How Social Media Marketing Influence Customer Behaviour

On Purchase Intentions

Research Proposal by

Fitri Nurandianti

MA Strategic Communication
Module 2. Strategic Communication – In-Depth Project, Research and Methodology

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences

Örebro University

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Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 3
Previous research (an overview) ............................................................................................ 5
Data Gathering ..................................................................................................................... 7
Purpose ................................................................................................................................. 7
Methods ................................................................................................................................ 9
Summary............................................................................................................................. 11
References........................................................................................................................... 12

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Introduction

Social media has become a big part of today’s world, different platforms are provided for different
purposes. Applications like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter allow you to interact in real-time
with different people and can reach their targeted audiences for companies that run on social media
too. The internet, social media, smartphone apps, and other digital communication tools have
become ingrained in the daily lives of billions of people (Stephen, 2016).

Nowadays, having a smartphone also helps the consumer to search and browse for options on the
internet. Several famous social media sites are employed for various marketing goals depending
on their particular environment (Lucius & Hanson, 2016). To attract customers, each marketing
site demands a unique strategy. More than just increasing site traffic and helping firms reach more
customers, using social media in marketing gives a crucial arena for better understanding and
learning from target audiences (Lucius & Hanson, 2016).

Social media platforms like Pinterest are a good way to get creative and boost creativity to increase
customers’ purchase intention. Pinterest's image-centric platform is perfect for shopping, but it can
be used for social media by anyone. With some innovative pinboards, Pinterest allows small
businesses to exhibit their product offerings while also creating their own brand's individuality
(Lucius & Hanson, 2016).

Social media has turned into a powerful advocate for digital marketing. Initially, the goal of social
networks was to facilitate face-to-face connection. As a result, social media sites like Facebook
and Twitter have evolved into powerful digital marketing tools. In today's world, having a strong
digital footprint on the internet is critical for corporate success. When a company is developing its
marketing strategy, it should include a sound digital strategy. New client acquisitions, brand
visibility, and revenue-generating prospects are all likely to suffer if you don't have a digital
marketing strategy in place (Durai & King, 2015).

To attract customers, retailers use a variety of marketing tactics, including closed-circuit television
in shopping malls, public television advertising, print advertisements, and direct marketing (Lee

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& Kim, 2008). In his book, dr. Rajagopal (2013) says, “for the company to gain trust from the
customer, to push through their intentions to buy something from their brands, and to prove that
their social media marketing works, there are steps to go through”. The five steps are:
• Gaining insight into a community of interest
• Building brand visibility and authority
• Influencing and promoting products or services
• Analyzing the network traffic
• Driving traffic to revenues model

For example, Uniqlo has been one of the best fast retailing groups with offline and online stores.
They have a variety of collaborations with cartoon characters or famous designers for jointly-
designed styles. Passersby photographed Liu Haoran and Xu Weizhou wearing jointly-designed
UT of the One Piece at the airport, using the One Piece series of UT as an example (Wang, 2019).
Following the release of the images on the Internet, fans flocked to the Uniqlo shop to buy the
same style, creating a scene of "impossible to locate the same style." Some customers enjoy mixing
and matching Uniqlo apparel and uploading it to new media apps like Xiaohongshu and Bilibili.
They share their tips with netizens in order to connect with them, influence their purchasing habits,
and ultimately promote the company. (Wang, 2019).

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Previous research (an overview)

According to Andrew T Stephen’s (2016) research called “The role of digital and social media
marketing in consumer behavior”, people are being increasingly exposed to digital and social
media. This is for a variety of reasons, including in their responsibilities as consumers as they look
for information about items, buy and consume them, and share their experiences with others.
Marketers have increased their usage of digital marketing channels in response to this major shift.
In fact, by 2017, digital media are estimated to account for around one-third of global advertising
spending (eMarkerter, 2014). As a result, future consumer marketing will be predominantly
conducted online, notably on social media and mobile devices.

