Effects of Social Media on Youth Purchasing Behavior of smartphones in Nigeria: a Case study of Lagos residence
1.1 Background of the Study
Businesses are beginning to use social media platforms as a means of communication and as a place to find vital information concerning their products. The platforms provided by social media provide smooth communications without boundaries with the clients (Atwong, 2015). Before introducing social media, there were very few media sources where potential customers could get information concerning a product that matches their taste. The most available means were print media and oral advertising (Paul, 2014). With the growth of the internet, this has changed, and information about a product is found on the internet with improved quality and quantity.
With the increasing number of social media users, especially among the youths, marketers are shifting their attention to social media to take advantage of the traffic of youths online. The platforms provide ample space for customer-consumer interaction, shaping the experience of the consumers and voice leveraging for a more significant marketing impact (Egbunike, 2017).
Social media has brought a revolution in marketing, and potential customers tend not to be interested in traditional marketing. The young generation is camping online, changing the idea of the use of social media. A campaign about a product can go viral on social media and reaches many customers at a comparably low budget than when a Television is used(Gbadeyan, 2021). The interaction between the customer and the product seller makes social media preferable and appealing to both the customers and the marketers. Through interaction on the product pages on social media, customers can check the newly introduced products, how to use them, and even request purchases. This leads to sales increment of the product and makes it relevant in the market because the customers are always in touch with the product (Guesalaga, 2016).
Social media has managed to remove the monopoly of the advertisement with the print media and audiovisual sources of promotion. Previously, advertisements were done through these means. Still, they proved to be very expensive and had several disadvantages, like the radio adverts were only done once without repeating, and this could not get the target audience(Dahlén and Edenius, 2018). With the introduction of social media advertising, a marketer can update the advert as many times as possible, and the post is also permanent unless they decide to delete it (Gbadeyan, 2021). These features have made social media to be popular among marketers.
The number of youths using social media is on the rise, and most of them are students aged 15 to 24 years. Currently, there are 43 million social media users in Nigeria, and most of them are youths. Most of these youths have more than social media account, which they spend several hours browsing every day (Joseph and Aleyomi, 2021). Research done by the Harvard Institute of politics indicated that 90% of the students have Facebook accounts. According to Joseph and Aleyomi (2021), in Nigeria, Whatsapp is the most used social media platform at 93%, followed by Facebook at 86.2%, YouTube at 81.6%, and Instagram at 73.1%. These numbers make product marketers switch their efforts to social media marketing. The marketers are targeting youths who are primarily social media consumers. Social media marketing has several advantages when compared to conventional means of advertising. Therefore, this paper will detail the effects of social media on the youth purchasing behavior of smartphones in Nigeria, specifically the City of Lagos.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Youths in Lagos contribute a more significant number of social media users, a factor that makes brands and businesses target them as their potential customers in advertisements and marketing strategies. The smartphone market is one of the most competitive markets because there is an introduction of a new feature or a new technology in every smartphone introduced, making it outstanding from the previous brands (Cartwright, 2016). A good number of youths know the worth and taste of smartphones. Competition makes Smartphone brands do a lot of advertisement and awareness to increase their customer base, and the place they have found a good customer base is social media(Gbadeyan, 2021). The brands are frequently posting, and the posts are well informed about the brand in question. Marketers in Lagos have expanded their social media budget to meet the growing demand for the social media market.
According to Gregory and Grace (2015), Whatsapp is the most used social media platform among the Lagos youths, followed by Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Google+. Another research done by Ezeh and Mboso (2020) indicates that Facebook is the most used social media platform among the Lagos youths, closely followed by Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn. These findings, however, lack clarifications on the effects of social media on smartphone sales, specifically in Lagos.
