Social Media and Consumer Behavior

Discuss about the Role of Social Media on Consumer Behaviour.

Consumer behaviors are the study of the individuals, groups or organization along with all the activities that are linked to the purchase, use and for the disposal of the goods and services. This paper includes the impact of the social media on consumer behavior for either buying the products or after buying the products. Along with this, the social media or internet is also used by the customers to information about the decision that is made by the customers. In simple words, it is known as the consumer activism on social media. The consumer activism is defined as the process through which the consumers can create the movements in the marketplace with the motive to promote the rights, consciousness and the interests of particular persons or group of customers (Roesler, 2015).

The consumers in the current era consider the digital native or the digital migrant. The availability of the information on the internet and social media has led consumers to bring the informed decisions in regard to their pre-purchase, purchase and the post-purchase behaviors. The decision making of the consumers in the today’s world totally depends on the information that they get through social media channels which include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many others. Most of the marketers of the companies believe that social media marketing of the product is essential for the company as this is the only way through which the customers can get the accurate content that can make the changes in the decision making of the consumer (Schivinski and Dabrowski, 2016). Considering the current report from Deloitte, social media affects the consumer behavior of different ages, ranges, races and other. In the current era, social media is used by numerous peoples that fall under the different demographic segments. 

The report of Deloitte found that approx. 47% of millennial get influences through social media for the product purchase. In the US market, the study notes that nearly one in three U.S. consumers is influenced by the social media in their purchases (Roesler, 2015). The report shows the consumers who make use of the social media at the time of the shopping process are 4 times more likely to spend more on purchases than those who do not. The below-given image reflects the social media impact on the product and the consumer which might lead to the change in the consumer buying behavior.

Factors affecting Consumer Behavior

 

(Source: Al-Dhuhli, I. and Ismael, 2013)

The factors that influence the customers include the information, design, psychological and cultural factors. The psychology of the customers includes beliefs and knowledge for the customers that are available in the market for the purchase. On the hand, the cultural factors include the trends or culture that is followed by every customer (Hajli, 2014). These two factors affect the purchase decision of the consumers. This image clearly shows that there are different factors that lead to the change in the consumer buying behavior. 

The social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many others are used by the customer before making the purchase as these channels give reliable information. For example; a customer who is willing to go for a particular movie will check the Facebook and Instagram for the reviews for the friends who watched the movies. The positive review of the movie will make the customers watch the movie and the negative review can change the perception of customers which makes them shift to other movies (Hajli, 2015). This example states that the social media platforms play a vital role in bringing the change in the consumer behavior of the product.

Consumers make use of these platforms with the motive to get the high and quick responses to the queries that are posted by them before purchasing the product or after the purchase of the products. Considering the research, it is the human psychology consumers are more attracted towards the negative news, reviews or comments. These negative comments or reviews bring the changes in the consumer behavior for the purchase of the products (Scheinbaum, 2012). Apart from the social media channels the customers also search for the details on the internet which is possible with the help of digital marketing.

Digital marketing has touched the new heights with the boom in the use of the smartphones and tabs. The digital marketing also plays a role in bringing the change in the consumer behavior for the products. Some of the insights are discussed which help in understanding the role of digital marketing in bringing the change in customer purchase decision. Customers set their own benchmarks; the customers know the fact what they are willing to purchase for which they are making the comparison between the competitive brands (Tuten and Solomon, 2017). Considering the comparison, the company will make the decision for the purchase of the products and to meet the consumer-set standards every brand try to provide the high value to the customers which makes them maintain their presence on social media platforms.

The role of Digital Marketing

Word of mouth; the word of mouth brings the changes in the purchase decision of the customers. In the digital marketing, the word of mouth can take place with the help of the reviews of experts, users, ratings, testimonials and many others (Roesler, 2015). The customers also get the information for the product or a service which helps them in making the decisions for instance; a consumer is searching for buying a new mobile phone and visits the social media sites for searching the features and other facilities that they are going to get with the mobile phone. This will help the customers in making the decision for the purchasing the product.