To counter the expansion of internet retailing and target potential shoppers through physical and
electronic channels as various routes to promoting buy behavior, shops in large shopping malls
and busy street retailers are increasingly embracing multichannel distribution strategies (Nicholson
et al, 2002). From the company's point of view, customers can connect with retailers through a
variety of channels, including e-commerce websites, physical stores, kiosks, direct mail, catalogs,
call centers, social media, mobile devices, game consoles, televisions, networked appliances, home
services, and more (Rajagopal, 2013). Although the change can be beneficial, there is still the
downside of it, eventually, an offline store will be no longer beneficial and turns into one big
warehouse to store all the products for online platforms. They must seamlessly combine the
physical and digital to create shopping a fun, stimulating, and emotionally engaging experience.

Despite companies' efforts to integrate social media into their marketing strategy, social media
projects tend to fail to provide rewards due to a lack of emotional capital. Social media is merely
a tool for communication that can be utilized as inefficiently and ineffectively as any other medium
of communication. Although social media can offer to build a stronger and more fluid relationship
with stakeholders, success in an online community demands a leader who can develop emotional
capital and sees community building as a means of generating revenue (Huy & Shipilov, 2012).

To stay up with the rapid evolution in digital, companies must make regular changes to suit the
demands of their customers, or risk losing relevance and dropping out of the race. The ubiquity of

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digital channels, platforms, and gadgets has resulted in the emergence of new consumer bases that
are worldwide, digitally, and always linked (Durai & King, 2015). Digital marketing helps
marketers to take advantage of the best of both worlds: digital and marketing. While the essential
concepts of marketing remain the same, digital marketing is more than simply another marketing
channel; it is a new method to marketing that provides a unique insight into customer behavior.

It is also believed that a larger emphasis should be put on the impact of retail ambiance on young
leisure shoppers (Backstrom, 2006). Gender, age, a proclivity for spontaneous purchases, and a
tendency for purchasing items, not on shopping lists are all factors that can predict obsessive
behavior (Shoham & Brencis, 2003). Consumers are increasingly turning online to find products
and services, compare prices, and make purchases. Many cognitive drivers influence consumer
emotions in online decision-making. As a result, websites must not only be constructed, but also
meticulously managed, and should provide live client experiences (Lindgaard et al., 2006).

Another research by Efthymios Constantinides (2004), identifying web experience components

and understanding their role as inputs in the online customer's decision-making process, is the first
step in developing and delivering an attractive online presence likely to have the greatest impact
on Internet users.

Tan and He (2019) mentioned Uniqlo, the offline style of online retail businesses under the New
Retail mode is intended to merge online and offline as well as inventory data to provide an all-
channel purchasing experience. When a physical store's inventory is low, goods might be supplied
online. The goods can also be picked up at the offline physical store if there is no inventory in the
physical store. In terms of online shopping convenience, UNIQLO launched a service called "one-
click shopping in the flagship store" in October 2018, which allows customers to quickly identify
the entrance to the flagship store based on their purchasing patterns.

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Data Gathering

To gather all the previous research, using different platforms that are provided by the university
was sufficient. The search for additional references was based on the literature lists of the papers
that had already been found for this purpose. These are the tools that helped with the use of
searching for literature:
a) Örebro University Library Databases
b) University of Indonesia Library Databases, lib-ui.ac.id
c) ScienceDirect – Journal & Book
d) Google Scholar

The systematic literature search is guided by a search strategy that is specific for the purpose topics.
The search query was database-specific, which implies that each of the databases used has different
search filters that can be changed, such as time frame and language. The keywords that are used
were “social media”, “digital world”, and “purchase intention”. Although some research
showcases outdated previous research, hence it has an impact and is still used as a reference for
newer research.

Purpose

The purpose of this research proposal is to contribute to the previous research about social media,
the digital world, and purchase intention. Social media is something that the young generation–
gen z–can escape, they grew up with it and they have been active users ever since smartphone
starts to take over.

In addition, by comparing the previous studies and gathering all the materials, it can be seen how
developed social media is nowadays, and how it affects the customers’ purchase intention towards
the brand, through their social media marketing. To fully comprehend the effects of media on
children, researchers must first learn about the various antecedents of children's media exposure
(So far, there have been far too few attempts in the consumer socialization literature to investigate
the dynamic components of kid factors in the socialization process.

