INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN AUTOMOTIVE PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

During the past years of pandemic many physical activities have been converted into online mode. Among this, one major activity is analyzing vehicles before purchase by potential customers. Earlier, the only way for a potential customer to research the details of a particular vehicle or category of vehicle was to visit the nearest showroom and find out hands on. Apart from this, it involved rigorous study of technical specifications provided by the company and compare it with others. With restricted movement outside their homes, many customers have now turned to online platforms for reviews of the products they are planning to purchase. It provides an easy, hassle free option of potential buyers to review the products they are willing to purchase. This aids them immensely to narrow down choices and finally make the purchase decision. This study aims to focus on the impact of social media influencers on the mind of the customers. Review of relevant literature sheds light on the previously conducted research in this domain and their findings. Based on this study, hypotheses were formulated and questionnaire was designed to collect a wide range of data from respondents who were considered potential customers of the Indian Automotive Industry. The data has been analyzed using suitable tools to test the initial hypotheses and come up with conclusions. The research covers different areas of customer behavior and preferences w.r.t to cars as well as their life on social media. Attempts have been made to study the relationship between various aspects such as age, gender, etc. and inclination towards car segments, attributes as well as social media behavior. These linkages have been used to formulate strategies that can be beneficial for social media marketing of Indian Auto products.