For this Key Concept Exercise, you will recommend a qualitative research design.
In the previous two weeks, you tailored your original research topic specifically to consider a quantitative design.
Following this week’s introduction and further reading exercises on qualitative research, return back to these initial ideas and recommend a qualitative research design that aligns with the topic under investigation, taking into account the main advantages and disadvantages as well as the main feasibility constraints and your own personal skills.
- Return to your chosen research topic-problem identified in Week 1 (as subsequently amended) and consider a qualitative approach
- In approximately 500 words, explain how your research ideas could take the shape of a qualitative research project.
- In formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
- Which qualitative methodology would be most suited to your research paradigm?
- In what way could you contextualise your research from a qualitative perspective?
- Which sampling methods would be most valuable for your data collection?
- What are the key differences in planning your research from a quantitative and qualitative perspective?
PROJECT TOPIC IDENTIFIED.
WORK ALREADY DONE
CHOSEN TOPIC – PART 1 – GDPR IMPACT ON TRADITIONAL AND ONLINE MARKETING AND ADVERTISING ON SMALL BUSINESS
Introduction
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is one of the most widely discussed topics in the business world and especially in the EU region and one I will like to research.
GDPR is a newly introduced concept in the marketing field which provides brief guidelines as to the marketing procedures adopted by the businesses. Since GDPR provides rules and regulations as to the way of marketing by the corporate houses, there is a number of restrictions imposed on the firms in order to market their offerings. Moreover, GDPR provides fines and penal actions for non-compliance which further makes the situation critical. Further, it has also been assessed that the implication of GDPR in terms of its procedures for compliance and impact of non-compliance has been severe for a small business firms. Therefore, the problem statement revolves around the implication of GDPR on the business as a whole. This is a pertinent topic and hence forms relevance in the present context.
Since GDPR lays down a number of conditions as to how the data will be collected and protected for marketing purposes, the same significantly affects the marketing strategy of the corporate firms. As GDPR demands the direct marketers to show how competent and ready they are for the purpose of data collection and data privacy, it indirectly imposes restrictions on the businesses to devise their marketing strategy effectively and accordingly so that the same may meet the requirement of the given regulations (Buttarelli, 2016). Also, consent is one of the very crucial aspects of digital marketing and GDPR seeks to ensure that the data subject has been consented to further processing by the marketers. Lastly, it may also be noted that the impact of GDPR has been significant as the same clearly sets out the detailed and exhaustive rules and regulations as to how the digital and direct marketing may be effectively conducted. However, there has been a number of firms, especially in the EU regions which are not yet ready for GDPR adoptions (Smart Insights, 2018). The figure below shows that the most of the firms are aware of the concept of GDPR. However, those firms have not been able to adopt the same because of non-readiness.
(Smart Insights, 2018)
There have been a number of pieces of literature on GDPR which analyses the different aspects of the regulations and its impact on the firms. For some author, GDPR has been coined as a revolutionary attempt to streamline digital marketing strategy of the companies (Faisal, 2016). On the other hand, some researchers have criticised the same because of its expensiveness with respect to its implementation, especially in the context of small firms (Mandal, 2017). However, it may be concluded that the concept of GDPR has been moderns and contemporary. A systematic implementation of the same may yield a significant benefit or the businesses in order to achieve their marketing goals and sustainability in the long-run.
References:
Buttarelli, G. (2016). The EU GDPR as a clarion call for a new global digital gold standard. International Data Privacy Law, 6(2), pp.77-78.
Faisal, A. (2016). Marketing Strategies in Online/Digital Marketing. Account and Financial Management Journal.
Mandal, P. (2017). Understanding Digital Marketing Strategy. International Journal of Scientific Research and Management.
Smart Insights. (2018). Implications of the GDPR for marketing in the UK and Europe | Smart Insights. [online] Available at: https://www.smartinsights.com/tag/gdpr/ [Accessed 18 Aug. 2018].
