paid search advertising: why business owners use it, the decision making process and the advantages...

7/28/2019 Paid Search Advertising: why business owners use it, the decision making process and the advantages and disadvantages that they ultimately see.

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Paid Search Advertising: why business owners use it, the

decision making process and the advantages and

disadvantages that they ultimately see.

By

Donald Maclean 082619239

Dissertation Supervisor: John Sanders

Word Count: 13,790

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment

of the degree of MA (Hons) in

International Management

at

School of Management and Languages

Heriot-Watt University

Edinburgh

March 2013


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Abstract

This study has been undertaken in order to establish why small to medium business owners

use paid search marketing spaces, the decision making process behind doing so and the

advantages and disadvantages that they ultimately see from doing so.

This study looked at the literature surrounding the subject and established gaps in the research

which allowed the researcher to establish a number of research questions. They were:

1. When implementing a new innovation what is the process that management gothrough at each of the 5 diffusion stages when considering PPC?

2. Why do companies use PPC advertising?3. What advantages and disadvantages do companies see?

In order to answer these questions this study used primary research involving 64 businesses

from different industries throughout the UK. Each business was asked to participate in a

survey which asked them about their use and knowledge of Paid Search Advertising.

The analysis of these results and the discussion that followed drew the following conclusions.

1. A number of conclusions were drawn for the first research question:

a. In the knowledge stage, interpersonal communication is more effectivethan mass media communication.

b. In the persuasion stage, those that are not using PPC did not activelyapply the innovation.

c. In the decision stage, managements expectations surrounding thebenefits were revealed.

d. The implementation stage concluded that training was vital in order toavoid problems.

e. The confirmation stage showed that there were differences between theexpected and actual benefits. It also showed the stages that

organisations left the process.


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2. The main reason that organisations use PPC advertising is for increasing thenumber of enquiries to the business, increasing traffic to the website, using

PPC to gain more sales and also in order to try and reach customers globally.

Other less responded answers were also given too.

3. After implementing PPC advertising the main advantages that organisationssaw were an increased number of enquiries, increased sales and traffic to the

website. Other advantages such as better quality of enquiry and reaching

customers globally were also discovered.

In terms of the disadvantages that were seen the main disadvantages that were

discovered were high costs, it was time consuming and it was difficult to use.

However through the discussion it was established that many of these

disadvantages could be combatted with proper training.


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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my dissertation supervisor, John Sanders, for all his help and guidance while

compiling this research. He was always available to speak to me and was always willing to give advice

to when it was needed.

I would also like to thank the 64 respondents who answered my survey. Without them there would

have been no research and I would not have been able to conduct such an in depth analysis. Their

responses have given me a wide range of interesting information which allowed me to meet the

research objectives.

Finally I would like to thank those that helped to test the survey before it was deployed as well as

those who took the time to proofread the research once completed.

Personal Statement

I confirm that the work contained within this study is my own and any references or ideas take from

other studies are properly referenced both in the text and in the reference list.

I have read the SML Undergraduate Dissertation Courses: Regulations and Procedures and have

understood them and taken action, where required.

Finally the research within this study was subject to ethical approval which was approved and passed

off by the Chair of the School of Managements Ethics Committee.

Signed

Dated.


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Contents

Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... i

Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................... iii

Personal Statement .................................................................................................................................. iiiContents................................................................................................................................................... iv

List of figures ......................................................................................................................................... vii

Chapter 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1

1.2 Aim of this study and for whom .............................................................................................. 1

1.3 Structure .................................................................................................................................. 2

Chapter 2 Literature Review ................................................................................................................ 3

2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3

2.2 Small to Medium Businesses .................................................................................................. 3

2.3 Definition of Online Advertising............................................................................................. 3

2.4 History of Advertising on the Web ......................................................................................... 4

2.5 Advantages of paid search ...................................................................................................... 5

2.5.1 Global Reach ................................................................................................................... 5

2.5.2 Cost Efficiency ................................................................................................................ 5

2.5.3 Audience Targeting ......................................................................................................... 6

2.5.4 Real Time Data................................................................................................................ 6

2.5.5 Adaptability and speed .................................................................................................... 6

2.5.6 Remarketing .................................................................................................................... 6

2.6 Disadvantages of Paid Search ................................................................................................. 7

2.7 Diffusion Strategies ................................................................................................................. 8

2.8 Rogers Diffusion of Innovations ............................................................................................ 9

2.8.1 Knowledge....................................................................................................................... 9

2.8.2 Persuasion...................................................................................................................... 10

2.8.3 Decision......................................................................................................................... 10

2.8.4 Implementation.............................................................................................................. 11

2.8.5 Confirmation ................................................................................................................. 11

Chapter 3 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 12

3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 12

3.2 Research Gap......................................................................................................................... 12

3.3 Research strategy................................................................................................................... 12


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3.3.1 Primary or secondary..................................................................................................... 12

3.3.2 Quantitative or Qualitative ............................................................................................ 14

3.4 Data collection....................................................................................................................... 14

3.4.1 Why use a Questionnaire? ............................................................................................. 15

3.4.2 Questionnaire Design .................................................................................................... 16

3.4.3 Question Design ............................................................................................................ 16

3.4.4 Testing ........................................................................................................................... 17

3.4.5 Ethical Considerations................................................................................................... 18

3.4.6 Sampling Strategy ......................................................................................................... 18

3.5 Framework for data analysis ................................................................................................. 20

3.6 Limitations and potential problems ....................................................................................... 21

3.7 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................... 21

Chapter 4 Results ............................................................................................................................... 22

4.1 How was the research carried out? ........................................................................................ 22

4.2 The results and discussion ..................................................................................................... 24

4.2.1 Literature Overview ...................................................................................................... 24

4.2.2 Eligibility....................................................................................................................... 25

4.2.3 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 26

4.2.4 Knowledge..................................................................................................................... 28

4.2.5 Persuasion...................................................................................................................... 31

4.2.6 Decision......................................................................................................................... 34

4.2.7 Implementation.............................................................................................................. 37

4.2.8 Confirmation ................................................................................................................. 39

4.3 Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 46

Chapter 5 Conclusion......................................................................................................................... 47

5.1 Research Objectives .............................................................................................................. 475.1.1 Research Question 1 ...................................................................................................... 47

5.1.2 Research Question 2 ...................................................................................................... 48

5.1.3 Research Question 3 ...................................................................................................... 48

5.2 Recommendations for future research ................................................................................... 49

5.3 Limitations of the study......................................................................................................... 50

Chapter 6 References ......................................................................................................................... 51

Chapter 7 Appendices ........................................................................................................................ 56

7.1 Appendix 1Ethics Statement ............................................................................................. 56


