1.Introduction

1.1.Background

With the evolution of the World Wide Web, new opportunities are created for social relationships and business practices. With the Web 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0, companies has become able to share data, reuse it across applications, enterprises and community boundaries with the help of cloud environment through out the firms (Kim and Chen, 2015). With the Web 2.0, personalised communication which focuses on collaboration, connectivity, active participation and sharing of ideas and knowledge among users, the marketing efforts of the companies are revolutionised (Mart?nez-A vila, 2015). One of such revolutionary tools is the social media marketing which is used frequently by UK companies. In the 21^st century, many aspects of the consumer behaviour are influenced with the social media marketing. Many luxury brands of UK are showing tendency towards using the social media marketing. They use it for communicating with their customers, get feedback from them and share information about products and services (Ghansah et al. 2016). Social media marketing is being adopted by the luxury fashion brands, however, how it influences the attitude, behaviour and opinions of customers is not fully explored. Therefore, the present research considers exploring how luxury fashion brands are using the social media marketing for their branding initiatives.

1.2.Aim and Objectives

The aim of present research will be to explore the impact of social media marketing on brand loyalty of consumers for luxury fashion brands of UK. This aim will be accomplished through certain objectives which are:

• To conceptualise the theoretical role of social media marketing on brand loyalty of consumers 
• To analyse how social media marketing is used in luxury fashion brands of UK
• To investigate the role of social media marketing in establishing brand loyalty for luxury fashion brands of UK
• To recommend how social media marketing could be used in more effective manner to influence to brand loyalty of consumers of fashion luxury brands

1.3.Research Rationale

Though, few studies has explored how social media marketing has influence on attitude and behaviour of customers. The use of social media marketing is significant for developing brand loyalty. It is observed that many luxury fashion brands are also using this marketing tool. However, few researchers like Kim and Ko (2012) stated that social media marketing is not meant for luxury brands. but the reports like Milnes (2015), Bishop (2016) has reported that luxury brands are heavily investing on social media marketing. It is yet to explore that how this investment is bringing benefits for luxury brands. moreover, a recent study i.e. Tatar and Eren-Erdo?mu? (2016) established that social media marketing has a significant influence on brand loyalty in hotel industry of Turkey. The authors identified a research gap and they recommended to explore this phenomenon in a more developed country. Further, they also recommended to study this in luxury brands industry. therefore, the present research will aim to minimise the identified research gap and solve the problem which exists in industry that whether luxury brands should use social media marketing or not.

1.4.Structure of dissertation

There will be five chapters. First chapter will be introductory chapter which will introduces the research issue, aim and objectives. Second chapter will review the previous studies to develop a theoretical framework and hypotheses. Third chapter will shed light on adopted research methods. Forth chapter will be about findings and analysis which will report the survey results. The discussion and synthesis of findings will also be a part of this chapter. The fifth chapter will conclude this research. it will also provide recommendations.

2.Literature Review

Brand loyalty refers to the positive feelings of the customers for certain brand. it also symbolises the continuous willingness of customers to purchase a certain brand. moreover, a long term association with brand is also part of brand loyalty (Fullerton, 2003). Brand loyalty could be conceptualised in behavioural (Chaudhuri and Holbrook 2001) and attitudinal way (Bennett and Rundle-Thiele 2002). As per the definition of behavioural loyalty, it refers to the repeat purchase behaviour of customers. This behaviour can also be predicted from the intentions of customers (Mucuk, 2007). On the other hand, attitudinal loyalty is about identifying those factors which are antecedents of the behavioural loyalty. This attitudinal loyalty is about the predispositions of the consumers for a certain brand. Moreover, it is also linked with the psychological processes which refer to the commitment and preference towards a certain brand (Bennett and Rundle-Thiele 2002). Usta and Memis (2009) said that attitudinal loyalty is more relevant for luxury brands industry as customers might not be repeating the purchase, but their positive talks and recommendations are crucial for the luxury brands.

According to Weber (2009), social media marketing is defined as ‘the online place where people with a common interest can gather to share thoughts, comments, and opinions’ (p .4). Social media is a communication tool which is a participatory, user empowering and collaborative tool (Mangold and Faulds 2009). According to Cicek and Erdogmus (2012), social media marketing activities of a firm has a strong influence on the brand loyalty of firms. If the social media campaign are advantageous, relevant and popular, it can lead to enhanced brand loyalty of customers. In a similar manner, Kim and Ko (2012), entertainment, interaction, word of mouth and customisation offered by social media has a positive influence on the brand loyalty of customers. These studies were conducted in different contexts and industries, it is not known yet how this social media marketing will have an influence on the brand loyalty of luxury fashion brands of UK.

2.1.Theoretical Framework

On the basis of previous research studies, which are conducted in different context and industries, this framework is being developed for this research.

2.2.Hypotheses

Following hypotheses are constructed.

• H1: Advantageous campaigns of social media marketing significantly influences the brand loyalty of luxury fashion brands of UK.
• H2: Relevant content of social media marketing significantly influences the brand loyalty of luxury fashion brands of UK.
• H3: Popularity of content provided at social media marketing significantly influences the brand loyalty of luxury fashion brands of UK.
• H4: Entertainment provided by social media marketing significantly influences the brand loyalty of luxury fashion brands of UK.
• H5: Interaction provided by social media marketing significantly influences the brand loyalty of luxury fashion brands of UK.
• H6: Positive work of mouth created by social media marketing significantly influences the brand loyalty of luxury fashion brands of UK.
• H7: Customisation offered by social media marketing significantly influences the brand loyalty of luxury fashion brands of UK.