PART 2 – GDPR IMPACT ON TRADITIONAL AND ONLINE MARKETING AND ADVERTISING ON SMALL BUSINESS – UK SPA INDUSTRY
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is recently implemented laws in the European Union (EU), concerning the general privacy and protection of the personal information of individuals inside and outside the European Economic Area (EEA). The prime aim of this law is to rest the control into the hands of individuals, where they decide how much personal data can be given over traditional and online channels. This law also deals with the issue of exporting data by businesses and taking them outside the EEA. This implies that the businesses selling products and services need to design the personal information collection forms in such a way which comply with these regulations. The consumer must opt exclusively for what happens with their data through a form that clearly mentions the entire clause.
With this regulation in mind, the current study aims to research into the effects of GDPR on the marketing and advertising of small businesses. Both online and traditional channels of marketing are considered in this study. The study poses some basic research questions on the topic and establishes their relevance within the existing literature. It concludes with the feasibility discussion of the complete study in view of the industry and the laws.
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Impact of GDPR on the overall advertising and marketing of the UK spa industry:
The GDPR was implemented on 25th May 2018, with the aim to control the sharing of personal data of people over various media and channels. It is applicable to any organisation purporting to conduct business in the EEA. Some major impacts on the spa industry due to GDPR are:
- To publish the personal information of a customer with the review and feedback of their service, spa companies would require their consent.
- The companies cannot promote themselves or their beauty products, based on a survey taken from general public.
- The operating companies gathering information from a customer must take their consent on how to use the data and how to process it. The data gathered must not be shared without the customer’s knowledge for promotional cause (Edwards, 2018).
- The internet browsing history and cookies cannot be used by the spa companies to predict consumer behaviour based on analytics for the purpose of marketing.
- The spa companies must employ data protection officers to ensure the safety of the customer information gathered.
2.2Attitude of people over implementation of GDPR:
Consumers have always been wary of the advertisements chasing them everywhere. This scenario is more crucial in the UK spa industry, as the target customers are aware of reviewing past review and feed on spa product or services. Survey has shown that in general almost 85% of the UK citizens using the internet, are worried over sharing their credit card details and 70% of them are concerned with how to secure their browsing history. Overall 52% of the people in the country are unsure regarding the extent of data sharing and are worried to open a new online account. However, another survey from PWC suggested that 45% of the people now understand the effects of GDPR and 58% agree that it is a positive step towards the data protection act. The survey also says that almost 35% of UK citizen will gain more trust in the spa brands and their services with GDPR in force. Although 55% disagree that they have trust in the way their personal data would be used, 34% of the people would like to use their rights to be forgotten from the consumer records of the companies. Thus, the above analysis suggests that people have a mixed reaction towards the success factor of GDPR.
Figure 1: UK consumer behaviour towards GDPR
(Source: https://go.rakutenmarketing.com, 2018)
2.3 Pros and Cons of GDPR on small industries
2.3.1 Pros:
- It will act as a guide towards achieving a greater degree of customer data security in individual companies.
- With a greater bar of data privacy & security, the overall cyber security standards of the companies operational in EU or somehow serving the EU clients, will increase (Hemmings and Noar, 2018).
- With improved security standards, customer’s trust on the companies will increase. Individuals can willingly share their data, thereby increasing the customer base of the company.
- Companies will be restricted over the marketing and advertisement channels to promote their products, thereby focusing their approach and budgets with more thoughtful way.
2.3.2 Cons:
- The huge consent forms will become quite burdensome for the customers prior to purchasing of products or services. It is especially applicable while filling up forms manually in traditional channels.
- The design and implementation of the GDPR compliant policies and infrastructure would incur substantial cost for the companies. It can severely impact the operation of small companies in the spa industry.
- Companies may incur fines up to €10millionor 2% of annual turnover, for being non-compliant to the GDPR policies (Cynation, 2018).
2.4 Adopting and surviving GDPR
The spa companies require providing extensive training on any new or changed processes that are adopted as part of GDPR compliance. Freiherr von dem Bussche and Zeiter (2016) stated that the small industries may need to hire third parties to accelerate the process. A calculated approach is necessary where simple upgrades to the system of storing and manipulating the customer data take place to avoid delays. Upgrading the overall network security of the spa industry selling beauty products online is critical.
