The Other Side of the Coin: The Gray Areas of Social Media

Marketing

Chapter 1
Introduction

Background of the Study

Social media is known. Social media is now the trend. It is an ever-growing and

evolving collection of online tools and toys, platforms and application that enable all

of us to interact with and share information. Increasingly, its both the connective tissue

and neutral net of the web. 2013, and for business it represents a marketing opportunity

that connects entrepreneurs directly with costumers. It has been widely appreciated that

social media plays a crucial role in prosperous online transaction. In addition, we have

in our mind that its easy to be a successful but the reality, those successful entrepreneurs

have faced a lot of business failures. Failures that they have learned and serve as the

strength to become successful. In fact, social media entrepreneurs have also

encountered business liabilities that make their business complicated.

According to Word Stream, Social Media Marketing or SMM is a form of internet

marketing that involves creating and sharing content on social media networks in order

to achieve your marketing brand goals It uses social media sites like Facebook wherein

nowadays, it is mostly used to raise publicity on the internet and to promote products

and services. Facebook and other social media sites are very useful for building social

networks and for your business transactions. Furthermore, we have to be careful in

handling business products and services. There shouldn’t be negative feedback to be

heard from the customers. Because if that happens, customers might post it online. They

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may share any negative comments from the products or services they’ve rendered from

your business. And it can affect the profile of your business or it may result to business

failures. That’s why it is important for small businesses, especially to be aware of

reviews and other details posted online. Responding quickly to the customer’s question

on Facebook or any other sites can actually, foster and improve the businesses’

reputation.

According to a 2011 report published by Nielson, re-stated by Lori Mattern,

Americans spend their time on social networks and blogs. It means that there is a big

chance for entrepreneurs to deal with it in having business because your target market

is already using social media. If you’re near with your clients, you need to have focus

on their way, wherever they are - by using social media, you can go though with your

business to a significant number of them.

MANILA, Philippines- In a recent study conducted by effective measure re-stated

by Inquirer. Net (2014) that 83% (Percent) of Filipinos respondents say that engaging

in the Facebook corporate page influenced them to buy from those business while

72%(percent) claimed that they are urged to buy upon seeing Facebook Ads. Indeed,

We Filipinos are proving that we are one of the social media’s safest country in the

world. We are also about to spend 41.5% (percent) of computer time in social media

versus 19.5%(percent) on news websites and 17.3%(percent) on service websites. In

addition to that, customers mostly found so many businesses online which give them

interests to buy some. But we have to also think that not all of these are reliable. It is

because there are some cases that we saw something which is so interesting for us to

buy because of its good appearance in its photo posted online. It’s like the saying

“Expect the unexpected”. As the particular product is delivered into the customer, the

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real quality of the product that you’ve seen in the posted picture and the delivered

product varies.

Objectives:

The general objectives of this study is to understand the gray areas in social media

marketing. In particular, this study aims the following:

1. To understand the advantages of social media marketing in terms of:

1.1 promotion

1.2 profit

2. To understand the disadvantages of social media marketing in terms of:

2.1 promotion

2.2 profit

3. To understand the different social media marketing liabilities and ways of

coping up with it.

Research Questions

1.What are the advantages of social media marketing?

1.1 promotion

1.2 Profit

2.What are the disadvantages of social media marketing?

1.1 promotion

1.2 profit

3.How do social media entrepreneurs cope up with business liabilities?

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Significance of the Study

The result of the study will be of great benefits to the following:

Teacher and School Facilitator

In the study, DEPED officials will gain information or knowledge that can help them

to handle properly if they were going to have online business for earning money.

Students who are involved in business

This study is talking about social media marketing for the student who are involved

in business, this study will help them to be prepared in facing business liabilities. In

addition, this will give more ideas and strategies that they may apply in handling online

business.

Students who are not involved in business

Nowadays students became dependent to their parents when it comes to school

allowances. In this study, student who are not involved in business can grab this

opportunity and became knowledgeable in finding ways to earn money so that they will

be ready to become a business successor in the future and also it can be chance to help

their parents and work for them in return to their parents have done for them.

Entrepreneurs

Today, there are lot of entrepreneurs in our community enable them to have money

for their needs. Therefore, this study will give contribution to those entrepreneurs to

enhance their marketing strategies and serve as guidelines to widen their business. As

a result, this will lead to a successful business and fast transactions.

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Online Seller

Online selling is a well-known marketing strategy. In this study they can gain more

idea to improve their marketing strategies in their online business transaction. In fact,

this will help them to be competitive enough in terms of facing challenges in handling

online business.

Future Researcher

People nowadays, have variant ideas and knowledge to business. This study will

serve as reference in their future research.

