Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SEMESTER-VI
Submitted By
ADESH JANARDAN JADHAV
Roll No.54
Certificate
This is to certify that Mr. ADESH JANARDAN JADHAV studying in the Third
year of Bachelors of Management Studies (BMS) program at K.M Agrawal
College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Kalyan has completed the “A STUDY
ON IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ON CONSUMER BUYING
BEHAVIOUR” as a part of the
curriculum requirement for Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) under the
guidance of Prof. DEVANJALI DUTTA
would like to thank my Principal, DR. ANITA MANNA for rewording the
necessary facilities required for completion of this project.
I take this opportunity to thank our Coordinator, PROF. SUJEET SINGH for
his moral support and guidance.
I would like to thank my Library, for having provided various books and
magazines related to my project.
Lastly. I would like to thank each and every person who directly or indirectly
help me in the completion of the project especially my Parents and Peers who
supported me throughout my project.
TABLES OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
BIBLIOGRAPHY 64
APPENDIX 65-70
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Social media is a huge influence on consumers when they are attempting to build
awareness about a particular product. A large section of the audience gets to know
your brand through the content that is distributed on social media, in this way
people get to know about your product. Social proof has emerged due to the
tendency of people to imitate the behavior of people around them. Happy
customers tend to go about praising the products with likes, shares, reviews and
comments on social media.
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the content, visuals, promotions, discounts and influencers has the ability to
influence the buying behavior of consumers.
In the modern era the using of social networking websites has extensively effect on
the consumers in various ways. There are many online networking sites which
affect consumer behavior. They are Google+, LinkedIn, You tube etc. Now-a-days
social media is used by almost all the ages of consumers like college students,
working class and even old age people too. The main aim of this study is to
examine how social media will affect the final consumer behavior among person
who mostly use social media websites. Consumer referred to here is general public.
The study has also undertaken to analyze how social media will affect buying
decisions of general public and the factors that motivate general public to shop
through social media platforms.
In today’s world people start their day with smart phones and they are easily
attracted towards recent updates and ads in social media accounts. Now-a-days
social media platforms like Whatsapp, Instagram, You Tube, Facebook etc.
influence consumer behavior a lot and also make purchase very easy through
online. Hence the aim of this study is to examine how social media will influence
consumer behavior of general public and also analyze the factors affecting the
general public to purchase through social media platforms.
The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of social media on
buying behavior of consumers. Specific objectives of the study are:-
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1. To analyse how have social media channels affected buying behaviour of
consumers.
The scope of the study covers the general public, the study will help us to
understand the impact of social media on consumer behavior.
Research methodology is a process used to collect information and data for the
purpose of making decisions. The methodology may include publication research,
interviews, surveys and other research techniques.
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1.5.1 Data Collection
The secondary data were collected from books, journals, websites and other
published sources.
A self- designed questionnaire was developed and given to general public. The
questionnaire is related to impact of social media on consumer behavior.
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1.5.3 Tool for analysis
Major tool used in the analysis process has been graphs and chart for
interpreting the data collected.
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1. Lee, Ethel (2013) The objective of the study was to explain why, when, and
how social media has impacted on consumer decision process. This study also
gave explanation on how individuals are attending, processing, and selecting
the information on social media before a purchase. The findings indicated that
individuals pursue an active role in information search on social media
comparing to mass media, yet information exposure is selective and subjective
during the course of information search.
2. Kristina Heinonen (2011) The aim of the study was to conceptualize
consumers' activities in social media by examining the motivations behind the
activities. One limitation of the study was the large number of consumption and
participation activities emerging from the data compared to the number of
production activities. The study showed that only a minority of web users were
active contributors. Some activities in social media may influence the company
image and brand positively whereas other consumer activities are perhaps not
favorable.
3. M. Nick Halji (2014) The study was conducted to examine how social media
facilitate the social interaction of consumers and to understand the role of social
media in the development of e-commerce into social commerce. The study
showed that trust has a significant direct effect on intention to buy.
4. Khim-Yong Goh, Cheng-Suang Heng and Zhijie Lin(2013) The study was
conducted integrate qualitative user-marketer interaction content data from a
fan page brand community on Facebook and consumer transactions data to
assemble a unique data set at the individual consumer level. They found that
engagement in social media brand communities leads to a positive increase in
purchase expenditures. Additional examinations of UGC and MGC impacts
show evidence of social media contents affecting consumer purchase behavior
through embedded information and persuasion.
5. Sunghun Chung, Animesh, Kunsoo Han and Alain Pinsonneault(2014) The
study was undertaken to examine how firms’ social media efforts—in terms of
intensity, richness, and responsiveness— influence consumer behavior
(engagement and attention) and firm performance. They found that the
richness and responsiveness of a firm’s social media efforts are significantly
associated with the firm’s market performance .
6. Elham Al-Mukhaini, Israa Al-Dhuhli and Sara Ismael (2013) The aim of the
study was to understand which consumers are mostly influenced by online
purchasing, reasons that tempt consumer to purchase online, types of products
that are mostly purchased using Social Media and types of Social Media that are
mostly used by consumers in Oman. They found that Instagram has made
significant change in consumers' buying decision towards choosing particular
products.