2.5 Critical review of the literature
The existing literature regarding the impact of GDPR on small industries in general and to the UK spa industry in specific is significantly less at the present moment. The reason being, the policies have been implemented very recently. The corresponding changes that small companies have undergone to become GDPR complaint and the resulting effects are yet to be published. However, some surveys have been conducted to find the customer views on the possible impact of GDPR and consumer behaviour towards various brands. The current study becomes important in this perspective since the small industries are expected to calculate major overhead in the compliance process. As GDPR enforce the restriction on the customer data collection and usage by the spa industry, it will impact or marketing and advertisement strategies of the small industries (Dover and Neslin, 2015).
3.0 Main research questions
Q1. How the introduction of GDPR has impacted the overall advertising and marketing of the UK spa industry?
Q2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the introduction of GDPR in the UK spa industry?
Q3. What is the present consumer attitude after implementation of GDPR?
Q4. How can existing marketers adapt to the challenges of GDPR implementation in the UK spa industry?
4.0 Motivation and justification of the research
Data security and privacy are of peak concern in the age of information technology. There are several reported cases of data leakage and hacking of consumer data in the industries of different sizes. Undoubtedly the GDPR implementation will resolve these issues, but it will have some adverse effects on the marketing and advertisement of various companies (Goodman, 2016). With restricted access to consumer data, they will have lesser insight into their behaviour. The use of analytics based on search history, to promote products and services will become obsolete. Small industries rely on the online marketing approach to stay ahead in the competition. Therefore, the main motivation of this study is, to research how the GDPR regulations may affect the marketing strategies of the small industries. With the standard approaches in the online marketing hitting a brick wall, the study attempts to recommend innovative strategies that can be helpful for the UK spa companies to adopt and become GDPR compliant at the same time (Sutton, 2018).
Linking with research questions:
Question1: From the literature review it has been identified that digital promotion and advertising would be impacted by the implementation of GDPR (refer to section 2.1). The present research question is also about assessing the impact of GDPR. Thus, the research question is justified.
Question 2: Section 2.3 in the literature review delves into the pros and cons of implementing the GDPR laws across the industries. Therefore the research question can be linked to the literature.
Question 3: Since the law is regarding the protection of the consumer information, their attitude towards the impact analysis is a key factor in this study (refer to section 2.2). Hence, this research question relates to the mentioned section of the literature review.
Question 4: GDPR implementation would require companies to restructure the way they dealt with consumer information. It includes the technical infrastructure, employee enlightenment and marketing approaches. So, this research question directly relates to the Section 2.4 of the literature review
5.0 Discussion for the feasibility of the study
The implementation of the GDPR laws is a recent move across the EU and EEA, there is a scarcity of literature on the impact on small industries. However, some critical data has been found from online journals and reports that have contributed towards the study significantly. All the information collected and represented in this study are from authentic sources.
References:
Cynation. (2018). GDPR Aims, Benefits and Consequences | Cynation. [online] Available at: https://cynation.com/gdpr-aims-benefits-and-consequences/ [Accessed 3 Sep. 2018].
Dover, Y. and Neslin, S. (2015). Amplifying the Impact of Digital Advertising: The Role of Published Sales Rankings. SSRN Electronic Journal, 4(5), pp.67-81.
Edwards, L. (2018). Data Protection: Enter the General Data Protection Regulation. SSRN Electronic Journal, 5(10), pp.78-99.
Freiherr von dem Bussche, A. and Zeiter, A. (2016). Practitioner’s Corner · Implementing the EU General Data Protection Regulation: A Business Perspective. European Data Protection Law Review, 2(4), pp.576-581.
Go.rakutenmarketing.com. (2018). [online] Available at: https://go.rakutenmarketing.com/hubfs/us-rakuten-marketing-gdpr-framework-whitepaper-032018.pdf [Accessed 3 Sep. 2018].
Goodman, B. (2016). Discrimination, Data Sanitisation and Auditing in the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. European Data Protection Law Review, 2(4), pp.493-506.
Hemmings, N. and Noar, J. (2018). Data protection is changing – the new general data protection regulations (GDPR). Orthodontic Update, 11(3), pp.110-114.
Sutton, H. (2018). Understand your institution’s responsibilities under the General Data Protection Regulations. The Successful Registrar, 18(5), pp.9-9