With the contradictory results from researchers on the effects of social media on smartphone purchase, especially among the youths, it is not easy to conclude that social media affects smartphone sales positively or negatively. Therefore, a study to approve or disapprove the findings already done by the researchers was crucial for the smartphone marketers in Lagos to make an informed decision. Many researchers have done the effects of social media on phone purchase among the youths, especially in Nigeria, but a few have bothered to focus on Lagos. Therefore, this study will focus on how social media affects the purchasing of smartphones in Nigeria, specifically Lagos city.
1.3 Scope of the project
The study was confirmed to be assessing the effects of social media among the youths in Lagos on smartphone purchase. The focus was on Lagos because Lagos is home to many different learning institutions occupied by youths(Adegbola and Chojnacka, 2015). Apart from the institutions, Lagos is also a business hub in Nigeria which have employed many youths. This study targets the youths. Lagos is best suited because of its youthful population (Stonawski et al., 2016). Lagos is one of the cities in Nigeria where the smartphone business is booming, and social media consumption is also very high. Lagos has a good connectivity infrastructure aiding the use of social media. With these diversities found in Lagos, the findings from this study will represent the real things on the ground.
1.4 Research Aims and Objectives
1.4.1Main Objective of the Study
The study’s key objective was to assess the effects of social media on the youth purchasing behavior of smartphones in Nigeria, study Lagos residence.
1.4.2Specific Objectives
- To examine how skipping social media adverts influence the purchase of smartphones among the youths in Nigeria.
- The extent to which social media reviews influence the purchasing behavior of smartphones among youths in Nigeria
- To investigate how social media smartphone reviews influence the ability to purchase a new smartphone among the youths in Nigeria.
- To establish the difference between the social media channels and traditional techniques on determining the behavior of smartphones among the youths in Nigeria
1.5 Research Questions
- How does the tendency to skip social media adverts influence the ability of social media to trigger Nigerian youths to purchase mobile phones?
- How do social media smartphone reviews influence the purchasing behavior of Smartphones among Nigerian youths?
- How does social media review on smartphones affect the ability to purchase new smartphone brands among Nigerian youths?
- How do social media marketing channels compare with traditional techniques in determining the purchasing behavior of smartphones among Nigerian youths?
1.6 Significance of the study
The study will benefit both the smartphone firms and businesses by providing them with data and knowledge on how the youths purchased their products through the influence of their social media presence. The study will be of great importance in showing the firms how the Nigerian youths the leading social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Youths before making decisions on purchasing their products. Through this research, marketers also will be able to know the most preferred social media platform by the Nigerian youths.
This study will also benefit the general public and the customers to help them understand the most preferred social media platform. This will be vital for them when making decisions about products they will be purchasing concerning the dealer’s choice, the brand’s intention, the product’s pricing, and the purchasing timing of the smartphones.
The research would finally benefit future scholars in explaining the relationship between social media consumption among the youths and purchasing decisions. Furthermore, future scholars will benefit from this piece of work as they will be able to make comparisons with other topics of research, or they will pursue further studies based on this topic.
1.7 Study structure
The study is made up of 5 chapters. The introduction is the first chapter. The chapter introduces the topic by looking at the Background Information, statement of the problem, the objectives, and the study significance. The literature review is the second chapter after the introduction. The literature review covers the theoretical framework, explaining the theories behind the purchase among consumers. It also exploits how different social media platforms have been applied to influence various products from several fields. The methodology chapter entails the tools used for data collection, the study design, the population used, and the ethical consideration during data collection. Chapter four is Data Analysis, and the Last chapter is Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendation of the study findings.
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This chapter is a representation of the literature reviewed in this paper. It contains a theoretical framework which is an explanation of the theories on which the study was based. It also includes the empirical review, the conceptual framework, and the gaps identified.
2.2 Theoretical Framework
This study is based on two theories: The Theory of Planned Behavior and the Theory of Reasoned Action.
