1) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
Market Research Report
How consumer’s Digital security & privacy is under treat
because of social media firms &other digital platforms
(Digital Market)
In USA
STHIRA REDDY
Level 5
18/9/2024
BA(HONS) Marketing
2) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
TABLE OF CONENTS
1 Introduction & analysis of the marketing problem( why –why diagram)…………………………………3
2 Literature review on the marketing problem………………………………………………………………………….4
3 Research design…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5
4 Data collection process ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5
5 Discussion & Results……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6
6 Answer to the marketing problem………………………………………………………………………………………..14
7 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….15
8. Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..16
3) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
1)Introduction & Analysis of the marketing problem(why-why diagram).
Ever since the introduction of social media it was changed the format of we communicate &
interact with others. Social media also helped many connect in different parts of the worlds
forming a large social network. From the 2010’s decade social media has become an influential
tool for business promotion, political campaign & entertainment ( HRUSKA J, MARESOVA, 2020)
this is because of the number of people who where using various social media platforms.
However on the flip side social media has created a lot of issues related to the security &
privacy of social media consumers. Hence the objective of this report is to understand and
research about the treats caused of social media to consumers in the USA.
1)why-why diagram.
CHOICE OF A MOST RELEVANT PROBLEM
Consumers security & privacy on social media and digital platforms in the USA.
4) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
2)literature review.
As mentioned in the introduction in the 2010’s decade there was an rapid increase in the use of
social media platforms(HRUSKA J, MARESOVA,2020). Since then there has been an explosion of
the content posted and viewed on social media platforms according to (LEEE,2012) this is
because of the advancements in latest Smart phones & high speed internet network
development which lead to consumers uploading photos on the social platforms with an ease &
without any limit.(LEE,2012,PG 2) in the past two years in there been over six(6) billion posts
uploading on FACEBOOK,INSTAGRAM and other platforms which leads to media
providers/users not being able to keep track on the data posted on social media platforms
leading to a Big data problem mentioned by (HRUSKA J, MARESOVA,2020).
Hence due to this lack of capacity to keep track of the data posted online it gives a lot of room
for digital Frauds and White collar crimes online(other issues in the market). One of the prime
example for this type of crime is identity theft. (ANDERSON K, DURBIN E,SALINGER M,2019)
identity theft involves a person posing an high end seller of an particular goods/services on
online platforms fabricating an appealing profile which grabs consumer attention to buy and
pay for the product/services later on the payment is done via a(Fake) link send by the person in
which consumers type in credit card details and information about themselves which is
sufficient for the seller to obtain private data like credit card pin, there name, place of birth&
ext. which in turn is used by the fake seller to buy goods/services for themselves on other
people credit cards by using there information(ANDERSON K, DURBIN E, SALINGER M, 2019).
This is problem a market problem on social media platforms.
According to (HOLM E,HELEN M,2014) in the USA from the years 2012 to 2020 there where
around 16.6 million victims who’s money got swindled due to identify theft on social media.
Which is 8.6 million households in the USA(7% of the households & families in the USA). The
primary age segment which is targeted the most in identify theft is people ranging from the
ages 15 to 19 due to lack of real world knowledge and need adult supervision this is one of the
major marketing issue of social media platforms(HOLM E, HELEN M, 2014)
Furthermore as mentioned above in the why-why diagram other marketing problems which are
prevailing in today’s times on social media platforms are Hacking and having access to
unauthorized data of consumers. According to (ALMARABEH H,SULIEMAN A,2019 PG 3) this
problem includes firstly attackers installing an malicious software which is internet hacking
bugs, bots , viruses and spyware next the attacker sends an phishing link or an file via Email or
social media platforms leading to consumer clicking on the file/link which activates the hack
bug in the consumers device which further leads to attacker gaining access to unauthorized
data without the consumers consent it includes having access to personal information such as
online backing details ,other important documents saved on the device, credit card
5) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
information, address of the consumers& ext. these are the known marketing problems about
this topic(ALMARABEH H, SULIEMAN A, 2019)
Research Model
How consumer privacy & security is affected on social media & digital platforms.
Variables
1) Social media platforms, INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK,TWITTER (X), SNAPCHAT.
2) Consumers on social media platforms.
