THE IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL MARKETING

AMONG SMALL BOUTIQUE BUSINESS

IN SAN JOSE, ANTIQUE

BY:
Jezleen R. Bungcasan
Reinne Marie S. Diana
Flora May J. Bayona
Niña Marie A. De Juan
 CHAPTER 1

Background of the Study

The internet made its presence felt in the 1990s and created a wave of destruction that affected
how businesses operated worldwide (Desouza, 2005). The development of digital technologies
has changed the ways in which products were being sold traditionally (Ritter and Pedersen,
2019). According to Kotler and Keller (2016), digital technology has changed customer
relationships in a way that consumers are more skeptical about using products and services.
Many companies focus on digital media since consumers have become more comfortable using
digital channels to buy, sell and gain information about a specific product or service. According
to the authors, digital advertising has outgrown traditional media. In 2013, it surpassed tv
advertising by $42.8 billion. Social media has helped marketers to market cost-effectively and
promote word of mouth in the market. Consumers are more engaged with social media compared
to consumer goods. According to the authors, word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool.
Consumers pass on their positive and negative experiences by word of mouth. It is pointed out
that some brands are built from the effectiveness of word of mouth (Kotler and Keller, 2016).
According to Apăvăloaie (2014), many companies had to adopt various internet strategies to
survive in the environment to keep their business afloat. The era of digital technology has shown
its importance and proved to be the driver of the growth of the company and competitiveness in
the market (Apăvăloaie, 2014). If businesses do not take the necessary steps to adopt various
technologies can lead to businesses not surviving in the market. According to Ritz et al. (2019),
digital channels have changed the game in how marketers communicate in today’s environment.
The author points out that marketers have realized the positive impacts that social media
platform brings, such as Instagram, Facebook, etc. The ability to help businesses with the help of
technology is accelerating, thereby providing better results for businesses to grow and create new
forms of value (Wilburn and Wilburn, 2018). Kotler and Keller (2016) pointed out that
traditionally, advertising is not as effective as it used to be, and marketers are trying to advertise
using digital media, podcasts, blogs, and emails. Digital media has given marketers a new
platform to interact with customers and consumers more effectively.
Many companies are incorporating their marketing plans with digital media strategies and are
trying to balance traditional marketing strategies and digital media strategies. With the rise of
digital technology, there is a rise in informed consumers, and these consumers want companies
to listen to their wants and respond to them and not just connect with consumers. The authors
point out that digital strategies will be an essential factor in various markets due to smartphones’
rapid growth, which is used as a primary source of communication. Millennials have been
exposed to the internet and social media platforms very early in their lives, and they trust the
people they know for information more than corporate sources (Kotler and Keller, 2016). A
study conducted by Füller et al., (2009) mentioned that consumers are more empowered due to
the development of the internet and the importance of consumers’ participation in the co creation
process. The empowerment of consumers is caused by the power of the internet, the consumers
do not just observe reality but also create one for themselves and have a perception in mind.
They claim that by making consumers a part of the creation process will lead to a better
experience for both the consumer and the provider (Füller et al., 2009). Prahalad and
Ramaswamy, (2004) pointed out that businesses have become more informed because of the
development of the internet, and they have enough knowledge to question the service that is
provided by companies, which is influenced by the development of various technologies. This
poses a challenge for startups where they must convince the business owners that they can
provide value for their business since they are more aware about the surroundings (Prahalad and
Ramaswamy, 2004).

Statement of the Problem

The central question of our research study was: How can small business owners develop and
implement a successful Digital marketing strategy? The objective of our study was to explore the
process small business owners pursued in creating and executing online marketing strategies and
understand what factors might contribute to its success and failure.
1. How do small businesses perceive digital marketing?
2. How important trust to the customers of digital marketing providers?
3. How do digital marketing providers interact with small businesses?

Hypothesis
The purpose of this study is to understand how small businesses work with digital marketing.