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7.2 Appendix 2Email asking for participations ....................................................................... 57

7.3 Appendix 3 - Questionnaire Questions.................................................................................. 58

7.4 Appendix 4Questionnaire Branches .................................................................................. 64


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List of figures

Table 1: Primary Research Advantages and Disadvantages: Adapted from Kumar et al. (2002)......... 13

Table 2: Secondary Research Advantages and Disadvantages: Adapted from Kumar et al. (2002) and

Saunders et al. (2007) ............................................................................................................................ 13

Table 3 Methods of Sampling ............................................................................................................... 20Table 4 Response rates from different sampling techniques ................................................................. 23

Table 5: Number of Employees............................................................................................................. 25

Table 6: Turnover.................................................................................................................................. 26

Table 7: Marketing Budget.................................................................................................................... 26

Table 8: Current Users of PPC .............................................................................................................. 27

Table 9: % of people who have used PPC in the past ........................................................................... 27

Table 10: % of people who have at least heard of PPC ......................................................................... 27

Table 11: When people currently using PPC heard about it.................................................................. 28

Table 12: When those not using PPC heard about it ............................................................................. 29

Table 13: Where people using PPC heard about it ................................................................................ 29

Table 14: Where people not using PPC heard about it .......................................................................... 30

Table 15: Whether those using PPC were searching for it or had a need for it ..................................... 30

Table 16: Whether those not using PPC had a need or were searching for it ....................................... 31

Table 17: Reasons for not continuing to use PPC ................................................................................. 31

Table 18: Inspiration to find out more................................................................................................... 32

Table 19: Reasons for moving forward ................................................................................................. 32

Table 20: Inspiration for moving forward for those not using PPC ...................................................... 33

Table 21: Reasons for not looking into PPC further............................................................................. 33

Table 22: Trialling the product.............................................................................................................. 35

Table 23: Benefits Expected.................................................................................................................. 36

Table 24: Expected Advantages vs. Literature Advantages .................................................................. 36

Table 25: Was training undertaken?...................................................................................................... 37

Table 26: Ease of implementation ......................................................................................................... 38

Table 27: Problems vs. Action Taken ................................................................................................... 39

Table 28: Benefits seen from those using PPC ..................................................................................... 40

Table 29: % Change of expected benefits vs. actual benefits ............................................................... 41

Table 30: Has PPC lived up to expectations? ........................................................................................ 42

Table 31: Would companies recommend PPC? .................................................................................... 42

Table 32: Will companies continue using PPC ..................................................................................... 42Table 33: Benefits of those that stopped using PPC.............................................................................. 43

Table 34: % difference of Advantages of those using PPC Vs Those not currently using PPC ........... 44

Table 35: % of people that left the process at each stage ...................................................................... 44

Table 36: Reasons for stopping using PPC ........................................................................................... 45


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Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1IntroductionMarketing spaces are constantly changing and the ways in which organisations can reach their

markets have developed greatly since the development of the internet. Management are now

able to reach their customers in seconds at very low costs and can even reach those people

that were not even looking for them. According to the Neilsen Adview pulse report on

advertising expenditure, in the first quarter of 2012 alone, the advertising expenditure in

newspapers dropped by 3.6%, magazine by 4.4% and television by 1.2%. However the

amount of money spent on internet marketing rose by a massive 12.1% (Nielsen, 2012). This

shows that companies are moving away from the traditional marketing spaces such as

newspaper, TV and magazine and are adopting the internet as a form of marketing to its

customer. 83% of the adult population in the UK has used the internet at some point (ONS,

2011b) and as such it is therefore a very powerful tool which management really should be

looking at using.

Upon conducting research into the area it was found there was not a large collection of

literature surrounding this topic and it was felt that with the potential power of it and its ever

increasing use that it was important to try and conduct some research into Paid Search

advertising.

1.2Aim of this study and for whomThe aim of this study is to determine why small to medium business owners use paid search

marketing spaces, the decision making process behind doing so and the advantages and

disadvantages that they ultimately see from doing so. It is aimed at those in management whoare looking to determine the benefits of Paid Search Advertising and recommendations as to

best practice when implementing the innovation. In order to answer this objective fully the

following 3 research questions that were established:




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Introduction

Literature Review

Methodology

Results and Discussion

Conclusions

1.3StructureThis chapter provides a very brief introduction to the study and the reasons for why it is being

conducted. It will then move onto Chapter 2, the literature review, which will develop an in

depth analysis of the research that already surrounds this topic. Through this analysis of theliterature it would then be clear where there were gaps in the research and the areas that could

be studied in greater depth.

In the next chapter, chapter 3, the study will introduce the methodology used in the study. At

this stage the researcher will outline the research gap and go on to show what decisions had to

be made in order to conduct the research. It will discuss the options of primary or secondary

research, qualitative or quantitative research before outlining the steps involved in designing

the questionnaire. Chapter 4 will then take the results from this research and display them to

the reader before conducting a detailed discussion based on the results and the literature from

earlier in the study.

Finally the final chapter of the study, Chapter 5, will draw conclusion based on the discussion

of the results and literature as well as presenting the recommendations for future study and the

limitations of this study. The diagram below clearly shows the five stages of this study and

the order which they flow

Figure 1 Structure of the paper


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Chapter 2 Literature Review

2.1IntroductionIn this section the researcher will provide a detailed analysis of the literature surrounding the

topic of Paid Search advertising. This section will be used further in the study in order to

build a solid discussion based of the research that has been conducted.

This section will start by outlining a definition of online advertising and paid search.

Following this the research will discuss briefly the history of online advertising and paid

search, before going on to discuss the advantages and disadvantages that they bring. There is

not a large amount of research on the specific advantages and disadvantages of paid search

due to the ever changing nature of the product and that many features are rather new. The

research that has been found points more towards the benefits of internet marketing which

have been used and applied to the paid search model. These advantages and disadvantages

will be compared to the research in the discussion and will help in establishing the

experiences of real businesses.

The literature review will also look at why managers make the decision to implement new

innovations and the process behind doing so. In order to obtain some structure this will be

focusing on using Rogers Diffusion of Innovations theory. It will look at innovation theories

and what is said about them by a range of theorists before focusing on Rogers theory, what it

does, how effective it is and how others evaluate it too.

2.2Small to Medium BusinessesIn 2012 SMEs accounted for 99.9% of all private sector businesses in the UK (FSB, 2012).

The European Commission defined SMEs as companies that are made up of enterprises

which employ fewer than 250 persons and which have an annual turnover not exceeding EUR

50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million (European

Commission 2003).

2.3Definition of Online AdvertisingOnline advertising is defined as Deliberate messages placed on third-party websites

including search engines and directories available through internet access (Ha, 2008 p31).


