CHAPTER - 1

INTRODUCTION
A major shift in communication modalities has occurred in the modern world. People of various
ages can now easily communicate with one another via social media. Customers and advertisers
now communicate in entirely new ways thanks to the Internet and social media in particular. It
is possible to store a big amount of data cheaply in numerous locations using the Internet's
advanced search engines, as well as to distribute it through a physical media as software, at a
relatively low cost. Taking the help of the internet and the existence of many social media sites,
business people can now meet clients from all over the world with a single click of a button. It
is now possible to find a product on the internet and check out the reviews and ratings of current
customers, thanks to the internet technology for providing information about the products and
services they are considering to buy.

Consumers nowadays use technology excessively, as computers are used by many consumers,
resulting in the use of internet marketing. Social media influences consumer purchasing
decisions through group communication. The use of an internet platform is an innovative
strategy for the growth of business. Social media alters the means of communication between
suppliers and purchasers. Social media communication is a new platform for distributing
product and service information. Because the majority of consumers use the internet and online
social media tools, for taking purchase decisions. It has become the primary activity of business
units to analyse consumer behaviour for selling products and services. Social media has
evolved into an important tool for introducing and marketing products, as well as holding
surveys. Social networking is becoming a powerful marketing tool for advertising goods and
services. As a result, understanding how social media influences consumer behaviour is critical.

As a communication tool, social media has taken on a significant role. People from all over the
world use social media to interact with other people or organisations. People all around the
world have begun to utilise social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
Whatsapp and LinkedIn to share their experiences.

People contribute product evaluations, information about a service, food or health advice,
product warnings, suggestions on how to use certain items, and much more as consumers. As
individuals have numerous 'connections' on social media, information is absorbed by a large
number of people. The emergence of social media is the most recent marketing trend. Social

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media has the ability to influence prospective consumers from the beginning of their search
until they make a purchase and beyond.

Many studies have emphasised the significance of engaging clients on social media. As
individuals devote more time to this, businesses search for methods to integrate themselves
into the experience and therefore build brand equity. Many research papers have been created
claiming that company fan sites are good methods for communicating with the consumers.
Companies now have teams devoted to creating material for such exchanges, but they still
struggle to turn these admirers into paying consumers. While social media is where the majority
of customers are, harnessing it for business reasons is still a mystery. Except for a few
corporations, this medium has been a success. Many businesses created 'me-too' pages on
prominent social media platforms and gained a large number of admirers, but turning them into
paying customers proved difficult.

According to a Business world (2010) research, most businesses struggle to achieve success in
the social media area. The reason for this is because they only have a hazy understanding of its
business application. 'On one side are advertising and marketing professionals who grasp the
finer points of branding but have no idea how to utilise social media successfully. On the
opposite end of the scale are the young-and-abled social media gurus who know all there is to
know about technology and social media laws but are absolutely lost when it comes to brand
management abilities,' according to the survey. This is right - corporations desire personnel
who are proficient in information technology and understand business in order to fully exploit
today's significantly altered marketing environment.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The phrase "Social Media" refers to a subset of current online media that is distinguished by
characteristics such as openness, community, connectedness, engagement, and debate
(Mayfeild A.2008). Social media can be characterised as a platform for information
transmission, social engagement, data discovery, and other similar activities. It is a socialising
approach that transforms communication into interactive talks by utilising web-based
technologies.

Boyd and Ellison (2008) Social network sites are web-based services that allow individuals to
construct a public or semi-public profile within a circumscribed system, articulate a list of other

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users with whom they have a connection, and read and traverse their list of connections as well
as those produced by others within the system.
Depending on where you live, the nature and name of these ties may differ.

DEFINITION OF SOCIAL MEDIA:

It is defined as ―a collection of online communication of many inputs that may be community-

based or individual, interactions, intercommunications, content sharing, websites, and many
more among diverse people. Social media has many varied meanings to different people, as
described by several social media experts:

1. A social communication online medium driven by the internet.

2. The ability to communicate in both directions.

3. A medium via which data can be generated and distributed.

4. The use of web-based technology services in a medium.

5. These include, social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

NETWORK AND THE SOCIAL MEDIA

Besides finance, information, gaming and business, the Internet has a major impact on the
social networking sector as well. Because of the Internet, people's relationships have altered.
Because to the internet, the world has shrunk to the size of a small village. Today's culture
relies on a variety of technologies, including video conferencing, software, and social media.
Individuals have been able to interact with a group or community since the advent of social
media.