7. Elenica Pjero and Donika Kёrcini (2015) The study focused on Social Media
and their ability to influence consumer behavior world-wide and specifically in
Albania reality. The study showed the reasons for the use of Social Media and
user attitudes towards them and also revealed consumer behavior.
8. Duangruthai Voramontri and Leslie Klieb (2019) The goal of the paper was
to research empirically the role of social media in consumers' decision-making
process for complex purchases - those characterized by significant brand
differences, high consumer involvement and risk, and which are expensive and
infrequent. The result showed that social media usage influences consumer
satisfaction in the stages of information search and alternative evaluation, with
satisfaction getting amplified as the consumer moves along the process towards
the final purchase decision and post-purchase evaluation.
9. Fred Bronner and Robert de Hoog(2014) The study was focused upon the
relation between the information people search regarding aspects or properties
of choice options and the types of social media used for finding it. They found
that domain-specific social media with limited opportunities for self-disclosure,
like Tripadvisor, are more frequently used for search-determined sub-decisions
than for experience-determined sub-decisions. For domain-independent social
media with large opportunities for self-disclosure, like Twitter and Facebook, it
was found that they are used with equal frequency for both types of sub-
decision.
10. Leslie Martinka (2012) The study was conducted to determine if Facebook and
Twitter communities influence consumers’ online purchasing behaviors. From
the study, it was found that Facebook communities have a significant influence
on a consumer’s online purchasing behavior and Twitter communities had
almost no influence.
11. Abdul Bashiru Jibril, Michael Adu Kwarteng, Miloslava Chovancova and
Michal Pilik(2019) This paper aims at examining the mediating role of online
based-brand community (OBBC) through social media platforms (SMP) given
the interplay of consumers’ purchasing attitude in a virtual space. The findings
generated through the partial least square and structural equation modelling
(PLS-SEM) showed that OBBC on the social media platform positively initiates
consumer-brand engagement and user-brand relationship.
12. Liu Yizao and Lopez Rigoberto A (2013) This study estimates the impact of
social media exposure on consumer valuation of product
characteristics. Empirical results of the study show that social media exposure
is a significant driver of consumer behavior through altering evaluation of
product characteristics and purchase choices.
13. Yong Wang, Shamim Chowdhury Ahemed, Shejung Deng and Haizhong
Wang(2019) The study examined the overall performance achievement of
social media marketing (SMM) in Bangladesh by determining whether social
media is successful in creating brand consciousness (i.e., brand preference,
brand attachment, brand association, and brand loyalty) toward online
consumers, which in turn may lead to buying commitment. They found strong
evidence that SMM efforts (SMMEs) of the local Bangladeshi fashion industry
are successful in establishing consumer attachment and preference.
14. Fotis, J. N., Buhalis, D. and Rossides, N.(2012) This paper presents a
comprehensive view of role and impact of social media on the whole holiday
travel planning process: Before, during and after the trip, providing insights on
usage levels, scope of use, level of influence and trust. The study suggest that
social media are predominantly used after holidays for experience sharing. It
also shown that there is a strong correlation between perceived level of
influence from social media and changes made in holiday plans prior to final
decisions. Moreover, it is revealed that user-generated content is perceived as
more trustworthy when compared to official tourism websites, travel agents and
mass media advertising.
15. Laurence Dessart, Cleopatra Veloutsou and Anna Morgan Thomas (2015)
The study aims to delineate the meaning, conceptual boundaries and dimensions
of consumer engagement within the context of online brand communities both
in term of the engagement with the brand and the other members of the online
brand communities. It also explores the relationships of consumer engagement
with other concepts, suggesting antecedents of engagement. The study suggests
that individuals are engaging in online communities in social network platforms
both with other individuals and with brands. The study also identifies three key
engagement dimensions (cognition, affect and behaviours). The study further
suggests key drivers, one outcome and objects of consumer engagement in
online brand communities.
16. Ismail Erkan and Chris Evans (2016) The aim of the study was to examine
the influence of these conversations in social media on consumers' purchase
intentions. The results of the confirm that quality, credibility, usefulness and
adoption of information, needs of information and attitude towards information
are the key factors of eWOM(electronic word of mouth) in social media that
influence consumers’ purchase intentions.
17. L.E Taylor Trelford (2018) in a study of preference for Facebook versus
Instagram , it was revealed that the majority of participants prefer Facebook to
Instagram, although this finding was weaker in younger adults.
18. Daniela Baum, Martin Spann, Johann Fuller and Carina Thurridl (2019)
The goal of this study was to analyze the impact of a social media campaign on
the success of a new product introduction. The results of the study revealed that
campaign-related factors positively influence consumers’ attitude toward the
new product, which in turn mediates the positive influence on purchase
intention and recommendation behavior.
19. Rishika, Ashish Kumar, Ramkumar janakiraman and Ram
Bezawada(2012) The study was conducted to examine the effect of customers'
participation in a firm's social media efforts on the intensity of the relationship
between the firm and its customers as captured by customers' visit frequency.
The study suggest that customer participation in a firm's social media efforts
leads to an increase in the frequency of customer visits. They fund that this
participation effect is greater when there are high levels of activity in the social
media site and for customers who exhibit a strong patronage with the firm, buy
premium products, and exhibit lower levels of buying focus and deal
sensitivity.
