Evaluating the Perceptions of Consumers on Consumer Generated Media - Essay Example

Evaluating the Perceptions of Consumers on Consumer Generated Media 1. Consumer generated media Customer generated media is a term which is used in describing the general activity on the web whereby customers contribute their own content. It describes a variety of new sources of information which is found online and created, initiated, circulated and used by consumers. The main aim is to educate each other about brands services and issues. Consumers can hold conversations on forums and social network sites, video on video sites, posts and comments on blogs. It also refers to online word of mouth, consumer to consumer e-mail, postings on public internet discussion/forums, consumer rating web sites blogs (weblogs), mob logs (sites where users post digital images, photos and movies), social networking websites and individual web sites (Nazzaro & Blackshaw 2004). It also refers to any material which is created and uploaded to the internet by non-media professionals. Customer Generated Media (CGM) come in to use with the coming up of the internet itself and has been used in different forms. According to Nazzaro & Blackshaw (2004), in the recent past the use of CGM has increased rapidly due to the development in technology and access to high speed internet. Currently it is one of the fastest growing forms of content in the internet. It has played a fundamental role in altering how audiences interact with the internet and how advertisers reach the people. One of the most common sites for consumer brands in use today are review sites where consumers share their brand experiences in order to help other potential buyers to make informed purchasing decisions. These sites are grouped by category and hence we have electronics, automotive and tourism sites. Then sites are moderated well in a way that friendly to the company brand. The information posted by the audience on the sites is reviewed on timely basis mostly within 24 hours and any offending material is removed immediately. It is also argued that some comments from the general public who may dislike a given product could be intimidating. Therefore most review sites do not allow anyone to submit content without agreeing to certain standards or “user agreements”. This includes promise on the part of the user not to post defamation, profanity, threats or illegal or inappropriate content. They are informed that they are legally responsible for whatever content they post. This warning is meant to ensure that they behave accordingly. The CGM should enlist the services of moderators to review the posted content and also allow other user to submit comments about others who they may feel have gone offline. To be effective in the use of CGM the companies should develop multiple filters which unsure those certain types of content never appear to users of the sites. These filters could inform the users what is not acceptable. Another important way of having a good site is to enlist the users who visit the site. Due to the ever rising demand for customer generated media, it is evident that there has been tremendous growth of several forms of CGMs. These forms include customer review, defined as information shared by different customers through social media. These reviews are known to offer several options to companies assisting them on improving their interaction and loyalty to customers. Blog, defined as a hierarchy of wording, images, media objects and information set in a chronologically manner normally viewed through the use of an HTML browser. The difference between a blog and a website is that events found in a blog are arranged in a chronological manner. Finally, we have forums defined as discussion or conversation held online in the form of posted messages on a particular product or service. They differ from chat rooms in the sense that posted messages are temporally stored (Nazzaro & Blackshaw 2004). CGM and marketing CGM has been heralded by many businesses as a dream came true especially in offering marketing services. Currently, CGM provides companies with opportunities to know what are your potential customers’ perspective on the goods and services been offered. Through proper monitoring of comments posted by customers in websites, marketers and companies are provided with a golden chance to shape up their customers opinion by rebuilding on their brands and services. CGM exists as a medium which gives consumers a chance to communicate directly with other consumers. This plays a very important role in shaping of consumer purchase behavior since most customers have increasingly placed their buying power in other consumers. They trust fellow consumers’ comments more than any other form of media and marketing. According to Buzzmetric research 2006 more than 60% of consumers trust other consumers’ online postings. Since the online consumers are very active and influential they are very important for the marketers On-line marketing has been found to be more efficient and measurable than traditional media. Consumers also turn to the internet for pre- shopping information, reading about products and determination of price ranges and compare what is available from different online and traditional retailers. According to pew internet & American life project 2005, 90% of customers used an internet search engine to research a product or service. 75% used the internet to give feedback and to ask questions before purchasing. They reported that this made them to feel comfortable when making the final transaction and sale for the companies. 2. Primary Data Collection Roughly, Consumer Generated Media sites are categorized into: issue/subject and opinion/news/information. There exists significant overlaps between the two types of CGM, but for descriptive reasons, two high-level groupings will be sufficient (Blackshaw 2005). Opinion/information/news sites have a propensity to be either collaborative by posting links from supplementary websites to a forum, habitually together with a successive commentary component, or a individual author’s page that places links from supplementary websites and include their own outlook. Whilst the content may not be new, various sites obtain stories or links from other sites, allowing a placement on a lesser or site to quickly turn into a visible issue (Feldman 2005). Subject/issue sites, have a propensity to center on goods, product categories or concerns. The users of these sites are usually fervent concerning a particular issue, and would like to articulate their opinions. These sites are likely to contain long running debates, and are frequently where customers turn when they are in search of guidance or information. As a common rule, these sites are predisposed to be Usenet groups. The objective of the research was to find out whether Consumer Generated Media plays a great role in influencing consumer choices, whether CGM is valued in information search, to what extent do consumers put trust on information that they obtain from CGM, information obtained from other sources in comparison to CGM and lastly how CGM influences CGM. Results from other surveys indicated that customers were influenced to a certain extent by CGM forums though the level of trust put on them by different people varies. They also indicated some influence of CGM on buying decisions (Dawson 2008). The mode of obtaining the information for this research was through the interview method. In prepared questionnaires based on the objectives above which were written in a questionnaire from which I asked the respondent questions. The mode of interviews was chosen over other modes of data collection due to factors such as: respondents are less likely to ponder and give calculated answers to questions as opposed to questionnaires, interviews are more personal and provide a perfect atmosphere such that the respondent develops a relationship with the interviewer and is likely to be more truthful, interviews give the opportunity for the interviewer to add questions which arise according to the nature of the responses they get from the interviewee as opposed to other modes, and lastly interviews allow for instant feedback from the respondent (Feldman 2005). The respondents chosen for the study were from Saudi Arabia. The research took into account age by incorporating respondents who were of different ages into the research. Internet usage in the Middle East and especially in Saudi Arabia has not been as vibrant as compared to the West. In this study it was important to take into this into account as accessibility determines other factors and also usage of CGM due to issues of exposure. The study incorporated diverse age groups as internet usage among different age groups. The study’s main focus was to find out whether consumers put a lot of value on Customer Generated Media Platforms in their search for product information and whether it influences their buying decisions. It also focused on the response of customers to what they read on Consumer generated Media forums. To a wide extent the focus and dimension of the study was restricted to this. The study focused on mobile phones as mobile phones are an item which is used by most people above the age of 18 and would thus provide a general perspective on customer responses and the influence of CGM. 3. Analysis From the interviews, it was clear that the use of internet to search for information decreased as age increased. Those aged 18 to 30 were 80%, those aged 30 to 39 26% and those above 40 accounted for only 14%. 90% of all interviewed persons used internet to search for new information. The other 10 percent indicated that they came across important information on phones as they were using the internet to access the social websites such as Yahoo, Gmail, facebook and twitter among others. These individuals were found to have used the internet in search for the information on products for at least 2 years. This was a good aspect as it indicated that they had been in the market long enough to identify the importance and challenges faced when using the internet to search for information. 30% had used the internet to search for information on phones, 25% had come across the information as accessed other sites while 45% made purchases without conducting any search. Out of the 30 who searched for information about phones, 10% did so because they had been frustrated by the use of certain phone models and therefore were looking for a solution. However, participants indicated that the number of times they used in searching for information on particular products increased with time. This is in consistency with statistics in improved income resulting from e-commerce. For instance, about 30% of GDP involves the use of e-commerce which has affected retail, finance and communications (Federal trade commission 2000). In addition, it is very promising in government operations, health and education which form 20% of the GPD. 60% did not trust the information they obtained from the internet. For instance, one respondent indicated that companies only aimed at advertising their products and did not provide a space for consumers to write their reviews making it difficult for them to identify the best brand. This showed that consumers trust a word from a fellow consumer more than the work from the producer. According to Culnan (2000), most businesses conducted online fail in the fair practices of handling the information released to them. These problems have also been attributed to by pressure from the media, consumer fears and poor business practices. Though people are interested in making business and maximizing on the profit earned, they still seek to prevent information concerning them and others. One security threat is that a website may be completely altered or the customers be directed to another website thus affecting thus affecting customer confidence. The main concern for the two, i.e. customers and traders is privacy and genuineness of information provided. 3.1. Benefits of customer generated media Basically consumers benefit from the use of internet to search for information and make purchases. This is achieved through the availability of goods online such that the customers are not limited by the normal trading hours as through ecommerce goods and services are available 24\7 hours. It also reaches a wide audience as the use of internet has greatly increased with the growing technology (Riegelsberger 2002) and accessibility is not longer a concern in internet use. Participants indicated that they could now Order for products from any country. In addition, the internet provided a wide range of products from which to choose from. This made most people seek for information online even in cases where the purchases would be later done over the counter. They were also given a chance to evaluate a product for the purpose of product development. As a result, new products made were likely to meet their needs. This is evident as the customers have a say about the business products, how they are made and how the products are delivered. All the participants stated that one of the reason of using customer generated media when they want to purchase a product was it effectiveness in saving time. Internet use in search of product information saves on time thus has proved to be very effective where time is a limit. The time consumed to make transactions, find an advert of a new product or pass some information cannot be compared with the time that would have been used if these activities were to be carried out manually. The cost of production has been lowed with increased use of e-commerce since transactions are made at any time including at night, there exists close coordination of firms and production cycles have been made to increase in speed. Products are also produce in masses reducing the production cost. In addition to these, an increase in the variety of products has resulted to a reduction of the total buying cost making some buyers prefer to make transactions through the net rather than buying products from the counter. From the analyzed responses, customer reviews influenced the decisions made by consumers on which product to purchase. For instance, reviews on different models of phones made it easy for the consumers to decide on what make of a phone to go for. However, 87% of the participants stated that they were satisfied by reviewing forum websites rather than company websites as the information here was likely to be more genuine. 88% of the people interviewed were comfortable using website forms to search for information while the rest 22% had not come to a level of fully trusting any website in searching for information. Trust in Using Internet Forms The internet greatly affects the way business is carried out thus positively affecting the market place. This will include the development of new relationships and attraction of more customers that would not have otherwise been involved in the business. There will also emerge open human interactions. Participants indicated that the use of internet to search for products had been helpful to them and were also in a position to refer others to these websites. This resulted to formation on an advertisement network where one consumer was able to refer another and encourage them to use internet forms in searching for information. The businesses that wish to retain their market share and even increase it will have to maintain the global market standards thus giving the customers a wide range of products to choose from and the development of better quality products. Large companies are the major beneficiaries of this as they frequently use the internet. There is a huge industry that has resulted from evolving business operations thus making the internet a platform for any business operations (Anderson, 2001b). This has also made the consumer and important recognised partner in product design and service delivery. The websites for different companies have given their customers a chance to give their suggestions and views on new and existing products making it possible to design products that meet the customer needs. This has in turn increased customer loyalty and confidence. In addition, the increase stakeholder involvement has reduced the possibility for product rejection and encouraged more customers to be involved in online surveys. (Anderson 2001a). 3.2. Challenges faced The major problems experienced by customers while searching for information about a particular product is diversity and inconsistency in information provided, very little information on a product which is not satisfactory in making the final decision and total lack of information regarding particular products. Inconsistency in information came up when one website portrayed a given product as good while another portrayed it as a bad product and one that consumers should not purchase. This confused the clients more and made it hard for them to make choices. As a result, while most people encourage others to use website to search for information, they caution them on the danger of fully trusting information found on them. Another challenge was that customers could find information on different phones indicating that more than five models were good. The customer then faced the challenge of indentifying which is better than the other. Customer generated media was found to be the most trusted according to the interviews conducted. The justification for this was that consumers did not reap any benefit from these reviews and were therefore likely to give genuine information. On the other hand, companies only sough for competitive advantage and could not therefore give any negative information about their products. After going through the different views by different individuals at the global level, it was easier to come up with the best choice. Though these reviews were not 100% accurate, they were more likely to be true. 4. Conclusion Customer generated media has been embraced with the emergences of new developments in the websites. This is more beneficial to the consumers that the producer as it provides both positive and negative information about products. The increase use of e-commerce has made customer generated media even more important. It is evident that customers trust internet forms more than company websites as these are thought to provide more genuine information. More people are now using these websites to search for information to determine the best products for them. As a result, pressure is directed to producers to ensure that their products meet customer needs. This is because a positive survey will result to a company or organization increasing her market share. Customers have not only benefited from availability of information necessary in decision making process but also in emergency of better products that satisfy their needs. Since customer generated is of such great importance, it is important for every individual to engage in giving customer reviews. This would benefit those that come to purchase a product after a person. However, this may prove challenging since it may take time for a company to eliminate negative feedbacks once made even after it has developed its products. This is a disadvantage to the consumer who may think that a product is of poor quality and vice versa and therefore refusing to purchase it. Generally, customers appreciate customer generated data and embrace it as the most accurate information in decision making process. This is an indication that each customer expects that a product will have a similar effect when he or she purchases it as it had on another individual. The challenges faced including inconsistency in information found in different website and customer reviews, lack of information and inadequacy of information available to make a decision pose a danger for the consumers. However, encouraging participation of more consumers will solve some of the challenges. Though customer trust interview forms in search for relevant information they remain the ultimate judge when deciding which product to purchase. It is very clear that customers’ interaction is considered as an effective tool on social media marketing. Through engaging in customer generated media companies or marketers are able to assess on the number of people who visit their website to learn about their brands. With the increasing growth in technology and globalization, it is very important for companies and especially their marketing departments to engage in customer generated media so as to connect with their customers not only locally but also internationally therefore establishing an effective market chain. It is through CGM that companies are able to be at a higher level of competition within target market through constant monitoring of feedbacks from blogs, customer reviews, forums and social networks. 5. References Anderson, Ross, 2001a, Security Engineering, A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems, New York, John Wiley & Sons, Anderson, Ross, 2001b, Why Information Security is Hard - An Economic Perspective,Proceedings of the 17th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference Blackshaw, P. 2005. The Pocket Guide to Consumer-Generated Media, Clickz, Marketing News & Expert Advice. London. Culnan, Mary J, 2000, Protecting Privacy Online, Is Self-Regulation Working? Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 19, 1, , 20-26. Dawson, R. 2008. The rise of professional-quality user generated media. Trends in the Living Networks. New York. Federal trade commission, 2000 privacy online, fair information practices in the electronic marketplace , http,//www,ftc,gov/reports/privacy2000/privacy2000,pdf. Feldman, J. 2005. How to Analyze Consumer Generated Media, Imediaconnection, Cymfony, New York. J, Riegelsberger & M, A, Sasse ,2002,, Face it - Photos don’t make a Web Site Trustworthy, Extended Abstracts CHI2002, 20-25 April, Minneapolis, MN, pp, 742-743. Littleton, T, 2005, Moderation of user generated content, e moderation limited, London. Nazzaro, M & Blackshaw, P, 2004 Consumer-generated media (CGM) 101, retrieved from http://www.brandchannel.com/images/Papers/222_CGM.pdf Pete Blackshaw & Mike Nazzaro, 2006, Consumer- Generated Media (CGM) 101, Nielsen BuzzMetrics, New York. Read More