the following:

Entrepreneur. The results of this study will help entrepreneurs to know the

importance of social media and how it can help them grow their business and be

successful with the help of it, and the impact of feedback to their business.
 Aspiring Entrepreneur. The results of this study will help aspiring entrepreneurs

to know the essence of a business, especially online business.

Consumer. This study will provide information to help consumers apprehend the

essence of feedback to businesses and to know what would make the best and perfect

quality of products and services from every supplier who depends on its consumer.

Community. The results of this study will help the community to understand the

various livelihood jobs, specifically being an online business owner that is available to

everyone as a way to make money and for them to know the benefits of social media.

Future Researcher. The results of this study will guide future researchers once

they conduct research related to this topic.

Assumption

This study assumed that social media opens a wide array of opportunities to

everyone to become an entrepreneur. Also, the income that a young entrepreneur gets by

selling online is more likely spent for themselves namely their wants and, sometimes in

travelling. In addition to that, young entrepreneurs tend to save their income to spend it

another time.

Scope and Delimitation

The general objective of the study is to find out how competent social media is as

the latest way for business and for entrepreneurs from the Municipality of Guiguinto,

Bulacan during this pandemic year 2021-2022.

 Furthermore, this research will include three (3) participants of selected

entrepreneur students around Guiguinto, Bulacan who ages 18 to 21 years old, owing to

the fact that teenagers are the wide users of social media. Moreover, the study delimits

itself to those respondents who are not into business and entrepreneurship and those who

merely do not use any social media platforms.

Operational Definition of Terms

For better understanding and clarification of the terms related to this study, the

following terms are defined in the context of this research.

E-Commerce. This refers to the activity of buying and selling conducted via the

internet.

Means. This refers to “new ways”.

Social Networking. This refers to websites and applications where you can find

people with your similar interests.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Social Media

Social media is a computer-based technology that allows people to share ideas,

thoughts, and information by creating virtual communities and networks.

The term "social media" is widely used to describe new types of media that allow

for interaction. The emergence of media is sometimes separated into two time periods:

the broadcast era and the interactive era. During the broadcast era, media distribution was
nearly centralized, with one entity—such as a radio or television station, newspaper

organization, or movie production studio—distributing messages to a large number of

individuals. Media feedback was usually indirect, delayed, and impersonal (Manning

Jimmie, 2014).

Individual interaction on a widespread scale became easier for individuals than

ever before as a result of the growth of digital and mobile technologies; as a result, a new

media age was formed, with interactivity at the center of new media functions. A person

could now communicate with a large number of people, and fast feedback was a

possibility (Manning, 2014).

Edosomwan (2011) believes that the fastest way to grow a business entity is

through social media and networking. Social media has captured the attention of many

young adults in the 21st century and is becoming a valuable source amongst the youth.

Businesses have found that social media has a favorable impact on foot traffic and

revenue because the younger generation is looking to the internet to verify the quality and

legitimacy of businesses before they spend their hard-earned money.

According to Junco, R., Heibergert, G. and Loken, E. (2010) a collection of

internet websites, services, and events that facilitate connectivity, community building,

interaction, and sharing are known as social media. It is impossible to overestimate the

importance of social media use among today's youth. Second-year students' use of social

media has exploded in recent years. It's a way for students to communicate with one

another both on and off campus. When people use social networking, they sometimes feel

as though they are part of a community (Choney, 2010).

 Over the last few years, academics and practitioners have researched and

examined the numerous aspects of social media. Organizations use social media mostly

to solicit input from their stakeholders (Phang, 2015).

Consumer evaluations are another important aspect of social media, raising

concerns about information quality, credibility, and authenticity. Online communities

have been successful in connecting people with similar interests and aims together to a

considerable extent, making the concept of micro blogging highly popular.

Social networking is the base of understanding of social media and it is

impossible to learn about social media before understanding social networking. To make

things simple, social media is the kind of communication with the help of electronic

media in which interested individuals generate and transfer information in the form of

texts, pictures, audio and videos online.

In fact, the telegraph was used to transmit messages over a long distance in the

1700s. This now has developed into the reality in which users communicate using

networking tools such as Google buzz which help users to link, share photos, messages,

videos and their views on a specific issue in conversation and visible in the user‘s inbox

(Ritholz, 2010).

Online Business

Any type of business or commercial activity that involves exchanging information

over the internet is known as online business or e-business. It has become easier to access

the online world of business as technology has become more complex.

 The internet's influence has opened up a world of possibilities in recent years,

making it easier for business owners to make their goods and services available to the

general public. When people realized the value of the internet, they created new ways,

and businesses began to build websites to connect with their customers online.

Solutions have increased as a result of technological development. In the digital

era, the barriers to entry have been significantly reduced. With the help of digital

technologies, individuals can now start micro-businesses from their homes in ways that

were previously impossible.

Finally, social networking sites allow users to communicate in a modern way by

facilitating user engagement and transactional. They studied popular social networks' new

trends, key functionalities, and revenue models (Leitner P, Grecheing T , 2008).

One of the advantages of an internet business is that it is low-cost but successful

at attracting customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The use of digital and virtual

worlds to advertise and offer products and services is known as online marketing. The

well-known benefits of digital platforms (cheap cost, ubiquity, rapid dissemination, and

so on) have caused economic liquefaction and pushed the concept of sidedness to the

forefront of markets and platforms (Hofacker & Belanche, 2016).

The advancement of second-generation, internet-enabled applications, particularly

Web 2.0, was a noteworthy advancement in commerce online communication concepts

(Atwong, 2015). Researchers have found that the web makes a requirement for adjusting

needs and contributing to effective progressed showcasing techniques in little businesses

(Boling, Burns, & Dick, 2014; Caruth, 2016).