20. Shu- Chaun Chu and Hsuan-Ting Chen (2019) The study examines how
consumers' corporate social responsibility (CSR) ‐related activities in social
media affect their responses to brands. The results suggested that consumers'
CSR‐related activities in social media significantly impacted eWOM intention
and purchase intention through enhancing identification with the brand and
positive brand attitude. This study provides important insights on consumer
behavior and CSR by investigating social media, an important and emerging
marketing platform. Moreover, this study fills in the research gap about the
association between consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media and their
responses to brands.
21. Ashika Anil, Dr. Binod Sinh and Dr. Vimal Bhatt (2020) The primary aim
of this research was to assess the impact of Social Media Marketing on
consumer buying behavior towards apparel. The results showed a positive
relation between the two. The study also reveals that Social Media Marketing is
the most popular and preferred form of digital marketing today and contributes
to different theorists and marketers who wish to work in a similar field on
marketing.
22. Adnan Veysel Ertemel and Ahmad Ammoura (2016) The study has been
designed to answer main question about the role of social media advertising on
consumer buying behavior in very active field which is fashion retail industry,
then determine the differences if existed in this relation regarding to the name
of the brands and consumer demographics factors. The findings showed weak
relation between social media advertising and consumer need recognition, no
relation at all with search for information, strong relation with evaluate the
alternatives, and moderate relation for both buying decision and post-purchase
behavior. Moreover, findings showed no changes in this relation regarding to
consumer’s age, and education level.
23. Mohammed Habes , Mahmoud Alghizzawi, Rifat Khalaf , Said A. Salloum
and Mazuri Abd. Ghani (2018) The aim of this paper was to highlight the
impact of social media on students in the higher educational universities and its
impact on the students’ academic performance. The study indicated that a large
number of university students are using social media with more focus on
Facebook, which in turn negatively affect their academic results.
24. Yumi Lim, Yeasun Chung and Pamela A weaver(2012) This study
investigates consumer perception of destination brands created by consumer-
generated videos and destination-marketing organization videos. The findings
suggest that consumer-generated videos do not carry the same destination brand
as destination marketer-generated videos. In addition, consumer-generated
videos have little positive impact on a destination brand. This study provides
insight into destination-branding strategies with respect to the roles that social
media plays in creating destination-brand identity and image.
25. Alfred Hermida, Fred Fletcher, Darryl Korell and Donna Logan (2012)
The study examines the impact of social media spaces on news consumption,
based on an online survey of 1600 Canadians. They found that social networks
are becoming a significant source of news for Canadians.
26. Walid Nabil Iblasi, Dr. Dojanah M.K. Bader and Sulaiman Ahmad Al-
Qreini (2016) The purpose of this paper was to investigate the impact of Social
Media as a marketing tool on Purchasing Decisions; Social media becomes an
important communication tool that people use to connect to other people or
organization. The results showed that all members of the study sample with
different percentages spend long time using social media websites which
indicates that these websites are a fertile and rich place to practice E -marketing
and to influence the consumers purchasing decisions. The study proved that
there is an impact of using social media websites as a marketing tool on the
stages of purchasing decision (need recognition, information search,
alternatives evaluation, purchase decision and post-purchase behavior) which
encouraging going toward using the social media in E-marketing.
27. Heba Sadek , Sarah Elwy and Mohamed Eldalla (2018) The purpose of this
paper is to examine the impact of firm-created and user-generated social media
brand communication on five consumer-based brand equity (CBBE)
dimensions through Facebook on the Egyptian fast-moving consumer goods
(FMCG) industry. The results of our paper showed that firm-created social
media brand communication has a significant positive direct impact on only
four CBBE dimensions (brand awareness, brand perceived quality, brand
associations and brand trust). Whereas user-generated social media brand
communication has no significant impact on brand perceived quality, brand
loyalty, and brand trust. Additionally, it has been found that user generated
social media brand communication has a negative impact on brand awareness
and brand associations.
28. Xueming Luo , Jie Zhang and Wenjing Duan(2012) The study scrutinizes the
predictive relationships between social media and firm equity value, the relative
effects of social media metrics compared with conventional online behavioral
metrics, and the dynamics of these relationships. The results suggest that social
media-based metrics (Web blogs and consumer ratings) are significant leading
indicators of firm equity value. Interestingly, conventional online behavioral
metrics (Google searches and Web traffic) are found to have a significant yet
substantially weaker predictive relationship with firm equity value than social
media metrics. They also found that social media has a faster predictive value,
i.e., shorter “wear-in” time, than conventional online media.
29. Namho Chung and Chulmo Koo (2015) This paper examines the travel
information searches using social media as a new search behavior from a value
perspective. The study revealed that the traveler’s perception of the value of
social media is a primary determinant of the traveler’s social media usage.
30. Rebecca Dolan, Gergely and Sharon Forbes(2018) This study investigates
the social media adoption and activities of 1173 wineries located in Germany,
the USA, New Zealand and Australia. The results show that Facebook is the
main platform that wineries use to engage with consumers, but that the actual
reasons social media is used vary.
