EVOLUTION OF THE CONVENTIONAL BUSINESS MODEL THROUGH THE USE

OF SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATIONS AN INSPECTION OF THE NATURE OF

CHANGES
Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 3
1.1 Definitions of Social Media & Business Model ..................................................................... 4
1.2 Theoretical framework of e-business models ......................................................................... 4
2. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 8
2.1 Literature Introduction ........................................................................................................ 8
2.2 Literature theme ................................................................................................................ 9
2.3 Literature Conclusion ........................................................................................................14
3. METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................................................15
3.1 Research Design ...............................................................................................................16
3.2 Research Philosophy .........................................................................................................17
3.3 Research Approach ...........................................................................................................19
3.4 Research Strategy .............................................................................................................20
3.5 Research Ethics ................................................................................................................20
3.6 Research Limitation ..........................................................................................................21
3.7 Qualitative of Quantitative Data..........................................................................................21
4. References ...........................................................................................................................22
 1. INTRODUCTION
In Era, Web and Social Media have a critical effect on all circles including individual, corporate
and organizations. In the present situation, the nature of the business area is evolving quickly.
Globalization and digitization has upset the strategic policies. This change is clear in a wide range
of business adventures from little scale to enormous scale. Job of web-based social networking is
considered as a critical perspective in the present worldwide business condition (Dr. Mohammad
Abuhashesh, 2014). Consequently, business adventures are attempting to stay up with the latest
with the stream. The investigation examinations the diverse plans of action on the web and internet
based life stages that are utilized by business people, new companies and built up organizations to
contact a more extensive crowd through the most creative and dynamic channel. Topics that rise
up out of the writing and the examination can fill in as rules on how a portion of the conventional
plans of action can be utilized for working together via web-based networking media with some
new augmentations thinking about the intuitive idea of this computerized stage.

Social media is now no longer a new word. Interest and enthusiasm for social media has increased
world over in the past few years. Social media platforms give individuals an opportunity to interact
with many other individuals at a time. It has made its impact on various aspects of human life
including communication processes, relationships, and reach. Business is of course no exception.
Given this situation, the character of the sector is dynamical speedily. globalization and digitization
has revolutionized the business practices. This change is manifest in all types of business ventures
from small scale to large scale. Role of social media is taken into account as an important side in
today’s international business atmosphere (Abuhashesh, 2014). Hence, business ventures are
trying to keep themselves up to date with the flow. Engaging with social media is of critical
importance and can be a great opportunity for enterprising businesses. To be able to deal with
consumers more effectively and ultimately to increase revenues, business ventures need a greater
level of communication practices. Web based communication channels are useful in this context
for communicating on the global platform (Abuhashesh, 2014). Social media helps companies and
businesses to contact their consumers from any part of the world, that too with minimum expenses.
Before launching a start - up, it is important to have a clear business model in mind. However,
most organizations (particularly small scale organizations) that have a social media presence are
yet to develop an integrated, formal business model on this platform. In order for a firm to have a
formal social media presence, the first and foremost starting point is to think of a mere social media
presence as a social business presence. Many online media start ups have become platforms from
where entrepreneurs can start their businesses or increases visibility. An increasing variety of
Venture Capitalists and ANgel Investors have begun to point out keen interest to speculate within
the digital or on-line area. This only goes to show the potential of this platform and the
opportunities it offers. The important factor that an online business venture needs to consider while
adopting a social media model is the customer connectivity and interactivity (Abuhashesh, 2014).
These functions can be strategically used for marketing. With the interactive communication
strategies, customers can be included in the marketing process. Social media breaks the traditional
one way communication process and helps the company to build more close relations with the
customers and in a way gets direct and instant feedback from the customers. This creates space for
the voices of the consumers in the operations of the company (Abuhashesh, 2014).

1.1 Definitions of Social Media & Business Model

Social media also is considered as an information channel by Lehtimäki et al. (2009), the
environment of internet and web 2.0 tools are applications for using this channel. With the
combination of community, UGC, and web 2.0 tools, it brings the network effects, many to many
communication and collective intelligence. Rappa (2004) defines a business model as ―the
method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself‖. Similarly, Magretta (2002) views
it as ―the story which explains how enterprises work. And Linder and Cantrell (2000) state ―the
organization ‘s core logic for creating value. Afuah (2004) defines business model as the
―framework for making money. To be additional specific, he considers that it's a group of
activities that a firm performs, however it performs them, and once it performs them thus on
provide its customers advantages they require and eventually build profits.

