Sentiment Analysis for Online Shopping in the UAE: A Case of Business Analytics

Abstract

The massive acceptance of blogs and social mediaunlocks the access for consumers to express their opinions and views about the
happiness or disappointment of online shopping. Sentiments of blogs and social media are instantaneous and economically feasible
than the traditional technique of collecting responses. Consumers in the UAE are prone to use blogs and social mediafor giving feedback and responses about the products purchased online. The research thus finds its importance in the context and uses two
research hypotheses to recognize the applicability of blogs and social media as a tool for online responses. Three industry sectors,
electronics, fashion, and travel, are taken in the research for comprehensive analysis. Overall, 1200 responses are collected from
4 blogs (based on the sector), and another 1200 responses are from 4 social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and
Instagram). The responses are analyzed using the QDAP (Quantitative Discourse Analysis Package) dictionary in R programming.
Keywords: QDAP, s-commerce, sentiment analysis, t_test, online-based-brand community (OBBC), two-tailed hypotheses test