31. Xiang Chen , Haroon Qasim (2020) The study aims to examine the influence
of perceived social media marketing activities (SMMAs) on the
consumer‐based brand equity and brand love and to analyze the mediating role
of E‐brand experience (EBE) between SMMAs and brand equity and between
SMMAs and brand love. The results of the research show that the positively
perceived SMMAs have a great potential to enhance the consumer‐based brand
equity as well as brand love. Furthermore, it is found that the EBE serves as the
significant mediating variable between perceived SMMAs and brand love
however, it does not serve as the significant mediating variable between
perceived SMMAs and brand equity.
32. Alireza Naser Sadrabadi, Mahyar Kamali Saraji and Mohammad
MonshiZadeh(2018) The study conducted to evaluate role of brand
ambassador in Electronic Word of Mouth advertising in Instagram and Novin
Charm brand. The study investigated dimensions of brand equity, brand
awareness, brand image and Electronic Word of Mouth advertising. According
to research results, the brand ambassador can affect the electronic word of
mouth advertising.
33. Sara Kamal and Shu -Chuan Chu(2012) The study examined social media
usage as well as beliefs, attitudes and behaviors towards advertising on social
media in the UAE. Specifically, the study extended Pollay and Mittal’s (1993)
advertising beliefs and attitudes model by applying it to advertising on social
media. The results indicate that beliefs are positively related to attitudes, which
consequently predict behaviors toward social media advertising.
34. Benxiang Zeng and Rolf Gerritsen (2014) The study reviews and analyses the
research publications focusing on social media in tourism. The paper identifies
what we know about social media in tourism, and recommends a future research
agenda on the phenomenon. The study suggests that research on social media in
tourism is still in its infancy. It is critical to encourage comprehensive
investigation into the influence and impact of social media (as part of tourism
management/marketing strategy) on all aspects of the tourism industry
including local communities, and to demonstrate the economic contribution of
social media to the industry.
35. Areeba Toor , Mudassir Husnain and Talha Hussain (2017) The study
investigates the impact of social network marketing on consumer purchase
intention and how it is affected by the mediating role of consumer engagement.
The findings drawn from the study imply that marketers should respond to the
rising importance.
36. Jill Nash(2019) The purpose of the study was to explore the levels social media
(SM) platforms are influencing consumer decision-making process for
Generation X and Y consumers in the retail fashion environment. The findings
revealed that consumers use a variety of internal and external motivations that
influence their behaviors and perceptions of high-street fashion retailers, and
these factors are aided and facilitated by the use of SM. However, the research
also revealed that SM is not the only source that motivates their consumer
decision-making process, and with the proliferation of active users on SM, these
platforms are (and will continue to have) an ever more increasing impact on
consumer decision-makings.
37. Vikas Gautam and Vikram Sharma(2017) The main objective of the study
was to investigate the direct and indirect impacts of social media marketing
activities (entertainment, customization, interaction, word of mouth, and trend)
on consumers' purchase intentions in luxury fashion brands. They found
positive significant impacts of social media marketing and customer
relationships on consumers' purchase intentions.
38. Emerson Wagner Mainardes and Marcelo Vieira Cardoso (2019) The
research evaluates the effect of the use of social media on consumer trust,
loyalty and purchase intention in physical stores. The results suggest that the
use of social media, company and user-generated communication positively
affects trust of the physical store. Trust, in turn, has a direct positive effect on
consumer loyalty to the store, and both trust and loyalty have positive impacts
on a consumer’s purchase intention.
39. Dr. Manish Kumar Srivastava and Dr. A.K. Tiwari (2020) The research was
conducted to study the various popular social media platforms and the ways in
which it is being used by the consumers. They have also tried to study the
impact of social media on the consumer behavior. The study concludes that
social media has become an integral part of consumers' life and it has also
affected their behavior to a great extent.
40. Sergio Martin, Ferran Giones and Francesc Miralles(2014) The study
explores the relationship between Social Media engagement and the activation
of the consumer's purchase process. The results suggest that there's a
relationship between the level of engagement and the consumer's state that
influences the activation of the problem recognition.
41. Ali M .Shah and Syed Zeeshan Zahoor(2019) The study aims to explore the
impact of social media on purchasing behavior with mediating effect of
customer relationship. The findings indicate that majority of the respondents
use social media for purchasing purpose and there is a positive relation between
social media and customer relationship, as well as social media and purchasing
behavior, with customer relationships fully mediating and enhancing the
relationship between social media and purchasing behavior. It has been also
found that the majority of the respondents use social media for purchasing
purposes.
42. Doga Istanbulluoglu(2017) The study explores how the response times of
multiple company responses on social media influence consumer satisfaction.
Specifically, the first response after the complaint and the conclusive response
that closed the complaint file were investigated in regard to consumers’
objectives for complaining. The study reveals that both a quicker first response
and a quicker conclusive response lead to higher satisfaction with complaint
handling.
43. Zheng Xiang and Ulrike Gretzel (2010) The goal of the study was to
investigate the extent to which social media appear in search engine results in
the context of travel-related searches. The results showed that social media
constitute a substantial part of the search results, indicating that search engines
likely direct travelers to social media sites. The study confirms the growing
importance of social media in the online tourism domain.
44. Denni Arli (2017) The purpose of the study was to explore the impact of social
media's features (i.e., entertainment, usefulness, informativeness and irritation)
toward consumers’ attitude toward the brand. Subsequently, this study explores
the impact of this attitude toward consumers’ brand loyalty, brand awareness
and purchase intention. The findings show that entertainment feature has the
strongest impact on consumers’ attitude toward the brand's social media use,
followed by informativeness, usefulness and finally, irritation. Consumers’
attitude toward a brand's social media strongly influences consumer loyalty,
awareness and purchase intention.