2.3 Planned Behavior Theory
This theory is an extended version of reasoned action, and it has been helpful in both behavioral explanation and prediction. The approach can explain several behavior aspects of humans, like consumer behavior, through its psychological theory structure. Human intentions come as a result of their behavior. According to Nurwanah et al. (2018), human preferences are directly linked to the attitude towards one’s behavior subjected to control and norms, where the norms refer to how an individual responds to social pressure generally. A similar argument is held by Passafaro, Livi, and Kosic (2019) who stated that when a person notices that most people are okay with one of their behaviors, they tend to show the behavior. They equally asserted that behavior attitude is a reflection of what one thinks about a particular behavior individual can evaluate the behavior to be either unfavorable or favorable and so they either decide to show it or otherwise.
The planned behavior theory has been applied in different sectors to examine peoples’ behavior, where the approach draws its strength. According to Putraa (2020), the theory is instrumental in social media consumption and how the social media platforms can influence them to purchase the products advertised on the forum. Understanding the effects of social media in society is an essential subject that ought to be explored. Some scholars such as Haunberger and Park criticize the theory on the ground that it is accompanied by pure logic failing to consider the affective and cognitive factors, which are prone to behavior and judicial interference. According to Haunberger (2016), misinterpreting this theory would mean it constitutes rationale and characters under control. While supporting the argument, Park and Park (2018) explained that the theory of planned behavior is an extended theory of reasoned action. Moreover, the researchers maintained that based on the theory, people’s decisions are influenced by their attitudes. In contrast, Nurwanah et al. (2018) argued that the idea of planned behavior is the inclusion of perceived behavior control instead of behavior engagement to influence an intention. The researchers maintained that the study of factors like purchasing amount, the choice of a brand, the purchase timing, and the selection of the dealers is made to completely comprehend the one having the effects on the behavior of purchase and the decision to purchase. Similarly, Rossi and Armstrong (2015) whose study examined the youth attitudes across the social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook asserted that the intention of behavior performance is controlled by a person’s conduct towards a specific behavior. On the contrary, Joseph and Aleyomi (2021) argued that a person’s attitude towards a behavior result from an intention about the behavior engagement and the mindset on the ability of the individual to associate himself with the conduct in question. As guided by the arguments, a general assertion can be made that beliefs can be grouped into two, either negative or positive, as indicated by an individual where beliefs constitute the formation of attitudes, while normative beliefs mainly constitute norms.
Wu et al. (2017) made a comparison of the perceived self-control to the perceived self-efficacy concept and asserted that there exists a relationship between behavior achievement and behavior control. That is, when two people engage in the same activity pursuing the same purpose, the person who is confident in what he or she is capable of doing is likely to succeed compared to the one who doesn’t believe in himself and doubts their ability. Yim and Byon (2020) held a supportive argument stating that theory examines and differentiates how social influence and attitude are related to respect, behavior, and intention. Therefore, a general conclusion can be made that an individual’s intention in performing a specific behavior determines the individual’s action, which is an essential aspect when learning about the individual behavior. Perceiving different social media platforms among the youths in Nigeria can be explained using this theory as will be discussed in the latter chapters.
2.4 Theory of Reasoned Action
Schwartzberg (2016) looked at social influence and personality as two aspects that determine the intention of an individual adding that evaluating behavior performance as positive or negative behavior attitude constitutes the personality determinant. The researcher equally maintained that perception of social pressure on an individual towards behavior performance on whether to engage in the behavior performance or not is the second determinant that influences individual intention. On the contrary, while modeling the reason action theory, Rossi and Armstrong (2015) focused much on the belief-attitude-behavioral intention. they argued that the perception of a person of what people think to be relevant is entirely determined by the perception of an individual, which is critical in the prediction of the behavior of an individual. In the current study, the theory played a vital role in examining the driving factor in the consumer’s purchase decision. The theory will also help to address the depth of influence of social media regarding consumers’ purchasing decisions.
