1 Introduction

1.1 Background to the research

Every aspect of life continues to grow and evolve with each passing year,
including technology. Betamax tapes have turned into DVDs, floppy disks into
flash drives, typewriters into laptops, beepers into cellphones and so forth.
Humanitys insatiable desire to seek out more and more ways to make life
much more pleasant and enjoyable has been the beacon of these
advancements. As such, electronic companies continuously try to produce
items that would address that desire. It is a known fact that nowadays it has
become somewhat of a standard for approximately all businesses big or
small have websites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts or blogs.
Companies have turned to these Internet tools as a means to market and
advertise more efficiently. Corporate blogs are one of these tools as they can
be a very effective mode of business-to-consumer communication. Free from
length or content restrictions, blogs can feature a wealth of information and
still include images, videos and links for added value. They also present an
opportunity to have a unique voice instead of sounding generic, standard or
too brief (Pearson, 2013). This research aims to examine the relationship
between Sonys usage of corporate blogging and the purchasing decisions of
its consumers.

1.2 Research Question
The research problem is that not enough research has been conducted about
the relationship between Sonys utilization of corporate blogging and the
purchasing decisions of its customers.

This problem was solved by analyzing the respondents answers to the
questionnaires about the connection that Sonys corporate blog has with their
decision to buy products from the company.

Research question - The relationship between Sonys use of corporate
blogging and their customers buying decisions.

1.3 Research aims and objectives
The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship that Sonys use
of corporate blogging has with their customers decision to buy from them.

The aims of this investigation is:
To determine and draw conclusions from results on whether there is a
relationship between Sonys corporate blogging usage on their
customers decision to purchase.

1.4 Justification for the research
It goes without saying that triumph in an ever-changing industry is very fragile
since it is the consumers that determine a companys success. Through the
years, the internet has spawned various effective ways that businesses may
utilize in order to aid them in marketing their products to their consumers and
corporate blogs are one of the most efficient of these technological
advancements. Not enough research has been conducted to identify the
impact that these corporate blogs have on the purchasing decisions of
consumers.

1.5 Outline of Research Methodology
A positivist approach was adopted through the use of quantitative data
collection method. Positivism was chosen for the study as this philosophys
emphasis is on quantifiable observations that lend themselves to statistical
analysis. (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2010) In addition, the research results
can be acquired from the studys sample and applied to the larger population.

1.6 Outline of Chapters
This dissertation is structured as follows:

Chapter 2 Reviews relevant literature of corporate blogging and defines the
existing information on which the research was based.

Chapter 3 Contains the research philosophy, approach and methods used
for the study.

Chapter 4 Stipulates the particulars regarding the research method utilized
for data collection, the procedure of data analysis, and the description of the
sample and the presentation of the findings of the study.

Chapter 5 Includes the evaluation of the adopted methodology, conclusions
about the research objectives and research question, opportunities for further
research, recommendations and the limitations of the study.

1.7 Definition of Terms
Internet Marketing refer to marketing efforts done on the internet.

Social Media - Web sites and other online means of communication that are
used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and
professional contacts (dictionary.com)

Blog (a shortened term for weblog) - a type of website that can be
continually updated with new content or posts (affilorama, 2013).

Corporate Blogs weblogs of organizations that are managed by content
writers who are industry experts or by the company executives.

1.8 Summary
This chapter has introduced the research problem, question and justification,
the definition of terms, as well as an outline of the methodology and chapters.

2 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
Ever since its conception, the internet has made such an impact on the world
and how everything in it works. Marketing is no exception. Internet Marketing
is a form of targeted marketing, to assist websites increase their web
presence and to promote their product or services through the Internet
(allianzclick.com). In this day and age, almost everyone, from students to
CEOs, have access to the Internet. They use it for a variety of reasons but
most importantly, they also use it to seek products and services. The World
Wide Web can expand a companys reach in phenomenal proportions,
therefore expanding its target market and increasing the number of potential
consumers. In addition, when people need information about anything,
nowadays most go straight to the internet for answers. One of the main
results of the 2012 Digital Influence Index conducted by Fleishman-Hillard
International Communications and Harris Interactive was The Internet trumps
all other sources, including advice from friends and family, the ability to reach
consumers with a consistent message across the variety of channels
available such as social channels is key to thriving in the ever-changing
and competitive landscape (fleishmanhillard.com). The study was conducted
with a sample size of 4,617 internet users from several countries, namely;
Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United
States countries that embody over half of the worlds internet population
and over 60 percent of gross domestic product of the world.

