TASK A Final report MEDIA INFLUENCE ON MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

SAVITHA.B 2012PGP050

INTRODUCTION:
This study has been done to analyze the influence of media on marketing communications using inferential statistics. The various dimension variables are Customer Attitude, Mass Media, Selective Exposure, Involvement and Mood. The data were measured through the measure of central tendencies such as skewness and kurtosis. The different dimension variables were tested by designing hypothesis using Simple Regression, Multiple Regression and Pearson Correlation. Inferential statistics is used to make inferences from data of more general conditions. Inferential statistics includes a variety of procedures to ensure that the conclusions are sound and rational even though they may not always be correct. In short, inferential statistics enable us to make confident decisions in the face of uncertainty. Based on the inferential statistics, this study attempts to make some objective conclusions regarding the factors that affect marketing communications.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PAPER:

The objectives of the paper are: The primary focus of this study was to examine the relationship between Customer attitude and media influence by use of mass media, selective exposure, involvement, and mood. To examine what level of impact media does play in the attitude formation and how the mood involvement and selective exposure play important role in attitude formation.

SAMPLES TAKEN FOR THE STUDY:

The population for the subject study is the number of household in Karachi. According to an estimate there are 0.9 million households in Karachi, excluding non-recognized colonies. If sample were to be drawn on simple random, the approximate sample size comes out to 60. However to have a better representation, about 120 samples were drawn. These were drawn non-randomly from pre-selected areas.

HYPOTHESIS SET IN THE STUDY:

H01: Media usage does not influence the customer attitude towards marketing communications. Ha1: Media usage influences customer attitude towards marketing communications.

H02: Selective Exposure does not influence customer attitude towards marketing communication. Ha2: Selective Exposure influence customer attitude towards marketing communication. H03: Involvement does not influence customer attitude towards marketing communication. Ha3: Involvement influence customer attitude towards marketing communication. H04: Mood does not influence customer attitude towards marketing communication. Ha4: Mood influence customer attitude towards marketing communication.

METHODOLOGY ADOPTED IN THE PAPER:

Tools that are used in this paper are: Mean Standard deviation Skewness Kurtosis Simple Regression Multiple Regression Correlation

INSIGHTS GAINED:
The sample of 120 was picked up from a large population of around 0.9 million. According to the central limit theorem, regardless of the shape of the population distribution, if sample size is greater than 30 it can be safely assumed as Normal distribution. Hence this study is assumed to follow normal distribution. Also the skewness and kurtosis was calculated for each of the dimensions and it was found to be well within the suggested ranges. The study also makes use of bivariate correlation to find the relationship (whether positive or negative) between the various dimensions and the customer attitude. Secondly, the causal effect of media usage, selective exposure, involvement and mood on customer attitude was estimated with the help of Simple Regression. Finally, cross section analysis between the personal data (collected from the questionnaire) and the various dimensions were analyzed.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS (SCOPE OF TASK A):

The findings of the study are as follows: The r2 value of 0.78 suggests that there is a strong relationship between the mass media and the customer attitude. The r2 in case of selective exposure variable is 0.80, which indicates that about 80% of the variations on the dependent variable is explained by the predictor variable selective exposure, which is significantly high. The involvement influence was given by r2 value of 0.41 which suggests that the relationship between influence and customer attitude is weak. The r2 for the dimension mood is 0.52, which indicates that about 52% of the variations on the customer attitude are explained by the predictor variable mood, which is significantly not high. From the respondents rating it can be concluded that the female have more attitude formation in term of media influence on marketing communications.

COMMENT ON THE METHODOLOGY FOLLOWED:

Though the methodology adopted is robust, there are few things which can be worked upon to produce more accurate and relevant results. Though the sample has been taken from a large population of about 0.9 million, it has been taken from pre-determined area which questions the randomness of the sample. The sample could have been chosen randomly using any of the sampling techniques. Another weakness is that the paper did not analyze the influence of social media in particular on the customer attitude. Given todays scenario where the influence of internet has considerably risen, this hypothesis could have been tested. Also the hypothesis could have been tested on three different populations such as the youth, middle aged and elders to understand the impact of each dimension on these populations. This could have given the marketing division of any firm the general idea on how to target their customer base.

ALTERNATIVE STATISTICAL TOOL SUGGESTION:

1. The following hypothesis could have been formulated and tested for regression.
H0: The social media does not have any influence over the customer attitude. Ha: The social media has a significant influence over the customer attitude.

2. Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient: This test is used in place of Pearson coefficient of correlation
and is used in case of ordinal or nominal dataset. The distribution is also not mentioned to be normal hence this test can be applied. The formula for calculating a Spearmans rank correlation is as follows:

3. Mann Whitney U-test: The Mann-Whitney U test is a nonparametric counterpart of the t test used to
compare the means of two independent populations. This test is used if the data is not normally distributed or if the data is ordinal in nature. This test can be used instead of the cross-sectional analysis between the personal data collected from the questionnaire and the dimension variables.

FINDINGS FROM THE SUGGESTED TOOL:

The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient was found for all the four hypotheses and it was found to be almost equal to the Pearson Coefficient of Correlation for all the hypotheses. This is shown in the table below:

Hypothesis

Pearson coefficient of correlation

Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient

H1 H2 H3 H4

0.88 0.90 0.64 0.72

0.80 0.91 0.59 0.60

Hence, it is visible that the non-parametric test equivalent of Pearson Coefficient of Correlation gives the same result as that of parametric equivalent test. Therefore, this test can be applied.

LESSONS LEARNT:
The critical analysis of the paper gave exposure to various statistical tools like Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient and Mann Whitney U-test. The paper also helped us in understanding the various factors influencing marketing communications and thereby helped in the formation of a new hypothesis. The study also aided in learning on how to work with nominal or ordinal data. Obviously there is still a long way to go in the research of various factors influencing the marketing communications and the future research can work towards achieving the same.