As argued by Pattnaik (2019) the purpose of the construction of reasoned action theory is to show how a consumer ends up with a specific buying behavior. Accordingly, the researcher asserted that the subjective norm and the attitude towards buying a product are performed behavior results. In relation to the current study, both purchase behavior and purchase decisions are determined by subjective and individual attitudes towards a product. From a different perspective, Roberto (2016) had different arguments about the theory of reasoned action. The first argument was that an individual’s philosophy on the performance of a specific behavior must be measured while the second argument was that the intention of a subjective norm is social influence measuring a person’s behavior. The two researchers agreed on the need to highlight the various factors determining the purchasing decision of the consumer and the extent to which the social media influence on the purchase decision towards a service or a product by the consumer. In this context, the theory is key in the current study as it informs both firms and marketers about the preferred social media by youths to make informed decisions on the type of social media to focus.
A study by Paasovaara et al. (2015) looked deep into how consumer purchasing decisions relate to social media platforms, focusing on the factors that drove consumers to buy the products. the researchers focused on analysing the intention and attitude that were concentrated in testing TRA, which has been reduced without the subjective norm as they are perceived as associated with external locus casualty with involvement of behaviors and plans viewed as external pressure. In the same context, Rossi and Armstrong (2015) argued that consumers taste for factors like purchasing amount, the product brand, the timing of purchasing, and product choice, stating that such factors can influence the decision of a consumer in buying a product. A summary argument from Yim and Byon (2020) asserted that through social media platforms, the consumer gets to know the kind of product available for purchase and thereafter make an informed decision on whether to buy the product or not. Therefore, the current study will apply this theory to help comprehend the role of social media in influencing purchasing decisions among the youths who majorly use social media platforms. As argued by Hasyim (2018) the primary function of the Theory of Reasoned Action is to help in behavior intention prediction, understand the subjective norms and the behavioral attitude, which result from social influences, interfere with a person’s beliefs. Accordingly, the theory will help to understand how social media influences smartphone purchase among the youths in Nigeria.
2.5 Empirical Review
This section covers comparison and contrast findings from different research studies to help examine how the social media as an advertising tool relates to smartphone purchasing decisions. The social media platforms covered include YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
2.6 Social Media Platforms
As argued by Ezeh and Mboso (2020), the development of social media is progressing each day, and that with the advanced technology factor in place, these developments are not stopping soon. According to Pasaribu and Purba (2020), consumer behavior is a type of behavior that consumers show while looking for, using evaluating, or getting rid of the products and services through disposal. The researchers equally maintained that they will get satisfaction out of their behaviors. From a different perspective, Brailovskaia and Margraf (2016) argued that consumer behavior significantly determines how individuals make their own decisions about spending the available economic resources on the specific items they consume. With regards to the two points of argument, a conclusion can be drawn that the ability of the consumers to make decisions is dependent on consumer behaviors. That is, the consumer decision-making process is a channel for the consumers to make decisions prior to purchasing products and servicesThe most commonly used social media platforms are LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. However, this study will focus on the following social media platforms: Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, on how they influence customer purchasing decisions. These platforms were chosen because of their popularity among the youthful generation than the other platforms like Snapchat and LinkedIn.
Facebook is a social media website that offers social networking services. The website was developed in 2004, founders being students of Harvard University. The website has gained popularity, especially among the Youths, and by 2012 it was boasting over 1 billion users globally, and 500 million people were using the website daily as referenced in (Brailovskaia and Margraf, 2016). Users can create profiles, upload pictures, start their groups, and join already existing groups. As captured in (B, 2020), Facebook was popular among student’s majority being youths, but with time adults also joined the platform, constituting 38% of the users. The website is for interaction with friends, allows for information sharing, and publishing opinions on issues. Facebook is among the top social media platforms for interaction with friends, discussion of problems, and where people share their views and ideas. A similar finding was recorded in Nastišin et al. (2019) who asserted that Facebook users were only college students, but this later changed, and non-students could join the website; even with the development, most users are still youths.