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Paid search is defined as "advertisers competing for top listing position through bidding in on-

going auctions and then paying when users click their advertisements" (Laffey, 2006, p1).

This paper will look at one form of online advertising, being Paid Search advertising.

2.4History of Advertising on the WebThe first ad appeared on the internet in 1994 with the introduction of banner ads (Ha, 2008).

Banner ads are "Small, graphic links placed on a web page. The banner is linked to the

advertiser's website, so that clicking on it transports the browser into the advertiser's lair"

(Barrett, 1997, p43). These were usually placed along the top, side or bottom of a webpage

and were the main form of advertising online until around 2002 (Laffey, 2006). At its height

the banner ad was responsible for 53% of online advertising revenue in the UK (Laffey,

2006). However the effectiveness of these ads soon wore off and users stopped responding as

much to them. It was reported that 54% of people stated that banner ads interfered with web

usage and 11% said they would be more likely to return to a site when not faced with

advertisements (McCoy et al., 2007). It was in 1998 that a new approach to internet

advertising appeared. The Californian based company called goto.com was launched (Laffey,

2006). This was the birth of Pay Per Click advertising, where advertisers would appear on the

page and their position was determined by how much they were willing to pay for a certain

keyword or phrase.

As an example if you ran a flower shop then you would want to make sure you appeared

highly in the results when someone searched for the phrase flower shop. If you were paying

more than your rivals then you would appear above them in the search listings. Goto.com

later became Overture.com which was later bought by Yahoo and is still used by them to this

day (Seymour et al., 2011). Paid search ads are displayed on users search results along the top

above the organic listings and down the side too. Advertisers bid on key words and those who

bid the highest and have the highest relevance to the keyword will appear in the results.

Should a user then click on one of these adverts then the advertiser is charged for this click.

In 2000 Google entered the market with their Adwords product, which quickly saw them

become the market leader. In 2010 Google received $28.2 billion through advertising (Chen

and He, 2011) out of total revenue of $29.32 billion (Google, 2010) and was responsible for

91% of all searches carried out on the web (Banks, 2012). On the other hand Yahoo had


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revenues of $5.31 billion out of a total revenue of just $6.32 billion (Yahoo, 2010) and was

only responsible for 2.77% of searches (Banks, 2012). As a result of the above findings we

will focus the study on Google and its Adwords program.

2.5 Advantages of paid searchIn order to establish the effects of online advertising we need to look at their advantages and

disadvantages. There are a number of advantages that come about because of internet

marketing and specifically paid search. From previous studies it can be established that the

advantages of internet marketing fall into areas such as global reach, cost efficiency, audience

targeting, real time data, adaptability, speed and repeated marketing (Laffey, 2006, Broussard,

2000, Applegate, 2006, Lei, 2000, Anon, 2010).

2.5.1 Global ReachWith 83% of the UK population using the internet (ONS, 2011b) and 2.27 billion people

using the internet worldwide (Pingdom, 2012) it allows businesses to gain access to a whole

range of different customers. Businesses are now able to reach new markets at the touch of a

button and can also now be discovered by people from foreign markets too.

2.5.2 Cost EfficiencyThanks to the paid search model the cost of advertising is completely in the control of the

advertisers meaning they can make the campaign as cost effective as they wish. This is due to

the fact that advertisers are only paying for those people who click their advert and who come

onto their website. These people have already shown an interest in a businesss area product

or industry due to the fact their search term or interests has sparked your ad to appear.

Advertisers can control the cost by setting daily budgets and a maximum cost per click

(Laffey, 2006). This means that the cost per click is in line with what they are willing to pay

and also ensures that the budget does not run over. Once the daily limit has been reached then

the adverts will no longer appear on the site to anyone (Laffey, 2006).

Even the adverts that are not clicked help to raise the brand awareness by consumers being

exposed to their message and to their adverts on numerous occasions (Broussard, 2000).

Thanks to this tight control of the finances, the system is very cheap to implement and in

complete control of the advertiser.


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2.5.3 Audience TargetingOne of the main advantages set out by Applegate (2006) was the fact that the internet could

be used to target specific users. When this article was written it was talking about by placing

the adverts on specific sites. However with the introduction of paid search, that has been

taken to a whole new level. Advertisers using Google Adwords can target their audience

based on the keywords they search, whether they have been on their website before and even

down to what time of day they are searching. This allows the advertisers to reach the people

who they believe will be the most likely ones to purchase their products and who are most

like their target market. It is also possible to run multiple campaigns at once which service

different people or target markets.

2.5.4 Real Time DataWeb ads can be monitored in terms of hits and results of advertising could be numerically

expressed (Lei, 2000, p6). This statement turned out to be true, and like the audience

targeting, has exceeded that to allow even greater forms of analysis. Advertisers can now see

statistics easily and first hand. They are presented with data such as how many people the ad

was served to, how many clicked it, how many purchased something from them and how

much it cost per person.

2.5.5 Adaptability and speedAs opposed to traditional media, such as print, TV and radio, where, once the advert is sent it

can no longer be changed, the internet allows advertisers to change their adverts immediately

and whenever they want. Again Applegate (2006, p6) suggested that The internet allows

advertisers the opportunity to change their advertising messages often. The data they receive

allows the advertisers to see which ads people are responding to, which they are not and

allows them to make changes in order to optimise their campaigns. They can add new

campaigns, stop and start different ones immediately and make sure that the ads they are

delivering are effective. All such changes can be made in a matter of minutes and the new

adverts can be served to potential customers immediately.

2.5.6 RemarketingFinally the advantage of remarketing is the newest of them all. In 2009 Google introduced a

trial of what they called remarketing. This would allow advertisers using the Google Content

Network, including YouTube, to target previous visitors to their sites to entice them back


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(Anon, 2010). This gives advertisers the ability to display adverts only to people who have

viewed their site in the past. As these people have already shown an interest in their company,

displaying adverts to them afterwards may entice them back or create brand awareness.

2.6Disadvantages of Paid SearchThrough the research of the literature it was discovered that there is no substantial research

into the disadvantages of paid search. Due to this, this study has looked into the disadvantages

of marketing online in general. However these are not specific enough towards Paid search

for them to have full effect and much of this research is also out of date. For example

Applegate (2006) sets out the disadvantage of advertising online as:

1. The Internet as an advertising medium has not been shown to be effective. In fact,there are too many questions that have not been answered regarding the Internet's

impact on consumers.

2. Many users of the Internet do not enjoy being bombarded with advertisements,especially when they are paying to get online. In addition, many users may block

many advertisements with software or delete those advertisements that happen to

appear on their screens.