A Nielsen Global Survey (Figure 1) conducted a study with more than 29,000
respondents from Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East/Africa showed
that the Internets is indeed an strong influence on consumers who are
interested in buying new products in categories such as electronics (81%),
appliances (77%), books (70%), music (69%), new clothing (69%), cars
(68%)food and beverages (62%), personal hygiene (62%), personal
health/over-the-counter medicines (61%) and hair care (60%). (Nielsen.com,
2013).

2.2 Social Media
Social Media Marketing refers to the process through which attention or traffic
is increased with the use of social media tools.
Teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz states, Social media embraces web-based
and mobile-based technologies to facilitate interactive communication
between organisations, communities and individuals.

The internet offers up a plethora of social media tools which can divided into
different categories: collaboration, networking, image-sharing, video-sharing,
micro-blogging and blogging.

2.2.1 Blogging
Figure 1: Nielsen Global Survey
As with anything, the Internet too has evolved over the years. In 1997,
John Barger came up with the term weblogs or simply blogs. These
blogs have been in existence since the 1990s and were either used as
personal online diaries or technology-oriented. An example of this is
Justin Hall who started blogging about his everyday life on his own
website in 1994 during the summer while he was interning at Wired
magazine.

In terms of corporate blogging however, it was Microsoft that led the way.
According to Korby Parnell, In the beginning, back in 2002 and 2003, no
formal code of blogging conduct existed for Microsoft bloggers. There
were few, if any, other companies that allowed its employees to blog. To
top it all off, Microsoft has traditionally been a very tight-lipped company in
the area of public relations. To this day, all executives receive special PR
training upon joining the corporate ranks. It was the wild west. I dont
think our legal department or public relations firm (WaggEd) had any idea
what we were doing on blogs.gotdotnet.com or of how big and important a
force we would soon become (Wacka, 2005).

Corporate Blogging
Brafton defines corporate blogging as the practice of creating content
that addresses industry updates, expert tips or best practices and
company news from the perspective of a brand. Corporate blogs are
websites that not only gives consumers information, but it also enables
the company to interact with those consumers. In simpler terms, it
allows companies to be more "human" in terms of presence. And to
ensure the quality of the content, a companys corporate blog is usually
managed by content writers who are industry experts or by the
companys own executives.

Nowadays, a lot of the companies who have corporate blogs for their
consumers to read have realized that blogging is indeed a very
promising business tool. Blogs are the place to engage in genuine
dialog about customer needs and expectations, company capabilities
and responses to problems, and the technological capacities and
decision-making that will shape societys future (Weinkrantz, 2008).

Companies that employ a well thought out blogging strategy encourage
the strongest community goodwill, which, in turn, promotes significant
marketing and sales gains. The blogger shares useful and engaging
content the latest information, help, discussion topics and ideas. One
of the biggest advantages of corporate blogging is that they are
immediate and effective way to publish critical news and real-time
information that journalists and researchers might be looking for. A
survey by PRWeek and PR Newswire conducted in 2010 revealed that
over 30% of journalists use company blogs when conducting research
for a story, and nearly 30% use general blogs in their research efforts.

Corporate blogs can build trust and show customers a company
respects them, thereby strengthening business relationships. They can
also be used to promote and/or direct more traffic to the companys
main website, announce the availability of newly released services and
products and also the end of phased out products. It may also serve as
a place in which the company may respond to or react to issues that it
is currently facing as it enables the company to be more informal and
better address the concerns in comparison to conventional press
releases. In addition, the information released on a companys website
can be shaped into whichever form the corporation thinks best and the
posts are screened and reviewed before being released.

The analysts at eMarketer acknowledge that the use of faster forms of
social media communication and marketing (such as Twitter and
Faceb
ook) have caused the growth of more time-intensive blogging activities
to slow down (Fig. 1).