Michniuk (2017) analysed the performance of YouTube and recorded that it has proved to be a website that allows users to share and upload videos for advertising which have since remained on the limelight since its launching in 2005 by the former Pay Pal employees. The current videos on YouTube range from the videos made for entertainment, some are for different professions, and others are videos made for marketing purposes. While supporting the benefits of the platform, Grzesiak (2017) maintained that the subscribers are entitled to receiving a notification on their YouTube any time the content creator they subscribe to uploads a new video. The subscribers and the viewers have the opportunity to like or dislike, share and comment about the video. Michniuk (2017) recorded similar findings and stated that the Brands should explore the features of YouTube by creating a channel where they can upload videos about their products. The platform allows for the interaction of potential consumers and keeps in touch with the customers. This is possible through the comment section, the like, and the, unlike button. Michniuk (2017) maintained that an individual can see what other consumers say about the product in the comment section, and the brand firm can also follow what the consumers say about the product.
Instagram is a platform where smartphone users can share pictures and videos with their followers. As argued by Lisovskaya (2017), the platform has gained popularity since it launching in the Year 2010, and it is among the most used platforms currently. The researcher added that the engagement on Instagram videos is two times better than any other social media. A similar record from Lee and Kim (2020) hinted at the hashtag feature in Instagram which makes it suitable for marketing purposes. By clicking the hashtags on the Instagram videos and photos, the user can access other relevant images and videos. Users are also able to create stories on their timeline, the stories disappear after 24 hours, this feature allows marketers to update consumers about the products, and it also promotes engagement because the consumers can reply to the Insta-Stories .59% of users are youths between the age of 15 to 29 years while old users above 65 years are only 8% (Lee and Kim, 2020). This website, therefore, has a youthful demographic, which is the main target of phone companies and marketers.
2.7 Social Media in Consumer Platforms Used Purchasing Decisions
Stephen and Galak (2015) studied the effects of social media on the purchasing decision among the youths. They found WhatsApp to be the leading social media platform, closely followed Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms. The study established that social media positively affects the purchasing decision from the pre-purchase to the post-purchase stage. Another study was carried out by Dovbysh (2021) in finding out how effective social network sites (SNS) are in terms of brand promotion among College students. According to the study findings, the SNS had positive effects on the brand advertised on the network. It was also evident that the students had accounts with different social media platforms; some subscribed to up to 5 social media. The study also revealed that Facebook was the most influential in terms of purchasing decisions. The buyers’ information on these platforms was helpful and played a more significant role in influencing them to buy products. This contradicted the study done by Pasaribu and Purba (2020) when examining the influence of social media on students ‘ buying behavior in Omani. The study found that Instagram led to influencing the buying of fashion products among the students. The study pointed out that the filtering that allows for images making the products more appealing and attractive to the eyes was paramount for the fashion industry. The study reveals that the majority of the fashion consumers were females who are affected by cultural, psychological, informational, and design factors. From the study’s conclusion, Instagram was the best when it came to selling fashion products to females.
Santander et al. (2017) did an examination partly on social media. The social media included Blogs, Twitter, and YouTube. The study also covered social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google. The study examined the decisions concerning the apparel sector among university students in Pakistan. The study revealed a positive impact whenever the students use the platforms on the apparel industry sales. From the survey, Facebook and YouTube were the leading social media influencing tools among the students. The students used the platforms to obtain information concerning the company brands and the product and services they offer from the study. This was echoed by Dorenda (2016), who did a Kenyan cosmetic industry survey and proved that social media positively impacts a consumer purchase decision. Even with the focus on women above 18 years, the study found Facebook and YouTube to be the leading social media platform in consumer purchasing decisions. In addition, it indicated that the hours spent on social media sites are also related to buying the products. From the study’s recommendation, the researcher urged firms and product marketers to choose social sites with the highest popularity to advertise their products to take advantage of the consumer traffic flow on these sites.
