Gen Y and Marketing

Along with other influences such as environment and social events, technology plays a large part in influencing their characteristics even more than it did with previous generation, in which technology has influenced all aspects the generation's lifestyle including behavior, learning, colonization, culture, values, and work (Taproots, 1998). Huntley (2006) points that the mobile phone is perceived as a personal communication device and fashion accessory for this generation, which became an extension of their own body.Topcoat's (1998) survey found, â€Å"two-thirds of the children were more refection on the computer then their parent's†. In addition, technology has influenced Gene-Y perception of time, space, and speed through immediate access to vast amounts of information and to a manifold of people within the reach of their fingers or the keyboard (Huntley, 2006). What is Marketing? Kettle (2001) states that people generally perceived marketing as an activity that involves w ith selling and advertising because they normally see marketing activities in term of advertisements and selling of products on TV, newspapers, internet, etc..However, Kettle (2001) explains that selling and advertising are only a part of arresting tools helping to increase awareness or stimulate consumer demand for a firm's product or service. Although these two activities (selling and advertising) are important, it may not always be true that they are more important than other marketing activities. In today business, Kettle (2001) suggests that the old marketing concept that perceived marketing as selling tool employed after a firm made product or service is not applicable.Successful businesses now focus on creating customer satisfaction, in which the marketing concept has been changed from creating trade to alluding a customer satisfaction. Therefore, Kettle (2001) points that marketing started before the production, in which a firm needs to understand customer's want and need, t o study market opportunity and a firm's competitiveness, and should be able to develop suitable strategies for its products and services at any stage in This process may involve product development, product pricing, choosing distribution channel and effective promotional tools.All of these activities aim to ensure that the product will not be difficult to sell and can be successful in the marketplace. In this sense, marketing is a tool that the firm used to motivate consumer to achieve its goal (Kettle, 2001). Gene Y and Online Marketing While technology has influenced all aspects Gene Yes lifestyle (behavior, learning, colonization, culture, values, and work), businesses are also noticing the technology demands of Gene-Y and use it to create customer satisfaction (Bernard, 2003).Focusing on the consumer behavior of Gene Y, Heaver (2008) states that â€Å"Today's younger, more ‘green' shoppers aren't going to waste precious money and gas going from store to store looking for Just the right item. They shop online whenever they can, narrowing their choices to one or two items-then go to the store to touch, feel, bounce and check out the actual product to see if it looks the way it was represented online†.In management point of view, Chaff eye (2005) defines online-marketing as the technological application using internet to facilitate marketing efforts for achieving organizational goals by increasing user knowledge. Raff et al. (2002) stated that â€Å"The aim of internet marketing is to build and maintain the relationship between customers through online exchange of information about the goods and services room buyer and seller†.Barrett (2008) describes online marketing as an marketing effort that involve with â€Å"carefully targeting users and getting them to interact with you while they're engaged with the most personal, intimate medium ever invented†. Found (2008) observes that there is various online marketing instruments includi ng banners, sponsorship, pop- ups, push technologies, links, paid searches, interactive media, e-commerce, online magazines and newspapers, social networks, as well as user generated videos such as Youth, and blobs. With the internet age, customers eave more choices than ever, in which offering good products is not enough.Found (2008) points that many companies are opting to build interactive communities on their websites for customers so that some of these communities or social networks allow marketers to learn how consumers feel about a brand, and what they would change about a product. In a social network, Found (2008) states that â€Å"there are some people who Join to grab information, others like to distribute material to others, some just want to simply look around and others want to shape the activity of the group†. According to Fight (2007) this type of interaction â€Å"can lead to new products and inspire new positioning and inform marketing programs†.Many s ocial websites have been introduced including Twitter, Backbone, My Space, and etc. That consumers can learn of new products, share experiences, get excited about new products or vent about negative experiences (Found, 2008). As a result, this could be an advantage or disadvantaged to any company. Mains (2007) mentioned that the absence of meaningful metrics in online marketing is a key issue that trouble many marketers, in which other obstacles that prevent companies from spending more money on online tools, and insufficient capabilities.According to Mains (2007), some sites are also bombarded with advertisements making some information get unnoticed. Research Objective Given the fact that technology plays an important part in the daily lives of Gene Y, and the growth on online technologies, social networking and mobile technologies is changing the consumer behavior, a local shopping mall where most of its customers are Gene Y is interested in finding out how it can best employ onl ine and mobile cosmologies to enhance their online marketing efforts to attract Gene Y shoppers and increase their spending in its stores.Research Questions 1) How the technology affects buying behavior of Gene Y? 2) What are advantages and disadvantages of buying products at stores? 3) What are the main motivators of Gene Y to go out for shopping? 4) What are the satisfaction levels of customers on the store's products and services? 5) What are the loyalty levels of the firm? 6) What does Gene Y likes, dislikes, and suggests about the firm's online communication tools? 7) What are the firm's marketing strategies that needs to be improve in order to increase sales?Research Methodology Qualitative Approach Michael (2010) suggest that the qualitative research is normally used when â€Å"we don't know what to expect, to define the problem, to develop an approach to the problem, as well as to go deeper into issues of interest and explore nuances related to the research problem†. Meanwhile, the quantitative research is used to quantify data and generalize results from the population of interest through sampling, in which sometimes followed the qualitative research that is previously used to explore some findings further (from Snappers. M). In the research, the researcher wants to explore and develop an initial understanding of Gene Y and online marketing for further decision making. Therefore, the qualitative research approach is used to answer the research questions. Michael (2010) also states that there are many data collection methods used in qualitative research, including focus groups, in-depth interviews, observation, and etc.Research Technique – Focus Group Enemies and Richard (2001) suggests that focus groups are one of the most frequently used research techniques for making consumer research to learn about consumer evolve a marketing strategies in efficient and effective manner. Enemies and Richard (2001) explains that focus group normally co nsists of 8-12 people from the sample population bringing into a group to express their idea, felling, attitude, and beliefs according to a question and other member's comments.Thus, the major advantage of focus group is that the researcher can acquire numerous and diverse views from the respondent (Enemies and Richard, 2001). Sample Population The characteristics of sample population should be male or female aged around 9-33 years old at present, in which they used technology at higher rates than people from other generations. Sample Size The researcher chose to conduct 3 focus groups with 10 participants each as higher â€Å"N† is to reduce the sampling error (Peter, 2000).Therefore, the sample size used in this research is 30. Sample Selection Bonito (2008) suggests three main considerations selecting participants in focus groups, including their personal characteristics, location, and issue knowledge. Personal characteristics, as defined by the sample population, are male or female geed around 19-33 years old at present. Participant's location should be not far from the place where the researcher conducts the focus groups. Finally, participant should be familiar with internet and social networking.Data Collection Process The focus groups will be conducted during February 1-15, 2013, with the first focus group on February 1, the second on February 8, and the third one on February 15. The focus group processes will take an approximately 90-120 minutes, as suggested by Enemies and Richard, (2001). During the focus group, the researcher will record all investigations through digital audio recorder, as suggested by Crewel (1998). All focus group will be taken at the meeting room of the shop, in which appointment with all participants will be made and confirmed 3-7 days in advance.