3.Research methodology

In this research, positivism research philosophy will be used. The researcher will remain objective while exploring how the social media marketing is influencing the brand loyalty of customers. Deductive research approach will be used where theory will set the foundation for hypotheses which will be further analysed with the collected data. Both primary and secondary data will be used. Secondary data will be used for exploring how social media marketing is used in luxury fashion brands industry. Primary data will be collected for analysing the impact of social media marketing on brand loyalty of customers in luxury fashion industry of U.K.  For collecting the primary data, as per suggestion of Sapsford (2007), survey will be conducted in the luxury fashion industry of U.K. For survey, a questionnaire will be developed. As recommended by Blaxter et al., (2010), the rationale for selecting questionnaire as the research instrument tool is that it will allow to collect data in a quick, reliable and cost effective manner. The themes emerging from literature review will be used for developing the questionnaire for this research. Moreover, already established instruments for social media marketing and brand loyalty will also be consulted.  The questionnaire will have close ended questionnaires where five point Likert scale will be used. The pilot study will also be conducted to ensure that the developed questionnaire collects the valid and reliable data. The sample for this research will be 350 customers of luxury fashion industry of U.K. As told by Bryman and Bell (2007), the sample of 50-400 is fair, therefore, this sample size is selected for this research. The sample will be collected through probability sampling technique where every 10^th member entering in the luxury fashion stores of U.K. will be asked to fill the questionnaires. The collected data will be analysed through statistical techniques. The researcher will use SPSS IBM Version 20 for analysing the data. The hypotheses will be tested using the multiple regression analysis technique. Other than this, statistical tests for correlation, reliability, normality will also be performed. As recommended by Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill ( 2003), this research will follow all ethical standards. The privacy and confidentiality of respondents will be taken care. It will be ensured that name of any fashion luxury brand store is not used such that its goodwill is influenced.

References

1. Bennett, R. and Rundle-Thiele, S., 2002. A comparison of attitudinal loyalty measurement approaches. Journal of Brand Management, 9(3), pp.193-209.
2. Bishop, C., 2016. What’s the point of social media for luxury brands?, [Online], Available at: https://econsultancy.com/blog/67604-what-s-the-point-of-social-media-for-luxury-brands/ [Accessed on: 10^th August, 2016]
3. Blaxter, L., Hughes, L. C., and Tight, C. M., 2010. How to Research, 4th edition, Maidenhead: Open University Press.
4. Bryman A., and Bell E., 2007. Business Research methods, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. Chaudhuri, A. and Holbrook, M.B., 2001. The chain of effects from brand trust and brand affect to brand performance: the role of brand loyalty. Journal of marketing, 65(2), pp.81-93.
6. Cicek, M., and Erdo?mu?, ?.E., 2012. The impact of social media marketing on brand loyalty. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 58, pp.1353-1360.
7. Fullerton, G., 2003. When does commitment lead to loyalty?. Journal of service research, 5(4), pp.333-344.
8. Ghansah, N., Ghansah, B., Ben-Bright, B., and Ocquaye, E., 2016.Using social media as a marketing tool in tertiary institutions: a case study of data link university, Ghana. International  Research of Africa, 2, 218–232
9. Kim, A.J. and Ko, E., 2012. Do social media marketing activities enhance customer equity? An empirical study of luxury fashion brand. Journal of Business Research, 65(10), pp.1480-1486.
10. Kim, Y.Y. and  Chen, H.H. 2015. Social media and online political participation: the mediating role of exposure to cross-cutting and like-minded perspectives. Telemat Inf, 33(2), pp. 320–330
11. Mangold, W.G. and Faulds, D.J., 2009. Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business horizons, 52(4), pp.357-365.
12. Mart?nez-A vila, D.D., 2015. Knowledge organization in the intersection with information technologies. Knowl Org, 42(7), pp. 486–498
13. Milnes, H., 2015. The luxury brands that win on social media, [Online], Available at: http://digiday.com/brands/luxury-brands-win-social-media/ [Accessed on: 10^th August, 2016]
14. Mucuk, I., 2007. Pazarlama I?lkeleri, 16. Tu¨rkmen Kitabevi, Bask?
15. Sapsford, R., 2007. Survey Research. 2^ndedition, London: Sage publications limited.
16. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., &Thornhill, A., 2003.Research method for business students, 3rd edition, New York: Prentice Hall.
17. Tatar, ?.B. and Eren-Erdo?mu?, ?., 2016. The effect of social media marketing on brand trust and brand loyalty for hotels. Information Technology & Tourism, pp.1-15.
18. Usta R, Memis¸ S, 2009. Hizmet Kalitesi ve Marka Bag?l?l?g?? Aras?ndaki I?lis¸ki U¨ zerine Mu¨s¸teri Tatmininin Arac?l?k Etkisi. Atatu¨rk U¨ niversitesi I?ktisadi ve I?dari Bilimler Dergisi, Cilt: 23, Say?: 4, 87–108
19. Weber, L., 2009. Marketing to the social web: How digital customer communities build your business. John Wiley & Sons.