As explained by Dorenda (2016), there are five key stages involved in the consumer decision-making process including need recognition, information search evaluation for alternatives, decisions to purchases, and finally consumer behavior after buying. While backing the aforementioned stages, Dehghani (2016) argued that consumers are faced with unlimited demand to satisfy their needs especially when there is the need to get something better out of their income status. This could be supported by the assertations of Grzesiak (2017) that people have their own behaviors, attribute as well as thoughts especially when choosing from a variety of products. The assertions have a common argument that the purchase decision of a consumer is to buy the most preferred brand and that consumer purchase intentions explain their purchase decisions. Similarly, Baid (2020) argued that consumers’ intentions to purchase are a clear reflection of their purchase behaviors, that is, the higher the intentions to purchase, the better the consumer desires to purchase a particular product. With regards to Horzum and Demirhan (2017) described a product feature is an attribute of the same product that meets the consumers’ satisfaction level through usage and utilization. Taking into consideration the current level of technology, Dovbysh (2021) hinted that consumer have become more informed about the various features that are likely to bring a diverse level of satisfaction towards smart devices such as smartphones.
According to Brailovskaia and Margraf (2016), new media especially social media brought various challenges to traditional media of marketing communication such as television, radio as well as newspapers. That is, its advent in the space of advertising has enhanced more creativity among the advertisers which has ultimately attracted more attention of the target consumers. While supporting the argument, Pasaribu and Purba (2020) maintained that following the advent of social media in marketing, advertising has faced chaos scenario whereby the traditional forms of entertainment are slowly disappearing while the respective advertisers are left in the lurch. The researcher added that the new media is forged by the interaction of converging technologies in terms of the changes they push as well as why people tend to consume them. A similar argument is held by Wibisono (2017) who maintained that it may not be possible to overemphasize the influence of various social media platforms in advertising within the scope of integrated marketing communication. In the view of the arguments, a general assertion can be made that media has undergone an extended development over the recent past. That is, contrary to the traditional space where the marketers were much concerned with promoting various products and services on the traditional media including magazines and television, marketing has gone digital as technology is becoming part of the daily routines. In line with the same argument from Lisovskaya (2017) who maintained that changes in advertising as facilitated by social media are slowly getting integrated into the space of marketing communication. From a different perspective, Grzesiak (2017) compared social media to a sphere in which people disclose their insights, opinions as well as experience. Accordingly, marketers have been able to link and communicate with the buyers across divides through social interaction hence influencing their purchasing behaviors
2.7.1 Facebook and Consumer Purchase Decision
Facebook is a social media website that offers social networking services. When it comes to marketing a brand, Facebook is one of the social media tool that is very important. According to Brailovskaia and Margraf (2016) the website allows the brand to have a following community and creates an online presence for customers looking for products. The researcher added that the platform enjoys close to 2.6 billion users across the globe. While supporting the data Baid (2020) asserted that this large number of users provides a market base for business adverts. The marketers can interact with their potential consumers by reading the comments to know what the customers feel about the product.
A study by Pandurangarao (2015) that the environment might influence how an individual thinks; spending more hours on Facebook, therefore, creates an environment for the users influencing their mind to buy the products they access through the ads. If an individual likes a brand’s page on Facebook and sees positive conversations from other users, the person is likely to buy the product. Similar assertions were made by Hutton (2015) who argued that the pages on Facebook allow customers to be influenced by the people who have already used the product. Some consumers keep checking what other users say about the product in the comment section before buying the product. To attract a large audience, the brands must be creative in displaying information on their pages. Good packaging of information is critical in appealing to customers. According to Horzum and Demirhan (2017), the level of Facebook interaction increases the chances for consumers to make purchasing decisions, while low interactions lower purchasing decisions. On the contrary, (Xue 2019) found that the advertisements done on Facebook had less impact in influencing the buying decision of consumers than when friends talk about the products by word of mouth.