1.2 Theoretical framework of e-business models

The research stream comprises "Internet-based business," "e-commerce," and "e-markets." It

considers business that is conducted exclusively over the Internet (e.g., Priceline.com) as
business that exploits the potentiality of the Internet as a complement to a firm's traditional
operations, such as click- and-mortar-based businesses. Similarly, to others (e.g., Mahadevan,
2000) we tend to take into account as e- businesses solely those businesses that conduct business
transactions with their business partners and consumers, therefore excluding people who simply
build use of internet sites displaying data for products/services oversubscribed within the
physical world.

Recent advances in communication and data technologies, like the emergence and swift growth
of the web and also the fast decline in computing and communication prices, have allowed the
event of recent ways that to form and deliver price, that have offered scope for the creation of
unconventional exchange mechanisms and dealings architectures (Amit& Zott, 2001), and
accentuated the chances for the planning of recent boundary-spanning structure forms
(Daft& Lewin, 1993; Dunbar& Starbuck, 2006).

The Internet could be a principal driver of the surge of the interest for business models and also
the ensuant emergence of a literature that revolves round the topic (e.g., see Ghaziani &
Ventresca, 2005; Magretta, 2002; Yip, 2004). Shafer et al. (2005) review 12 definitions in
established publications during the period 1998-2000, finding that eight were related to e-
business. Our literature review confirms this trend. In a total of 49 conceptual works, in which
the business model is defined either directly or by means of its components, almost one-fourth
of the works are related to e-business. The second stream focuses on the components of e-
business models.

Table 1: Summary of business models

Business model Description

type(Rappa,2001)
Brokerage Model Usually, a broker charges a fee or commission for each
transaction it enables. Subcategories are: Marketplace
Exchange, Business Trading Community, Buy/Sell
Fulfilment, Demand Collection System, Auction Broker,
Transaction
Broker, Bounty Broker, Distributor, Search Agent, and Virtual
 Mall.

Advertising Model The broadcaster, in this case a web site, provides content
(usually for free) and services (like email, chat, forums) mixed
with advertising messages in the form of banner ads.
Subcategories are: Portal, Personalized Portal, Niche Portal,
Classifieds, Registered Users, Query-based Paid Placement,
and Contextual
Advertising.
Merchant Model Some firms function as infomediaries (information
intermediaries) by either collecting data about consumers or
collecting data about producers and their products and then
selling it to firms which in turn can mine it for important
patterns and other useful information to better serve their clients.
Manufacturer Model Manufacturers has reached to buyers directly through the Internet
and thereby
compress the distribution channel.
Affiliate Model The affiliate model provides purchase-point click- through to the
merchant via
their web sites.
Community Model The community model is based on user loyalty. Users have a high
investment in
time and emotion in the site.
Subscription Model Users are charged a periodic—daily, monthly or annual—fee to
subscribe to a service. Examples are Content Services, Person-
to-Person Networking Services,
Trust Services, and Internet Service Providers.
Utility Model The utility model is based on metering usage, or a pay-as-you-go
approach.
Entrepreneurs have started exploring virtual house to try to to their business. the web platform will
supply valuable opportunities for brand new additionally as established businesses. Interactivity
and shut relationship with the customers, are the highlights of the web business ventures.
Considering the high incorporeality element and lots of of the business models having as regards
to zero investment, there's sturdy chance of it to be financially promising. varied business models
are being experimented in trade for on-line business. although a number of them are well-tried
fruitful, the dependableness of their success is however to be investigated any. a number of the
normal business models is used for doing business on social media with some new additions
considering the interactive nature of this digital platform. However, to own a transparent plan on
that business model would be suited somebody within the long-term to create the venture
productive wants any analysis.
 2. INTRODUCTION