Customers make experiments; most of the customers in the market face the trust issues that are associated with the new product or services. These customers make use of the internet to get the information and review of the products or services that are posted by the other customers who might have used the products that are available in the market. Consumer activism on social media is one of the common aspects which show how the customer communicates the information through social media (Booth and Matic, 2011). In the current century, most of the consumer creates the movements in the market with the motive either to promote the products in the market or to share the experience related to the product to the other customers. This process includes either positive review sharing or the negative review sharing.

The customers reflect their presence with the help of the social media channels. The customers make use of Facebook through which they can check in to the places and can reflect their reviews for the same. These posts of the customers are checked by the other customers who are willing to visit the place or willing to perform the action for instance; a customer shared the story or post that he is at hotel Marriott and enjoying the services. One of the friends of him is looking to book a hotel for the event will take the feedback. These reviews and feedbacks help the customers in making the decisions. Along with this, there are some of the customers who make use of the social media to make their family and friends aware of their every activity. The era of the digital world has brought the changes in the mindset of the customers. Most of the customers are welcoming new and innovative products but due to the trust issues, they are not able to make their choices for the purchase of products (Jaakkola and Alexander, 2014).

Customer Feedback and Activism

At this point of time, the customers visit the page of the companies or brand on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and on many other websites so that they can get the maximum details and information about the product. Along with this, this is the only way through which the customers can check the negative and positive views of the other consumers who made use of that product. Generally, the people register their complaints and positive reviews or feedback on the company’s page on social media as this is the effective way to get engage (Jaakkola and Alexander, 2014). This is one of the effective ways through which the customers share their activities. This reflects that only the use of the social media channel is increasing for checking the reviews is increasing but the use of these sites are also creating the impact on the consumer purchasing decisions or behaviors.

It is recommended to the customers to analyse all the aspects while taking the feedbacks because sometimes their experience due to some other reasons. The customers should know the fact that the negative reviews that are posted on website are might be for exploiting the brand image. Therefore, it is recommended to make the search for the accurate results. Along with this, the customers should consider their demands while analyzing the feedbacks.

In the end, it can be analyzed that customers make use of social media channels and internet which helps them in making the decisions effectively. The rise in the use of the internal and digitalization majorly affects the customer behavior towards the product that they are willing to purchase. Most of the customers that are using the social networking sites fall under the age group of 18-25 years. Along with this, the analysis reflects that there are some consumers who believe in customer activism through which they can share their positive or negative views, believes, thoughts and experience on the social media. This will help the other customer while making the purchase decisions for the product.

References

Al-Dhuhli, I. and Ismael, S. (2013) The Impact of Social Media on Consumer Buying Behaviour. [Online]. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275347329 [Accessed on 2^nd June 2018]

Booth, N. and Matic, J.A. (2011) Mapping and leveraging influencers in social media to shape corporate brand perceptions. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 16(3), pp.184-191.

Hajli, M.N. (2014) A study of the impact of social media on consumers. International Journal of Market Research, 56(3), pp.387-404.

Hajli, N. (2015) Social commerce constructs and consumer’s intention to buy. International Journal of Information Management, 35(2), pp.183-191.

Jaakkola, E. and Alexander, M. (2014) The role of customer engagement behavior in value co-creation: a service system perspective. Journal of Service Research, 17(3), pp.247-261.

Roesler, P. (2015) How social media influences consumer buying decisions [Online]. Available from: https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/marketing/2015/05/how-social-media-influences-consumer-buying.html [Accessed on 2^nd June 2018]

Scheinbaum, A.C. ed. (2012) Online consumer behavior: theory and research in social media, advertising, and e-mail. New York: Routledge.

Schivinski, B. and Dabrowski, D. (2016) The effect of social media communication on consumer perceptions of brands. Journal of Marketing Communications, 22(2), pp.189-214.

Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R. (2017) Social media marketing. California: Sage.

Wang, Y. and Yu, C. (2017) Social interaction-based consumer decision-making model in social commerce: The role of word of mouth and observational learning. International Journal of Information Management, 37(3), pp.179-189.