IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR

Abstract

On a daily basis in present-day, 100,000 tweets are sent, 684,478 pieces of content are shared on Facebook, 2 million search queries are made on Google, 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube, 3,600 photos are shared on Instagram, and 571 websites are created. The advent of social media has created a new landscape which lays out a new grid of personal connections. Businesses see enormous opportunities and are eager to tap into the trend, whereas consumers are put back to the center in the business world because of social media. There are many studies explaining reasons to tap into social media and to help companies to gain a better position in the transition; yet a few intends to study from the perspective of consumers, let alone those in Finland. Oftentimes, consumers feel differently from what marketers think, for instance what “brand engagement” via social media looks like to consumers may not be quite what marketers think. The objective of the research is to explain why, when, and how social media has impacted on consumer decision process. The theoretical framework rests on literature of consumer decision making process, social media, as well as previous studies relating to social media marketing. Quantitative research method is adapted for the purpose of this research. The empirical data was gathered by sending out questionnaire to individuals in India, March-April 2014.