3. Many users of the Internet are sceptical about ordering products or services online. Infact, many do not wish to provide their credit card numbers or other personal

information because they are afraid that such information may be stolen or sold. In

short, they question the security of the Internet or the Web site.

4. Most users of the Internet use modems that are connected to telephone lines. Thesemodems are slow. If an advertiser's Web site has sounds and/or graphics, many users

will go back to the previous page before the advertiser's page downloads. The reason:

it takes too long for such pages to download, unless the advertiser has employed acompany that used the latest technology to create the web site or the user has access to

broadband.

(Applegate, 2006)

As can be seen, most of these disadvantages are no longer relevant to the current marketplace.

The fact that Googles revenue from advertising is so high shows that it is an effect ive

medium. Users still do not like being bombarded with adverts as the report from Mccoy et al.


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(2007) showed. It showed that 69% of users found pop up ads annoying and 23% said they

would not return if a site had them (McCoy et al., 2007). Internet users are no longer sceptical

about ordering goods online either. In 2010 it was reported that 34% of consumers prefer to

buy online than in store (Tornquist and Hird, 2010). It is also now the case that over 93% of

the internet population has broadband and as such speed is no longer an issue (ONS, 2011a).

As such the researcher hopes that with the help of the research that will be conducted they

will be able to establish the disadvantages found by real companies.

2.7Diffusion StrategiesAs with all new ideas and innovations, management must decide on which ones they will

adopt and which ones they will dismiss. Diffusion is defined as the process by which an

alteration occurs in the structure and function of a social group (Rogers, 2013, p5). The idea

is that when new products, services or ideas come along, management will follow a certain

number of steps which will determine whether or not they adopt the new innovation, or

whether they reject the idea. This process happens every time we happen to come across a

decision and will often be followed subconsciously. As a result of this there is no set

definition as to what the process actually involves. There are many different theories which

have come about mainly through the varied backgrounds that each researcher has come from.

Cooper and Kleinschmidt concluded that The innovation development process of the

manufacturing industry comprises of: (i) preliminary assessment, (ii) detailed investigation

(problem definition), (iii) development, (iv) testing and validation, and (v)

commercialization(Wonglimpiyarat and Yuberk, 2005).

Kline and Rosenberg State that The chain-link model represents the process of innovation

a set of linked activities that may occur in a variety of sequences. A model includes the

innovative activities as well as the elements of research, knowledge, and

market(Wonglimpiyarat and Yuberk, 2005).

Schnookler says that The development of technological innovation depends on the evolution

of the market demand. The pull from the demand side influences the development of the

product life cycle in technological innovation (Wonglimpiyarat and Yuberk, 2005).


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While Rogers hypothesises that the innovation decision process is a five stage process

involving 1) Knowledge 2) Persuasion 3) Decision 4) Implementation and 5) Confirmation

(Rogers, 2003).

Of all the theories it seems that Rogers is the most accepted. Having first been established in

1962 (Wonglimpiyarat and Yuberk, 2005)his book Diffusion of Innovations is now in its

fifth edition and has sold over 150000 copies (simonandschuster, 2003). Wonglimpiyarat and

Yuberk (2005) conclude in their study into the effectiveness of Rogers theory that The

innovation life cycle theory is effective and useful in describing the progress of innovations.

This Article used Roger's concept of Innovation Diffusion theory to develop a better

understanding of the government innovation process (Wonglimpiyarat and Yuberk, 2005).

With the clear and easy to understand steps this theory can be used as a guide to structure the

results and the discussion within this study. It allows the study to look at the decisions that

were made at each stage and what the managers were thinking at each stage of the process.

This paper will then be able to evaluate how Rogers theory matched the experiences of the

management and the benefits they expected from it and whether the innovation matched their

expectations from before.

2.8Rogers Diffusion of InnovationsThis study will use Rogers Diffusion of Innovation Theory to establish the stages that

management go through to make decisions and to establish what the thinking is behind each

stage. It will use this along with the research to establish key variables in the decision making

process. While using this theory we will refer to the company, manager, director or decision

maker as the individual and paid search will be referred to as the innovation or PPC. The steps

in Rogers theory are laid out in a clear and easy to understand process. According to Rogers

there are 5 stages in which this diffusion occurs, known as the innovation decision process.

They are 1) Knowledge 2) Persuasion 3) Decision 4) Implementation and 5) Confirmation

(Rogers, 2003). These stages are used every time we want to make a decision on an

innovation.

2.8.1 KnowledgeThe knowledge stage is when an individual first hears of an innovation, what it has to offer

and how it works. At this stage the management will either take notice of the innovation and


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move onto the next stage or will not act on it at all. Management are most likely to take note

of an innovation if they already have a need or a problem that they wish to fix.

Rogers identifies that in order for an individual to first obtain knowledge of an innovation, the

information must come through a communication channel. These communication channels

are defined as the means by which messages get from one individual to another (Rogers,

2003). The quickest way for an innovation to be communicated is through mass media

channels. These media forms reach millions of people and include areas such as TV,

newspapers and radio. However, Rogers states that this form of communication is not the

most effective way to persuade the individual to look into the innovation. Interpersonal

channels do this much more effectively and involve a personal exchange between 2 or more

people. This may be a business partner, someone the individual works closely with or just a

friend who has heard of or is using the innovation.

2.8.2 PersuasionThe next stage is persuasion. At this stage the individual will form an opinion of the

innovation and decide whether that opinion is good one or bad. The individual will actively

look for information on the innovation and decide what information they find to be relevant

and credible. One of the main areas they will look at is the advantages and disadvantages.

Once they had all the information they needed then they would start to apply the innovation

mentally to their organisation and to where they want to be. This will help them will form

their attitude to the innovation. Should they have a favourable opinion of the innovation they

will then start to imagine how they could fit this innovation in to their organisation. Like in

the previous stage, where interpersonal communication was a major factor, Rogers implied

that businesses will mostly look to seek information from people they know who have

experience of using the innovation. It is at this point they will decide if it is possible to adopt

and proceed onto the next stage of process.

2.8.3 DecisionThis is where the individual will start to look at the innovation in more depth. They will

establish what benefits they are likely to see, how much it would cost to implement. Rogers

suggests that one way to cope with the uncertainty of an innovation is to try out the new idea

on a partial basis (Rogers, 2003, p177). As such many organisations may conduct a trial of

the product before fully committing to its implementation. This will then allow them to make


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an informed decision as to whether the innovation could be of benefit to the organization. It is

at this stage or the next where individuals may also undertake some training on how to use the

innovation which should allow for smoother use in the future. This is the final stage at which

the individual can reject the innovation.