2.1 Literature Introduction

Social media networks are platforms or sites that facilitate the building of social relationships
among people of different races and provide opportunities for them to share interests, activities,
backgrounds, or real-life connections, Anderson, C. (2009). Social network services consist of a
representation of each user’s social connections, and a variety of additional services. Social media
is the medium to socialize as well as market and today, the plethora of social media networks are
among the finest opportunities available to organizational marketers in their bids to connect with
existing and prospective customers. The social media network community services are groups
centered and considered as a social network service. Social networks are contents created online
by people using highly scalable and accessible communication technologies. It represents how
people discover, read and share news, information and contents. Social network applications
provide users with new forms of empowerment and means of information sharing. Customers are
able to communicate online exchanging information, comments and product reviews beyond the
marketer’s control (Brynjolfsson, E., and Hitt, L. (2004).
Social media marketers make use of social media sites to raise visibility on the internet and to
promote products and services. Social media sites are useful for building social (and business)
networks, and for exchanging ideas and knowledge. Social media sites are becoming the go-to
place for consumers who want to learn more about a business. That’s because these sites allow
businesses to offer the most up-to-date information about anything from products, services, or
upcoming events. Also, much of organizational activities and profiles on social media sites can be
made public meaning they can be indexed by search engines — one more way to make sure your
business or organization comes up as the answer when someone is searching for a local solution
to a problem. The publicity emanating from social media marketing is such that can be trusted by
consumers because the source is within the peer group either through a comment on ‘Facebook’
or a ‘retweet’ on twitter about a particular organization or product (Chyi, H. I. (2005). In today’s
globalized world, communication is available and constant and Just-in- Time, real time basis,
everyone is updated on what is happening around the globe depending on which river of
information you wish to drink from. Traditionally, the Word of Mouth (WOM) approach has been
an important marketing strategy adopted by various organizations for decades but the Electronic
Word of Mouth (EWOM) and Consumer’s Online Brand Related Activities (COBRAs) reaches a
wider horizon because it is based on the internet and therefore can be assessed by anybody around
the world with internet access or a device (Daft, R. L., and Lewin, A. Y. (1993).

2.2 Literature theme

Benefits of social media marketing

Stelzner (2014) in his 2014 report published by Social Media Examiners stressed that the top two
benefits of social media marketing are increasing exposure and increasing traffic. The report
further revealed that a significant 92% of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts
have generated more exposure for their businesses. Increasing traffic was the second major benefit,
with 80% reporting positive results. These days, almost everyone and every organization have a
presence on the social media, particularly the popular ones such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,
LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ and Pinterest. As at March 2015, there were 1.415 billion active
users on Facebook, and 288 million monthly active users on Twitter. With the explosive youth
population in Nigeria, you can imagine what chunk of those statistics we boast as a nation.
However, most corporate presence and iconic presence (prominent individuals) on the social media
are mere presence with no marked focus, strategy, or intent to engage the teeming online
public/market (El Sawy O. A., & Pereira F. (2013). This conundrum is largely to due to not
knowing what it takes to maintain a vibrant online-cumsocial media presence. Ghaziani, A, and
Ventresca, M. J. (2005) pointed out that there are 4 basics to maintaining a successful online and
social media presence. They are:

Contents: Content is the backbone of social media. Unless you publish fresh, relevant information
on a regular basis for your audience to consume, your online and social media platforms will not
command traffic. Social media accounts that don’t churn out fresh contents are considered dead
(Kaplan, A.M.(2009).
Engagement: the second nitty-gritty for running a successful online/social media campaign is
audience engagement. Organizations and individuals who engage their online audience are
generally seen as friendly and responsive plus many other positive perceptions, all of which
translate into sales, patronage, goodwill, brand affiliation, loyalty and an army of brand
ambassadors who will go to any length to promote/defend your name, brand, product, service or
cause (Haenlein, M. (2009).

Skills: There are potpourri related skills required to drive a vibrant social media presence ranging
from graphics, research, designs, backend management, analytics, optimization, monitoring, etc.
Not knowing which to deploy, when and how to deploy it or utilizing them wrongly is a sure road
to virtual comatose or disaster (Lankine, M. (2009).

Consistency: Knowing what to do to have a winning social media presence and how to do it does
not guarantee success unless such knowledge is backed by painstaking efforts and commitment to
doing it day in, day out. Lack of consistence accounts mostly for the online failure of
multinationals, institutions and public figures, who have all it takes as well as the budget to be
vibrant and visible online, but whose activities there are a whimper (Lehtimäki, T., Salo, J.,
Hiltula(2009).
Linder, J. & Cantrell,S. (2000) stressed that most marketers are using social media to develop
loyal fans (72%) and gain marketplace intelligence (71%). Changes since 2013 study: Marketers
reported increased benefits across all categories since 2013. The largest increases were developing
loyal fans, which increased to 72% from 65% in 2013, followed by increased sales, which jumped
to 50% from 43% in 2013. Some questions that naturally emerge from the above chart might
include, “Can I achieve more benefits by investing more time in social media?”, “Are marketers
who have been using social media for years gaining even better results?” and “Is there a difference
between B2B and B2C?” The following, according to Magretta, J. (2002) addresses these
questions.
• Improved sales: It takes time to develop relationships that lead to sales. However, a large
percentage of marketers who take the time find great results. For example, more than half of
marketers who’ve been using social media for at least three years report it has helped them improve
sales. More than half who spend 6 or more hours per week find the same results and 74% of those
who spend 40+ hours earn new business through their efforts. Conversely, 50% of all marketers
taking this survey report social media have not helped them improve sales. This may be because
they lack the needed tools to track sales (Mahadevan, B. (2000).

