A STUDY ON GROWTH OF USER-GENERATED CONTENT IN MARKETING

Abstract

Digital technology is changing fast and people are using social media more than ever. This has completely changed the way companies talk to customers and how customers make decisions about what to buy. User-Generated Content, which is anything that people create and share online like reviews or videos is becoming a powerful tool. It helps people trust brands. Decide what to buy. The thing about User-Generated Content is that it feels real and honest unlike the stuff that companies make to sell their products. People are not just listening to what companies have to say they are also talking to each other. Sharing their own experiences. This is why User-Generated Content is so important. This study wants to figure out how User-Generated Content affects what people buy how they feel about brands and how much they trust them.

This study used a kind of research that involves numbers and is descriptive and analytical. We made a questionnaire on Google forms. Sent it to people who use social media a lot. We got 68 people to answer it. We chose these people because they use media every day and see a lot of User-Generated Content. The questionnaire asked them about themselves and how they feel about things like how much they trust brands and whether they would buy something based on what other people say. We also asked them to compare User-Generated Content to advertising. This helped us understand how people feel about User-Generated Content compared to kinds of advertising.

For understanding the demographic and behavioral profile of the respondents, the data was analysed by using percentage analysis and to know the level and consistency of agreement between the individual survey items, the mean and standard deviation analysis was used, and to check the effect of UGC on the purchase behavior, Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted with Consumer trust, Brand perception as independent variables and Purchase intention as dependent variable. In addition to the statistics, there is also a qualitative trend that can be seen within the responses: Consumers are being attracted to content that is more human, more spontaneous, more experiential. Testimonials and reels are among the most commonly used UGC formats, reflecting a greater psychological reality that in today's world, consumers want to be seen as themselves, and brands who allow them to be their own voice are viewed as more authentic and believable than those who only promote their own products.

Results of the study were consistent and sufficient for each of the three constructs studied. The mean scores of the composite scores were all in the strong agreement range on a five point scale, with Purchase Intention at 4.24, Brand Perception at 4.27 and Consumer Trust at 4.14. Most items had standard deviations of 0.5 or less, indicating good internal consistency in the responses in this sample. The construct that was most significantly influenced by UGC was found to be Brand Perception, thus indicating that the net effect of UGC on the attitude of consumers towards the brand has a significant impact. The qualitative side of this result is just as important: the more authentic peer content consumers see linked to a brand, the more it affects their brand image, and more so than any amount of advertising they could ever see. Consumer Trust and Purchase Intention were trailing closely behind, confirming that trust – created by UGC content in the consumer's mind – is a crucial link between UGC exposure and purchase decision.

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On the basis of the above, Multiple Linear Regression analysis was used to investigate the predictive relationship between constructs of UGC and consumer purchase behavior.Therefore, Multiple Linear Regression analysis was carried out to examine the predictive relationship between constructs of UGC and consumer purchase behavior, with Consumer Trust and Brand Perception as the independent variables and Purchase Intention as the dependent variable. The overall model was statistically significant (F = 9.75, p < .001) with R² of 0.2308, which means that the Consumer Trust and the Brand Perception have an R square of 23.1 per cent. Both predictors, Brand Perception and Consumer Trust, had statistically significant and independent contributions to the model, with Brand Perception being a strong predictor (β = 0.4823, p = .001) and Consumer Trust being a moderate predictor (β = 0.2428, p = .038). The results of this study support the core hypothesis by showing that UGC has a measurable and statistically significant impact on consumer purchase intention, while at the same time influencing consumer trust and brand perception.

Finally, this study proves that the UGC is not simply an additional component of digital marketing but plays a vital and vital role in consumer behavior. When combined with the larger behavioral trends in the data, the picture emerges of a new consumer world where authenticity, peer validation and experiential content are the coins of the realm of influence. Brands and marketers feel the same: the best marketing communication in the digital era is not about a brand, but about what its customers say about it. This research is a valuable addition to the existing knowledge on UGC and consumer behaviour, and offers a valuable starting point for further research that is broader in scope, more diverse and more methodologically sophisticated.