2.8.4 ImplementationThe penultimate stage of the process is implementation. This is when an individual puts an

innovation to use (Rogers, 2003, p179). Up until now the process has not involved any

physical action from the individual; however at this stage plans are put in place. The

individual still doesnt know everything about the innovation and as such there is still a

degree of caution when moving forward. An individual must consider elements such as where

the innovation can be obtained, how it is to be used and what problems they might encounter

along the way. Again the organisation may undertake training in order to be able to

implement it effectively and efficiently.

2.8.5 ConfirmationThis final stage takes place after the innovation has been in place for a period of time. This

stage will involve the individual seeking reinforcement (Rogers, 2003, p189) in the decision

they have made. They will do this by looking at the performance of the innovation and seeing

whether it has matched up to their expectations, fallen short or superseded them.

Should the innovation not provide sufficient reinforcement to support their original decision

then the innovation will be discontinued. Rogers suggests there are 2 forms of discontinuance,

replacement and disenchantment. Replacement discontinuance is when the individual stops

using the innovation as they have found a more appropriate method of serving their needs.

Disenchantment discontinuance on the other hand sees an organisation stop its use of and

innovation due to a lack of satisfaction in the performance of the innovation. (Rogers, 2003)


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Chapter 3 Methodology

3.1IntroductionIn the previous section the literature surrounding this project was outlined. This looked at

Rogers Diffusion of Innovations as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using PPC

advertising and the internet in general for marketing a business. This chapter will look to

inform you of all of the stages involved in the implementation of this study. This will involve

outlining the research gaps which have been identified by the analysis of the literature, the

research methods that were used as well as the research questions involved in the study.

3.2Research GapIn the previous chapter it was established that there really is a lack of academic research into

the effects of PPC and the advantages and disadvantages to companies. Much of the research

focuses on marketing on the internet in general and does not focus on PPC advertising. In

order to give a focus to the study the following research questions were developed:



This chapter will outline the strategy that was adopted when conducting this research as well

as any considerations which needed to be made in order to answer the research questions.

3.3Research strategy3.3.1 Primary or secondaryThe first thing that had to be established for the research was the type of research that the

researcher would carry out. There are generally two types of data which can be collected.

They are primary and secondary.

Primary data is data which is collected specifically for the projects being undertaken

(Saunders et al., 2007 p607). It is data that the researcher has gone out and collected by

themselves in order to get the answers that they require.


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Secondary data on the other hand is data that is collected by persons or agencies for purposes

other than solving the problem at hand (Kumar et al., 2002 p106). While this type of data

may present the researcher with the information they need it will not be specifically aimed at

the project they are looking to research.

These two types of data both have their disadvantages and advantages and in order to

establish which one to conduct the researcher must weigh these up. Tables 1 and 2 below

outline the advantages and disadvantages of both of these types of research strategies.

Table 1: Primary Research Advantages and Disadvantages: Adapted from Kumar et al. (2002)

Table 2: Secondary Research Advantages and Disadvantages: Adapted from Kumar et al. (2002) and Saunders et al.

(2007)

Having weighed up the advantages and disadvantages of each type of data it was felt that the

best way forward for this study would be to conduct primary research. The aim of the study is

to find out about managements decision making process and to discover the benefits that

companies see from using PPC advertising. As already established in the literature review

there is a severe lack of research into this field and as such it only makes sense to conduct


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primary research. This will allow the researcher to ask the questions they want to ask and to

get the opinions of business straight from the directors of the companies.

3.3.2 Quantitative or QualitativeOnce the type of research was established it was then necessary to decide whether the

research that will be conducted should be quantitative, qualitative or a mix of both.

Quantitative research will always involve the analysis of numbers (Johnson and Harris, 2002).

These will most likely take the form of a questionnaire where once completed the researcher

will use mathematical and statistical treatment to help evaluate the results (White, 2000

p24).

Qualitative research on the other hand is data which is collected in the form of words,

observations and descriptions (White, 2000, Johnson and Harris, 2002). These usually come

in the form of interviews and will not involve using mathematical approaches when analysing

the data (White, 2000).

Having considered the two different approaches and thought about the research questions that

the project is looking to answer it has been established that this research should follow a

mixed approach, using some qualitative and some quantitative data. Looking at the research

questions there are some questions that will require set answers as well as others that will look

to establish the opinions and thoughts of management as they go through the process. White

(2000) suggested that by using a mixed approach a researcher was able to look at the problem

from a number of different angles. It was also said that doing so would be an excellent way to

verify the results of any data.

3.4Data collectionThere a number of different approaches that can be used when looking to collect data for a

research project such as questionnaires, interviews, case studies, focus groups or observations

(Collis and Hussey, 2003). Each has its merits and each has its downsides too. Having

established that this research should take the form of primary research with a mix of both

qualitative and quantitative approaches, the most sensible form of conducting this research


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would be through a questionnaire. The following sections will look to justify this choice as

well as set out the steps that were undertaken in order to conduct the research.

3.4.1 Why use a Questionnaire?Questionnaires are probably the most popularly used method of obtaining data when

conducting research. Collis and Hussey (2003) say that questionnaires are a collection of

planned questions, which have been chosen in order to gain reliable responses. Each person

is asked the same questions and as such you can make sure that everyone is giving responses

to each of those questions.

Consideration had to be taken into the way that this survey would be distributed. There are a

number of different methods that could have been pursued such as a postal questionnaire, by

telephone, face to face or online. Due to the nature of the study and the wide variety of

businesses and responses looking to be gained, from all over the UK, it was felt that the

easiest way of conducting this survey would be online.

This method would bring a number of advantages. Firstly this research was looking to get in

touch with directors or marketing managers of a wide range of businesses from across the

UK. The online questionnaire would permit the targeting of the appropriate people, within

businesses across the UK, who would have the knowledge to answer the questions fully and

accurately. It was hoped that the researcher would be able to, where possible, send the

invitation to their personal email accounts which would increase the confidence that the

correct person has answered the survey.

Unlike surveys conducted by post or face to face there would be no lead time in waiting for

the questionnaires being delivered to the potential respondents and there would not be the

need to wait for it to be sent back. By doing it online it allowed the respondents to complete it

when they had time and the researchers were not seen to be wasting their time by asking

questions on the phone. It would allow respondents to take some time to think about their

responses too, which means that answers were not forced or rushed. By holding the

questionnaire online there will be 100% anonymity which means that respondents can answer

honestly and not feel that they have to answers with responses that they think are the right

thing to say. All responses will be gathered electronically and this will be completely free to


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administer and would only require time in actually targeting the correct people. (Collis and

Hussey, 2003, Bennett, 1991, Saunders et al., 2009).