• Increased exposure: With as little as 6 hours per week, (Zott, C., Amit, R. (2005) stressed that
the vast majority of marketers indicated their social media efforts increased exposure for their
businesses. Nearly all marketers who have been employing social media marketing for one year
or longer report it generates exposure for their businesses

• Grew business partnerships: The more time marketers invest in social media networking, the
more they gain business partnerships. More than half of marketers who’ve invested at least 1 year
in social media marketing report that new partnerships were gained. More than half of those
investing as little as 6 hours per week in social media were able to build new partnerships.
Marketers selling to other businesses were more likely to achieve this benefit than those selling to
consumers (El Sawy O. A., & Pereira F. (2013).
• Generated leads: By spending as little as 6 hours per week, 66%+ of marketers see lead
generation benefits with social media. More than half of marketers with at least one year of social
media experience were generating leads with social platforms

• Reduced marketing expenses: Nearly half of those who spend at least 6 hours per week on social
media efforts saw a benefit of reduced marketing expenses. At least 57% of businesses with 10 or
fewer employees agreed social media reduced marketing expenses, while only 40% of businesses
with 1000 or more employees agreed (Afuah, A. & Tucci, C. (2004).
• Improved search rankings: Improved search engine rankings were most prevalent among those
who’ve been using social media for one year or longer, with 58%+ reporting a rise. At least 60%
of those investing a minimum of 6 hours per week in social media marketing saw improvements
in search engine rankings.

• Increased traffic: A significant number of participants found that increased traffic occurred with
as little as 6 hours per week invested in social media marketing. And those who’ve used social
media for one year or more reported substantially better results reported benefits) compared with
those with less experience.

• Provided marketplace insight: (Dunbar R.L.M, and Starbuck, W.H. (2006) stressed that of those
with at least one year of experience, 69% or more found social platforms provided marketplace
insight; At least 74% of those spending at least six hours per week were more likely to gain
marketplace insight

• Developed loyal fans: B2C marketers were much more likely to develop a loyal fan base through
social media than B2B marketers. Of those who have been using social media for at least 1 year,
69% found it useful for building a loyal fan base. Time invested makes a difference. Of those
spending at least 6 hours a week, 78% found benefit compared to 56% of those spending 5 hours
or fewer per week (El Sawy O. A., & Pereira F. (2013).

Negative effect of social media marketing

Although the negative effects of social media marketing could affect the brand of the organization
and affect the overall performance of the organization. It is a new era in marketing where there is
a shift in power from the producer to the consumer, consumers can now literally voice out their
concerns either negatively or positively while at the same time making it known to millions of
potential customers, making consumers the driving force of organizations, Marketers are now
faced with the challenge to rethink the way they communicate with potential consumers (Kaplan,
A.M. & Haenlein, M. (2009). Individuals feel free on the internet, it allows them the chance to
express themselves and mostly without consequences making it one of the factors that render social
media marketing unpredictable and uncontrollable because you can’t stop people from expressing
their thoughts. Social networking websites allow individuals to interact with one another and build
relationships. When companies join the social channels, consumers can interact with them and
they can communicate with consumers directly, that interaction feels more personal to users than
traditional methods of strictly outbound marketing and advertising, this personal interaction can
instill a feeling of loyalty into followers and potential customers (Lankine, M. (2009). Also, by
choosing whom to follow on these sites, products can reach a very narrow target audience.
According to Richard(2012) organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of
an organization as measured against its intended outputs or goals and objectives. A performance
measure is a defined method for observing an attribute of organizational performance. This method
specifies what, when, and how data will be collected about a specific attribute of performance
selected for the purpose of evaluating performance. In order to interpret performance data
comparison would have to be made between observed performance at an earlier time (before social
media marketing) with a performance criterion such as a goal, target, standard or a prior
performance period (after social media marketing). Social media hasn’t only had an impact on
organisations but on marketing itself, the era of catchy punch lines and striking images is no longer
the be all and end all; it is about a continual dialogue, building trust and interacting with the right
audience in the right way, as fast as possible, marketers are now in the front of the line facing
consumers and controlling the brand (Magretta, J. (2002).