3) HACKING
4) IDENTITY THEFT
5) ACCESS TO UNAUTHORISED DATA
6) OTHER DIGITAL PLATFORMS (E-MAIL)
3) Research design
Research was done in the lens of positivism(Research philosophy) as its more of a quantitative
approach the research tool that was used for the research online forms questionnaire to gather
the statistical data for the topic. The sampling methods that was used was simple random
sampling which consists of all the individuals who are on social media platforms and other
digital platforms. Statistical data analysis was done.
4) Data collection process
Data collection was done in the time frame between 19/9/24 to 4/10/24. The questionnaire
was created with the help of Google forms and it was send to public profiles on different social
media platforms. Some of the questions was modified and rephrased after an pilot test so that
people would clearly understand what the questionnaire was trying to convey.
6) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
5) Discussion & Results
As per the data mentioned above most of the respondents who answered the questionnaire
was between the age group of 26 to 30 (47.7% of the respondents) and the second highest was
between the age group of 21 to 25(29.5% of the respondents) least was age group between 16
to 20(13.6% of the respondents)
7) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
When people where asked if they are on any social media platforms (88.6%) of the respondents
opted for yes, they are on social media platforms & (11.4%) of the respondents opted for No,
they are not on any social media platforms as an option. Which means there is a large set of
people who use social media in the USA.
8) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
When people where asked if they think there has been an increase in cyber attacks 95.5% of
the respondents opted for the option Yes, there has been increase in cyber attacks which is a
majority of the respondents. this means a lot of people are feeling that there is a lot of cyber
attacks on social and digital platforms.
According to the primary data mentioned above (63.6%) of the respondents consider that
clicking on unknown E-mail links involves the high risk and via unknown email links is where
there is least cyber security. And the secondly (27.3%)of the respondents consider downloading
files from unknown sources is the second most risky online activity. Least of them is online
shopping as none of the respondents choose that option.
9) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
When respondents where asked if they experienced any type of cyber attack majority of them
of them which is in thus case (38.6%) of them opted for PISHING attack this is the most
common type of cyber attack which many of the respondents experienced. And the second
most experienced cyber attack was a neck and neck between identity theft & personal data
breach with a opted percentage of (22.7%).
10) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
When respondents where asked which type of device is most vulnerable to cyber attacks
(38.6%) of the people opted for laptops has the most vulnerable to cyber attacks. And the
second highest almost close of the percentage of laptop’s was SMARTPHONES with a
percentage of (34.4%).
When respondents where asked what measured they take to protect there passwords from
cyber attacks or third parties try to crack the passwords (36.4%) of then said they avoid using
personal information in there passwords to maximize there security on different social media &
digital platforms. Secondly respondents also said they use different passwords for different
social & online platforms this option was opted by (27.3%).
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When people where asked how often do you update your password (52.3%) of them opted for
once a year and (47.7%) opted for once a month they where other options which are one a
week and never its not shown because none of then opted for that option. People do this to
make it difficult for third part individuals to keep track of passwords and make it difficult for
them to track passwords.
When respondents where asked if they have installed any antivirus software in there devices to
prevent any hack bugs or bots which will infect there system. As per the primary data
mentioned above (95.3%) of them opted for yes they have installed antivirus however (4.7%) of
them opted for no. this may be because lack of knowledge about antivirus software systems or
not having enough information on how to install it.
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When respondents where asked what measures did they implement to maximize data security
(40.9%) of them said they use firewall for digital security. And the second most opted option
was Data- encryption for online security.
How satisfied are you with the cyber safety services you use.
Frequencies for How satisfied are you with the cyber security services do you currently
use?
How satisfied are you with the cyber Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent
security services do you currently use? Percent Percent
Neutral 11 25.000 25.000 25.000
Very dissatisfied 5 11.364 11.364 36.364
dissatisfied 27 61.364 61.364 97.727
satisfied 1 2.273 2.273 100.000
Missing 0 0.000
Total 44 100.000
When people where asked the question mentioned above most of the respondents which is 27
out of 44 people (61.3%) said they are dissatisfied with the cyber security services they use.
Second highest option was opted by 11 out of 44 people (25%) which is natural which indicates
that there is still a lot of room for improving the advancement of cyber security services.
13) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
On a scale of 1 to 5 how confidant are you with your ability of prevent a cyber attack.
Frequencies for On a scale 1 to 5, how confidant are you with your ability in preventing an
cyber attack?
On a scale 1 to 5, how confidant are
Valid Cumulative
you with your ability in preventing Frequency Percent
Percent Percent
an cyber attack?