45. V. Geetha, V. Samuel Rajkumar and L. Arunachalam (2018) The study was
conducted to identify social media marketing factors which induce the students
to buy products in online shopping. The results revealed that E- Advertising
have significant relation of students purchase intention in online shopping by
using various social media sites.
46. Clair McClure and Yoo-Kyoung Seock(2020) The study examined the
influence of consumer's brand familiarity and the information quality of social
media content on their involvement with a brand on the brand's social media
pages. Also studied were the influence of involvement on consumer's attitude
towards the brand's social media page and the effect of their attitude on future
purchase intention from the brand. The results indicated that both brand
familiarity and information quality had significant effects on a consumer's
involvement with a brand on its social media page, yet the brand's social media
content had a greater influence on a consumer's involvement with the social
media page.
47. Man Lai Cheung, Guilherme Pires and Philip J. Rosenberger (2020) This
paper investigates the impact of social-media marketing elements, namely
entertainment, customisation, interaction, electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM)
and trendiness, on consumer–brand engagement and brand knowledge. The
results reveal that interaction, electronic word-of-mouth and trendiness are the
key elements directly influencing consumer brand engagement, then
strengthening brand awareness and brand knowledge.
48. Xiaolei Yu, Chunlin Yuan (2019) The purpose of this paper is to investigate
factors driving consumers’ social media brand experience and its effect on
customer equity and customer lifetime value (CLV). The results indicate that
utilitarian and hedonic values influence brand experience, and that brand
experience directly influences brand attachment, brand trust and customer
equity drivers. There is a positive relationship between brand attachment and
trust. As a customer equity driver, brand equity has a positive effect on CLV.
49. Constanza Bianchi, Lynda Andrews(2018) The purpose of this paper is to
address this gap and extend previous research by examining factors that
influence consumers’ attitudes and intentions to engage with retail brands
through Facebook, and ultimately purchase products and services. The findings
provide an understanding of the main drivers of consumer-brand engagement
that can lead to purchase intentions. Results show that consumers’ attitudes
toward engaging with retail brands through Facebook are influenced by peer
communication, compatibility and credibility, and that attitude has a strong
influence on intentions toward this behavior. Furthermore, there is a strong
relationship between intentions to engage and the likelihood of purchasing
through a retail brand’s Facebook page.
50. Kirti Arekar, Rinku Jain, Surender Kumar and Shalaka K. Ayarekar
(2018) This study explains a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of social
media sites on different parameters of consumer buying behavior. It estimated
the relationship between several independent variables such as composite
buying behavior, usual buying behavior, and variety -seeking buying behavior,
disagreement buying behavior, impetuous buying behavior and consumer
buying behavior as dependent variable in the electronic appliances market. The
major findings of the study indicates there is the positive effect of social media
on variety seeking buying behavior, disagreement buying behavior , usual
buying behavior, composite buying behavior and impetuous buying behavior.
CHAPTER 3
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Some of the most popular social media websites, with over 100 million registered
users,include Facebook , TikTok, WeChat, Instagram, QZone, Weibo, Twitter, Tu
mblr, Baidu Tieba, and LinkedIn. Depending on interpretation, other popular
platforms that are sometimes referred to as social media services
include YouTube, QQ, Quora, Telegram, WhatsApp, LINE, Snapchat, Pinterest,Vi
ber, Reddit, Discord, VK, Microsoft Teams, and more. Wikis are examples of
collaborative content creation.
While challenges to the definition of social media arise due to the broad variety of
stand-alone and built-in social-media services currently available, there are some
common features:-
1. Web space:- The website should provide the users free web space to upload
content.
2. Web address:- The users are given a unique web address that becomes their
web identity. They can post and share all their content on this web address.
3. Build profiles:- Users are is asked to enter personal details like name,
address, date of birth, school/college education, professional details etc. The
site then mines the personal data to connect individuals.
4. Connect with friends:- Users are encouraged to post personal and
professional updates about themselves. The site then becomes a platform to
connect friends and relatives.
5. Upload content in real time:- Users are provided the tools to post content
in real time. This content can be text, images, audio, video or even symbolic
likes and dislikes .The last post comes first, giving the site freshness.
6. Enable conversations :- Members are given the rights to comment on posts
made by friends and relatives. The conversations are a great social connect.
7. Posts have time stamp :- All posts are time stamped, making it easy to
follow posts.
1. BLOGS
A blog is a discussion or informational website published on the World
Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries
(posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order, so
that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page. Many
blogs provide commentary on a particular subject or topic, ranging from
politics to sports. A typical blog combines text, digital images,
and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic.
2. ENTERPRISE SOCIAL NETWORKING
Enterprise social networking focuses on the use of online social
networks or social relations among people who share business interests
and/or activities. Enterprise social networking is often a facility ,which
is essentially used in "enterprise" (business/commercial) contexts. It
encompasses modifications to corporate intranets (referred to as
social intranets) and other classic software platforms used by large
companies to organize their communication, collaboration and other
aspects of their intranets.