However, corporations still publish blogs because they deliver a few
benefits that other social media tools dont provide, such as greater
control, integration, more in-depth content publishing, and more varied
opportunities for creative communications and marketing.

Recently, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouths Center for
Marketing Research conducted its yearly study on the usage of social
media by fast-growing corporations. It revisits the Centers work on the
Inc. 500 social media usage for the sixth consecutive year, making it a
valuable and rare longitudinal study of corporate use of these new
technologies. The Inc. 500 come from a list of the fastest-growing
private U.S. companies compiled annually by Inc. Magazine (Barnes,
2012).
Figure 2

The Inc. 500 refers to the fastest growing companies in contrast with
the Fortune 500, which refers to biggest companies. In 2007, the
Center for Marketing Research studies showed that 8% of the Fortune
500 and 19% of the Inc. 500 used blogs and in the most recent study,
the blog usage increased massively with 23% for the Fortune 500 and
44% for the Inc. 500. Thirty-seven percent of the 2011 Inc. 500 had a
corporate blog. In this new 2012 study, the use of blogging jumped to
44%, increasing by 7% after remaining stagnant for years. In addition,
sixty-three percent of CEOs report contributing to content as this
mature tool enjoys a bit of a resurgence (Barnes, 2012). The same
study also shows that the usage of YouTube and Facebook has been
dropping in favor of LinkedIn, Blogging and newer tools like Pinterest
and Foursquare.

A study conducted by JupiterResearch showed that 52 percent of their
respondents stated that corporate blogs played a role during times they
were about to purchase a certain product or service. It also stated that
31 percent found blogs useful for technology purchases.

According to a BuzzLogic-sponsored study, The number of those who
read blogs at least once a month has grown 300% in the past four
years, and what they read strongly influences their purchase decisions,
playing a key role in ushering them to the point of actual purchase.
(marketingvox.com, 2008)


The study conducted by JupiterResearch aimed to uncover the change
in behavior that happens after blog discovery and consumption, how
the blogs factor into the purchase decisions of consumers and the
nature of blog influence on buying behavior.
The other findings of the study are that 50 percent of blog readers find
blogs useful for information before making a purchase. Outside of
technology-related purchases, 31 percent of the readers said that blogs
are useful. In media entertainment, the results showed 15 percent, for
games/toys and/or sporting goods, the result was 14 percent, for travel,
12 percent, for automotive, 11 percent, and health, 10 percent.

Findings also showed that 56 percent of the readers said that blogs
with niche focus and topical expertise are key sources when it comes
to product purchase decisions.

According to BuzzLogic, Blogs factor in to critical stages of the
purchase process, weighing most heavily at the actual moment of a
purchase decision, according to the study: Among respondents who
say they have trusted blog content for purchase decisions in the past,
over half (52%) say blogs played a role in the critical moment they
decided to move forward with a purchase.

Blog readers' responses regarding blogs' influence as it relates to the
following steps of the purchase process:

Decide on a product or service: 21%
Refine choices: 19%
Get support and answers: 19%
Discover products and services: 17%
Assure: 14%
Inspire a purchase: 13%
Execute a purchase: 7%


Sony
The Sony Corporation is one of the most prominent companies in the
electronics industry. Ibuka Masaru and Morita Akio founded it in 1946 in
Tokyo, Japan. In the beginning, Sony was originally called Tokyo Tsushin
Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company). Ibuka and
Morita formed the company in the crippled post-war Japanese economy
and started off by repairing radios and fabricating voltmeters and trying to
build a future in producing new electronics. Although the name of the
company was not officially changed to Sony Corporation until 1958, the
first Sony branded product was the TR-55 transistor radio which went on
sale in 1955. This was shortly followed by Sonys world first "pocketable"
transistor radio (sony.co.uk) Nowadays, their product lineup includes:
TV (Bravia)
DVD Player
Laptop (VAIO)
Home Theatre System
Camcorder
Camera (Cybershot)
Smartphone (Xperia)
Binoculars
Game consoles (PlayStation)
Headphones
Voice Recorder
Portable Radio
Batteries
Professional Display (Projector)
Digital Photo Frame
Energy Storage Media
Sonys various competitors are the biggest names in the electronics
business: Apple, LG, HTC and Nintendo, just to name a few. As stated
on mobile-ent.biz, in the third quarter of 2012, Sony was finally able to
make it into the smartphone top five after six years. With a total market
share of 5.1%, Sony holds the third place. Samsung being first
(32.0%), Apple second (15.5%), HTC fourth (4.8%) and RIM fifth
(4.2%) a glimpse of just how fierce the competition is.