Scope and Limitations

The study was conducted to understand the role of social media in terms of coping

up with business challenges. Moreover, this will be focused on the entrepreneurs or the

informants that will be chosen randomly. In addition to that, interview will be

conducted at the area of Barangay Zone IV, Sta. Cruz, Davao Del Sur, specifically those

who deal with online business.

The study is dependent on the ability of the informants to describe their experiences

and answer the interview question. Informants have varying degrees of knowledge and

experiences with social media marketing for at least 8 months above. This study is

based upon open-ended question through one on one interview or online interview.

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Definition of Terms

Social Media - A medium for business communication and for world-wide transaction.

Social networking - A practice of expanding the number of business customers or

contacts by making transactions through social media sites like Facebook.

Social media marketing (SMM)– an effective marketing strategy to large the amount

of customers result to an easy way for earning money.

Customers service – it is a service or advice given by the company to the customer for

them to be comfortable and make them feel safe in using their products.

Viral marketing – it is a wise strategy to be used in marketing, its promote the product

by the social networks or through advertisement for the company to get a lot of people.

Negative publicity – a serious damages to company; damaging the trust and customers

image of a brand/company, lower the number of sales which may result into reputation

damaged.

Organization of the Study

The first chapter of the study comprises of the introduction, objectives,

research questions, significance of the study, scope and limitations, definition of

terms and organization of the study. The second chapter consists of the review

of related literature with regards to the variables of the study. The third chapter

comprises of the research design, role of the researcher, research participants, data

collection, data analysis and the trustworthiness and credibility of the study. The

results, integrated with the discussion, are organized and interpreted on the fourth

chapter. Moreover, the fifth chapter contains the conclusion, implications to the inquiry

and recommendations of the study.

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 Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

Social media was the new buzz area in marketing that includes business which helps

to create news, make friends, make connections and make followers. Nowadays,

business use social media to enhance a marketing performance in different ways such

as to accomplish business goals. Social media just like an any other form of media that

can use for communication but the bigger scale for social interactions is used highly

accessible and scalable (Kumah, 2017).

Social media has a great benefit in business. It can be promoted through various

social networking sites. Social media or social networking site like Facebook can be a

great thing to have background data if you don’t know yet your customers and to know

your target market (Sweeney, 2018) That’s why Schmid (2018) explained that you have

nothing to lose because all the major social networks can face to create business profile.

Through this, social media can unlock your visibility among potential customers and

let you reach a wide audience by talking large amount of time and giving effort.

Facebook is now the trend especially in having online business which can be

considered as a prosperous marketing technique, but how does the Facebook started?

According to Edosomuan (2011), Mark Zuckerberg who is a student in Harvard was

discovered Facebook, when Facebook introduce to the head of the school it was

exclusive use only to the Colleges Students in Harvard then followed by Junior Students

and so on, it opened worldwide. Facebook has over 250 million users globally. But

when a large number are involved there is possibility of danger of something going

wrong and when it does, it happens in a big way.

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 In fact, for some reasons such as limited resources, have not enough knowledge on

how to control or the confidence to response negative sentiments, some companies said

that it’s best to stay out from the social media (Sussman & Pankonien, 2011). However,

some are able to use social media or social media networking sites as a marketing

strategy. In addition, there are variety of application in social media that is used to make

it easy to reach the customers. The wrong choice can make your marketing ineffective.

(Schulze, L. et al, 2015). But Siricharoen (2012) strongly believed that social media is

only a medium for communication and not for marketing.

According to the University of Brijaton Blog Network Site (2018) that in respective

company, it is hard to have an issue like it, specially in social media accounts, its like a

wild fire to the company. They should maintain the excellence of their customer service

so that they will have a good feedback to the customers and the company going to excel

more. In addition to that, showing personal information and posting it online are the

privacy issues that can be considered as the breakdown of social media in education.

(Siddiqui & Singh, 2016). It is very important to explore more and have learnings in

failure while engaging this marketing strategy. Adams (2018) suggests how to avoid

negative impact in your business. According to him, do not let your company depend

in traffic from Facebook and referrals from Linked. As soon as possible, start to diverse

your strategy marketing efforts like developing social posting strategy that may

engaged social media influencers and also advertising through networking sites.

Moreover, Blakely (2011), say that an important marketing strategy is interacting with

consumer on social media. You need to know what marketing strategy to be used to

prevent you from risk falling behind across your competitors. If the case, your

competitors are using social media and you are not then, you should apply it on your

marketing strategy as soon as possible but in vise versa, rejoice and take advantage

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before your competitors do. Through this, social media help you to build widespread

awareness of your product, increase the number of customers and easy connect with

your recent customers.

