INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ON CONSUMER

BUYING DECISION MAKING PROCESS

Santosh Arakeri

ABSTRACT

Social media marketing places customers at the core of the business world and offers marketers
a new range of tools to connect and integrate them with consumers through creative means into
brands. Marketers need essentially to consider the effect of social media on the purchasing
habits of customers. Social media marketing has the contemporary way to advertise a product or
service, in comparison with traditional media, as it concentrates on the opening of new horizons
for advertisers. Consumer behavior and loyalty have recently become a significant advantage
for every corporation to hit its marketplace and raise income. Organizations use social media
technology for this reason. Research shows that businesses use social media marketing to
communicate with customers. Social media marketing has offered businesses a new way to deal
with customers and to alter their buying behavior. People use social media to share their
experiences, feedback, details, counseling, alerts, tips, and all types of problems of concern to
their link or friends. Social media was used as marketer ads. Marketers take advantage of this
and develop a marketing plan to help them attract more customers. The social media
environment is easy to use to hit the client. These advantages offer people comfort to do what
they want. There were 220 respondents in the survey, and results for the univariate and bivariate
analysis were drawn from the statistical perspective. Likewise, it becomes apparent how much
this research is affected and the real effect of social media marketing represents in the
mechanism of consumer purchase decision making after using SPSS and analysis by the host
questionnaire on the on-line platform. In this study, a positive linear association between social
media marketing and consumer purchasing decisions has been examined in Pearson's analysis of
correlation. The coefficient of correlation (r2) was 30.9% at 1%. This suggests that the decision
to purchase the consumer can be anticipated by the ads of social media. Additional variable(s) to
describe consumer buying decision making (CBDM) may be developed for future trials.
Prolong this analysis by considering the material on social media and others to understand the
decision-making behavior of the target consumer.

Keywords: Social Media Marketing, Consumer Buying Decision-Making Process

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 INTRODUCTION

The introduction of Social Media Marketing (SMM) is one of the most powerful inventions in
the history of commerce. This particular technological innovation over the last decade has
radically revolutionized conventional marketing methods and pushed marketers into a new age.
SMM brings consumers back at the heart of the business world and provides advertisers with a
new generation of tools to engage with and incorporate consumers into products by creative
means. In essence, advertisers need to consider how social media have affected consumer
buying decisions (CBDM). Consumer behavior is a critical part of marketing, as it helps
marketers develop strong and robust marketing strategies and techniques. For example,
companies are launching new goods or services, which are typically purchased by few
consumers in the initial phase and are gradually increasing the number of users. Today,
companies are using social media technology to transform customer behavior and earn their
loyalty.

Social media nowadays is part of the life of a human. Social media like Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and YouTube have multiple users and continue to expand every day. More than 500
million people are projected to engage with social media (Ostrow, 2010). Marketers are drawn
by the rising number of social media users. Marketers also acknowledged that marketing in
social media is a major component of their marketing strategy. Social networking also aids
companies in connecting with their clients.

These experiences help marketers define consumer requirements and understand the look and
feel of their business. Key social media business factors allow customers to estimate goods,
advise contacts and friends, and share purchases through their social networks. Social media
communication has affected the decision-making and marketing strategies of consumers. The
theory of consumer socialization predicts that consumer contact influences your cognitive,
affective, and behavioral attitudes (Ward, 1974). Advertising has also generated new customer
behavior on the social media page. Consumers prefer to buy or run social media businesses.

Friends' recommendations or social media interactions might also assist customers in making
decisions. These proposals may help brand attitudes, attitudes to buy and advertise. The better
the reactions to the goods or services, the more appealing the buyer would buy. Any of the
leading brands and providers notes that and concentrates on the marketing of social media.

Therefore this research attempts to explore how Social Media Marketing (SMM) influences on
Consumer Buying Decision Making (CBDM) process. The specific research question of this
study is: “Does Social Media Marketing influences on Consumer Buying Decision Making
Process among social media users”

It is lack of literature in rural market to examine the relationship between SMM and CBDM
process. There is also a strong empirical difference with the influences of SMM is social media
users' CBDM processes. This scientific dividing line is an issue for businesses who use social
media to promote their services to know if their brand is popular by consumers of social media.

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 There is also a need to assess how SMM among users of social media affected the CBDM
process.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Based on Rockendorf 2011, social media is also a hub for market intelligence, as advertisers
begin to see the buying behavior of the customer and learn why consumers are certain about
this. This paper explores SMM methods, the role of online advertisements, online communities,
and mouth electronics which affect customer loyalty and purchasing intentions. Forbes &
Vespoli, 2013; 2013 Social networking may affect the purchasing behavior of all providers or
goods. Market decision-making can influence the quality, brand, advertisement, or price. The
findings of this study show that buyers purchase cheap or costly goods, and are doing so based
on recommendations from social media by their contacts or friends on social media.

In an analysis of the type of product purchased and the cost of the item, the university has used
a sample of 249 customer purchases. The results of the research indicate that customers
purchase cheap or costly things and use their acquaintances or social media friends to make
suggestions from social media (Forbes & Vespoli, 2013).

Social media relationships with consumer decision-making have an effect on advertising

attitudes, brand attitude, and consumer buying intentions. It does not necessarily influence
decision-making by consumers but could have a mediating effect (Taining, 2012). Social media
can create brand behaviors that impact purchasing behavior. The good image of the brand or the
product can choose the consumer. When a consumer friend shares in social media or
recommends social media services or products, it affects the brand's position and influences its
decision making. However, advertising in social media that comes from commercial sources
both affect the attitude of consumers and their intentions to buy (Yang, 2012). It helps marketers
to plan their marketing strategies from this information. For marketing campaigns, many
marketers use social media. They are an easy way of communication with consumers, and their
brands or services are also cheap to advertise.