Figure 3: Sony Blog

Engaged in a competitive market, Sony needed to establish a way to
interact with their consumers directly. With an audience invested in
social media, Sony had to meet their audience online and establish a
blogging strategy that would be effective. Sony worked with Nielsen
Buzz Metrics and Forrester Research and together decided a blog
would be their next step for building relationships. Sony realized early
on that all feedback is good feedback because it provides an
opportunity for Sony to be a part of the conversation (Lokitis, 2009).
Rick Clancy, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications,
wrote the first and authors majority of the posts on the Sony blog.
Clancy, with the aid of other moderators, respond to relevant
comments on each post. When the blog was launched, Clancy
acknowledged the inevitable reality that not everyone will appreciate
the blog and stated that he will make use of the blog to address
controversial issues and misunderstandings concerning the company,
and make Sony initiatives known to consumers.

2.3 Hypotheses
H
o
: There is no significant relationship between Sonys Corporate Blog and
the purchase decision of its customers.
H
a
: There is a significant relationship between Sonys Corporate Blog and the
purchase decision of its customers.
2.4 Summary
This chapter has provided an overview of social media marketing and
marketing, as well as information about Sony blog. This chapter also
presented the hypotheses formed from the review of related literature. There
was, however, limited research found concerning the impact of corporate
blogging on the buying decisions of consumers.

3 Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This research aims to analyze if there is a relationship between Sonys use of
their corporate blog and the buying decisions of their customers. This chapter
provides an overview of the methodology used and the justification for its
usage. This chapter also reviews the research design, methods and ethical
considerations of the study.

3.2 Research Philosophy
A positivist approach has been chosen for this study. A researcher that goes
with the philosophy of positivism will adopt the philosophical stance of a
natural scientist. Positivism allows the researcher to work with an observable
social reality and that the end product of such research can be law-like
generalizations similar to those produced by the physical and natural
scientists. This philosophys emphasis will be on quantifiable observations
that lend themselves to statistical analysis. (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill,
2010). In the positivist paradigm, cause and effect relationships can be tested
and findings of research can be generalized from the study sample to the
larger population (Keele, 2010). This approach was the most appropriate as
the research used study sample to represent the entire market of Sony.

3.3 Research Approach
If the goal of the research study is to generalize findings from the sample to
the bigger target population, then a quantitative study is the method of choice
(Keele, 2010). This method is suitable for quantifying attitudes, behaviors and
opinions and in determining how a certain population feels toward a particular
issue. This approach was chosen because it considered a hard science and
because it parallels the researchs positivist philosophy.

3.3.1 Sampling
Sampling is the process that involves taking a part of the population,
making observations on this representative group, and then generalizing
the findings to the bigger population. A non-probability purposive sampling
technique was adopted; wherein the researcher selected a particular
group, which in his judgment is a representative sample. (Adanza, 2003)

A typical case purposive sampling was used to provide an illustrative
profile using a representative case. A purposive or judgmental sampling
enables the researcher to use his judgment to select cases that will best
enable him to answer his research questions and meet his objectives.
(Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2010). The sample in this study was
composed of 30 individuals whose education ranges from grade school to
college or higher and whose ages range from 13 to 50 years of age. The
sample was chosen based on their ownership of various electronic
gadgets.

The typical case purposive method is usually used when a researcher is
conducting a study with a very small sample, which is why this method
was used for this research.

3.4. Research Methods
The research method refers to the system used for collecting data for the
study, which may include surveys, interviews, publication research and other
research techniques, and could also include information from the past and
present.