Before starting the campaign of social media marketing, the goals have to be clearly

by the company (Bashar, 2012). Social media marketing is very important for business

because of its inexpensiveness and ability to reach large number or targeted customers

within less tie and efforts (Pavel, 2012). It used media sites to raise visibility on time

internet and to promote products and services (Erickson, 2012). In addition, Ciprian

(2012) stated that social media marketing is about to connect socially with their social

network and how your business can profit from that understandings.

Arca (2012) claimed that looking on a business perspective works without saying

that social media marketing has a variety of opportunities to promote their company’s

products and services. A big gratitude to the autonomy offered by the internet because

people are actively communicating about their experiences and giving opinions about

the particular products and services. They’ve find and heard about. Yet, Ollavist (2019)

pointed out that negative publicity on social media can be seriously damaging to the

companies; the result can for instance; be damage to trust and image that consumers

have of a brand of company declined sales due to customer relationships ending or

damaged reputation. In fact, Alpari (2016) added that if a customer has a bad experience

with your brand, he/she maybe compelled to share the experience on your social

network profile. As a business owner, you have to be prepared handle negative feedback

immediately before it will ruin your brand’s reputation.

The benefits of social media can be used to have a successful business, regardless

of the size of the company (Vera, 2018). According to Nambisa, (2002) restated by

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Hajli (2014), reviews are one of the key areas that emerged from social media.

Customer reviews are available for products and services, generating great value for

both customers and companies. So, before posting and selling products online,

customers must be well-oriented for the product to be used to avoid problems/issues as

stated above. And also, the owner should make a review to their products so that the

both of you with the customers may have a good transaction.

According to Siddiqui & Singh (2016), engaging to business with the use of

social media is a bit risky. Yet, it is not a risk-free because the followers or the fans are

free to post, share their opinions and negative comments regarding the customer

services on product of the particular business. And it can lead a business into failure.

Also because of social media, there are organizations who became victims of hackers.

There's a big possibility that the business will be hack and there are tendencies that a

business product's name will be copied by any business competitors that could lead into

viral advantages. Another thing is that, social media is very time consuming. When it

comes to product promotion, most of the companies have difficulties in measuring the

result of an advertisement on social media.

In contrast, dealing social media entrepreneurship improves your way of living If

you really have patience and sacrifice. Because if an entrepreneur got this, they could

be a future social media marketing successor. It is because the difference of online

business to any other form of business are as follows: with the use of social media, it

helps understand the customers better. Because in social media you may have

everything. Any strategy and insights in enhancing or developing your business. There

are also different ideas of promotional activities. And the biggest role of it is that social

media spreads awareness, gather information and make it easy to reach large number

of customers.

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 Also, they believed that the negative impact from personal safety social networking

sites create the risk of identity theft and fraud. It means that in having a transaction

customers and sellers must be aware for there is a big risk in social media. There are

frauds, so we have not to be only active in social networking but also to the people in

social meeting because not all relevant. Make safe of your accounts and personal

identity. Do not publicized everything about yourselves.

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 Chapter 3
Methodology

The following method was adopted and use in gathering the data needed for this

qualitative study. An appropriate research design and a reliable means of data collection

analysis were present in the research method. We were also aware of our roles of

research participants. Trustworthiness and credibility were also established.

Research Design

This study uses phenomenological inquiry as a qualitative research design.

According to Sussman and Pankonien's (2011) study, some have enough knowledge to

control or the confidence to response negative sentiments, some companies said that it

is best to stay out from the social media. However, some are able to use social media

or sites as a marketing strategy. It allowed us to search or investigate the perspectives,

understandings and feelings of the social media entrepreneur in town of Brgy. Zone 4,

Sta. Cruz, Davao Del Sur who have actually experienced the phenomenon associated.

The design attempted to set aside biases and preconceived assumptions.

Role of the Researcher

We, researcher choose this topic to explore the business liabilities of a social

media entrepreneurs and to know the accurate strategies they discovered to overcome

it. Our roles are limited only in interpreting and analyzing the data gathered using an

adopted methodology. The result of the study is based only on the thematic statements

provided by the participants as response to the research questions we have asked them

verbally.

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Research Participants

Participants should have varying degrees of knowledge and experiences of

social media marketing for about 8 months above. For the in-depth interview there are

five informants and five participants for the focus group discussion, in this study,we

have ten respondents to solved the problem encountered by the social media

entrepreneurs.

Data Collection

Semi-structured interview method through individual approach and focus group

discussion was used in gathering information related to the study. The semi-structured

interview was suitable for situations where public disorder is defined and given

solution.

We also used three interview which has been validated by four research teachers. On

the other hand, the focus group discussion was suitable to use in this study given that.