Social Media Networks

Social network sites are defined as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a
public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with
whom they share a connection, (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by
others within the system (Widener SK (2004).
Social media networks impact on organizations

In this modern day the internet is singlehandedly the fastest way to gain consumer attention and at
a wide reach, one of the ways in which organizations have found to connect with their consumers
is through the social media. Social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and
Pinterest represent a huge opportunity for businesses to grab the attention of customers while
simultaneously building a brand image. Businesses have been well educated of ways in which they
can use social media sites as a stepping stone to create brand awareness or campaign to the
consumers (Ghaziani, A, and Ventresca, M. J. (2005).

Word of mouth: Social media platforms provide the perfect opportunity to take advantage of word
of mouth and to see it spread. Social media is growing at its fastest rate in developing countries.
People are connected on a global scale and casually participate in each other’s lives through online
observation. “Liking” a brand on Facebook can spread virally very quickly throughout the various
social media channels. Kaplan, A.M. & Haenlein, M. (2009) stressed that consumers feel more
comfortable regarding opinions of their peers than paid advertisement by businesses. Videos can
also act as reference for review of products and services through YouTube, which in many cases
is then shared and disseminated via various other social media websites these reviews can act as
bases for consumer buying decisions. As a result, companies can and do provide products to
popular YouTube users to review for their subscribers as well as create their own branded
YouTube channels with branded videos about their products (Mings, S. M., & White, P. B. (2000).
Considerations and influence: Social media has had a huge influence on business, marketing and
on how organizations engage with their target market. The use of social media to share and engage
with others continues to grow, so it would be wise for any business to develop and implement a
sustainable social media strategy in order to successfully take advantage of this rapidly changing
environment. Another influence of the social media is the invention of ‘Trending Topics’, A trend
on Twitter refers to a hash tag-driven topic that is immediately popular at a particular time, Trends
are determined by an algorithm that monitors hot subjects based on who you follow and where
you’re located (Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Tucci, C.L. (2005). These ‘trends’ assist
organizations in knowing what are acceptable and what is not at a particular time in the market.

Social bakers: Social Bakers is a social media analytics and publishing company that provides
social media management services and deep data analytics for thousands of brands that market on
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and VK. It gives organizations the
opportunity to monitor and optimize the effectiveness of their social media campaigns, benchmark
against competitors and industry standards, and track the right social media Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) in order to improve their marketing success and efficiency. The site provides
data on fastest growing presence on social media according to industry i.e., celebrity, brands,
entertainment (Zott, C., Amit, R. (2005).

2.3 Literature Conclusion

The objectives of this study was to determine if social media marketing affected organizational
brand, if it influenced consumer behavior, if it could be used as a competitive tool and also if it
can increase organization efficiency. These hypotheses were tested and three out of four tested
positive. It shows social media marketing is effective even if it is relatively new to the marketing
world, it is just as useful and effective if not more than other traditional forms of marketing.
Managers have to understand that there has been a shift of power from the producers to the
consumers; social media provides a platform for consumers to speak their thoughts regarding a
new ad, product or even service (Tapscott, D., Lowy, A., and Ticoll, D. (2000). Organizations have
to take advantage of the two way communication to respond and communicate with consumers to
find out how a particular brand is perceived or if they are enjoying the use of a product taking full
advantage to electronic word of mouth. The researcher concluded by stating that the business world
is developing rapidly and that with the constant communication that has been made available
marketers have been given the chance to handpick potential consumers and at the same time getting
the loyalty from present consumers. Marketers have also been given the opportunity to better
understand their consumers directly from the thoughts and views expressed by them; if marketers
can fully understand the way to manipulate the use of social media then the power could be taken
back from the consumers.

3. METHODOLOGY
 3.1 Research Design

The objectives of this research are twofold – first to find out the components and variables involved
in decision making process; second to identify the changes that social media has brought to the
decision making process, in which, essentially by elaborating the difference between marketing
via social media and via traditional ones. This research strives to provide a clearer, and perhaps a
better, understanding to both consumers and companies of why, when, and how social media has
impacted on decision making process. It may also offer possible insights for companies to identify
the pitfalls and opportunities in the new marketing era.

