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WELLBEING

Topic:

The Impact of Social Media on the Business Marketing Strategies in the Government Sector of the UAE

Introduction

Social media usage by the government turned out to be an integral revolution that will aid in transforming enhanced communication and marketing tactics in the government sectors around the world, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“The rapid growth of online platforms has reshaped how governments engage with citizens, disperse information and promote initiatives. In today’s UAE, this reflects a country that is committed to digital innovation integration into the government’s marketing strategy. This sets the tone for debate on the multifaceted impacts of social media on business marketing strategies within the government sector of the UAE.

1.1 Research Background

The planned initiatives reflect the UAE Government’s realization of the enormous transformational potential that social media holds in modernized approaches to communication and marketing. Social media offers unprecedented opportunities for diversity of audiences and the capacity to enhance active public participation as more citizens connect (Al-Khouri et al., 2018).

The UAE government is driving the applications of social media to strengthen transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement. “These are indicative of the whole changing landscape of communication, whereby increasing importance has been attached to digital modes in the performance of the various functions of government.

1.2 Research Questions

1. What is the influence of social media on business marketing strategies in the government sector of the UAE?
2. What are some of the difficulties which government organisations may experience in their bids to implement social media in their marketing?
3. How effective are social media platforms in enhancing government-public interaction and engagement in the UAE?

1.3 Research Aim

Assess the impact of social media on business marketing strategies, focusing on the government sector in the UAE, from opportunities to challenges. This research brings into perspective how social media is increasingly taking its place and changing avenues of communication and practices of engagements.

1.4 Research Objectives

1. To investigate the impact and influence of social media on redevising marketing strategies within the government of the United Arab Emirates through an empirical approach.
2. Understand the principal challenges that government organizations are bound to face in adopting and implementing social media marketing strategies.
3. To assess the effectiveness of the live social media available tools for interaction and engagement of government entities with public in UAE.

1.5 Research Significance

This paper will have a lot of implications for sensitizing government organizations, policymakers, marketers, and researchers with several insights. Additionally, the result brought back the role played out on social media in government marketing as the dynamic parameters bring forth a more insightful opportunity and problems vesting on the digital communication channels (Alawadhi et al., 2020).

Moreover, the findings from this survey would give weight to strategic processes of decision making, forming policies, and moulding future research initiatives on how social media can be utilized as a tool to promote governance and citizen participation in the UAE.

Literature Review

2.1 Key Concepts

Before getting into the depth of the view of the specific theories or empirical studies, it may be right to understand some few concepts in relation to the effect of social media on marketing strategies for organizations in the government sector.

The dawn of social media has greatly changed the mode of governance in a country as everything goes real-time in communication, sharing of information, and engagement. Social media has been an indefensible tool for the country’s government to improve its relationship with the public, transparency, and participatory type of governance (Al-Khouri et al., 2018).

Herein, the above appreciation on the key areas would then be the antecedent to be focused on the theoretical and empirical concern on how the appreciation of the above key areas is the thing that would act as the foundation for focus on the theoretical and empirical concern on the role of social media in marketing strategies for government.

2.2.1 Social Media Marketing Theory

The theory of social media marketing states that when the social media come into existence, a company and a government have been given the chance to exchange their products, intensifying brand awareness, and even bringing about desirable results that were not possible before (Hoffman and Fodor, 2010).

This theory especially dictates that in the management sector, social media may be employed to actualize the two-way communication between governments and citizens. Through meaningful participation in online conversations and sharing inline content, a government may enhance its visibility, credibility, and responsiveness; it may also strengthen public trust and support (Lamberton and Stephen, 2016).

2.2.2 Government-Public Engagement Theory

The government public engagement theory seeks to cover ideas on meaningful interaction between organizations under governance and the citizens in such a manner that transparency and accountability are uplifted. In the context of social media, the theory underlines the role of digital platforms on which the government, or a representative of the government, can be able to communicate directly and openly with the public.

Providing room for feedback, questions, and a way for citizens to feel part and parcel of a decision which they are implementing creates conditions of ownership and empowerment that produce better governance outcomes by the government (Lee et al., 2012).