It allowed the participants to like on dislike with each other, how a group thinks about

an issue (Dominice, 2019).

Data Analysis

Data from the signed transcription of the participants answers were organized

through interview and precise which is proven by our interviewee. It was followed by

data analysis which consist of ideas or information. A common way to approach

qualitative data analysis is help to interpret and concluded a generated decisions or

resolutions. Motif were assigned to every group of similar significant statement. After

that, we included our inferences on the information provided by the informants.

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Trustworthiness and Credibility

According to Shenton (2004) restated by Dominice et al (2019), The trustworthiness

and credibility of the methodology used for this study was established in their study

"Disorienting experiences during study abroad: Reflections of pre-service teacher

candidates."

Credibility, or the interval validity commonly addressed by positivist researcher was

ensured in this study considering the well-established adoption of research methods and

the establishments.

Transferability or the external validity of the study was established. In terms of

duplication, the methodology we used was easy to understand and is able to be adopted.

There are informants involved, who have months above experience of dealing social

media marketing and those who have knowledge in engaging business through social

media were asked to partake in the study.

Through the use of Phenomenological research design, we were also able to address

the dependability issues within the study which has an aim to showcase human

experience on a certain phenomenon.

Lastly, conformability was considered through the use of the mentioned

triangulation method. The result of the study was based on the experience of social

media entrepreneurs during their concern and being involved to the social media

marketing challenges.

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Ethical Consideration

All of the participants voluntarily participated in this study and they were ensured

beforehand of the confidentiality of their answers by having them sign an informed

consent form. They have also agreed on the transcriptions of their answers which were

shown to them after the interview and focus group discussion.

The English translations of the statements were validated by an English teacher in

Senior High School.

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 Chapter 4

Results and Discussion

We have obtained the following results from the data gathered from the

participants. Afterwards, discussions related to the results found are also narrated in

prose from. The chapter consists of four parts and they are as follows: (1) Participant's

Information Profile, (2) Research Question No. 1, (3) Research Question No. 2, and (4)

Research Question No. 3.

Participant's Information Profile

The participants in this study came from two different field of online marketing.

For the in-depth participants 1-5 are all direct seller. While for the focus group

discussion participants are all reseller except for participant 4.

Table 1. Informant's Profile

Participant Field of Online Marketing

Participant 1 Direct Seller

Participant 2 Direct Seller

Participant 3 Direct Seller

Participant 4 Direct Seller

Participant 5 Direct Seller

Participant 6 Reseller

Participant 7 Reseller

Participant 8 Reseller

Participant 9 Direct Seller

Participant 10 Reseller

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 Research Question No. 1

Shown in table 2 are the main themes formulated from the thematic statements

of the participants for the research question, “What are the advantages of social media

marketing (SMM) in terms of promotion and profit?”. The emerging themes were more

convenient and effortless.

Table 2. Themes and Thematic Statements on the advantages of SMM when it comes to
profit and promotion
Audit
Main Themes Thematic Statements
Trail
“When it comes to promotion, it is more convenient because it is
social media, all you have to do is just to post, add captions like the
P1, Q1
quality of the product.”

“Ahh…it is more convenient because you can meet friends online and
get closed with them. And you can make them become your reseller
because it’s easier and faster if you have them than to work for it by
yourself. The more you help your resellers, the greater your sales to
have because they really strive hard to get more sales. For the profit, P2, Q1
if you put bigger interest rate on your items, you can really earn more.
But for me, just a lesser interest. P20 or P30. Just like that because
it’s hard to make it bigger. Well, the income depends on the person.
If you strive more, you can have a successful business.”
“I already have everything. Lower price and more customers because
we know the impact of social media. You can easily earn money, it is
P3, Q1
more convenient because it is through online. Just by one click, you
More convenient can already have it.”
“It is more convenient to us because in social media, many people
can reach it and many can like your items. Even for somebody that P4, Q1
we don’t know, they can order to us. And for the profit, it’s okay.”
“For me, Social media marketing is the best. Here, your business is
P5, Q1
fast moving, very convenient and is easier to earn profit."
“People nowadays depend on social media. Like when there was a
disgrace happened in the street. You will be shocked because of the
power of the social media to spread information. So, the advantage
of social media for us is that, it is very nice to post the product online
because it is open to people, less efforts and here, you can find your P9, Q1
customers easily. And for the promotion of the product, it also
depends to the reseller’s strategy how they approach their customers
and have that what do we call, sales talk.”