Most youths spend a lot of time on Facebook socializing, being entertained, or searching for a piece of information; in the process, they come across an advertisement about products. Occasionally, they would check on the ads to know more about the product. Spending more time on the website and coming across more ads is highly likely to increase product sales. Roberto (2016) surveyed the influence of Facebook on the retailer shops among university students; the study indicated that before deciding to buy, the consumers first had to search the pages of the Supermarkets on Facebook. According to the survey, the website also makes it easy to evaluate an alternative means of the retailer by comparing the products they offer. This was confirmed by another study done by Schwartzberg (2016) on the influence of Facebook on how the platform affects purchase decisions among Indian students. The survey showed a positive relationship between product seeking with relation to recommendations on Facebook and buying of products based on the advice of a friend. The study revealed that Facebook plays an essential role in communication about the product. The students were able to share ideas the products, something which is uncommon with face-to-face communication.
Santander et al. (2017) also did a research to assess the effects of Facebook as a social media tool on the habits of purchase among Midwestern Students. The findings indicated that with a higher frequency of business engagement on their Facebook pages, the students were likely to be influenced by the ads to do shopping; this was in line with the study by Baid (2020) while assessing how social media affect the decision-making process of Malaysian University students, the study took into consideration three social media sites; Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The results indicated that social media had an impact on consumer decisions. In decision-making, it is affected by external and internal stimuli. In the study, the external stimuli were represented by social media while an internal stimulus was the taste and preference of customer. A total of 69% of the respondents agreed that social media influenced their decision to buy the product. The study also indicated that social media created every advert under one roof making it easier access new products, services, or brands that have just been introduced into the marketplace. The study also showed that the students would visit the page to express their feeling and experience with the product they bought.
On the contrary, a survey done by Horzum and Demirhan (2017) showed a little significance between Facebook adverts and buying trends of the students. The survey was to investigate the effects of Facebook marketing on the trend of shopping of students of Nigeria University. According to the survey, the number of students who shopped because of the advertisement was 54.8%, while the number of students who shopped but were not influenced by the ad was 45.2%. The shopping trend the students who felt like shopping after seeing the advertisement was 66.1%, but only 54.8% did the actual shopping. Therefore, the study recommended that the brand advertisers make their advertisements more appealing and attractive to draw customers’ attention.
2.72 YouTube and Consumer Purchase Decisions
YouTube is a website that allows users to share and upload videos. The medium has been used in expressing feelings, communicating with friends, and advertisement of businesses. As reported by Kushkov (2019), the marketers who post on their YouTube channels should consider that more video posting reduces the chances of going viral on the platform. Additionally, the videos posted a long time ago are unlikely to go viral. To deal with this problem, marketers should minimize the number and the frequency of uploading videos on the platform to enhance interaction with the audience. Online video is a common and convenient way of passing information to the product’s customer base. The finding is similar to another finding by Park, Lee, and Tan (2020) who argued that an excellent online advertisement video can increase the sales of a product. By watching the videos, customers may get attracted to the advertised product and opt to buy it. In a situation where the customer already has enough information about the product, they enjoy the video. Still, in the meantime, they might be attracted to buy the product or the service. Conversely, Kushkov (2019) stated that value of an advertisement on the internet is measured by how effective the video is stating that they should be informative to make the consumers trust the brands being advertised. According to Grzesiak (2017) recommendation done by a friend can impact sales of a given product in a very positive way. The researcher asserted that the consumers have a soft spot for the recommendation from the family and friends as these are the people, they trust the most. Dorenda Zaborowicz (2016) supported the argument stating that YouTube videos meant for promoting a product should be short and enjoyable. The researcher added that the Long videos might bore the viewers before they find the critical information that are sought.