1 8 18.182 18.182 18.182
2 31 70.455 70.455 88.636
3 5 11.364 11.364 100.000
Missing 0 0.000
Total 44 100.000
When respondents where asked on a scale of 1 to 5 how confidant they are with preventing an
cyber attack out of 44 respondents 33 of them (70.4%) opted for the number 2 which is very
low this indicates that majority of them are not very confidant that they will prevent an cyber
attack. None of them opted for the option 4 or 5 that is why is not shown in the table. This also
correlates to the data mentioned above which states most of the respondents are dissatisfied
with the cyber security services they use.
14) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
6.Answer to the marketing problem
As per the primary data mentioned above there is a lot of issues consumers face when it comes
to there security and privacy on social and digital platforms. Hence after a detailed research on
this topic I came across various solutions for improving consumer security and privacy on social
& digital platforms these solutions are latest tools as modern day problems need modern day
solutions.
Firstly one of the method I came across was multi factor authentication (NEELAM N, 2023)
apart from using your username and password to authenticate your online account this method
always involves having a pre-saved security backup codes that can only be accessed by an
particulars persons biometric. ( security codes are a number combination token) these security
codes can be saved in drive or a protected locked folder in case a person’s device or social
media account is hacked they can use these security codes to re enter or logic to there account
and delete the unauthorized device to access there account and can change there password to
protect there account or device from further damage.
Secondly another new age method that can implemented by social and digital platforms users is
access control lists (ACL) this method involves giving access to only a few users, e-mails &
phone numbers to use that particular online account(NEELAM,N,2023). For example a business
social media accounts can only be accessed by the people working in the marketing department
this leads to only the marketing department workers to have access to login and use the
account. If any unauthorized E-mail or phone number is trying to hack and login it will instantly
notify the users and will not let the unauthorized person enter into that account and conduct a
data breach.
Lastly and the most commonly used method is data encryption this method involves only gives
access to the account information to the people with the encryption key if not the data
available on the online platforms will not be visible to others without the encryption key this
leads to making it difficult to third parties and unauthorized individuals to hack into an social or
digital account which leads to maximize security.
15) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
7)Conclusion
In conclusion after researching and analyzing the marketing problem it’s very evident that in
today’s times people are facing a lot of privacy and security problems on different social and
digital platforms. As mentioned above in the report some of the most relevant privacy and
security issues include PISHING attack, identify theft, personal data breach and hacking this is
because of the explosion of content posted on social and digital platforms which leads to
making it very difficult for anyone to keep track on the content posted/created in social and
digital platforms. Which lead to creating space for certain individuals to part take in online
scams according to the primary data mentioned above (pie chart number 5) when respondents
where asked if they think there was been an increase in cyber attacks 95.5% of them said yes
there has been an increase in cyber attacks.
Secondly the for a marketing manger working on solving this problem I would suggest them to
firstly have an strict approach when it comes to handling privacy & security matters. Some of
the ways in which this can done is by a marketing manger implementing new age security and
privacy tools to prevent cyber attacks such as data breach, hacking & PISHING these tools can
be the once mentioned above page. Which include making an assess control list where only a
few people working in that company have access to the data held in that account or another
method which includes encryption of the data where only people with the encryption key can
view that data held in an digital or social account for the other people who don’t have the key
data is not visible to them making it difficult to breach the data which further leads to
maximizing data security and privacy.
16) MARKET RESEARCH REPORT
8)Bibliography
Dwivedi, Y. K., Kapoor, K. K., & Chen, H. (2020). Social Media Marketing and
Advertising.
Hruska, J., & Maresova, P. (2020). Use of social media platforms among adults in
the United States—Behavior on social media. Societies, 10(1).
https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10010027
Ieee, . (2012). 2012 6th IEEE International Conference on Digital Ecosystems and
Technologies. IEEE.
Anderson, K. B., Durbin, E., & Salinger, M. A. (2019). Identity Theft.
http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/SC-EST2005-01.html
Holm, E., & Helen, M. (2014). Social Networking, the Catalyst for Identity Thefts in
the Digital Society. www.iaria.org
Almarabeh, H., & Sulieman, A. (2019). THE IMPACT OF CYBER THREATS ON SOCIAL
NETWORKING SITES. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer
Science, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.26483/ijarcs.v10i2.6384
Neelam, N. ,Sneha N. (2023). ways to prevent cyber attack.
https://forms.gle/L4vFrYXHRvvyg4TQ8 (GOOGLE FORMS QUESTIONNAIRE)