“In social media, you can easily spread information.” P10, Q1

“It does not consume more efforts.” P6, Q1
“It is not an effort- consuming and here, you can save your time.” P7, Q1
“It’s okay, it has less efforts to consume, you can earn money which
P8, Q1
is enough to your need.”
“So, the advantage of social media for us is that, it is very nice to post
Effortless the product online because it is open to people, less efforts and here, P9, Q1
you can find your customers easily.”
“And you can also earn money with less efforts.” P10, Q1

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More convenient

More convenient is a common advantage of social media marketing being

shared among the majority of the participants. According to Kumah (2017), social

media is the bigger scale for social interactions that is used highly accessible and

scalable. Mentioned reasons for these are because of the fast moving of the business,

very reachable by the customers because of it’s power to spread information

immediately and the last one is because you can easily earn money.

Among the common reasons of the convenience of social media marketing is

the fact that it can be promoted through various social networking site like facebook to

be able to have an online business which can be considered as a prosperous marketing

technique. It can be a great thing to have background data if you don’t know yet your

customers and target market. It is because the difference of online business to any other

form of business are as follows: with the use of social media, it helps understand the

customers better. Because in social media you may have everything. Any strategy and

insights in enhancing or developing your business. There are also different ideas of

promotional activities. And the biggest role of it is that social media spreads awareness,

gather information and make it easy to reach large number of customers.

It is the evident from the entrepreneurs’ answers that social media marketing

really has an advantage to online promotion and profit. According to one of the

participants,

"When it comes to promotion, it is more convenient because it is social media, all you
have to do is just to post, add captions like the quality of the product.”
-P1, Q1

Another participant is a direct seller. Unlike the previous participant which focuses
on the strategy on how to sell the product, this participant entails that reseller has a big

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role in making your online business become successful because they are the ones who
help you reach large number of customers online Yet, resellers earned bigger amount
of money than a direct seller like her.

“Ahh…it is more convenient because you can meet friends online and get closed with
them. And you can make them become your reseller because it’s easier and faster if you
have them than to work for it by yourself. The more you help your resellers, the greater
your sales to have because they really strive hard to get more sales. For the profit, if
you put bigger interest rate on your items, you can really earn more. But for me, just a
lesser interest. P20 or P30. Just like that because it’s hard to make it bigger. Well, the
income depends on the person. If you strive more, you can have a successful business.”
-P2, Q1

The third participant answered the question confidently by saying,

“I already have everything. Lower price and more customers because we know the
impact of social media. You can easily earn money, it is more convenient because it is
through online. Just by one click, you can already have it.”
-P3, Q1

Same with P2, the fourth informant admitted that in social media, it is easy to get

large number of customers because of its power to spread information.

“It is more convenient to us because in social media, many people can reach it and
many can like your items. Even for somebody that we don’t know, they can order to us.
And for the profit, it’s okay.”
-P4, Q1

The next respondent describes social media marketing as the best business strategy,
a fast moving and as an easy to earn money. It seems like this respondent love its job
as a direct seller.

“For me, Social media marketing is the best. Here, your business is fast moving, very
convenient and is easier to earn profit."
-P5, Q1

In addition, two participants (P9, Q1 & P10, Q1) of focus group discussion

supported that, social media has a great impact in your business because of its power to

spr3ad information quickly, not just for the local area but world widely.

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Effortless

According to Pavel (2012), social media marketing is very important for business

because of its inexpensiveness an ability to reach large number of targeted customers

within less time and efforts. Social media has an innovative idea in marketing. It has no

effort in terms of promoting your product because as a social media entrepreneur, all

you need to do is to post the product publicly and put some caption about the quality of

your product. Then, it also saved time.

In accordance to participant response that one of the advantages of social media

marketing is having business with less efforts.

“It does not consume more efforts.”

-P6, Q1
The second one also stated that,

“It is not an effort consuming and here, you can save time.”
-P7, Q1

And two participants supported with the ideas that,

“Its okay, it has less efforts to consume, you can earn money which is enough to your
need.”
-P8, Q1

“And you can also earn money with less efforts.”

-P10, Q1

The next participant summarizes the advantage of social media marketing.

“So, the advantage of social media for us is that, it is very nice to post the product
online because it is open to people, less efforts and here, you can find your customers
easily.”
-P9, Q1

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Research Question No. 2

Table 3 exhibits of the main themes derived from the statement of the

participants for the research question, “What are the disadvantages of social media

marketing (SMM) in terms of promotion and profit?”. The emerging themes are

business competitions, customer fraud/dishonesty, and diminished of income.