Theoretical Framework
According to Menon et al. (2005), the concept of customer value is considered the cornerstone of
business management, and it is also considered an essential factor for creating customer
satisfaction. Understanding various aspects of customer value will allow firms to manage how
value can be delivered to the customer. The authors pointed out that the industrial marketing and
purchasing group expanded their research in the ’80s by analyzing various business relationships
and concluded that they were interactive and double-sided. Even after all these efforts to
investigate business relationships, they were not regarded as a central construct and were not
looked at from a fundamental perspective.
They point out that it requires organizations to have a clear picture of what value they can bring
to the marketplace, and by doing so, they would have an effective business. The authors found
out that when it comes to customers, they tend to focus more on the benefits they will accrue
from the company and less on the part of the sacrifice. They claim that the current advances
made to understand customer value are lacking and not fully developed. The literature on
customer value takes a broad view of the concept, thereby not digging deeper to understand the
nature and scope of the benefits and sacrifices. The authors claim that various aspects of
customer value in the business markets remain unclear and unexplored. One of the main findings
in the study was that “Trust” was the main driver when it came to delivering value to the
customer. It also indicated that when a customer trusts the supplier, the relationship improves the
overall business of both parties (Menon et al., 2005).
A study conducted by Paananen and Seppänen (2013) compared most of the literature on value
from different authors who had different perspectives on the concept. They pointed out that other
scholars have used the term to explain various phenomena, and the research on the concept of
value has been all over the place. Despite their efforts in analyzing multiple pieces of literature
on the concept of value, they claim that the challenging part was that different scholars had
conducted their studies had different assumptions of the concept of value. They claim that the
term value has a lot of concepts which makes it under-constructed. They point out that by
conducting studies on the value, it is better to understand the concept from a human perspective,
and in that way, the results could be generalized (Paananen and Seppänen, 2013). From the
literature that has been identified, Menon et al. (2005) indicated that it is essential to understand
the importance of trust because if the customers trust the case company, it improves the overall
business for both parties.

Conceptual Framework
This study was conducted to know what is the effect of having Digital Marketing in a small
business. Including the accessibility of consumers according to sex, age, trend, locality, class,
wealth, and group affiliation.

Significance of the Study

The study was conducted to realize how important Digital marketing is in small businesses here
in San Jose Antique. Through this research, small business owners will know how Digital
Marketing helps their businesses in the future. The outcome of the study is relevant to the
following:

Consumer-the respondents of this will have knowledge about how Digital Marketing helps them
and the business owners regarding having easy transactions.
Business owner-the result of this will know how Digital Marketing helps their business grow
and how to spread their business wider and faster.

Future researcher- it will be helpful for a future researcher by providing the result about how
important is Digital Marketing in small businesses.

Definition of Terms
When small businesses get started, their focus is often on how to get the first customers through
the door. They may rely on traditional forms of advertising, such as print ads, coupon mailers or
even outdoor advertising. Businesses may believe that since they offer a good product or service,
it’s just a matter of time before customers find their way to them. While this strategy may bring
in a trickle of business, there is a better and easier way. Small businesses should consider the
global marketplace of prospects online and benefit from converging their traditional and digital
marketing. No small business, no matter how new, should overlook digital channels as a way to
generate leads and convert interest into customers.

Scope and limitations of the Study

This study was conducted to determine the importance of digital marketing among small
boutique business in San Jose, Antique.

The respondents of this study were 10 purposively selected small boutique businesses in San
Jose, Antique. Data in this study were gathered using researchers-made questionnaire that was
duly validated by the jury composed of four members and had undergone reliability testing prior
to the conduct of the study.

This study will not cover other problems that are not consider as one of the stressors and
depressants. Each of the respondents is given the same questionnaires to answer. The results of
this study will be applicable only to the respondents of this study and will not be used as a
measure to the determine the importance of digital marketing among small boutique business
who do not belong to the population of this study. The main source of data will be the
questionnaire, which is prepared by the researchers.
Review of Related Literature
https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/why-digital-marketing-is-important-for-small-business
https://www.mooc.org/blog/importance-of-digital-marketing-for-small-business-owners
https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/why-digital-marketing-is-important-for-small-business
https://uu.diva-portal.org
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2339&context=dissertations
https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1578680/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Correlational Research | When & How to Use (scribbr.com)