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Research Questions

With shopping online, some companies put products specifically for their customers to buy online
only, while maybe other options are also available at the offline store. Choices like this make the
consumer feels exclusive. Rajagopal (2013), shopping is closely linked to a sense of fulfillment
and self-esteem, which not only aids in the development of consumer behavior but also aids in the
development of the social image. Consumer perceptions of a product's or service's relevance to
their needs are influenced by product qualities, and consumer preferences for product attributes
are strongly tied to their lifestyle. This then leads to the first research question:

RQ1: How does the customer perceive the rising need for them to purchase a product from seeing
content from social media?

Secondly, according to Valkenburg (2000), marketing researchers have studied the purchasing
habits of children and teenagers. In the Netherlands, for example, children's television programs
have been shown to contain more than 25 child-targeted television adverts each hour. In addition,
a slew of new marketing strategies is focused squarely on children. For example, the Internet is
increasingly being used to target children and teenagers with product advertisements while also
gathering data that may be utilized for future marketing (Valkenburg, 2000).

Referring to Shoham and Brencis (2003) say, gender and age are not the only factors that
consumers have the intention to buy something from the brands. As a result, they must maintain a
high level of interest through increasing customer involvement in the purchasing process and
keeping customers, especially the young (Miranda et al, 2005), in this case, the young is gen z.
This led to the second research question:

RQ2: What attracts Gen-Z in social media, that leads them into buying a product online from a
brand?

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Methods

After gathering all the research questions for the research, the next step would be choosing the
right research method to apply to. From previous studies, many of the researchers used quantitative
and qualitative research as their methods, in the end comparing between both methods and see
which one gives the best results for the research questions.

Quantitative analysis is a technique that uses mathematical and statistical modeling, measurement,
and research to understand behavior. Quantitative analysts represent a given reality in terms of a
numerical value (Kenton, 2020). While qualitative analysis is to generate rich descriptions rather
than measurable metrics. It focuses on meanings, requires sensitivity to context rather than the
attempt to acquire universal generalizations, and establishes rich descriptions rather than
quantifiable measures (Kenton, 2020).

To understand how the customer perceived the intention to buy something, a quantitative analysis
can be one of the solutions to find the answers for it. Having the customers fill out short surveys
on the website, can help the brands to improve in the future. However, a survey on the website is
not always the best tool for brands to use, most of the time, customers would find it annoying or
simply ignore it because it is not interesting for them to fill out. Although websites for fashion
brands, tend to have satisfactory surveys at the end of it, when the customer is done browsing and
buying the products, there is a notification about how’s the website navigation for the customer at
the end of it. Collecting data from the quantitative analysis was also very efficient and easy to read
for a lot of people.

Both quantitative and qualitative have their pros and cons. The quantitative analysis provided a
more concrete proof with numbers and data that is accumulated through online surveys, previous
research, and others. Meanwhile, the qualitative analysis is more thorough for deep discussions
and if you want to have certain feedback from the interviewee. The pros of using the quantitative
analysis are, you can compare various data from the previous research as well and be able to add
more explanation or add more knowledge towards the previous research. The qualitative also gives
more diverse answers, which could help the researchers for future research with their answers.

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For example, Nestle is one of the companies that do qualitative analysis frequently. In order to get
the full answer from each customer, the salespersons would come up to their potential customers,
have them taste their products, and give the evaluation by filling out the forms that the salespersons
already provided. Having different people fill out the forms, expressing their thoughts freely
without having the options like in the quantitative analysis would do, allows the customers have
constructive criticism for Nestle’s products. Even so, collecting data from the qualitative analysis
can be very time-consuming, and the answers are hard to digest because it allows people to say
what’s on their mind, it does not give a certain answer and a perfect percentage of number like the
quantitative analysis.