3.4.1 Literature Review
A literature review was conducted and included in the previous chapter. It
specifies the ideas, facts and other related data that make up the basic
framework of the study. A literature review allows you to define and limit a
problem, place your study in perspective, avoid unintentional replication of
previous studies, select methods and measures, and relate findings to
previous knowledge and suggest areas for further research (McMillan,
Schumacher, 1984).

Relevant literature about corporate blogs was found online and was used
to serve as the studys framework. Researching also gave way to the
discovery of the questionnaire from which this studys questionnaire was
derived.

3.4.2 Questionnaire
A self-administered, internet-mediated questionnaire was distributed
through Google Docs and was used wherein the respondents were asked
to fill out the demographic portion consisting of their age and educational
attainment. They were then made to state the frequency of their use of the
internet and identify the Sony products that they have in possession. After
which the respondent answered the second part of the questionnaire
which contains statements about the Sony blog through the use of the
Likert Scale.

The initial version of the questionnaire was based on a survey conducted
by Penttala, S. and Saarela, H. It was pilot-tested on 20 individuals of the
same demographic as the target sample, and was then found to produce
insufficient data and contained several inessential questions. It was then
edited accordingly and administered on the sample of 30 respondents.
(Please see Appendix).

3.5 Summary
This chapter has provided a thorough overview of the methodology chosen for
the study by discussing the research philosophy, approach and methods used
to acquire the necessary data. The findings of the study will be discussed and
analyzed in the next chapter.

4 Analysis of Data
4.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the presentation, analysis and discussion of the
findings acquired through the use of the aforementioned methodology.

4.2 Application of methodology
A quantitative research approach was adopted using questionnaires to collect
the necessary data from which, after statistical calculations, the conclusion
was drawn.

4.3 Analysis of respondents
4.3.1 Age
The studys respondents consisted of 30 individuals whose ages range from
13 to 50 years old. This age range was chosen, as they are the ones who are
most tech-savvy. (Fig. 4)

Figure 4: Respondent Age
4.3.2 Educational Attainment
Basic education (grade school) 3 10%
High school 8 27%
Higher education (college) 17 57%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
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Age
Age
Other 2 7%


Figure 5: Educational attainment
56 percent of the respondents have graduated from or are in college. 27
percent have finished percent are in or have finished high school which is
considered their highest educational attainment. 10 percent

4.3.3 Ownership of Sony Product

Yes 30 100%
No 0 0%


10%
27%
56%
7%
Educational attainment
Basic education (grade
school)
High school
Higher education (college)
Other

Figure 6: Ownership of the product
Based on the data gathered Figure 6 showed that 100% of the respondents
owns a Sony Product.

4.3.4 Sony Products
TV 20 12%
DVD Player 11 7%
Laptop 6 4%
Home Theatre System 10 6%
Camcorder 8 5%
Camera 17 10%
Smartphone 6 4%
Binoculars 3 2%
PlayStation 18 11%
Headphones 13 8%
Voice Recorder 9 5%
Portable Radio 3 2%
Batteries 14 8%
Professional Display
(Projector)
10 6%
Digital Photo Frame 8 5%
Energy Storage Media 8 5%
Other 1 1%
Do you own Sony
products?
Ye
s


Figure 7: Sony Products
Figure 7 showed that 20 of the respondents own a TV product of Sony,
followed by video gaming console ( Play Station ) of Sony. 17 of the
respondents own a Sony Camera. The top three Sony products owned by the
respondents are TV ( 20 respondents), PlayStation ( 18 Respondents ) and
lastly Camera ( 17 respondents )





0 5 10 15 20 25
TV
DVD Player
Laptop
Home Theatre System
Camcorder
Camera
Smartphone
Binoculars
PlayStation
Headphones
Voice Recorder
Portable Radio
Batteries
Professional Display (Projector)
Digital Phot Frame
Energy Storage Media
Other
Which of these Sony products
do you own?



4.3.5 Consumer Awareness of Sony
Yes 30 100%
No 0 0%


Figure 8: Consumer awareness of Sony
In Figure 6, based on the gathered data, it showed that 100% of the
respondents are aware of Sony.