Online Shopping

According to Hirschman & Holbrook (1982), customers' reasons for engaging in

online shopping have both practical and hedonic dimensions. Others pursue fun, illusion,

arousal, sensory stimulation, and enjoyment, while others are “problem solvers”.

According to Babinetal (1994), The problem solvers simply shop online to

purchase a specific product or service, and shopping is treated as an errand or task in this

case.

Online shopping refers to purchasing products or services directly from a seller

over the internet. Online shopping has its own set of characteristics. According to

Huseynov and Yldrm (2014), the lack of physical interaction is the most significant

barrier to online retail purchases, followed by the privacy of personal information and the

security of online financial transactions.

Buyer states of mind toward online shopping as a rule been decided by two

components; one is belief, and another is seen benefits (Hoque, Ali, & Mahfuz, 2015).

Day-by-day taste, inclination and choices are changing with respect to diverse

components such as web development. Be that as it may, this advancement needs a few

more understanding related to the consumer’s behavior. Shopper behavior inquires about

recognizing a common show of buying behavior that delineates the forms utilized by

shoppers in making a buy choice (Vrender, 2016).

Online Advertisement

The term "online advertising" specifically refers to advertising that takes place

online or over the Internet. It's a form of marketing that makes use of the internet and the

World Wide Web to deliver marketing messages to potential customers.

 In terms of industry, we can say that social media provides businesses with

numerous potential to use it as a marketing tool, enabling them to advertise their brand

and, of course, the goods and services that they provide.

According to V. Kumar & Denish Shah (2004), Online advertising is

transforming customer shopping habits and tastes, as well as introducing new ways to

purchase goods.

A well-known marketing strategy is to use celebrities (in consumer markets) or

well-known opinion leaders (in business markets) who have a high social value to

influence many (Knoll & Matthes, 2017).

According to Hunsinger (2013) every day, a huge number of people are attracted

to social media, and this broad user base has made social media sites become cultural and

business successes.

In expansion, it has been detailed that the taking after substance must be included

for compelling publicizing: the advantage of the item; item data that's not known by

current shoppers; the product’s affect on consumers’ regular lives; and the uniqueness of

the item (Hyun et al., 2011; Schlinger, 1979). However, when applying this supposition

to online pennant advertisements, it is outlandish to incorporate all of this data. In this

way, the way to offer sufficient data is by clicking on the standard. In other words, for

standard advertisements to be more compelling, clicking behavior is basic for the

influence process.

Advertising is a type of communication that persuades consumers to make

purchases and provides information to viewers. When information is presented in a fun

way, people are more likely to accept it. As a result, we can classify advertising as an
infotainment notion. Through environmental and emotional responses presented in

advertisements Arshad, et al., (2014) concluded that television is the most effective

advertising medium because findings show that customers feel good about the instant

display of information, images, and text shown in advertisements, and they are satisfied

with the information rates.

In the twenty-first century, social media marketing is an integral component of

industry. Small business owners are using this marketing strategy to support their

company in order to increase popularity, viability, and profitability in order to compete in

today's market .

Social media marketing is defined as “the process of gaining traffic or attention

through social media sites”.

Across platforms, the dominant business model has been to advertise customers

by offering advertising services to those wishing to target those audiences through digital

content and marketing communications, both traditionally and today. Prior research has

looked at the marketing potential of social media in its different forms.

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

This chapter presents the research design methods and techniques, the informants,

the research instrument, the data gathering, and plan for data analysis employed by the

researchers in the conduct of the study.

Methods and Techniques Used

This study is qualitative in nature since the research questions lead to narrative

data. Specifically, the study is qualitative research. In this research, we seek to determine

social media platforms as new means in putting up a business and its competency for

entrepreneurs, specifically in the Municipality of Guiguinto, Bulacan.

Denzin & Lincoln (2000) claim that subjective inquiry includes an interpretive

and naturalistic approach. This implies that subjective analysts ponder things in their

characteristic settings, endeavoring to create a sense of, or to translate, wonders in terms

of the implications individuals bring to them.

Participants of the Study

The target informants of the study are the entrepreneurs that are ages 18 to 21

years old in the Municipality of Guiguinto, Bulacan.

The researchers will consider a sample of 3 informants selected through purposive

sampling.

Instruments of the Research

This study will use a semi-structured interview guide which consists of four (4)

open-ended questions. In lexical term, an interview is a formal conversation between the

interviewer and interviewee wherein the researcher will ask a series of questions.

Punch (1998) described unstructured interviews as a way to understand the complex

behavior of people without imposing any a priori categorization, which might limit the

field of inquiry.
 The researcher will use devices like phones, and will use it for video call and as

interview recorder in order to accurately document the answer of the informants as well

as to avoid misinterpretation.

Data Collection Figure

The researchers seek permission from the participants using the video interview

method, and then they secure permission to conduct data collection from the

concerned entrepreneurs of Guiguinto, Bulacan. A letter of permission will be sent also to

the reliable informants and they must indicate their consent before conducting the video

interview session.

Plan for Data Analysis

1. Narrative analysis was used to present and analyse data regarding interviews, and other

written forms.

2. Data recorded in text, audio and/or video formats involves organizing into categories.

Categorizing was organized as follows: The data segregated, grouped, regrouped and

relinked in order to consolidate meaning and explanation (Grbich, 2017).

3. The larger meaning of the data was interpreted based on themes and patterns

identified within and among categories.