People all around the world may communicate and stay connected via social media at the same
time. The Internet has a significant impact on people's communication, business, and social
connections. Today's teen culture is strongly linked to the internet. Life without internet is
impossible for this generation. Virtual social networking is replacing face-to-face contact as
the dominant means of communication. Social media is all about the sharing of information,
content, ideas, and so on over the internet. Individuals or groups with shared interests are the
focus of social networking. (Raghava& Krishna, 2015).

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It's becoming more and more common for people to go "online" because of technological
advancements. When it comes to the six-degrees-of-separation, social networking sites like
Facebook and Twitter are making it easier for people to interact with each other around the
globe. Using the social network phenomenon Twitter, some studies have found that people can
connect with others around the world by only 3.4 people apart. Information Age 2.0 is the age
of Social Networking, and in this age, individuals are not only connecting with each other
individually, but also with everything that is personally relevant to them. Social media has
grown into an unstoppable giant, as seen by the enormous numbers of people who use it, as
well as the sheer volume of content that is posted on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Is the
phrase "social media" no longer a trend but rather a fundamental shift in the way people
communicate with each other in the modern world.

A wide range of topics can be discussed in these cloud-based conversations, which aren't just
restricted to personal remarks and status updates. Aside from that, there are blogs in the cloud
that cover a wide range of topics worldwide. All of these social networking sites are
interconnecting and linking up to establish an even larger cloud network that is not only
homogeneous but also rife with data on a wide range of topics, goods, businesses and
disciplines. ([Link]& Amit Jadhav 2015).

RISE OF ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

More than 150 million people use more than 300 social networking sites, according to
Wikipedia ([Link]). Everyone on a social network has an online profile that
serves as a digital representation of who they are. The emergence of Social Networking Sites
has resulted in a massive paradigm shift among millions of people, which is the key reason
why people today surf these sites. The Social Media Sites make it simple to meet new people
and form groups based on shared interests, employment, and so on.

With the help of social networking sites, people are reconnecting with old acquaintances and
mending broken connections. As a result of Social Networking Sites, people's cultural, social,
and economic knowledge expands. The development of Social
Networking Sites can be attributed to the fact that they are easy to use. It's free to sign up and
communicate with anybody you want. Personal information, photos, and other hobbies are
commonplace on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

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Many software applications have already been developed for social networking sites, which
are still in their infancy, but as they mature, more will be developed. Building connections with
others via the exchange of ideas and pursuits is at the heart of social media. Facebook,
MySpace, Orkut, and Cyworld are just a few of the many social networking sites that exist
around the world. Facebook has more than 300 million registered users around the world,
making it the most popular social networking site in the world.

HISTORY OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Since 1995, [Link] has aided students in establishing connections and communication
with former classmates. The website now has a user base of forty million. This website does
not allow users to communicate with other users; rather, it allows users to communicate
exclusively with other users who attend the same college. Six [Link] began in 1997 as
the first social networking website, allowing members to communicate with other members.

On-line communities like [Link], Geocities, and [Link] were early adopters of
social networking in 1994 and 1995, respectively. In order to assist social media users
communicate their personal data and notions via websites, this community provides users with
free web space for websites. [Link] has taken a novel approach by providing email
addresses for each user. Social networking sites introduced user profiles in the 1990s, allowing
users to keep track of their friends and look for others who share their interests.

Green Net users in the United Kingdom communicated with colleagues at the Institute for
Global Communications (IGC), formerly known as PeaceNet and EcoNet, in the United States
in 1987. People shared information in a manner that may be classified as online social
networking. Using these criteria, we can argue that Social Networking Sites existed as early as
the 1990s. Many of the activities that social networking website users do today, such as
building personal webpages and participating in human connection with others, have been
feasible since the beginning of time, using interfaces such as internet relay chat, online forums,
and communities. In the late 1990s, several aspects of today's Social Networking Sites were
available.

Six [Link], a company founded in 1997, allows its customers to continue profiles and a
acquaintance list, which allows them to communicate with one another. After three years in
business, the company was forced to close due to poor performance. The failure was caused by

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poor internet usage and a scarcity of social networking sites. There were dating sites with
diverse user profiles, but it was not possible to share profiles at the time.

Live journal was launched in 1999 to allow users to share journal entries with their friends. In
the year 2001, cyworld, a Korean corporation, was founded with the possibility of social
networking. Lunarstrom was founded in Sweden, followed by Cyworld, which provides the
capability of maintaining a friends list. A website called Ryze was founded with the intention
of connecting with business professionals in San Francisco. Friendster, Likendin, and Tribe are
examples of similar social networking services that have emerged one after the other. Tribe
was acquainted with business people; Friendster was failed to withstand in the market during
the baby stage but acquired pace later on.

