A STUDY OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR AMONG UNIBEN STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

The broad objective of this study was to investigate social media and consumer buying behavior. The primary purpose of this research was to identify the effect of social media on consumer buying decisions. Social Media have given many opportunities to consumers in adapting to different aspects of life. Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have played significant roles in expanding consumer’s online purchases. This study aims to know which consumers are mostly influenced by the online purchase of mobile through social media and the kinds of social media that are employed mainly by consumers in the University of Benin. The research carried out primary research methods and questionnaire to investigate the impact of social media sites on the user’s changing behavior who aim to purchase online. The target of the research is to elucidate why, when, and the way social media has impacted on the consumer decision process. The theoretical framework rests on the literature of the consumer decision-making process, social media, and previous studies relating to social media marketing. The frequency distribution model was used to carry out data analysis. The empirical data was gathered by sending out an opinion poll to individuals with the aid of 400 questionnaires and the data was analyzed using statistical packages for social science (SPSS) 22.0. The findings indicate that there is a relationship between online marketing and consumer behavior and social media influences the perception of customers, the study also shows that social media keeps customers updated on what is trending and the uncertainties of shopping online.