2.3 Empirical Studies

Al-Debei, Akroush and Ashouri (2017) carried out a study that depicted the implication which is keenly placed on the upsurge regarding the use of social media by the government agencies of the UAE as they embrace a means for communication, marketing different government initiatives, improving ties with the public, and fostering transparency.

On the same line, Alawadhi et al. (2020) reiterate resource constraints, regulatory issues, and cybersecurity as some of the failings that limit its adoption within the government organizations in the UAE setting.

The seminal studies point out some crucial findings and insights for the UAE. The first of them is: “social media is turning into a powerful tool that allows real-time promotion and provides data around government initiatives and interaction with its citizens” (Al-Khouri et al., 2018).

The second one reads: “Government institutions are in fundamental respects beset with resource constraints, regulatory constraints, and cyber-security threats” (Alawadhi et al., 2020). Despite these challenges and disadvantages, social media has continued to show some effectiveness in investments towards enhancing the interaction between the government and the public, promoting more transparency and accountability, and making governance practices in the UAE more responsive to the needs of the populace (Al-Debei et al., 2017).

Methodology

3.1 Research Philosophy

It was from a philosophical point of view that interpretivism formed the best lens in understanding the subjective experiences and perceptions towards the integration of social media into government marketing strategies. According to Creswell and Poth (2018), interpretivism focuses on the understanding of social phenomena to be investigated through the lens of the individuals involved.

The paper would hence like to take an interpretivist approach in delving into the various standpoints and interpretations of the stakeholders located within the UAE Government sector concerning rich insights toward the intricacies of social media mastering integrated marketing communication in government.

3.2 Research Design

A qualitative research design is much preferred to tap into the complexities and nuances surrounding the subject of the integration of social media in government marketing. A qualitative research design is proper in bringing out subjective experiences, attitudes, and perceptions when deeply exploring and analysing complex social phenomena. (Merriam and Tisdell 2016).

This design would aid in the question of “how,” as it will provide a lot of coherence and further meaning to the richness and depth of issues lying within and across the responses of the respondents, which may finally help in giving a conceptual understanding of phenomena influencing social media adoption and usage by government offices in the UAE.

3.3 Research Approach

Inductive research will be taken into account to gain insight into the theory grounded on data acquired by stakeholders working in the UAE government sector. Inductive reasoning is where a conclusion moves from well-thought-out, specific observations to broader generalizations whereby a researcher identifies patterns, themes, or relationships among the data (Eisenhardt, 1989).

It implies, in a given study, that an inductive approach has been adopted to strengthen a deeper understanding of the impacts associated with applying social media to government marketing strategies based on the views and experiences of respective stakeholders.

3.4 Research Method

The study used a qualitative data collection tool to capture the experiences, perspectives, and practices that include:

Interviewees: The aim is to conduct semi-structured interviews with government representatives or officials, professionals in marketing, and other stakeholders interested in the integration of social media within the UAE government sector. These give participants a chance to share insight from experiences, express their informed opinion in a way that can be further explored by researchers concerning various issues on social media integration (Patton, 2015).

Focus group: Conventions of focus groups have to be held in order that there are varieties of avenues to exchange views and discuss issues regarding the use of social media in marketing by government. A focus group is a unique, dynamic forum that is set up to explore experiences for digging up new insights and common threads among the respondents or even points of disagreement.

Content Analysis: In the content analysis, the textual and visual content pertains to how the government organization relates to people in social media playouts. The posts made by the government organization are systematically coded and categorized in terms of themes. Help in finding more patterns, trends, and themes using government marketing strategies and public engagement.

3.5 Research Sample and Sample Size

The sample will have government officials, the marketing team, and any other necessary stakeholder within the UAE government setup. This will be apposite in size to make sure the study has diversity and representation of all aspects that could be brought out for comprehensive insights on usage and impacts of social media on a government marketing strategy.

However, the sample size is not defined, but attempts shall be made to cover officials from different government departments with varied expertise and portfolio related to social media management and marketing campaigns.