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 Table 3. Themes and Thematic Statements on the disadvantages of SMM when
it comes to profit and promotion
Audit
Main Themes Thematic Statements Trail
“Disadvantage? There are competitions since it is social
media and there were possible imitations or anyone that will
tend to plagiarize your strategies or thoughts and also it is
tiring for me because you always face with your phone. You P1, Q2
can’t work with your household chores because you’re always
using cellphones. Because if you do not use your cellphone,
you cannot earn money, you can’t have more sales.”
“Ahhhh. Competition. There are really competitive people
that will going to pull out your customer. That’s the worst
thing in your life wherein you can really find trouble with
other online sellers. Sometimes, your customers will order to
you and sometimes to the other sellers. Much more hate and P2, Q2
anger if it’ll be your “die hard” customer. They will chat on
Business Competitions
you and will compare your product’s price to the other
sellers.”

“When it comes to profit, there are times that I’ve encountered

loss of profit. But it’s okay, the business is still moving and for P3, Q2
the promotion, there is really competition”

“There are people who are dishonest or shall I say the fraud.
They will order to you but then as the item is already there, they
will refuse it. I supposed to have an income from the item he/she P4, Q2
ordered I've used my money for the fare going to my buyer. That
is the disadvantage of this business.”
“When it comes to promotion you may encounter customer-
P5, Q2
dishonesty and fraud and it will also affect you profit.”
Customer “I came up to the point that my customer become
dishonesty/fraudulence P7, Q2
dishonest with me, I got fraud by many times.”
“There’s a time that I've been scammed because the buyer
P8, Q2
refuses the item when its arrived.”
“The customer will order to you and you will also assume
that he/she will really buy the item but then as I am about
to chat her/him to get the ordered item, the customer will P9, Q2
then refuse and will say that he/she is going to cancel it.
It’s like some modus or shall I say a fraud.”

“You may encounter loss of profit because of fraud.” P6, Q2

Diminished of income
“Its disadvantage is the dishonesty of the customer. It can
P10, Q2
cause into profit loss.

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Business Competitions

Entering into a business is not easy because there are so many competitors. Blakely

(2011) said that an important marketing strategy was interacting with consumer on

social media. You need to know what marketing strategy to be used to prevent you from

risk falling behind across your competitors. So, for the entrepreneurs, they should have

proper customer service as it is the first thing that the customers were looking for the

best company and business management. No one can avoid competitions when it comes

to social media marketing or any form of business. This is one of the disadvantages of

having a business through social media. Yet, business competitions could be the

primary cause of the business failure. If the entrepreneur cannot handle the challenge

of the competitors, then there’s a possibility that it may lead a business into failure.

According to some resellers/retailers, competitions could be used as a strength in

running of the business. Because failures gave them more power to strive harder instead

of felling down to their challenges. According to one of the participants,

“There are competitions since it is social media and there were possible
imitations or anyone that will tend to plagiarize your strategies or thoughts and also
it is tiring for me because you always face with your phone. You can’t work with your
household chores because you’re always using cellphones. Because if you do not use
your cellphone, you cannot earn money, you can’t have more sales.”
-P1, Q2

As the next and the third participants responded with the second question, it answers

the same like this,

“Ahhhh. Competition. There are really competitive people that will going to pull out
your customer. That’s the worst thing in your life wherein you can really find trouble
with other online sellers. Sometimes, your customers will order to you and sometimes
to the other sellers. Much more hate and anger if it’ll be your “die hard” customer.
They will chat on you and will compare your product’s price to the other sellers.”
-P2, Q2

“When it comes to profit, there are times that I’ve encountered loss of profit. But it’s
okay, the business is still moving and for the promotion, there is really competition”

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 -P3, Q3

According to the responds of the participants, competition may result into loss of

profit or low income. It is because there were competitors that will compete with you

through hidden techniques for the promotion of their product.

Customer fraudulence/dishonesty

Siddiqui and Singh (2016) stated that the negative impact from personal safety

social networking sites create the risk of identity theft and fraud. It is when the

customers will order an item to the resellers and as the product being ordered is already

on hand, the customer will refuse immediately to pay it because of some reasons and

will suggest after to look for another buyer. This is the weakness of the resellers because

instead of earning money, their pocket money will be deducted because of the cases

like it. Enable to avoid business fraudulence/customer dishonesty, every entrepreneur

must be aware and will randomly choose their buyer that is relevant and responsible in

purchasing their ordered item. Two have mentioned the following statements

consecutively when the issue on social media marketing have arose during the in- depth

interview.

“There are people who are dishonest or shall I say the fraud. They will order to you
but then as the item is already there, they will refuse it. I supposed to have an income from the
item he/she ordered I've used my money for the fare going to my buyer. That is the disadvantage
of this business.”
-P4, Q2

“When it comes to promotion you may encounter customer- dishonesty and fraud and
it will also affect you profit.”
-P5, Q2
Three participants of focus group discussion supported the ideas of the

informants of the in-depth interview. They stated that they've buyer that no word of

honor.