3. FORUMS
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where
people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They
differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of
text, and are at least temporarily archived. Forums have a specific set of
jargon associated with them; example: a single conversation is called a
"thread", or topic.
4. MICROBLOGS
Micro blogging is an online broadcast medium that exists as a specific
form of blogging. A micro-blog differs from a traditional blog in that its
content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregated file size.
Micro-blogs "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as
short sentences, individual images, or video links", which may be the
major reason for their popularity. These small messages are sometimes
called micro posts.
5. PHOTO SHARING
Image sharing, or photo sharing, is the publishing or transfer of a user
an administrator equate digital photos online. Image sharing websites
offer services such as uploading, hosting, managing and sharing of
photos (publicly or privately). This function is provided through both
websites and applications that facilitate the upload and display of
images.
6. PRODUCTS/SERVICES REVIEW
A review site is a website on which reviews can be posted about people,
businesses, products, or services. These sites may use Web
2.0 techniques to gather reviews from site users or may employ
professional writers to author reviews on the topic of concern for the
site.
7. SOCIAL BOOKMARKING
Social bookmarking is an online service which allows users to add,
annotate, edit, and share bookmarks of web documents. Many online
bookmark management services have launched since 1996; Delicious,
founded in 2003, popularized the terms "social bookmarking" and
"tagging". Tagging is a significant feature of social bookmarking
systems, allowing users to organize their bookmarks and develop
shared vocabularies known as folksonomies.
8. SOCIAL GAMING
A social network game (sometimes simply referred to as a social media
game, social video game or online social game) is a type of online
game that is played through social networks. They typically
feature multiplayer game play mechanics. Social network games were
originally implemented as browser games.
9. SOCIAL NETWORKS
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors
(such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and
other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective
provides a set of methods for analyzing the structure of whole social
entities as well as a variety of theories explaining the patterns observed
in these structures. The study of these structures uses social network
analysis to identify local and global patterns, locate influential entities,
and examine network dynamics.
10. VIRTUAL WORLDS
1. You reach large audience:- There are millions of people using social
media platforms. It’s a great opportunity for your business to reach a
large pool of people that are interested in your products or services. The
ability to reach large audiences is a huge advantage of social media. It
opens the door for your business to find more leads that want your
products or services.
3. You can create organic content:- The ability to post organic content
for free is an incredible benefit of social media for business. This opens
many opportunities for your company to connect with valuable leads at
no cost. It’s one of the reasons why companies love using these
platforms.
4. You have access to paid advertising services:- If you want to go
beyond organic posting, there is an option to run paid advertisements.
Each social platform offers its own form of paid advertising.
8. You can join social media networks for free:- One of the biggest
advantages of social media marketing is that it is entirely free to start.
None of the largest platforms have signup fees of any sort, so the only
investment you’ll need to make is in the form of time.
9. You can create viral content:- Perhaps the most unique advantage of
social media is the ability to get help from your followers. People love to
share things with their networks, from photos and recipes to interesting
articles and hot deals.
10. You can uncover valuable insights:- You can also use social media
to gain valuable information about your customers that will help you
make smarter business decisions. For example, social listening allows
you to discover how people feel about your company and brand. With
social listening, you can uncover conversations about your business and
answer questions about your offerings.
1. You can receive negative feedback:- People use social media to post
content they love, but they also use it to share experiences they didn’t
love. If someone had a poor experience with your business, it opens a
door of opportunity for them to share their poor experience with others.
2. You can open up the potential for embarrassment:- It’s easy for
posts to go viral on social media. People keep a close eye on the good
and the bad on social media. If you aren’t careful about the content you
post, you can end up embarrassing your company and getting caught in
an awkward situation.
3. You have to wait to see results:- When companies invest in marketing
strategies, they want to see immediate results. You want to know that
your strategies are working and that the investment is worth your time.
With social media marketing, you don’t see immediate results.
3.8 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
The study of consumer behaviour assumes that the consumers are actors in the
marketplace. The perspective of role theory assumes that consumers play various
roles in the marketplace. Starting from the information provider, from the user to
the payer and to the disposer, consumers play these roles in the decision process.
Consumer behaviour entails "all activities associated with the purchase, use and
disposal of goods and services, including the consumer's emotional, mental and
behavioural responses that precede or follow these activities.
The various factors that influence the consumer behaviour are as follows:
The marketers try to understand the actions of the consumers in the marketplace
and the underlying motives for such actions. These motives are the factors that
influence the consumer behavior. These are:
33
1. Psychological Factors: The human psychology plays a crucial role in designing
the consumer’s preferences and likes or dislikes for a particular product and
services. Some of the important psychological factors are:
Motivation
Perception
Learning
Attitudes and Beliefs
Family
34
Reference Groups
Roles and status
Culture
Subculture
Social Class
4. Personal Factors: There are several factors personal to the individuals that
influence their buying decisions. Some of them are:
Age
Income
Occupation
Lifestyle
5. Economical Factors: The last but not the least is the economic factors which
have a significant influence on the buying decision of an individual. These are:
Personal Income
Family Income
Income Expectations
Consumer Credit
Liquid Assets of the Consumer
Savings
35
3.13 TYPES OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
There are four main types of consumer behavior:
1. Complex buying behavior
This type of behavior is encountered when consumers are buying an
expensive, infrequently bought product. They are highly involved in the
purchase process and consumers’ research before committing to invest.