Social media is not only used for advertising but can also be used to connect brands or services
to their consumers. A new study shows that social media enables consumers and future
consumers to directly communicate to a representative of the brand. Because most customers
search and buy items using social media, brands or services make use of that advantage to
publicize their products. The online consumer is a worldwide booming market but is globalizing
cross-cultural segmentation (Vinerean, Cetina & Tichindelean, 2013). If they have problems
with products or services, consumers can reach their business through social media, which
makes them easy to connect and contact. How companies react to social media comments or
answers is challenged. companies. They can build strong brand images with their reactions and
get more consumers to buy products or services. Every single detail could influence the
decision-making process if a consumer wants to make decisions about goods or services.

Consumer motivations for social networking provide insights into the activities of consumers.
Consumers have three main gratifications or motives, namely information, entertainment, and
social aspects, for using the Internet as a media (Heinonen, 2011). Their motivation consists of
two major groups: rational motives such as sharing knowledge and support, and emotional

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 motives such as social relationships or self-expression (Krishnamurthy & Dou, 2008). Social
media consumer activities have been founded based on consumer online behavior. Currently,
consumers use the Internet as their motivation tools.
Social media reviews become secondary resources for consumers because they want their
dollars to be valued. Social media reviews not only affect costly items, but also cheap items.
Critics, books, cars, hotels, or even nap polishes are shown in the magazine. These reviews can
motivate purchases or support decision-making by making spending the money on them more
reasonable.

Social media not only affect the decision-making of consumers in products or services, but it
also contributes to other areas of study or careers, for instance, political impartiality of legal
impartiality. The easily accessible nature of the Internet allows jurors to seek advice from an
online social media source to support their decision-making and deliberations (Simpler, 2012).
Social media helps jurors to present their ongoing court options. Jurors find certain advantages
or evidence that can support their decision and assist them in making their decision. Twitter is
the leading news and up-to-date information sharing. These data may not be verified to be true
or not, but at least they will give the lawyers the impression and know what other people think
about the case. Researchers today found that social networks help jurors have a broad and open
view of the case and can influence the decision-making of the juror (Simpler, 2012).

The social media impact on decision-making by sharing health information about news and
social media was also investigated in another study. The study examined the coverage in Dutch
news websites and social media websites of influenza vaccination. In February, March, and
April 2012, the Netherland news and social media websites supported influenza vaccine
campaigns. The results of this study showed that news media and social media have different
tones. News media reports were generally more objective and unexpected while social media
were more critical of internet users' behavior and could affect the success of vaccination
campaigns and health authorities' recommendations (Lehmann, Ruiter & Kok, 2013). This study
however concludes that e-health announcements are the first step. In social media, people tend
to respond more than news media to the news. It is attractive and affects people through the
Internet in their decision-making and could be a major source of health information.

Since people cannot try travel-related products and services until they consume them, dynamic
processes with different quantities and types of information sources have been used (Fodness, &
Murray, 1977). Many surveys have found that many travelers have used social media as a
reference for their journey. Reviews of destinations, hotels, transportation, food, or restaurants
could have a major impact on traveler's decisions. Travel organizations and companies have
used social media as a networking tool for their audiences by posting travel information;
uploading images, warnings, tips, or sharing personal travel reviews. These factors will affect
the decisions of the trip and even generate impressions of the potential destination of the trip.
Fifty-eight percent of U.S. online travel has used travel information ratings: 49% of them
reviewed ratings and suggestions: 18 percent used images and social networking sites for
friends: 12 percent read blogs: and 5 percent read videos (eMarketer, 2007). Venkatesh, Speir,
and Morris (2002) have shown that the theory of social power has influenced decision-making.

Activities in groups tend to be collectively influenced by the members of the collective group.
The degree to which an individual thinks the person is conducting a certain activity social
impact (Venkatesh, Speir, & Morris, 2002). The social theory reveals the notion that social
media has been a fundamental force in the decision-making phase of an individual; they require
assurance of the right thing that they want.

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 This research takes into account the influence of social media Ads on customer purchasing
decision-making based on these literature reviews. For this analysis, the declaration of
hypothesis constructed as follows

The hypothesis statement regarding this study is

H0: SMM does not significantly impact on CBDM process

H1: SMM significantly impact on CBDM process

METHODOLOGY
A web-designed questionnaire was designed for this research purpose by using “Google drive”
which can be based on a web link, which can be open in all internet operating systems such as
internet explores, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Mac OS, etc. For emails, contingent, and
independent variables, primary data were obtained using an anonymous survey of the
standardized questionnaire in the web format that can be submitted to all friends of ours in the
"Wall" of my Facebook. Primary data was gathered for both dependent and independent
variables through an online questionnaire focused on a standardized questionnaire in a web page
format that was posted on My Facebook's and Linked In and could be sent to all of our mates.
Within the appropriate time period, approximately two hundred twenty (220) friends replied to
the uploaded questionnaire. Deductive testing is used, with variables calculated using
quantitative analysis. Based on the results from Facebook respondents, primary data is collected
through standardized questionnaires with closed statements calculated with a Likert scale (1-5
as strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree respectively), Using a simple
sampling technique, about two hundred twenty (220) friends were classified from a group of
500 (see Table 1).

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