4.3.7 Frequency of going online
Daily 14 47%
At least twice a week 6 20%
Weekly 0 0%
At least twice a month 5 17%
Monthly 5 17%
Other 0 0%

Have you heard of Sony?
Yes
No

Figure 9: Consumer Frequency on going online
Figure 7 showed that respondents often go online Daily (46%), second 20% of
them go online twice a Week, then 17% go online in a monthly basis or twice
a month.

4.3.8 Awareness of Sony Blogs
Yes 29 97%
No 1 3%


Figure 10: Awareness of Sony Blogs
46%
20%
0%
17%
17%
0%
How often do you go online?
Daily
At least twice a week
Weekly
At least twice a month
Monthly
Other
Are you aware of blogs?
Yes
No
Figure 8 showed that 97% or 29 of the respondents are aware of blogs only
3% or only 1 respondent is not aware about the blogs.

4.3.9 Awareness of Existence of Sony Blog
Yes 26 87%
No 4 13%


Figure 11: Awareness of Existence of Sony Blog
Figure 9 showed that majority or 87% of the total respondents are aware of
the existence of Sonys blog, and only 4 respondents or 13% are not aware
that Sony has a blog.

4.3.10 Decision Making Using Blog Entries
Strongly Agree 17 81%
Agree 2 10%
Neutral 2 10%
Disagree 0 0%
Strongly Disagree 0 0%

Are you aware of the
existence of Sony blogs?
Yes
No

Figure 12: Decision making of consumers using blog entries
Figure 10 showed that 81% of the total respondents Strongly Agree that they
browse the web for blog entries about products before deciding to purchase.
10% agree and 10% is natural about using blog entries before deciding to
purchase products.

4.3.11 Inclination to purchase an item
Strongly Agree 3 13%
Agree 10 42%
Neutral 9 38%
Disagree 2 8%
Strongly Disagree 0 0%

I browse the web for blog entries
about products before deciding to
purchase.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

Figure 13- Agreement to the statement "I am more inclined to purchase
an item if its manufacturer blogs about it"
Figure 11 showed that most of the respondents (44%) agreed that they are
inclined to purchase a product if the manufacturer blogs about it, 28% strongly
agreed to the statement, 16% were neutral about it, and 12% disagreed.

Strongly Agree 3 13%
Agree 10 42%
Neutral 9 38%
Disagree 2 8%
Strongly Disagree 0 0%

0
2
4
6
8
10
12
I am more inclined to purchase an item if its manufacturer
blogs about it.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree

Figure 14- Agreement to the statement "I am less inclined to purchase a
product if its manufacturer's blog does not contain information about it"
Figure 12 showed that 42% of the respondents agreed to the statement, 38%
were neutral, 13% strongly agreed, and 8% disagreed. Therefore, the
respondents are unlikely to buy products when the manufacturers blog do not
contain information about the product being purchased.

4.3.12 Comments
Strongly Agree 4 16%
Agree 7 28%
Neutral 6 24%
Disagree 3 12%
Strongly Disagree 5 20%

0
2
4
6
8
10
12
I am less inclined to purchase a product if its
manufacturer's blog does not contain information about it.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree

Figure 15- Agreement to the statement "In addition to the blog's main
entry, I also read the comments of others on the comments section"
Figure 13 showed that 28% of the respondents agreed to the statement that
In addition to the blog's main entry, I also read the comments of others on the
comments section", 28% were neutral, 24% strongly agreed, and 20%
disagreed. Therefore, the respondents are reading the comments of others
about the product when reading blogs.

4.3.13 Forum communication
Strongly Agree 4 16%
Agree 7 28%
Neutral 6 24%
Disagree 3 12%
Strongly Disagree 5 20%

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
In addition to the blog's main entry, I also read the
comments of others on the comments section.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree

Figure 16- Agreement to the statement "I communicate with other
customers on the Sony blog forum"
Figure 14 showed that 28% of the respondents agreed to the above
statement, 24% were neutral, 20% strongly disagreed, 16% strongly agreed,
and 12% disagreed. Therefore, the respondents were divided on whether they
communicate with other customers on Sony blog forums.