In essence, the dominant approach of this research involves the development of a theory that is
subjected to a rigorous test, where the theoretical framework provides the basis of explanation,
permit the anticipation of phenomena, predict their occurrence and therefore allow them to be
controlled. (Assaad W, Gómez JM (2011) Secondary data – theoretical framework serves as the
foundation for this research, and primary data aims to answer the objectives stated in the research
and to provide evidence in supporting the secondary data. The primary data of this research were
collected through questionnaires from individuals in Finland.

Theoretical part regarding steps and components constituting the consumer decision making
process has demonstrated a systematic approach in buying of the stages individuals would engage
in a potential market transaction before, during, and after the purchase. On the other hand, it has
also identified the essence of social media marketing in which has illustrated a clarification on the
change of the nature in today’s marketing approach, and its effects on purchasing decision.

The empirical part focuses on finding out how individuals in Finland process information on social
media before a purchase, the actions carried out after a consumption, as well as what are their
perspectives regarding the new marketing era, in particular with social media. By getting a general
perspective on the current buying behavior in Finland, this research also aims to provide new
insights regarding the impacts of social media on different demographics (age and gender) in the
decision making process.
Again, the aim of the survey is to find out how, why, where social media has influenced individuals
in the process of decision making, as well as, hopefully, to identify new insights that companies
may take advantage of. The survey was carried out in the form of questionnaire.
Since there was only one chance to collect the data, the researcher had to identify precisely of what
data is needed, and to design the questionnaire in order to meet the research objectives (Colliander
J, Dahlén M (2011). The questions for the questionnaire were designed and built closely upon the
theoretical framework – decision making process, information processing theory, and social media
marketing, which has discussed thoroughly in previous chapters of the research. In order to ensure
respondent decodes the questions in the way the researcher intended, the clarity of the
questionnaire structure was a dominant factor.
Since the researcher had to keep an appropriate length of the questionnaire, thus, not every theory
discussed previously could all be included in the questionnaire. The logical order of the questions
was structured mainly based on the steps carried out during the decision making process – problem
recognition, search of information, evaluation of alternatives, final decision, and post purchase
behavior. Components of information processing theory were integrated in the questions as well.
As stated in the begining of the research, the researcher tries to examine the relationship between
social media and consumer behavior from a consumer perspective, therefore, they are many
questions subjected to indivduals’ beliefs and attitudes, which are expressed in the form of scale
questions. Condiering the matter of subjectivity, the use of close questions was critical in order to
allow statistical conclusions to be made in a relatively objective manner; likewise, a few open-
ended questions allow individuals to develop own responses, and may reveal attitudes or facts
(Drury G (2008).

3.2 Research Philosophy

A research philosophy is a belief about the way in which data about a phenomenon should be
gathered, analyzed and used. The term epistemology (what is known to be true) as opposed
to doxology (what is believed to be true) encompasses the various philosophies of research
approach. The purpose of science, then, is the process of transforming things believed into
things known: dox a to episteme. Two major research philosophies have been identified in the
Western tradition of science, namely positivist (sometimes called scientific) and interpretivist (also
known as anti-positivist) (Assaad W, Gómez JM (2011).

The nature of knowledge and the development of knowledge can be expressed as research
philosophy whereby the researcher has a certain view on the world and can on the on hand analyze
phenomenon in advance. On the other hand develop a new one Assaad W, Gómez JM (2011).
Therefore, research is applicable to raise knowledge and finding out things by collecting data,
describing, explaining, understanding, criticizing and analyzing in a systematic way.

In the field of research, there are three different perspectives and dimensions of research
philosophy, namely ontology which is explained as nature of knowledge or the nature of reality
and the way the researcher thinks the world is. Furthermore, there is epistemology, that is explained
as the view on the truth and acceptable knowledge and what can be known about the world.
Moreover, there is the methodology that is described as how the knowledge can be investigated.
Therefore, researchers differentiate between quantitative and qualitative data (Richard (2009).
Whereas, qualitative research investigates on the understanding and interpretation of individuals
regarding their social world which leads to the epistemological position of interpretivism.
 Figure 1 The research ‘onion’