Furthermore, this research proposal would likely use a qualitative analysis as the primary method.
Interviewing a couple of Gen-Z, who are deeply involved with social media on a day-to-day basis,
and have experienced shopping online. This then can result in various answers and experiences
from each individual, and able to compare it to make an in-depth analysis.

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Summary

The rapid growth in social media has pushed a lot of brands to have an online platform, in order
to fill the customers’ needs, while still maintaining the offline store too. New media marketing is
a marketing strategy that utilizes new media channels as a medium, but also modern marketing
ideas and the Internet's overall environment. With new media platforms, brands may not only
increase their visibility and influence but also reduce the gap with consumers (Wang, 2019).

Based on the previous research, the most targeted audiences would be the young generations,
female or male. Because they are the one who spends more time on social media and has the ability
to access all of those websites to shop online and make a decision for themselves about their
purchase intentions for products. Children's ideas and participation in decision-making processes
are encouraged and valued in modern homes (Valkenburg, 2000). Youngsters not only direct daily
home expenditures such as snacks, candies, and breakfast products, but as they get older, they also
have a direct influence on their parents' restaurant, vacation destination, and new automobile
choices (Valkenburg, 2000).

Therefore, brands are now trying to stay equal for both offline and online stores. Having the offline
stores as their main thing, but also preparing one giant warehouse, to store all the goods in case
the digital era took off well and making all brands must go online. Nowadays, the online shopping
website gives the customers much more experience than the offline one. They provided high-tech
devices, such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) for people to “try-on”, so the customers could visually
envision themselves wearing the brand’s product, which is smart for them to do that. So, it makes
the customers that maybe live far-away from the actual store can still experience the same thing,
but virtually.

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References

Backstrom, K. (2006), “Understanding Recreational Shopping,” International Review of Retail,

Distribution and Consumer Research, 16 (2), 143–158.

Constantinides, E., (2004). Influencing the online consumer’s behavior: the Web experience.
Internet Research. 14(2). p. 111-126.

Durai, Tabitha Dr., King, Rachel., (2015). Impact of Digital Marketing on the Growth of
Consumerism.

eMarketer: Advertisers Will Spend Nearly $600 Billion Worldwide in 2015. 2015:.
http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Advertisers-Will-Spend-Nearly-600-Billion-Worldwide-
2015/1011691

Huy, Q., Shipilov, Q. (2012). “The Key to Social Media Success Within Organizations,” Sloan
Management Review, 54 (1), 73–81.

Kenton, Will., Investopedia (2020): Quantitative Analysis (QA).

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/q/quantitativeanalysis.asp

Lee, H. H., Kim, J. (2008). “The Effects of Shopping Orientations on Consumers’ Satisfaction
with Product Search and Purchases in a Multi-Channel Environment,” Journal of Fashion
Marketing and Management, 12 (2), 193–216.

Lindgaard, G. G., Dudek, F. C., and Brown, J. (2006), “Attention Web Designers: You Have 50
Milliseconds to Make a First Impression!” Behavior and Information Technology, 25 (2), 115–
126.

Lucius, Harold W., Hanson, John H., (2016) Consumerism and Marketing in the Digital Age.
American Journal of Management Vol. 16(3) 2016.

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Miranda, M., Konya, L., Havira, I. (2005), “Shopper’s Satisfaction Levels Are Not Only the Key
to Store Loyalty,” Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 23 (2), 220–232.

Nicholson, M., Clarke, I., and Blakemore, M. (2002), “‘One Brand, Three Ways to Shop’:
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Distribution and Consumer Research, 12 (2), 131–148.

Rajagopal, dr., (2013). “Managing Social Media and Consumerism, The Grapevine Effect in
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Shoham, A., Brencis, M. M. (2003), “Compulsive Buying Behavior,” Journal of Consumer

Marketing, 20 (2), 127–138.

Stephen, Andre T., (2016). The role of digital and social media marketing in consumer behavior.
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Tan, X., He, Y., (2019). Research on Marketing Modes of New Retail Based on 4C Principles: a
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Wang, Lu., (2019). Analysis on 5W Mode of Uniqlo Brand Communication in the Era of New
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