HOW SOCIAL MEDIA HAS IMPACT ON CONSUMERS BEHAVOUR

From some years to know, the use of social media has increased a lot. These platforms have revolutionized the way people interact, communicate and consume information. People does not use them just for looking at others lives, people buy from them and get inspiration from others. 

We spend between 1 and 2 hours per day on social media, this has make a huge impact on consumers behaviors and has changed the way people buy.

We consider social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Twitter that apart for being use to communicate with others, they are a used to entertain. It is common to use them whenever people is bored and do not know what to do. 

Here, we are going to analyze how social media has transformed consumer behavior across various aspects:

A) Influence on purchasing decisions

There have appeared a big number of influencers who encourage people to buy things. They are inspirational leaders for consumers and everything they do is going to become trendy which influence a lot in purchasing decisions.  

Also, not just influencers have an impact on us. We are constantly watching others life and we all want to do what others are doing.

B) Shaping Brand perception

Clients form opinions about brands based on what they see about them on social media. This is why, it is important that brands care about their presence on them. They need to be aware of their positioning and post depending on it.

Brands need to be on social media and this way, keep in contact with their clients. If they interact with their consumers, they will feel that the brand is near them and the brand will increase their brand awareness. 

Also, nowadays people read reviews about products, services or brands. Opinions that  in the past were just listened by a little number of people; currently everyone can read them. Reading good or bad reviews influences a lot to customers, they can have a good or bad opinion of something having never try it. 

Platforms like Tiktok are full with opinion videos about different products and brands; they are easily virilize and other users share their opinion by commenting on the posts. 

C) Targeted advertisements

From social media, companies collect a vast amount of data from clients. This data helps brands to segment their public and know when and how is better to reach their target audience. 

This data can be: personal information (age, gender, location…etc), behavioral data (reactions, engagements, clickstreams..etc) , cookies and tracking information, timing of engagement… and more.

All this information help companies to get to know better their customers. If analyzing data they see that their target use more the phone during a specific time of the day, they can post at that time and obtain a better engagement. 

Publishing ads to people who are not companies target is a waste of time and money, data help enterprises to save that. 

On the other hand, some people find targeted advertisements intrusive. Here you can find a graph that explain by age groups how does people find about them:

D) Customer service

Nowadays, we expect everything to be fast and to happen in the exact moment that we want. Social media such as Tiktok has make us be use to fast videos that provide us easy and fast entertainment. 

This affects to brands in the way that they need to be constantly in contact with clients. Answering to all the customers request and helping them in the different platforms.

If not, they might be seen as a lack of engagement and this will make them have a bad brand reputation. 

E) Change in communication patterns

Currently, communication with others is becoming less formal than in the past. We want to communicate easily, immediate and being always in contact with others. 

Following this, companies need to be aware of that and be in platforms where they can talk with the clients 24/7. Consumers have to think that they are friends of the brand so enterprises need to act like that. 

F) FOMO ( Fear of missing out)

As we have said before, on social media we are always watching what other people is doing. This has increase feelings like jealousy for not having the same life quality as others. 

This aspect, has created FOMO (fear of missing out) that means that everyone wants to have everything and live all the experiences in order to not loose any feeling. 

This encourages people to impulsive purchases and acts like dangerous and adrenaline experiences. 

G) Companies social responsibility

Consumers know expect enterprises to being involve in social responsibility aspects. Brands need to make good actions for the world, not just sell products. They need to promote good vibes and collaborate with good causes. 

Social media can be used to give voice to this movements so as clients know about them and think positively about the brands. 

In conclusion, social media has revolutionized consumer behaviors in a lot of different ways. The immediacy offered by platforms have encouraged users to make more fearless decisions, no thinking about the results. 

Social media has increased the number of trends and, they have personalized marketing and customer experience using targeting functions.  

For all these reasons, we have a more dynamic and engaging consumer landscape. It is in a continuous evolution, and it will transform even more the way individuals engage with brands. 

The digital revolution has arrived and we, as marketing students that in the future will work on companies, need to be aware of that.  

If you are more interested about the topic, I invite you all to watch this video that explains more about social media impact on purchasing decisions, it is a short and easy to watch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK5KpYv50wg 

Bibliography:

Sprout Social. (2021). Social Media Consumer Behavior: The Ultimate Guide. Sprout Social Insights. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-consumer-behavior/

Omnia Retail. (2023). The Impact of Social Media on Consumer Behaviour in E-commerce. Omnia Retail Blog. https://www.omniaretail.com/blog/the-impact-of-social-media-on-consumer-behaviour-in-e-commerce

 

Pilar Damborenea