4.3.14 Discovery of new things
Strongly Agree 6 25%
Agree 6 25%
Neutral 2 8%
Disagree 7 29%
Strongly Disagree 3 13%
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
I communicate with other customers on the Sony blog
forum.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree


Figure 17- Agreement to the statement "I discover new things on Sony's
blog about the products I want to buy"
Figure 15 showed that 29% of the respondents disagreed to the above
statement, 25% strongly agreed, 25% agreed, 13% strongly disagreed, and
8% were neutral. Therefore, most of the respondents disagreed that they
discover new things about Sonys products on blogs.

4.3.15 Satisfaction in blog content
Strongly Agree 1 4%
Agree 6 24%
Neutral 12 48%
Disagree 5 20%
Strongly Disagree 1 4%

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
I discover new things on Sony's blog about the products I
want to buy.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree

Figure 18- Agreement to the statement "I am satisfied with the amount of
information in Sony's blogs"
Figure 16 showed that 48% of the respondents were neutral about the
statements above, 24% agreed, 20% disagreed, 4% strongly agreed, and 4%
strongly disagreed. Therefore, most of the respondents were neutral on
whether they are satisfied with the amount of information of Sonys blogs.

4.3.16 Blog post information quality
Strongly Agree 6 24%
Agree 13 52%
Neutral 5 20%
Disagree 1 4%
Strongly Disagree 0 0%

0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
I am satisfied with the amount of information in Sony's
blogs.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree

Figure 19- Agreement to the statement "The quality of the information in
the blog posts encourages me to visit the Sony blog more often"
Figure 17 showed that 52% of the respondents Agree about the statement
above, 25% Strongly Agree, 20% Neutral, 4% Disagree and 0% Strongly
Disagree. Therefore most of the respondents Agree that the quality of
information in Sonys blog encourages the respondents to visit the blog more
often.

4.3.17 Consumer comment influence
Strongly Agree 6 25%
Agree 7 29%
Neutral 10 42%
Disagree 0 0%
Strongly Disagree 1 4%

0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
The quality of the information in the blog posts encourages
me to visit the Sony blog more often.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree

Figure 20- Agreement to the statement "The comments of other
consumers on Sony's blogs may change my opinion about a product"
Figure 18 showed that 42% of the respondents are Neutral about the
statement above, and 29% agree, 25% Strongly Agree, 4% Strongly Disagree
and 0% Disagree. Therefore most of the respondents are neutral that
comments of other consumers on Sonys blog can change their opinion about
a product.

4.3.18 Connection with reader
Strongly Agree 8 32%
Agree 10 40%
Neutral 4 16%
Disagree 3 12%
Strongly Disagree 0 0%
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
The comments of other consumers on Sony's blogs may
change my opinion about a product.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree


Figure 21- Agreement to the statement "Through Sony's blogging
efforts, they are able to connect better with me"
Figure 19 showed that 42% of the respondents were neutral about the
statement above, 29% agreed, 25% strongly agreed, and 4% strongly
disagreed. Therefore, the respondents were neutral on the idea that the
Sonys blogging efforts are able to connect better with them.

4.4 Correlation
With a 0.2831 correlation coefficient, the researcher concluded that there is a
relationship between the discovery of new things in Sonys blog when
purchasing a product and the likeliness that the consumer will purchase
another Sonys product considering that they are aware of Sonys blog.
Therefore, when the consumers discover new information in blogs, they would
likely purchase the product.

4.4 Summary
This chapter has briefly presented the findings derived from the self-
administered, internet-meditated questionnaires as indicated in Chapter 3.
The following chapter will critically analyse the results in connection to the
previously stated research objectives.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Through Sony's blogging efforts, they are able to connect
better with me.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree

5 Analysis of findings, implications, and conclusions
5.1 Introduction
This chapter analyses the finding of the study and will evaluate the adopted
methodology and specify a conclusion for the research question and
objective. The limitations of the study will also be discussed, as well as
recommendations for future researches to be done on the same topic.