3.4.2 Questionnaire DesignOnce the method of delivering the research was chosen it was then necessary to look at the

design of the questionnaire and how this would be taken forward. There were a number of

considerations that had to take place in order for it to progress further. In this section you will

be guided through the various different stages that were undertaken when implementing the

questionnaire.

3.4.3 Question DesignAs the literature review highlights, Rogers Diffusion of Innovations has five different stages

which are undertaken when looking to implement a new innovation. It was therefore felt that

this would be a good model for splitting up the questions.

The questions were designed to ask what managers were thinking at each stage of the process.

It was realised that not everybody who answered the questions would follow through with the

innovations. As such, at each different stage in the process there was the option for the

respondent to say that they did not go further in the process. This would allow the researcher

to see where most people stopped looking at the innovation and the reasons for doing so too.

It also made sure that those responding to the questions were not subjected to questions that

were not relevant to them and as such the time it took to answer the survey was greatly

reduced.

As the respondents have no direct contact with the researcher in order to clarify the meaning

of questions or to ask for more information the researcher had to make sure that each question

was clear and that each person who read it would read the question the same way. It also had

to be considered as to what type of questions were to be asked. This research was looking to

determine not just facts but opinions too and as such there would be a number of different

types of questions. The first thing that had to be established was the eligibility of those

responding. This research is looking purely at small and medium businesses and as such, it

had to be sure that the companies who were responding to the survey met the criteria.


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In order to do this there were two questions placed at the beginning of the survey which

determined whether their business lay within the definition. If they did then they were

allowed to proceed and if not they were informed so and thanked for their time.

After this, the main survey would start where there would be some closed questions which

required a yes/no answer, there would be some open questions which would require the

respondent to enter their opinions and finally there would be some forced-choice questions

which would require the respondent to answer from a given set of answers. These three types

of questions together would allow the researcher to gain all the information that would be

required for the survey and would provide a wide range of data to analyse. The closed

questions would provide the answers that are essential for the research, the open questions

would allow us to gain some opinion which would help back up the answers to the closed

questions and perhaps provide some further information and the forced choice questions

would allow the respondents the opportunity to select all the responses that applied to them

giving us a reliable list of advantages and disadvantages (Synodinos, 2003,Saunders et al.,

2009, Chisnall, 2004, McGivern, 2003).

3.4.4 TestingOnce the survey had been designed and the appropriate questions had been chosen it was then

essential to test it in order to make sure that it met its required function. The researcher asked

4 fellow undergraduate students and two family members to run through the questions. They

were each given a quick brief which told them what type of company they were and whether

they used PPC advertising. This was done in order to make sure that all branches of the

questionnaires were tested. Each member was asked to make sure that each question was clear

and unambiguous, that there were no answers missing and that the survey took them to the

correct stage depending on their answers. Overall the feedback was very good with a couple

of minor changes being made. One change that was made was on the scale questions where

the respondents were required to rate on a scale of 1 10 how easy the implementation of

PPC was. It was felt that it needed to be noted whether 1 or 10 was representing ease of

implementation. This could have caused some confusion in the answers and would have

provided unreliable data and as such this was changed.

The other problem that was encountered was that users who went off on one of the branches

got to the end of the survey where they were then informed that they were not suitable for the


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survey despite the fact that their answers to the eligibility questions proved that they were. As

such this was changed in order to make sure these people did complete the survey.

3.4.5 Ethical ConsiderationsIn line with the Heriot-Watt University guidelines into ethical research there were a number

of considerations that had to be taken into account before the questionnaire was sent out.

Ethics in research was defined by Kumar et al. (2002 p18)as the moral principles or values

that generally govern the conduct of an individual or group. He also stated that Researchers

have responsibilities to their profession, clients, and respondents, and must adhere to high

ethical standards to ensure both the function and information are not brought into disrepute

(Kumar et al, 2002, p18). It was therefore very important that the survey met these standards.

There were a number of areas which needed to be satisfied before this could be done.

As this study involved speaking to businesses and looked to gain information that may be

seen a sensitive it was important that all information that was passed on remain confidential

and that the respondent could not be identified from their answers. Respondents were

informed that they reserved the right to withdraw from the study at any time with no

judgement or adverse effects and the survey would not look to offer an incentive to those who

took part. Potential respondents were also informed of the purpose of the study clearly and

truthfully (White, 2000, Saunders et al., 2009).

In an attempt to satisfy this, a statement was included at the start of the questionnaire and in

the email which was sent out to participants (Appendix 1). This informed the respondents that

their information would remain confidential and that they would not be identified in the study

without prior consent. Potential respondents were also told of the time that it was expected to

take, the purpose of the study and were also given the contact details of the researcher and

their supervisor in case of any worries. Participants were finally informed that they would

have the opportunity to request a copy of the study when fully completed if they wished.

3.4.6 Sampling StrategySelecting the people to respond to a survey is obviously very important and there are a range

of different ways in which a researcher can go about it. It could be that the sample is

randomly selected where the researcher does not choose who should respond or it could be a

non-probability sample where the researcher has a certain level of control over who can


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respond to the survey (Saunders et al., 2009). With this study it was particularly important to

make sure that the people who were answering the survey were responsible for the

implementation of PPC advertising or for the decision not to implement it. Therefore it was

decided that a non-probability approach would be taken.

This meant a self-selection sampling technique was undertaken in order to gain responses.

According to Saunders et al. (2009 p241)this is used when a researcher allows each case to

identify their desire to take part in the research. This meant advertising the fact that the

researcher had a survey that they were looking to be completed and inviting them to do so

through methods such as email, message boards, personal communication or personal

contacts. Those people who then went online and completed the survey had their data

collected and those that did not were not included in the survey (Saunders et al., 2009).

During this survey there were a number of techniques that were undertaken in order to invite

individuals to take part. These can be seen in Table 3 below. As you will see there were a

number of different techniques that were use and an example message that was sent can be

found in Appendix 2.


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Table 3 Methods of Sampling

Using this method as you can see the study would be able to access a wide range of

businesses from many different backgrounds. The researcher will hopefully gain a wide range

of responses from people who do use PPC, people that have in the past and those who have

never heard of it.

3.5Framework for data analysisThis survey would be designed and distributed using esurveyspro.com, which is an online

questionnaire design and distribution tool. Doing so would allow the researcher to design an

appropriate questionnaire with the different types of questions and the appropriate branching

too. It would appear professional and the collected data could then easily be analysed. After

all the data was collected it was felt that using SPSS to analyse the data would be the best

Medium Action

LinkedIn Joining a number of appropriate business

management and marketing groups and

publicising the survey

Facebook Asking friends who knew of people with

their own business to pass on the survey

Message Boards Posting on a number of message boards

asking for people to help with the survey if

they owned a business

Personal Contacts Using a number of contacts who own their

own business to ask if they will fill in the

survey

Use the contacts of those people to send

emails too as well

Google Searching on Google for businesses within

certain industries then choosing the top 20

results in the listings and sending emails to

them.