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 “I came up to the point that my customer become dishonest with me, I got fraud
by many times.”
-P7, Q2

“There’s a time that I've been scammed because the buyer refuses the item when its
arrived.”
-P8, Q2
“The customer will order to you and you will also assume that he/she will really
buy the item but then as I am about to chat her/him to get the ordered item, the customer
will then refuse and will say that he/she is going to cancel it. It’s like some modus or
shall I say a fraud.”
-P9, Q2

Diminished of income

One of the disadvantage of social media marketing is loss because not all the

time that they will always gain profit. According to Ollavist (2019) that social media

entrepreneurs also encounter declined sales due to fraud or dishonesty of their

customers. They have mentioned that sometimes social media marketing has always

good income in your company. We conclude that, social media marketing is not

difference with some businesses as they also encounter loss. Two have proven that

SMM also experienced loss because of fraud/dishonesty.

“You may encounter loss of profit because of fraud.”

-P6, Q2

“It’s disadvantage is the dishonesty of the customer. It can cause into profit
loss.”
-P10, Q2

Research Question No. 3

Table 4 shows the emerging themes from the thematic statements of the

participants for the research question, “How do social media entrepreneurs cope up with

business liabilities?”. The derived main themes are Business-minded, strive harder, and

risk taker.

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Table 4. Themes and Thematic Statements on how do social media entrepreneurs cope up with

business liabilities

Audit
Main Themes Thematic Statements Trail
“Sometimes, I will be the one to pay the item ordered by a buyer
but I sacrificed because there were really challenges that will
P2, Q3
come into your life. It only needs patience. If you have this
attribute then you can pass over this challenge in your life.”
“The time that I went to the supermarket, I brought the exact
amount of money which suits to the item that I supposed to buy.
But since there are follow up orders came up immediately and
so I've got my capital shortage. And as I arrived at the terminal,
P4, Q3
I choose to walk on my way back home. That's why I said to
myself, online business is really uneasy because you have to
sacrifice a lot to earn more. Be patient if you can. Do your very
best.”
Business-minded “I have encountered many business problem and one of those
problems is the challenge between the customer and my business.
Because there are fraud, fake, and dishonesty of my customers.
P5, Q3
But since they are the customers who has the right to refuse the
product, all I did was just to accept it and become patient and
stay calm”
“All I did was giving of patience to my problems regarding my
customer then if I have challenges to come in my business, I just
P8, Q3
accept it and sacrifice to make my small business become the
successful one.”

“As long as you’re a business minded individual, there’s no

problem that can’t be solved. Just be patient and sacrifice P10, Q3
because you entered in that kind of business.”

“The stocks were left because my buyer doesn't want it anymore.

I've lost my 4000 because of this case. But everything will be fixed P1 Q3
if you'll just strive harder”
Strive harder
Just pray! Because we all have challenges to face in our lives. It
is just to test how strong you are. But if you're really a business
P3, Q3
minded person, you will really fight back and strive harder.

“I’m looking for another buyer for the product being cancelled
P6, Q3
by the customer who ordered the item.”
“For me, I choose to look for another buyer of the item by
P7, Q3
Risk taker reposting it on Facebook.”
“The item left in my hand has been reposted online with the
same prize then I’ve observed it for three days and post it again
P9, Q3
and again.”

Business-minded

26
 Siddiqui and Singh (2016) stated that social media entrepreneurs should be

aware that there is a big risk in social media. One of the ways to cope up business

liabilities is the patience to customers. We can’t deny that there were customers who

has the unexplainable attitude especially if their orders get so late to deliver. Also,

there were some customers that will order to the reseller and will pay back not in a

period of time. In these cases, the only thing that the reseller should do is to be

patient. Stay calm and avoid any traumatic actions. It is important in handling any

form of business especially in social media marketing. In fact, dealing social media

entrepreneurship improves entrepreneur’s way of living if they really have patience

and sacrifice. Because it is part of their business to do so. Entrepreneurs want to

achieve the fruit of their business so to make it possible, its better to apply this to

themselves as part of their customer service. Just like what this participant says,

“Sometimes, I will be the one to pay the item ordered by a buyer but I sacrificed because
there were really challenges that will come into your life. It only needs patience. If you have
this attribute then you can pass over this challenge in your life.”
-P2, Q3

Part of the patience of social media entrepreneurs was the sacrifice as stated in this

respondent,

“The time that I went to the supermarket, I brought the exact amount of money which suits to
the item that I supposed to buy. But since there are follow up orders came up immediately and
so I've got my capital shortage. And as I arrived at the terminal, I choose to walk on my way
back home. That's why I said to myself, online business is really uneasy because you have to
sacrifice a lot to earn more. Be patient if you can. Do your very best.”
-P4, Q3

Some participants encountered a big challenge in their business but the best thing that

they apply were patience and sacrifice.

