Smes and Social Networking: Survey

SMEs and Social Networking: Survey Application (Variables & Measures)

Using the research questions as the anchor for developing the variables and measures of the study, the following questions will be asked with specific indications on the question and variable types for each:

Is social media a viable strategy for increasing SME advertising competitiveness that will allow them to compete with large enterprise businesses?

(1) Open-ended question on whether the firm uses marketing strategies or not. Asking this question would determine two things: (a) the kind of marketing strategies currently or popularly used among SMEs, and (b) SMEs' understanding of marketing strategies using the social networking platform. At the analysis level, responses to this open-ended question will be coded and used as categories, to be quantitatively determined and analyzed (using regression analysis) with respondents' responses to perceived/self-reported success rate of the marketing strategy to the business. Alternatively, the researcher could conduct preliminary qualitative interviews to explore different and common marketing strategies used in the social networking platform. These identified strategies could then be used in the survey, in the form of a closed question and the level of measurement, nominal.

(2) Determination of SME marketing/advertising as a viable strategy for SME competitiveness vs. large enterprise business. Using responses on the reported perceived success of each marketing strategy implemented by the respondent/SMEs, and reported scores on the success rate of each marketing strategy, a regression analysis will be conducted to determine which of the marketing strategies implemented among the SMEs are effective and actually result to or "drive" higher success/competitiveness rates for SMEs.

Research Question: What are the benefits of social networking as a platform for advertising?

(3) Self-reported success rate/competitiveness of the business as a result of using social networking marketing strategies. In this closed question item, respondents will be given statements that refer to the respondent's perceived success of the marketing strategy implemented in his/her business. Two options can be done to quantitatively measure this variable: (a) using a rank order-type of question on the marketing strategies used and respondent's perceived success of each, ranked from the most successful to the least successful, or (b) use of a Likert scale to describe the level of success of each marketing strategy implemented. For option a, level of measurement would be ordinal while the latter, interval.

(4) Benefits of using social networking as a marketing platform. This open-ended question will explore the different ways the social media has benefited the respondents (SMEs). This question is an exploratory kind of question in that the researcher is expected to discover the different dimensions surrounding the concept of benefits and success in SMEs within the social media/networking context.