Hasyim (2018) studied the Millenials and YouTube to assess the influence of videos uploaded by individual users and their impacts in influencing customer decision-making process about a product. The research examined the extent to which the Millenials used YouTube, how they perceived the advertisement on YouTube, and the role played by the contents which have undergone peer review in affecting the process of making decisions. The study revealed that the Millenials highly valued the recommendations and reviews done by their fellow peers. The study recommended that the brand marketers use this finding to structure their advertisement to target the Millenials or groups of individuals past the millennial stage. This study was in agreement with a survey done by Dehghani (2016) on how advertisement on YouTube influences the purchasing decision among College students. The study revealed that there was a positive impact on the ad on the students. However, the survey showed that the advertisement must contain enough information about the product; it must be entertaining and be kept short.
2.7.3 Instagram and Consumer Purchasing Decisions
Instagram is a platform where smartphone users can share pictures and videos with their followers. Wibisono (2017) argued that there is an emerging trend of people liking the image and video representation for information delivery on social media than the information relayed through a text. The visuals and pictures posted online serve the purpose of entertainment, awareness creation, attracting followers, and creating an interactive platform. Instagram is known as an interaction platform and where people engage with each other through pictures and short videos. Other similar features with other social media platforms include sharing, liking, and the comment section. According to Lisovskaya (2017) who held a contrary view, there are options of professional inclusion in the profile; users can upload pictures and invite friends. That is, the consumers connect with the brands after they have followed the brands. The researcher equally showed that through uploading content that provide information and entertains, the number of likes, shares, and comments increases. For a brand account to be successful, it should be in touch with followers through interaction on the posts. Positive comments may lead to more sales on a product, while negative comments may decrease the product sale.
Pasaribu and Purba (2020) surveyed the effects of Instagram celebrities and how they influence the purchasing power of consumers, a case study of Sweden. The research revealed that Instagram celebrities had a positive impact on the brands they advertise. The followers of the celebrities trust the brands they promote. Another study by Dovbysh (2021) confirmed that advertisements on Instagram positively influence a consumer’s purchase decision. The survey investigated how Instagram would impact an individual to visit a tourist attraction site advertised on Instagram. The study revealed that Instagram influenced individual decisions to visit tourist attraction sites. However, during the day of the visit, the tourist had to look for additional information on Instagram, and they used the same platform to find another different attraction. According to the survey, the majority of the influenced individuals were the youths. A study was also done by Shuqair and Crag (2017) to determine the impacts of Instagram images on the viewer’s perception of a traveling destination. The survey, which was done concerning Bahrain Polytechnic students, indicated that Instagram positively influenced the students about the traveling destination. The findings also showed that Instagram images could influence the behavioral intentions of the viewers in the pre-visitation stage. The study recommended Instagram as one of the platforms that should be given top priority for travel and adventure promotion. The study argued that the hashtags on the pictures and videos play a crucial role in tourist destination recommendations. Location tagging was also another feature that is important in promoting destinations, according to the study.
2.8 Conceptual Framework
The below figures are an explanation of the conceptual framework of this project. It shows how major social media platforms; Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, are related to consumer purchasing decisions. The social media platforms represent the independent variables, while the dependent variable is consumer purchase decisions. The dependent variable was analyzed through the choice of the product, the choice of the brand, and dealer choice. The conceptual framework aimed to explain the relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable of this study.
| Choice of the Dealer
Choice of the Product Choice of the Brand |
| YouTube
|
Independent variables Independent Variable
Independe
Gaps in the literature
Although various research studies examined in this chapter have exhausted social media and its relevance in the advertising space, there are a lot of gaps that the researchers failed to address. To begin with, almost all the studies have focused on the positive influence of social media platforms as advertising tools that positively shaped the behaviors of the customers, a gap is left as regards the negative influence of the same platforms in advertising. That is, the researchers ought to have looked into how social media platforms have negatively affected the consumers’ desires to purchase rather than limiting their studies on the positive aspects. Therefore, this will be an interesting area of focus for the current study. Moreover, most of the studies focused on the general influence of social media platforms across ages which may practically fail to apply. Therefore, the investigations of the current study through a focus on the youthful population will help to fill the gap by narrowing the study to a smaller group of interest.