Imagine buying a house or a car; these are an example of a complex buying
behavior.
36
3.14 IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Production Policies
The study of consumer behaviour affects the production policies of the business.
Consumer behaviour discovers, needs, tastes, choices of consumers, and such
discovery enables the business to plan and implement products according to
these specifications. Every business needs to be in constant touch with the
change in consumer behaviour so that necessary changes in products are made
on time.
Price policy
Consumer behaviour is equally important in having price policy. The buyer only
purchases your product, which is cheaper or has distinctive features than your
competitor's.
The goods and services which are sold solely based on the low prices must have
an economical distribution channel. In the case of such products like T.V. sets,
Air Conditioner, etc., must have different distribution channels. Thus, decision-
related to the channel of distribution is taken based on consumer behaviour.
Consumer behaviour plays a vital role in deciding the sales promotion. It enables
the producer to motivate and encourage the consumer to make a purchase
decision, and the same is used in the promotional campaigns to awaken the
desire to purchase the product.
37
Exploiting marketing opportunities
The study of consumer behaviour helps a marketer identify the needs, wants,
desires and problems, etc. of the consumer. This information and knowledge
help the marketer exploit market opportunities and meet the challenges in the
market.
The consumers compare the past to react to price levels as if price and quality
had positive relations. Today, the consumer gives less value for money but gives
more attention to superior features.
The consumer can shift from your product to another due to the unavailability of
choices. Thus, a proper understanding of consumer behaviour will help you
identify changes in consumers' preferences. It also helps in retaining and
sustaining the customer for a long time.
38
CHAPTER 4
Interpretation
Out of total respondents in this survey all the participants use social media. It can
be interpreted that social media has a great influence in the day to day life of the
people.
Table No: 4.2 Purpose of usage of social media
No. of. 7 22 29 3
respondents
Figure No:4.2
Interpretation
Most of the respondents use social media for information . Along with this they
also use social media for chatting. Only few use social media for shopping and
making friends.
Table No:4.3 Type of social media used daily
Figure No:4.3
Interpretation
Out of 61 respondents, majority of them are using whatsapp daily. Some of them
are also using instagram. Only few are using facebook and snapchat daily.
Table No:4.4 Time spent on social media per day
No. of. 1 42 18 0
respondents
Interpretation
Out of total respondents in this survey, majority of them spent time on social 1-5
hours per day. Some of them spent 5-10 hours per day. None of them spent 10
hours or more on social media. Only one respondent is not spending time on social
media daily. It can be interpreted that social media has became part of our daily
life.
Table No:4.5 Attention paid to advertisement on social media
Interpretation
Out of total people participated we can understand that most of the respondents
are paying attention to advertisements on social media. Some of them are not
paying attention to social media. Some of them may be paying attention to
advertisements on social media.
Table No:4.6 Trust on social media
Figure No:4.6
Interpretation
Most of the respondents trust on social media. Still 34.4% don’t have trust on
social media.
Table No: 4.7 Influence of social media on buying decision
No. of. 31 13 17
respondents
Interpretation
Percentage of
purchase Below 25% 25%-50% 50%-75% 75%-100%
influenced by
social media
No. of.
respondents 14 34 13 0
Figure No:4.8
Interpretation
From the above figure and table we can understand that 25%-50% of purchase of
34 respondents are influenced by social media. Along with this 50%-75% of
purchase of 13 respondents and below 25% of purchase of 14 respondents are
influenced by social media. It is interpreted that 75%-100% of purchase of none of
the respondents are influenced by social media.
Preferred
source of Company’s Social media Friends & Advertisements
information for website relatives
buying
decision
No. of.
respondents 9 19 26 7
Figure No:4.9
Interpretation
Friends and relatives are the most preferred source of information for buying
decision and next mostly preferred source is social media. The least preferred
source of information for buying decision are company’s websites and
advertisements.
Table No: 4.10 Type of social media that influence purchase decision
Type of social
media that
influence Instagram Facebook You Tube Twitter Blog Post
purchase
decision
No. of.
respondents 30 4 24 0 3
Purchase decision of most of the respondents are influenced by instagram and You
Tube. Only few of them are influenced by facebook and blog post. None of them
are influenced by twitter.
The importance of a product to consumer is the most important factor that drives
attention in social media. Along with this exposure of products/advertisements,
visual elements of products/advertisements, likes and comments shared by others
are also factors that drives attention in social media.
Figure No:4.12 Factors that motivate consumers to shop through social media
Factors that
motivate
consumers to shop Low Saves time Quality of Easy to Offers &
through social price the product make discounts in
media payment social media
No. of.
respondents 11 12 11 5 22
Figure No:4.12
Interpretation
From the above table and figure we can understand that most of the respondents
are motivated by offers & discounts in social media to shop through social media.
Along with this they are also motivated by factors like low price , saves time,
quality of the product. Only of few of them are motivated by the factor easy to
make payment.
Mostly preferred
online shopping Flipkart Myntra Amazon .in
sites
No. of. respondents
36 2 23
Flipkart is the online shopping site that is mostly preferred and next mostly
preferred app is amazon.in. The least preferred app is Myntra.