Personal Communication Spend some time going around local

businesses near both home and work. Where

individuals will be spoken to and given a link

to the survey to complete if they wish.


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possible method as it would allow easy interpretation of the data and would allow the

researcher to look at relationships of certain responses.

3.6Limitations and potential problems

The main limitations that might be encountered would be accessing the correct person within

the organisation. Some of the respondents have made their email addresses readily available

and can be emailed directly; however should their email addresses not be readily available

there would be a reliance on the person who receives it to pass it on to the correct person.

There is also the problem that some businesses may see the information that is being asked as

being too sensitive therefore it is important to stress the anonymity and confidentiality of the

study.

3.7ConclusionsThis chapter started by identifying the different methods that needed to be considered when

designing the research. It was decided that the best approach would be to conduct primary

research using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. The easiest way to do this was

through an online questionnaire. This section then looked at why a questionnaire had been

chosen before giving information on how the design of the survey came about. The ethics of

the study were considered and the researchers approaches to these were outlined before the

testing and the sampling strategies for the study we discussed. Finally it was discussed how

these results would be analysed. The next section will present the findings of this study and

builds a detailed discussion.


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Chapter 4 ResultsIn the previous section it was highlighted how the researcher would go about obtaining the

research required for this study. The method chosen was an online questionnaire and there

were a range of different ways in which the researcher planned on obtaining the information.

This section will provide an in depth analysis of the results that were gained, it will start by

outlining how the results were obtained at each stage before going on to present a discussion

that will allow the researcher to answer the research questions of the study.

4.1How was the research carried out?As mentioned in Table 3 there were a number of different modes that the researcher plannedto use in order to get the survey to the correct people. Each of these stages was carried out at

separate times, when one was exhausted the researcher moved on to the next stage in an

attempt to gain more responses. This meant that it was simple to keep an eye on which

methods were successful in obtaining results. Table 4 below outlines which methods were

used and their success.


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Table 4 Response rates from different sampling techniques

Medium

LinkedIn This involved the survey going out to a large

number of people who were members of the

groups. Each person will have also received at

least one email from LinkedIn notifying them ithad been posted.

The response rate was reasonable with 10

responses

Facebook Friends were asked to pass on the survey to

anybody they knew who owned a business.

This was not as successful as anticipated and

only resulted in 2 responses

Message Boards Posted on a number of message boards asking

people to take part if they owned a business.

As this was not a business forum the response

was again low and only resulted in 2 responses

Personal Contacts Used a number of contacts who own their own

business and asked if they would complete the

survey.

The contacts of these people were also emailed

asking them to take part.

This was by far the most successful method with

35 responses.

Google Searched on Google for businesses within certain

industries and then chose the top 20 companies

and emailed them.

This method was reasonable. As the businesses

had no connection to the researcher the

response rate was lower with 10 responses.

Personal Communication Spent some time going around local businesses

and gave them a link to the survey.

This response rate was disappointing. It wasthought that by meeting the potential

respondents personally that it would raise

response rates. However despite the positive

communication only 5 responded.


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As can be seen the methods of sampling had varying levels of success. It was found that those

who had a connection to the researcher were more willing to complete the survey. Overall 180

emails were sent out to potential respondents, while 20 businesses were personally visited and

a link to the survey was posted on various message boards and internet groups. Overall the

research returned 64 responses to the survey which gave a response rate of 32% and provided

the researcher with a large amount of data. This response rate was as expected as Saunders et

al. (2007) suggested that internet based questionnaires would typically receive 30% response

rate.

4.2The results and discussionIn the following sections the results of the survey that was conducted can be displayed. This

section will look at the responses that were given for each stage of the innovation process for

companies that do use PPC advertising and for those that do not use PPC advertising too. It

will then go on to present the findings in relation to the research questions that were

established in the previous section. They were:



4.2.1 Literature OverviewThe literature began by outlining the advantages of paid search advertising. It was said that

the main advantages that were found were global reach, cost efficiency, audience targeting,

real time data, adaptability and speed and repeated marketing. Each of these points was

discussed in detail with a range of different authors opinions being brought in at the various

stages. Once the advantages were discussed the literature review then went on to outline the

disadvantages. However there was not any substantial research into the disadvantages of PPC

advertising and as such it went on to look more at the disadvantages of advertising online in

general. It was stated at this point that this study would hope to identify some of these

disadvantages. The last piece of theory that the literature review went on to look at was the

various diffusion strategies and in particular Rogers Diffusion of Innovations theory. The

five steps ofRogers theory were outlined and discussed and allowed the researcher to see the


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various stages that happen within a decision making process. The five stages were

Knowledge, Persuasion, Decision, Implementation and Confirmation (Rogers, 2013). Using

this model it allowed the survey to be structured in a way that allowed the researcher to see

what happens at each stage when considering PPC advertising.

4.2.2 EligibilityThe first thing to do was establish whether the company taking part in the survey lay within

the definition of a small to medium enterprise. In order to do so they were asked the turnover

of their company, their marketing budget and the size of the company. This not only made

sure that they were eligible but also provided an overview as to the different types of

businesses answering the survey.

As can be seen in Table 5, 73.4% of the companies that responded employed just 1 20

people.

Table 5: Number of Employees

In terms of the turnover of each of the businesses this was more spread out with 35.9% havingturnovers of less than 250000 but 21.9% with turnovers of up to 2.5 million (Table 6).

Count Column N %

1 - 20 47 73.4%

20 - 50 11 17.2%

50 - 100 2 3.1%

100 - 200 3 4.7%

200 - 250 1 1.6%

Total (N) 64 100.0%

How Many Employees does

your company employ


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Table 6: Turnover

The final question that was asked at this stage was the marketing budget of each company. As

before most of the companies asked fell into the lower ranges of the survey with 70.3% of

respondents saying that they had a marketing budget of less than 25000 (Table7).

Table 7: Marketing Budget

4.2.3 IntroductionIt is at this stage that the survey starts to branch depending on the answers that were given.

This would establish what questions they would be faced with at the next stage in order to get

the best responses. Respondents were first asked whether they currently used PPC advertising,

with 39.1% saying yes and 60.9% saying no.

Count Column N %

< 250000 23 35.9%

250000 - 500000 9 14.1%

500000 - 1 million 10 15.6%

1 million - 2.5 million 14 21.9%

2.5 million - 5 million 3 4.7%

5 million - 10 million 1 1.6%

10 million to 22 million 4 6.3%

Total (N) 64 100.0%

In order for your company to

fit within the boundaries of

this study they mus t be a

Small to Medium business.This is defined ad a

company which has less

than 250 employees and a

turnover of less than 40

million.