3.6 Sampling Techniques

 This study will use the purposive sampling technique to pick those participants who have experience with using social media within government-based business marketing undertakings herein in the UAE. The former will be used since it is where researchers deliberately seek to select individuals who will best provide valuable information regarding a topic of the study, with a bid to make a perfect representation of knowledge and experiences (Creswell and Creswell, 2013).

This paper is thus a target to stakeholders who are engaged in government marketing and social media management, so as to draw diverse perspectives and experiences regarding social media integration in the government sector of the UAE.

Ethical Issues

The consideration gives protection to human participants and their rights in the study. The code of ethics establishes that informed consent is done before human explicit and willing participation in human research (Creswell & Creswell, 2017).

The researcher should seek informed consent from government officials, marketing specialists, and all persons mandated under the study concerned with how social media impacts UAE government enterprise marketing methods. Ensuring that they understand what the project is trying to achieve and their rights indicates a clear freedom of choice.

The ethical human participant problem can be summarized in terms of secrecy and privacy. It is vital for researchers to be safe keepers of personal data and study data to ensure their anonymous stature (Bryman, 2016). For example, in integrating social media into government marketing, the researcher has to ensure that the data from interviews, focus groups, and data from content analysis are anonymized. Data should also be kept secret, whereby personal information should never be revealed without permission.

Analysis and reporting are done in a transparent, honest way in data collecting. This involves honest and unbiased communication of research methods, findings, and implications to the research stakeholders, policy-makers, and the public (Patton, 2015).

Researchers of the research question on the usage of social media and how it influences the marketing strategy of the UAE government company should carry out their data collection and analysis processes while ensuring that the truth is, in no way, compromised during interviews and focus groups. Ethics protect the research process and ensure that it guarantees truth.

Analysis and reporting are done in a transparent, honest way in data collecting. This involves honest and unbiased communication of research methods, findings, and implications to the research stakeholders, policy-makers, and the public (Patton, 2015).

Researchers of the research question on the usage of social media and how it influences the marketing strategy of the UAE government company should carry out their data collection and analysis processes while ensuring that the truth is, in no way, compromised during interviews and focus groups. Ethics protect the research process and assure that it guarantees truth.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, both the literature review and the suggested method talk about how social media sites and government marketing plans are constantly changing. People need to be able to trust and talk to the UAE government more, so they should use social media to do this.

Researchers should keep an eye on how the government uses social media over time in the future and come up with new ways to sell on social media that work best for them. Also, the government should teach its workers how to use the internet and social media to talk to each other and take part. These tips can help the UAE’s government use social media to get more people to trust, connect with, and enjoy their services and events.

References

Alshaher, A., 2021. IT capabilities as a fundamental of electronic government system success in developing countries from users perspectives. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 15(1), pp.129-149.

Bouckaert, G. and Van de Walle, S., 2003. Comparing measures of citizen trust and user satisfaction as indicators of ‘good governance’: Difficulties in linking trust and satisfaction indicators. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 69(3), pp.329-343.

Bryman, A., 2016. Social research methods. Oxford university press.

Creswell, J.W. and Creswell, J.D., 2017. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.

Creswell, J.W. and Poth, C.N., 2016. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.

Eid, R., Selim, H. and El-Kassrawy, Y., 2021. Understanding citizen intention to use m-government services: An empirical study in the UAE. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 15(4), pp.463-482.

Eisenhardt, K.M., 1989. Building theories from case study research. Academy of management review, 14(4), pp.532-550.

Hoffman, D.L. and Fodor, M., 2010. Can you measure the ROI of your social media marketing?. MIT Sloan management review.

Lamberton, C. and Stephen, A.T., 2016. A thematic exploration of digital, social media, and mobile marketing: Research evolution from 2000 to 2015 and an agenda for future inquiry. Journal of marketing, 80(6), pp.146-172.

Merriam, S.B. and Tisdell, E.J., 2015. Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley & Sons.

Neuendorf, K.A., 2017. The content analysis guidebook. sage.

Patton, M.Q., 2014. Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice. Sage publications.