Most of the respondents have the opinion that there is more information & easier
access in social media compared to traditional media. Some of them have the
opinion that social media saves time & has information reliability compared to
traditional media. Only few of them have the opinion that social media has better
communication with other consumers and business compared to traditional media.
Statement SA A N DA SDA
I think that with social media
sites, I am able to seek out 9 33 18 1 0
products/services information
actively
More than 40 respondents agree that with social media sites they are able to seek
out products/services information actively. 18 of them have neutral opinion. Only 1
respondent disagree and none of them strongly disagree with the statement.
Statement SA A N DA SDA
Out of total respondents 40 respondents agree with the fact that advertisements /
posts/reviews on social media influence to try new brands/products/services. 18
people don’t have any particular or strong opinion. 7 people strongly agree with
this fact and none of them strongly disagree with this fact.
Statement SA A N DA SDA
More than 40 respondents agree that promotions and discounts on social media
influence consumer behavior. 15 of them have neutral opinion. Only 4 respondents
disagree and none of them strongly disagree.
Statement SA A N DA SDA
I agree with the fact that information
available on social media is used in case of 9 19 27 5 1
uncertainties regarding a purchase
More than 20 respondents agree with the fact that information available on social
media is used in case of uncertainties regarding a purchase. 27 respondents don’t
have any particular or strong opinion. Only 9 respondents strongly agree with this
fact and only 1 respondent strongly disagree with this fact.
Statement SA A N DA SDA
I agree with the fact that social media
has provided more effective platforms to 11 26 21 3 0
new products to gain consumer’s
attention
Figure No:4.19
Interpretation
More than 30 respondents agree with the fact that social media has provided more
effective platforms to new products to gain consumer’s attention. 21 respondents
have neutral opinion. Only 3 respondents disagree and none of them strongly
disagree with this fact.
Statement SA A N DA SDA
I agree with the statement that social
media had increased knowledge 12 36 11 2 0
regarding different products and
services
Figure No:4.20
Interpretation
More than 40 respondents agree with statement that social media increased
knowledge regarding different products and services. 11 respondents don’t have
particular any particular or strong opinion. Only 12 respondents strongly agree
with the statement and none of them strongly disagree with the statement.
CHAPTER 5
Social media can provide more information about the products and services,
which will improve the knowledge of the consumer.
More offers & discounts should be made on products in social media, so that
more people will be motivated to shop through social media platforms.
CONCLUSION
This study shows that social media has a great influence in the behavior of the
consumers. Discounts and deals on social media, likes and comments about the
product, social media influencers, reviews about the product in social media are the
factors that influence consumer behavior. It is also clear from the study that social
media has many advantages compared to traditional media. Consumers are
attracted towards the products by watching advertisements in social media. It is
found that offers & discounts in social media is the factor that motivate consumers
to shop through social media platforms. According to the survey flipkart is most
preferred online shopping site. Most of the people are using information available
on social media in case of uncertainties regarding a product. It can be concluded
that social media has the power to influence potential consumers from start until
the stage of a purchase and beyond as well. It also enhanced the knowledge of
consumers regarding the products and services. There is no doubt that, importance
of social media will increase in future.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Name:
2. Age Group:
Under 18
18-25
25-40
40 & above
3. Gender:
Male
Female
Other
4. Occupational status:
Student
Employed
Unemployed
5. Do you use social media?
Yes
No
6. You use social media for
Shopping
Chatting
Information
Make friends
Other
7. Which of the following type of social media are you using on a daily
basis?
Facebook
Instagram
Whatsapp
Snap chat
Other
8. Time you spent on social media per day
0 hour
1-5 hours
5-10 hours
10 hours or more
9. Do you pay attention to advertisement on social media websites?
Yes
No
Maybe
10. Do you trust social media?
Yes
No
11. Does social media influence your buying decision?
Yes
No
Maybe
12. How much of the purchase do you feel was influenced by social media?
Below 25%
25%-50%
50%-75%
75%-100%
13. What is your preferred source of information for buying decision?
Company’ website
Social media
Friends & relatives
Advertisements
Other
14. Which type of social media influence your purchase decision?
Instagram
Facebook
You Tube
Twitter
Blog Post
Other
15. In your opinion which of these factors drives your attention in social
media?
The frequent exposure of products/advertisements
Visual elements of advertisements & products
How important a product is to me
How much a product is liked, commented & shared by others
Other
16. In your opinion which of these factors motivate you to shop through
social media platforms
Low price
Saves time
Quality of the product
Easy to make payment
Offers & discounts in social media
Other
17. Which of the following online shopping sites are mostly preferred by you?
Flipkart
Myntra
Amazon.in
Other
18. In your opinion what are the advantages of social media compared to
traditional media
There is more information and easier access
Information reliability
They save my time
Better communication with other consumers and business
Other
19. Do you think that with social media sites, you are able to seek out
products/services information actively?
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
20. Do you agree that, for instance, advertisements/blog posts/ user reviews
on social media influence you to try new brands/ products/ services?
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
21. Do you think that promotions, discounts and deals on social media
influence consumer behaviour?
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
22. Do you agree that you use information available on social media if you
have uncertainties regarding a purchase
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
23. Do you agree that social media has provided more effective platforms to
new products/services/brands to draw consumer’s attention
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
24. Do you agree with the statement that social media increased and
enhanced my knowledge regarding different products and services
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree