The Impact of Social Media on Consumer Behaviour - Coursework Example

Name Class Unit Table of Contents Introduction 2 Objective of topic 3 Samsung and social media 4 Importance of Consumer Behaviour 5 Analysis of basic model of consumer influences 6 Assessment of the factors affecting the consumer decision process 10 Social networking sites 11 Social news and bookmarking sites 12 Media sharing sites 12 Blogs 13 Micro blogging 13 Conclusion & Future research directions 16 References 18 Introduction Through social media, consumers have been enabled to communicate directly with the brand and also share brand information with friends. The internet has changed the way consumers and marketers interact. Social media provides the consumers with an opportunity to engage and interact with the companies. The increased sense of intimacy between company and consumers has led to lasting relationships. With the rise of social media, brand equity is no longer dictated by the amount of the capital invested by the company. Brand awareness is being determined by what customers say to each other. Electronic word of mouth is an internet version of the traditional word of mouth. eWOM have become a major source of information for consumers as they seek brand information (Trusov, Bucklin & Pauwels, 2009). Any positive or negative comment made about a product online has an impact on the company brand awareness. Successful brands have been able to realise the importance of social media in the modern competitive and interactive marketplace. Samsung is one of the companies that have extensively utilised their online presence (Samsung, 2015). Through their online presence, Samsung have been able to increase sales and also enhance their brand awareness. The company have been utilising social sites such as Facebook as their launch hub and also as marketing campaign tools. This paper looks at major aspects of brand awareness to determine the relationship between the electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and brand awareness in the social media context. The report focuses on Samsung use of social media and the impact it has on the consumer behaviour. The report will be able to determine the effect of eWOM on the brand awareness. Objective of topic Through the report, it will be possible to determine the impact of social media on consumer behaviour. This is through analysing the effect of brand awareness and eWOM. The topic will help in understanding consumer behaviour and its influence on Samsung. The result from analysing the topic will be used to design the appropriate marketing strategies for Samsung. Through analysing the topic it will be possible to determine the level of consumer involvement. It will also be possible to determine whether social media used by the company have an impact on consumer decision-making process. Samsung and social media Samsung Electronics began in 1969 as part of Samsung group to help in future growth. The company is one of the most successful in the electronic industry. Samsung has great social media presence with a Facebook account with more than 39 million fans. The company uses social media to engage, listen and respond to customers. When launching their products, Samsung have been utilising social sites to inform their customers. The company social media goals have been to enhance brand favourability and encourage their fans to spread word about their products. Samsung is presence in social media including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube among other sites (Samsung, 2015). Importance of Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviours focus on the way in which consumers makes decisions to spend their resources on products and services. For a business to succeed, marketers need to know about the personal and group influences that affect consumer final decision. Through understanding consumer behaviours, marketers can create long-term relationship with the customers. Marketers can make crucial decisions in designing market strategies through determining the promotional and marketing campaign’s needs. Marketers can determine whether to launch new product or stick to the same product (Lantos, 2015). Through the study of consumer behaviour, an organisation can determine the target audience. Events such as product launch are scheduled through consumer behaviour. For example, Samsung product launch are carried out based on the consumer needs. To determine the consumer needs, Samsung have to analyse consumer behaviour (Lantos, 2015). Through understanding consumers’ behaviours, an organisation such as Samsung can accomplish its goals. Product-oriented ventures require understanding the consumer behaviour for them to effective. Through studying consumer behaviour, it becomes possible to gain insight economic and social trends and can also be used to predict them (Lantos, 2015). This helps in making the market system more efficient and enhances the society wellbeing. For example, Samsung had to study consumer behaviour in order to upgrade their mobile phone features (Samsung, 2015). Companies can learn about what the consumer wants and works in coming up with it. Analysis of basic model of consumer influences Social media empowers consumers to give their perceptions about products and services in a public domain. Technology gives the consumers powers to criticise and accept products in equal measure. Social media have changed the way marketers and consumers communicate. Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is an internet platform where users share positive and negative reports about a product (Akrimi & Khemakhem, 2012). The report is shared among the current users and future customers. Research shows that word of mouth is one of the most important options that can be used by peoples to move opinions from one person to another. Word of mouth is associated with the consumer encounter with the company products. eWOM forms a major influence in the customer decision-making process. This is due to the fact that word of mouth provides an avenue for the customers to share their views, feedbacks and perceptions about the company, its products and services (Ioanăs & Stoica, 2014). For example, customers use the social platform to share their views on Samsung products. Research has proved that most modern consumers depend on eWOM to make their purchase decisions (Akrimi & Khemakhem, 2012). Research has shown the relationship that exists between the brand association and brand equity. It has been proved that brand awareness determines brand association. Through eWOM, it becomes possible to enhance brand awareness and association. eWOM plays a vital role in expressing the level of satisfaction and hence affects brand awareness (Trusov, Bucklin & Pauwels, 2009). This is a proof that there is an interrelation between brand association, brand awareness and eWOM. Research proves that optimistic and satisfactory customer association with a given brand leads to enhanced customer loyalty. eWOM is a new way to achieve competitive advantage and Samsung have highly utilised it. Samsung treats eWOM as an approach to attain a competitive advantage (Akrimi & Khemakhem, 2012). This is evidenced by Samsung active participation in social media and its social media strategy. eWOM is an indicator of brand loyalty (Severi, Ling & Nasermoadeli, 2014). Research has established a positive correlation between a positive word of mouth and brand loyalty. Samsung looks at the consumer feedback on social sites and addresses them instantly. When a customer posts a complaint on Facebook about a defective Samsung product, the company responds immediately. This avoids a situation where negative eWOM spreads out of control. A major behavioural result comes from positive word of mouth. Customers who are highly loyal to the brand are more likely to spread positive eWOM (Trusov, Bucklin & Pauwels, 2009). Word of mouth enhances brand association that leads to brand equity. The high the level of satisfaction of the consumers towards a brand, the higher the positive image they have for the company. Samsung products are of high quality and satisfy then consumers’ needs. This perception has been influenced by the large number of consumers through the use of eWOM such as social media networks (Ioanăs & Stoica, 2014). Samsung is among the companies who have the highest social media presence. Having active customers on social networks plays a crucial role in creating and marketing company brand contents. This has led to Samsung strategizing in attaining high number of active customers on the social platforms. eWOM is an essential component in modern consumers perceptions about a brand that have a great impact on the brand image (Hung, Stella & Li, 2007). If the eWOM is negative, consumers well have a bad perception of the brand and a positive eWOM leads to a good impression about the product quality (Jalilvand, Esfahani & Samiei, 2010). Samsung have been using eWOM through social media to enhance their brand equity and attract more customers. Viral marketing have been used by the company in situations where customers trust the information (Severi, Ling & Nasermoadeli, 2014). The target audience for the company acts as the opinion leaders to the new customers. Samsung social media strategy is an indication of how they value eWOM as part of enhancing customer loyalty. Social media influences the way in which a consumer behaves in different stages when making a purchase decision (Hung, Stella & Li, 2007). Consumers are actively seeking product information through the internet. When surfing on the internet, consumers can see the photos of friends’ products and also participate in conversations about brands. This influences their need recognition stage in decision-making. Online communities have great influence in consumers purchase decision (Ioanăs & Stoica, 2014). Consumers can interact with a wide audience and consult them before making a purchase decision. Digitally empowered shoppers have great capability in researching about products and consult with peers (Jalilvand, Esfahani & Samiei, 2010). This is common practice in Samsung social media sites where consumers’ interact.it also becomes easier to compare products from different companies. For example, there are review sites where products from Samsung are compared with similar products from different companies. Assessment of the factors affecting the consumer decision process In 2013, Samsung was voted as the most popular brand in the social sites. This is a study that compiled data from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media platforms. The company in 2013 had over 14 million fans in Facebook, over 4 million followers on Twitter and YouTube views were above 86 million. The number has increased over the years and Samsung is among the leading companies in social media presence (Samsung, 2015). The company uses social media to launch campaigns, new products and engage with the customers. In 2012, the company used Facebook to launch Samsung Galaxy S. The main goals for the company use of social media were to drive mass awareness for the product, increase brand favourability and encourage its Facebook fans to spread words about the product (Samsung, 2015). From this, it’s evident that Samsung realised the need for eWOM in influencing consumer decisions. The factors that affect consumer decision-making process are based on the type of social media. Samsung presence in social media has made eWOM to be utilised through several sites on their products. The five distinct types of social media are; social networking sites, media sharing, blogs, social news and micro blogging (Kaplan & Michael, 2010). Each type of social site has factors that influence consumer decisions. Social networking sites Social Networking sites are social platforms where individuals can connect and interact with each other. This includes sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Samsung presence in Facebook has over 20 million fans. The company have a large group of followers in their Twitter platform that is always active. Users on Facebook and other social networking sites can interact in real-time. There is a list of connection between friends and those they share a connection (Akrimi & Khemakhem, 2012). Based on the consumer perspective, SSN is outlets where they can establish a close relationship with the brand (Williams & Williams, 2008). This is through fan pages, groups and use of plug-in applications. Through research, it has been proved that most of the consumers have their purchase decision being influenced by SSN. Samsung have been using Facebook as their channel to launch their products. The company keeps the consumers engaged in the site to influence their purchase decisions (Kaplan & Michael, 2010). This is through the use of videos, pictures and interactive discussions. Social news and bookmarking sites This includes sites such as Digg and Reedit. Through social news, consumers can control their news streams. Consumers can vote content on the web and collect links that they discover and would with to visit. Samsung has a presence in the social news such as Reedit. This company is active in these sites and works to influence the consumers to visit their sites and also bookmark them. Through the use of sites, consumers can social sites which a larger group of people have discovered (Williams & Williams, 2008). The sites empower users by making the audience participate in an active discussion. The consumer reacts based on the way in which readers interact. Media sharing sites This includes sites such as YouTube and Flickr (Kaplan & Michael, 2010). Samsung users and reviewers posts and share videos, photos and other multimedia files with other users. Samsung engagement to these sites has brought a lot of opportunities. This is due to the fact that the sites are stronghold for online communities (Mersey, Malthouse & Calder, 2010). Samsung uses the interactive and visual appeal of these sites as a factor to influence consumers. Blogs Blogs are online journals maintained by individuals or groups. Blogs have been a great influence to consumers through interactions (Williams & Williams, 2008). Since blogs have no editorial restraints, they can have a great impact on product or brand. In some case eWOM through blogs is negative. Micro blogging These are platforms such as Twitter that encourages a fast mode of communication through word limit (Kaplan & Michael, 2010). Twitter is the main microblog used by Samsung. Samsung gives concise information through short tweets and keeps their followers engaged. This has helped in relationship building. The viral nature of tweets helps have a great influence on consumer decisions. Marketing Implication Social media have a great impact on sales through eWOM. This has led to social media marketing (Williams & Williams, 2008). Being one of the most active companies in social sites, Samsung have taken advantage of social media as a marketing tool (Samsung, 2015). Samsung uses social media to interact with the consumers and tap into a larger market that may have been hard through the traditional media. Social media enables peoples with a common interest to be grouped together (Constantinides & Fountain, 2007). Marketers can listen and respond to the online community, make reviews and promote their products. When one views Samsung Facebook page, there are promotions, reviews and interactive discussions. This happens in all social sites under the company management. Social media is inexpensive but requires a lot of time to be invested in it. This is because most of the sites require active conversations (Kaplan & Michael, 2010). Samsung twitter handle is always active with customers making queries and opinions and the company making a response. Twitter requires constant online presence since posts made requires the immediate response. Samsung have been able to boost their fans number in social sites. This has enabled them to come up with a strong social media strategy aimed at their online community. When one likes the company content in Facebook, it’s easily passed to the family, friends and peers through the social sites (Akrimi & Khemakhem, 2012). This makes the product information to spread quickly through the social media and in a way that does not interfere with traditional marketing. Samsung have established themselves online as a company worth following which have increased their fans on social sites. Peer communication through the social sites which is seen as a new form of consumer socialisation has a great impact on consumer decision-making and marketing strategies (Mersey, Malthouse & Calder, 2010). The unique aspects of social media sites and their high popularity have changed marketing practices. This is due to the fact that social media affects consumer decision-making process. Samsung internet marketing is based on creating a close relationship with the consumers. This is very vital in maintaining customer loyalty. The company marketers engage the customers in sharing information and value co-creation. Social media have a viral marketing potential through word of mouth (Akrimi & Khemakhem, 2012). Social media is not only a marketing channel but a facilitator for eWOM. The main concern with viral marketing is control of the marketing messages. The consumers have their voice and failure to control marketing message may lead to damaged reputation. To avoid this, Samsung uses value co-creation (Samsung, 2015). The marketers encourage the users of Samsung products to become actively involved with the brand products. This leads to consumers marketing with the company. Use of social media have led to low costs, personalised messages, immediate feedback and word of mouth referrals that are very important in the buyer behaviour (Constantinides & Fountain, 2007). Conclusion & Future research directions Samsung is one of the companies with a great presence in social media. The company utilises viral marketing aspect of eWOM. Consumers talks with other consumers when they want to seek information on specific brands. Word of mouth (WOM) has been one of the most influential methods of passing information among consumers. This has made researchers see WOM as the most effective method of marketing. Due to internet, electronic word of mouth is very popular. Samsung have benefited from their online presence through utilising eWOM. Customers share their opinions and experiences with the company products. The importance of social media to the company has been evidenced by their regular products launch through social sites. Samsung values their customers’ opinions and always responds to their queries. The company marketers can get information about their product quality and consumer perceptions. eWOM enables the consumers to have greater self-disclosure than using traditional channels. Samsung have been able to enhance their brand awareness through eWOM. Consumers have a capability to identify the brand in details prior to making a purchase decision. This is through increasing brand recognition and recall. Despite this, the main challenge is controlling marketing information that may damage company reputation. eWOM may also lead to negative reviews of a company product. All these are aided by the viral nature of the eWOM through sharing among the connections. Successful brands such as Samsung have realised the importance of social media in creating an interactive market environment. Samsung is very active in online communications. The company engages its customers through discussions and utilises value co-creation. Value co-creation is a great way in which Samsung has been able to win customers through online channels and maintained control of marketing information. The company is an example of how social media can be used to increase brand awareness effectively. Most of the research has been done on effects of eWOM on the consumer intention to purchase but there is little research on eWOM influence on the consumer brand awareness. This is an area that the future research should look more into. Future research should look more on the non-traditional marketing and communication. The impacts of brand awareness are supposed to be looked at more critically especially in discussions relating to advertisements. Future research should also focus on online segmentation on social sites and how the companies should maximise it to maximise use of eWOM for marketing. 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