Download PhD Research Studentships - Glasgow Caledonian University

University PhD Research Studentship
Glasgow School for Business and Society
Reference Number: REG2016_GSBS5
Studentship Project Title: A critical evaluation of the development of social media as part of an
integrated marketing communication strategy
Applications are invited for a full-time PhD research studentship at Glasgow Caledonian University within
the Glasgow School for Business and Society. The studentship of £18,900 per year is for a period of three
years, subject to satisfactory progress. The studentship covers the payment of tuition fees (currently
£4,100 for UK/EU students or £11,200 for International students) plus an annual stipend of £14,800 for
UK/EU students or £7,700 for International students.
Research Discipline
Business and Management
Research Theme
Social Innovation
Research Project Summary
This area of research is focused on the use of social media within the field of digital marketing
communications. It will strongly contribute to GCU's overall research strategy, by linking into the
Research Institute for Society & Social Justice Research, with particular contribution to the ‘social
innovation’ theme.
Social media is a recent communication channel that increasingly needs to be integrated into company's
overall digital marketing communication strategy. On the 27th August 2015, the number of Facebook
users reached the 1 billion mark (Facebook, 2015) and by the end of Sept 2015 there were up to 307
million active Twitter users (statista, 2015). Social media has arguably become the most accepted and
prevalent technology used in society for communicating today.
Social media offers businesses the opportunity to improve digital marketing communications in a variety
of ways: greater exposure; electronic word of mouth; building relationships with existing customers;
attracting new customers; improving brand awareness; increasing volume of traffic to website;
promoting a company's products and services; and gathering business intelligence (Carvill & Taylor,
2015; Cook, 2009; Dahl, 2014; Ryan, 2014). Given the widespread use of social media for marketing,
organisations will need to carefully consider how they can link their social media with other key digital
marketing channels eg organisation’s website, email marketing, affiliate marketing, mobile apps, etc.
There are also a number of significant trends which will need to feature in organisations future use of
social media, including: emojis; identifying relevant metrics; providing greater focus on customer
engagement/customer service and mobile technologies (socialmediatoday,2016). Mobile technologies
cannot be ignored when developing a company’s social media presence as they have contributed to the
growth of social media through their flexible nature and through having facilities such as localisation.
This increased use of social media for digital marketing communications, has also led to digital marketers
and social media facing a number of key challenges. Amongst these are the issue of search engine
optimisation, multichannel conflict (conflict between different digital channels), and gathering and using
information on customer metrics effectively. In particular, organisations struggle with deciding on the
most appropriate metrics for measuring social media impact (McCann & Barlow, 2015), knowing how
best to interpret these metrics and linking the knowledge revealed back into the overall digital marketing
communications strategy.
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The aim of this research is to develop a framework for the most appropriate use of social media within
digital marketing communication strategies and for assisting digital marketers in their decision making
and achieving their marketing objectives.
Supervisory Team
Dr Alexis Barlow
Dr Noreen Siddiqui
Staff Contact
Dr Alexis Barlow, Senior Lecturer, Department of Business and Management: [email protected]
Eligibility
Applicants will normally hold a relevant 1st or 2:1 UK honours degree (or equivalent); or a Masters
degree in a subject relevant to the research project. Equivalent professional qualifications and any
appropriate research experience may be considered. A minimum English language level of IELTS score of
6.5 (or equivalent) with no element below 6.0 is required. Some research disciplines may require higher
levels.
How to Apply
Applicants should complete the University Research Application Form, available from:
http://www.gcu.ac.uk/phdopportunities
Please send the form, stating the studentship project title and reference number, with a CV, copies of
academic qualifications, references, and any other required documentation to:
[email protected]
The closing date for applications is Monday 18 April 2016
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