“I have encountered many business problem and one of those problems is the
challenge between the customer and my business. Because there were fraud and

27
 dishonesty of my customers. But since they are the customers who has the right to
refuse the product, all I did was just to accept it and become patient and stay calm”
-P5, Q3

“All I did was giving of patience to my problems regarding my customer then if I have
challenges to come in my business, I just accept it and sacrifice to make my small
business become the successful one.”
-P8, Q3

“As long as you’re a business minded individual, there’s no problem that can’t be
solved. Just be patient and sacrifice because you entered in that kind of business.”
-P10, Q3

Strive harder

According to the University of Brijaton Blog Network Site (2018), despite of the

challenges encountered they should maintain the excellence of their customer service. In order

to make the business become successful, strive harder. It is important because dealing

with business is difficult. Entrepreneurs may encounter customers with their different

attributes. They may face challenges regarding the relationship between customers and

the business. There are times that the business will experience loss of profit and any

difficulties. And the best way to survive from these challenges was to strive harder. Just

like the following participant did. Among the challenges they undertake, they choose

to strive hard than to surrender from their business.

“The stocks were left because my buyer doesn't want it anymore. I've lost my 4000 because of
this case. But everything will be fixed if you'll just strive harder”
-P1, Q3

Same with the next participant. The only difference was just, despite of the

challenges encountered by this participant, she has never forgot to pray.

“Just pray! Because we all have challenges to face in our lives. It is just to test how strong
you are. But if you're really a business minded person, you will really fight back and strive
harder.”
-P3, Q3
Risk Taker

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 Siddiqui and Singh (2016) pointed out that engaging to business with the use of

social media is a bit risky that can lead a business into failure. Being business-minded

and a strive harder are one of the best way to cope up with business liabilities but adding

some way like taking risk (risk taker) is also a great step to overcome business

challenges. Three of our informants stated the same way of coping up their challenges

which is they both take the risk.

“I’m looking for another buyer for the product being cancelled by the customer who ordered
the item.”
-P6, Q3

The next informant stated the same.

“For me, I choose to look for another buyer of the item by reposting it on Facebook.”
-P7, Q3

The last one emphasizes on how she is a risk taker.

“The item left in my hand has been reposted online with the same prize then I’ve
observed it for three days and post it again and again.”
-P9, Q3

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 Chapter 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Summary

Social Media Marketing have been the trend nowadays. Many are able to

use social media networking sites as a marketing strategy. It is because in social media,

it is easier to reach large number of customer.

This study was conducted under phenomenological inquiry as its research

design. The researchers simply interpreted and organized the data gathered from their

informants, as their role to be played in the study.

Social media entrepreneurs stationed at the area of Brgy. Zone IV, Sta. Cruz,

Davao del Sur, who have varying degrees of knowledge and experienced about SMM

were chosen randomly. Data were then collected via semi-structured interview having

three main interview questions which were validated by four research teachers.

Trustworthiness and credibility were also established through Shenton's (2004) method.

Based on findings more convenient and effortless are the advantages of social

media marketing in terms of profit and promotions. When it comes to the disadvantages

of social media marketing in terms of promotions and profit, business competitions,

diminished of income, and customer dishonesty/fraudulence were emerged as themes.

Moreover social media entrepreneurs cope up with business liabilities through the

attitude of being business-minded, strive harder, and risk taker.

This study concludes that the good attributes stated above could help social media

entrepreneurs to find the success in dealing with social media marketing. The

development of this study can unlock more significant answer.

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Conclusion

Based on the result of the study, we were able to find out that social media

marketing has disadvantages to the social media entrepreneurs. these are business

competitions, customers dishonesty/fraudulence, and diminished of income. When ask

on how to cope up with these disadvantages and other business liabilities, the

participants’ answer mainly involved on the good attitudes of social media

entrepreneurs to be shown like being a business-minded, to strive harder, and take a

risk despite of the encountered challenges.

Implication of the Study

This research shall serve as a guide to the future researcher who happen to

choose a theme similar to us. This shall also help the public determined regarding the

problems faced by Social Media Entrepreneurs and let them decide about the unsolved

problems.

Recommendations

The researcher recommends that the study further be developed through the

following:

1. Involved 7 to 10 participants during the interview to induce different ideas; and

2. Utilize other data gathering techniques, such as observation to established

reliability and validity of the study.

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