Count Column N %

1 - 25000 45 70.3%

25000 - 50000 7 10.9%

50000 - 100000 7 10.9%

100000 - 250000 2 3.1%

250000 - 500000 0 .0%

1 million + 1 1.6%

Would rather not say 2 3.1%

Total (N) 64 100.0%

Roughly what is your

marketing budget each

year?


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Table 8: Current Users of PPC

As seen in Table 8 61% of companies that we asked were not currently using PPC

advertising. After it was established that the respondent was not using it the respondents were

asked whether they have ever used PPC advertising. 59% of people who were asked this

question said that they had never used PPC advertising. Those that said no were then asked

whether they had ever heard of PPC advertising. It was found that a total of 6 respondents

said they had never heard of it while 17 respondents had heard of it but never used PPC. This

accounted for 26.5% of the total number of respondents. The results of which can be seen in

Table 9 and 10 below.

Table 9: % of people who have used PPC in the past

Table 10: % of people who have at least heard of PPC

Count Column N %

Yes 25 39.1%

No 39 60.9%

Total (N) 64 100.0%

Do you currently use Google

Pay Per Click Advertising

Count Column N %

Yes 16 41.0%No 23 59.0%

Total (n) 39 100.0%

Have you ever used GooglePay Per Click Advertis ing?

Count Column N %

Yes 17 73.9%

No 6 26.1%

Total (n) 24 100.0%

Have you heard of Google

Pay Per Click Advertising?


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Those that answered no to both of these questions were taken to the end of the survey and

thanks for their time.

In line with the five stages outlined by Rogers Diffusion of Innovations strategy the results

will be displayed within each stage. They were Knowledge, Persuasion, Decision,

Implementation and Confirmation (Rogers, 2003).

4.2.4 KnowledgeThis is the stage in the process where an individual first hears of an innovation. It is at this

stage that the diffusion process starts. There were a number of points which we researched in

this stage which relate to the theory which was studied. As was discovered in the previous

section, only 39% of businesses surveyed were currently using PPC advertising. Therefore it

is important when we are conducting this discussion to think about both those who are

currently using PPC and those that are not using PPC.

Respondents were asked three questions at this stage. The first asked them when they first

heard of PPC advertising. The majority of responses that were received suggested that 44% of

respondents heard about the innovation 37 years ago. 24% of responses said that they heard

about PPC 1 3 years ago and 20% of responses said that they heard about PPC 10+ years

ago (Table 11).

Table 11: When people currently using PPC heard about it

The people who are not currently using PPC were asked the same question. The results were

relatively similar with the majority still hearing about the product 3 7 years ago, however

more people had heard about it more recently than those that were using it with 45.5% of

respondents saying that they only heard about it between 0 and 3 years ago as seen in Table

12.

Count Column N %

Less than a year ago 1 4.0%

1 - 3 Years ago 6 24.0%

3 - 7 Years ago 11 44.0%

7 - 10 Years ago 2 8.0%

10 + Years ago 5 20.0%

Total (n) 25 100.0%

When did you hear about

Google Pay Per Click

Advertising?


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Table 12: When those not using PPC heard about it

They were then asked where they first heard about PPC advertising. These responses were

fairly evenly distributed as can be seen in Table 13 with the main responses being from a

business partner (16%), from a professional organisation (16%), in the media (16%) and from

Google (12%).

Table 13: Where people using PPC heard about it

As before, the survey also asked this question to the businesses that were not using PPC

advertising. Table 14 shows the majority of those asked heard about PPC did so throughGoogle itself (39.4%) with the media also being another very high source of communication

(27.3%).

Count Column N %

Less than a year ago 3 9.1%

1 - 3 Years ago 12 36.4%

3 - 7 Years ago 14 42.4%

7 - 10 Years ago 2 6.1%

10 + Years ago 2 6.1%

Total (n) 33 100.0%

When did you hear about

Google Pay Per Click

Advertising?

Count Column N %

A Busines s Partner 4 16.0%

From a Professional Organisation 4 16.0%

In the Media 4 16.0%

Google 3 12.0%

An Employee 2 8.0%

Experts in the area 2 8.0%

A Friend 1 4.0%

Other 5 20.0%

Total (n) 25 100.0%

Where did you first hear

about Google Pay Per Click

Advertising?


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Table 14: Where people not using PPC heard about it

This fits very well with Rogers knowledge stage of the innovation process as he suggestedthat individuals were more likely to progress with an innovation if they heard about it through

interpersonal communication rather than through mass media. As can be seen from the

responses in the two tables above, of those that currently are using PPC, 36% of them found

out about it through some form of face to face communication. This is contrasted with those

that are not using PPC, whom only 12.1% of respondents said that they had heard about it

through some form of personal communication.

Rogers also suggested that management will most likely take notice of an innovation if it was

something that they had a need for. In order to establish if this was the case the respondents

were asked whether or not PPC advertising was something that they were actively seeking or

had a need for. Interestingly, as seen in table 15, of those that are using PPC only 40% of

people said that it was something that the company was actively looking for.

Table 15: Whether those using PPC were searching for it or had a need for it

While it was also noted that of those not using PPC some 63.6% of respondents were not

actively searching for Google PPC when they first came across it (Table 16).

Count Column N %

Google 13 39.4%

In the Media 9 27.3%

From a Professional Organisation 4 12.1%

A Business Partner 2 6.1%

An Employee 1 3.0%

Experts 1 3.0%

Other 3 9.0%

Total (n) 33 100.0%

Where did you first hear

about Google Pay Per Click

Advertising?

Count Column N %

Yes 10 40.0%

No 15 60.0%

Total (n) 25 100.0%

Was it something that you

were actively searching for

or had a need for?


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Table 16: Whether those not using PPC had a need or were searching for it

It appears that despite what Rogers may suggest that PPC is not really something that the

majority go in search of themselves but in fact it finds them. However this theory was

partially backed up by the final question of this section.

It was found that at this stage in the process of the respondents that were left, 11 respondents

(19%) decided that they did not want to look into PPC any further and did not move from the

knowledge to the persuasion stage. The main reason for this was that it did not interest them

which shows that those that did not have a need or were not looking for it did not pursue it

any further as you can see in Table 17.

Table 17: Reasons for not continuing to use PPC

4.2.5 PersuasionAt this stage the respondents had gained the knowledge of PPC and had enough interest to

continue to look into it further. This set

paid search advertising: why business owners use it, the decision making process and the advantages...

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