Source: © 2015 Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill

3.3 Research Approach

Carlson N (2010) suggests that the researchers’ methodology is responsible for the theory
approach. The methodology can be deductive on a quantitative base and inductive on a qualitative
base. With the inductive approach, new theory is developed and conclusions can be drawn. The
researchers aim in this study is to develop theory by applying the build-to-order concept in off-site
construction to increase the efficiency in this field. By elaborating a theory that is based on the
data collected the researcher apply the inductive approach (Miller CC (2010). Therefore, the
interpretive paradigm is involved in the world of subjectivism and based on oriented
methodologies, such as interviewing or participant observation, that rely on a subjective
relationship between the researcher and subjects. The inductive qualitative methodologies have in
addition a high significance, are more likely to understand a research problem in his unique context
and are process and discovery orientated (Benady D (2014)

3.4 Research Strategy

The strategy researchers use in the qualitative methodology are for instance interviews of experts
or creating case studies and analysing existing data. (Antwi and Kasim H., 2015). As the strategy
of this research aims to develop theory, interviews as a qualitative data collection and a case study
are applied. This strengthens the strategy of the researcher to use qualitative research, while
qualitative research is used when a topic or phenomenon is not well known and a researcher would
like to discover more about it (Antwi and Kasim H., 2015).

The interviews that are used during the study are semi-structured interviews because this kind of
interview is more flexible and the researcher can ask deeper than only the stated questions . In
semi structured interviews some questions are fixed to have an organizational context, but
furthermore the researcher has a theme list that the row of questions and moreover the questions
differ from interview to interview. (Antwi and Kasim H., 2015).

In addition, a case study will be applied as a research study. As Yin depicted in (Benady D (2014)a
case study as a research method can be used with other methods. A case study can be adopted if
the outcome of the examined study is unclear or description of topics in the context of an evaluation
is pursued. Hence, an ideal research question of a case study identifies for instance a “how”
(Benady D (2014)– this fits exactly to the research aim how efficiency in the off-site construction
supply chain can be increased by implementing the concept of build to order.

3.5 Research Ethics

As mentioned the interviewee will be informed upfront via email and the researcher provides the
interviewee the needed data to feel comfortable and prepared for the interview. The researcher
avoids sensitive and private questions and points out again that all the collected data will be
impersonalized and kept confidential. Besides that, the used content of the interview needs to be
approved and confirmed by the interviewee.
 3.6 Research Limitation

 The method will be unsuitable if the number of persons to be surveyed is very less as it
will be difficult to draw logical conclusions regarding the satisfaction level of customers.
 Interpretation of data may vary from individual depending on the individual understanding
the product features and services of the company.
 It is very difficult to check the accuracy of the information provided.

3.7 Qualitative of Quantitative Data

There are two distinct research methods – quantitative and qualitative, in collectiing data for the
purpose of obtaining information from them, to solve or answer a particular research problem or
question. Quaitative data is any data collection technique or data analysis procedure that generates
or uses numerical data whereas qualitative data is in form of descriptive accounts of observations
or analysis which is conducted through the use of conceptualization (Murton D (2012)

Although it is usually better to link quantitative data with other methods (such as in-depth
interviews) in order to complement the findings of a research (Mathur S (2014), this research is to
identify the stage where social media has interfered in the consumer decision making process, in
which is to describe facts and reasons in different phenomena (social media and traditional mass
channels) and to explain the case-and-effect relationship between overwhealming information on
social media and consumers’ responeses.

For the purpose of this research, quantitative data was gathered and utilized. With the strategy of
survey, it allows the collection of a large amount of data from a sizeable population in a highly
economical way (Mathur S (2014), it is also a logical and critical approach which allows the
researcher to control measurement and outcome. Since the scope of the research focuses on a
geographical area; thus the aim of the research method is to reach individuals ranging in different
age and gender groups within Finland, and the more responses are collected the higher the
credibility of the findings are. Taking the sample size into consideration, the researcher has decided
not to conduct any in-depth interviews with the targeted respondents as the results may be difficult
to analysize due to the subjectivity of individuals’ beliefs and attitudes. Besides, the survey was
not created merely as a collection of quantitative data, because few open-ended questions are
included where respondents can have a chance to comment, to express, or to add extra.
By adding open-ended questions to survey data collection, it helps the researcher to gain valuable
qualitative information and insights for deeper analysis. While comprehending the qualitative data,
Mathur S (2014) have mentioned summarizing of meanings as one of the analysis processes, which
implies condensation of meanings from the large amounts of text into fewer words, while
becoming familiar with the main themes evolved from data collection.

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