5.2 Critical Analysis of Adopted Methodology
The research methodology stated in Chapter 3 was utilized for the study, but
there are limitations to the adopted methodology:

5.2.1 Self-administered Internet-mediated Questionnaire
The self-administered, internet-mediated, close-ended questionnaire
distributed through Google Docs and the respondents were made to give their
age, educational attainment and occupation. They were also made to identify
the Sony products they currently own and statements were given that would
measure how a corporate blog may affect their purchase decision. Although
the survey had a 100% response rate, more detailed information about the
respondent preferences cannot be gathered because of nature of the
questionnaire. Like, for instance, the researcher no longer included the
occupations of the respondents because some of them did not answer that
question.

Questionnaire distribution over the internet was chosen by the researcher due
to the speed. The downside of this, however, is that the questionnaire and its
record of results cannot be accessed if and when the internet access is down.
The same goes for the distribution, it is also affected in the absence of an
internet connection.

In addition, the researcher is not able to verify if the person meant to answer
the questionnaire is really the one who answered it. Also, the researcher will
have limited control over who gains access to the questionnaire.



5.2.2 Sample option
Due to the time constraint during the duration of the study, the researcher
adopted the purposive sampling method, wherein the researcher made use of
her best judgment to select the survey participants. This resulted in 57
percent of the participants having a college education and 100 percent of the
sample owning at least one Sony product. Therefore, the sample may be
biased and is difficult to generalize the wider population.

The sample chosen is based on just consumers of Sony. Thus, their insights
about different corporate blogs of other companies may be different. In
addition, the sample chosen did not include those who currently dont own a
Sony product and how seeing Sonys corporate blog would influence them to
buy, since the blogs effect on them could be different from those who do own
a Sony product.

5.3 Analysis of Findings for Research Aims and Research Question and
Overall Conclusion About Research Project
The research aim and research question was to determine and draw
conclusions from results on whether there is a relationship between Sonys
corporate blogging usages on their customers decision to purchase.

This research project was able to gain significant information about the
relationship shared between Sony Corporations use of corporate blogging
and the customers decision to purchase by identifying that the discovery of
new things on the blog would likely lead to the consumer purchasing the
product.
These were done through the analysis of the data acquired from the sample
population using the questionnaire. The correlation coefficient of 0.2831
showed that there is indeed a relationship between a consumers discovery of
new things on Sonys corporate blog and their decision to purchase a product.

This result coincides with the research results of the study done by
JupiterResearch, wherein it was found that 52 percent of readers stated that
blogs are a factor in when they decide to purchase a product, and that 17
percent of the readers factor in the discovery of products and services,
specifically, influence their purchase decision.

The result also proves the alternative hypothesis that there is a significant
relationship between Sonys Corporate Blog and the purchase decision of its
customers.


5.7 Limitations to the Study
The study was able effectively answer the research question posed in chapter
1. The studys sample was selected through the use of purposive sampling,
which can therefore mean that the results may be biased because of the age
range of 13 to 50 years.

Another limitation is the sample size of 30 respondents, which may not be
applicable and sufficient to generalize the results to the wider population.
Thus, the findings may not be entirely accurate for everyone in other countries
as well.
The sample also mainly consisted of individuals who have attained a college
education, which would imply that they may be more cautious in purchasing
products and thus would be more likely to search for information before
making a purchase.

5.8 Opportunities for future research
The study could be enhanced and be made more in-depth by conducting a
survey on a larger and more age-diverse sample population, which would be
deemed enough to be used to generalize the wider population.

The study could also be improved by including the difference of the effects of
a corporate blog written by company employees and blogs written by
bloggers. It could delve into the amount of trust given to each and how it
affects not only the purchase decision of the consumer, but also how those
consumers help market those products further through word-of-mouth
marketing.

In addition, future researchers could also adopt other methodologies such
as interviews to derive better and more detailed results from the study. The
questionnaire could also be improved in terms of length and depth.
Researches done in the future could also include open-ended questions to
allow more freedom for the respondents to express themselves more.

A larger scale research could also be done by not focusing on just one
company, but by conducting a study on the relationship between corporate
blogs and the purchase decisions of the customers of the leading
manufacturers in a specific industry.