Online Brand Awareness: Determining the Relative Importance of Facebook and Other Strategies among the Malaysian Consumers

1Ahasanul Haque*, 1Abdul Momen,

1Seyama Sultana,

2Farzana Yasmin

1International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2Management and Science University Malaysia, Malaysia

*belaliium@gmail.com

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to determine the relative importance of facebook with other strategies like affiliate marketing and word of mouth in creating online brand awareness. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis is used in the study. The study chooses 303 Malaysian frequent internet users as the respondents. In confirmatory factor analysis, a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach is applied to determine the relationship among the exogenous and endogenous constructs. The study finds facebook as the most influential online brand awareness creating strategies followed by the affiliated marketing and online word of mouth. In creating the online brand awareness; all the strategies have positive influence, however. The study can be a useful guideline for managerial implication in practice.
Keywords: Online Brand awareness, facebook, affiliates marketing, word of mouth, comparative
importance 

1. Introduction
At the day before yesterday social media had no clue to become the popular strategy not only in the web marketing but also in the overall business perspective. However, it becomes most powerful media in every aspect of the life today. Among many social networking sites, facebook.com has the highest number of users. According to facebook.com, the total number of facebook users is reached 800 millions in 2011. A statistics demonstrate that facebook attains one trillion page views in the month of June 2011, which makes the portal most visited website in the universal (doubleclick.com). The use of facebook becomes such popular that in many instances, instead of using the corporate main websites consumers prefer to follow the facebook fan pages. It has also become the integral part of product and service promotion. Though there are several strategies to create the brand awareness online like affiliate marketing and word of mouth or viral marketing strategies, the emerging power of the social media like facebook makes the advertisers’ choice quite strategic. Malaysia is a multicultural country having many of the races in its population. Internet penetration rate in Malaysia is very high in the region. Similarly, the number of facebook users is also significant here. According to Facebook.com its users reached up to 12,060,340 at December, 2011 in the country. 38.2 percent of them, meaning that the greater portion, are in between 18 to 24 years. Due to the lack of literatures in the aspect, the study will give a snapshot of the comparison of facebook, affiliated marketing and word of mouth strategies in creating brand awareness online among the different races of Malaysia. Having a clear idea on this issue may give the desired benefits to the concerned advertisers and the role players in practice.

2. Literature review
Essence of Brand awareness: In managing long term customer equity, brand awareness plays a very
important role as an integral part of brand association in the memory of the concerned consumers.
Despite the critical role of brand image in high involvement decision setting, brand awareness is being
treated as sufficient where the customer involvement is low (Keller, 2008). Hence, to gain the desired
differential response, the brand should create the awareness buzz in the consumer minds (Rios &
Riquelme, 2010). Keller (2008) characterized brand awareness with two elements like brand recognition
and brand recall performance. Brand recognition is treated as the consumers capacity to identify the
brand whilst the brand itself is given as a cue. Brand recall is the consumer ability to remind the
concerned items. Here, instead of the brand itself, purchase and/or usage situation is given as cue. Brand
recognition is important in store based purchase decision while recall is important in other cases (Rios &
Riquelme, 2010). Once brand awareness is established efficiently, it may have learning, consideration
and choice advantages (Booth & Matic, 2011). Repeated exposure should take place in branding efforts to
increase familiarity. Brand names may need to reinforce visually and verbally. Shock advertising attached
with the bizarre themes can also be used in creating the desired brand awareness (Keller, 2008).
Facebook and commercials: Facebook is market leader among all the social media. The current
valuation of facebook is over $85 billion and it is expected to earn over $22 billion of revenue and $234
billion of market value by 2015 (Rosoff, 2011). Facebook is free for the non commercial user. Therefore,
they are free from any sorts of suffering and loss of economical capital. It is similar to the broadcast
television, and nevertheless, advertisement are exposed to them like banner and targeted commercial.
Moreover, it is a good place for the sales of many games and virtual goods. It contains some virtual
product like cakes and champagne. The overall sale of virtual knick-knacks was growing up to $1.6 billion
in 2010 (Sweeney et al., 2012). Facebook is an innovative organization to truck its user as a social capital.
Instead of using any anonymity, facebook always encourage its addict to use the real name and the right
descriptions. Advertiser can get the right customer with analyzing the actual profile of them. As a result,
advertisers can customize the users for the right offer while they have the access of users’ lives and their
friends and family information. It gives an immense occasion to the corporate houses to access the exact
demographic features and the true social ties and the networks they are attached with, for an instance,
the information about the family, co workers, class mates and peers of the concerned individual or group
of the users. The growing number of facebook users attracts the advertisers to display their promotion in
the site. According to the interactive advertising bureau, the number of facebook users is greater than any
of TV networks in the world (Rosoff, 2011). Furthermore, due to the exact information on users’
demographic character like gender, age, interests and purchases situation, the site becomes truly
important for the advertisers. Facebook is also professional and strategic to the interest of the advertisers
and commercial users. It works jointly with Nielsen, a marketing researcher agency, to justify the impact
of social networking on the issue like brand awareness. The users of the facebook are 30 percent more
likely to share or comment and know the advertisers’ message if they find any of their friends like or
comment on it (Lilley, Grodzinsky, & Gumbus, 2012). Facebook fan page also gives the organization an
ample opportunity to attach with the target users. It becomes so popular that people now preferring to
migrate into the facebook fan sites and start leaving the main brand web site (Neff, 2010). Now a day,
individuals are not comfortable to get email and text message from advertisers and more often find it as
interruption (Lilley et al., 2012). With considering the issue, facebook becomes very tactical to know the
kind of advertisement they prefer and the reasons to dislike the certain advertisements. Facebook
becomes proactive to maintain both users and advertisers interest. Meaning that, it trucks the customer
interest towards the specific commercial and let the advertiser customize their facts according to the
choice of customers.