Many more social networking sites sprang up, each with a host of complex features that allowed
users to keep track of and contact with their friends. Friendster sprang to prominence in 2002,
and many individuals began to use it, followed by MySpace, LinkedIn, and Bebo. Since social
networking sites became more popular in 2005, myspace was seen by more people than
Google. The world's most popular social networking site, Facebook, was launched in 2004. ”

The well-known website LinkedIn focuses on the creation and maintenance of professional and
commercial networks. Flickr was built from the ground up with the goal of facilitating the
exchange of images. Like other social networking services like Friendster, Myspace has grown
to be a rival.

In light of Myspace's large user base and status as the most popular social networking site, the
site's ability for users to alter their profiles was widely publicised. Social networking services
have seen a boom in interest as a result of their rising fame, fervour, and vogue. YouTube,
Zoomr, and BlogSpot were also developed during this time period.

Sagazone was founded in 2007 for persons over the age of 50. As technology and internet use
grew, so did the appeal of social networking sites among internet users, particularly youngsters.
It is the primary role of these social networking sites to allow users to connect with others in
their network, exchange photographs, start conversations, and build business networks. By the
end of the year, tens of millions of people were using a spate of social networking sites.

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EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Since social media is all about communication, individuals have been interacting with each
other for millennia. Even while people are having discussions for a long time, the speed at
which they were having altered throughout time, leading to the emergence of social media
platforms. In the past, these debates were largely conducted orally. People's lives, thoughts,
cultures, and business worlds have been transformed by social media, which has become a part
of people's everyday lives, thoughts, cultures, and businesses. Social media has been around
since the 1970s in one form or another. The basis for communication hasn't changed, even
though the aesthetics and feel have. Despite the fact that modern technology allows for more
time for face-to-face interaction and communication, social media platforms like Facebook and
Twitter nevertheless allow users to broadcast to a large audience. Bulletin boards at schools,
community centres, and supermarkets were the inspiration for the bulletin board system. When
it comes to the first online communities, bulletin boards are a great place to start by gamers,
hackers, and other internet users. Email, dial-up chat rooms, and community message boards
were all options for users to communicate. The first industrial bulletin board system was built
by Prodigy, who rescued social media from the bowels of the earth and breathed fresh life into
it. It was released in 1990 and rapidly became a hit because to its bright and vibrant user
interface (UI). On August 6, 1991, the World Wide Web was made available to the general
public for the first time.

In 2002, Friendster made its public debut. With it, you may set up a personal online presence,
interact with other members, and even share files. When Myspace first launched in 2003, it
was the most popular social networking site on the web by a wide margin. As long as artists
and musicians continue to use it, it will be an effective marketing tool. In 2004, Mark
Zuckerberg launched Facebook, the world's most wellknown website. Millions of people are
engaged on the site now, which was essential in bringing social media into the mainstream. In
2006, Twitter was launched as a popular microblogging network. There are now social
networks for every interest, hobby, sector, and cluster of interest that exists today. Many
different types of specialised social networking sites are being developed by businesses across
a wide range of industries. A wide range of content can be sent via social media in addition to
photographs, including text, audio, video, and other types of multimedia. It was only natural
that social networking sites would start focusing on developing technology that allowed users
to share data in a variety of formats, including audio and video. Photobucket was established

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in 2003 as a means of exchanging digital photographs. When YouTube was launched in 2005
it was the first and most popular video-sharing and storing site. New ways of disseminating
information were created in the mid-2000s as a result of the rise of social news and
bookmarking sites like Delicious, Digg, and Reddit. Many different social networking sites are
now available for anything from searching for financial solutions to movie reviews to book
reviews, sharing and shaping one's own personal goals to collaborating with others in the
business world.

IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Businesses are increasingly turning to social media as a cost-effective means of promoting their
products and services. Compared to other promotional tactics, the usage of social media is
relatively inexpensive and simple. Amplification of word-of-mouth marketing, research and
idea generating, new product development, co-innovation, customer service, public relations
and reputation management are some of the key benefits of using social media in marketing.
Indeed, social media may be a powerful tool for promoting your products and services. Web
traffic, client loyalty, and the company's search engine optimization can all be improved, and
new products can be launched with greater confidence (Nitin Kamat Chinmay Nitin Kamat
2017).

1) Direct Communication:

Customers can communicate directly with a company via social media. In order to enhance
their products and services, corporations can always solicit feedback and suggestions from their
customers at any time. This element contributes to a positive experience for the customer.”

2) Brand Exposure and Awareness:

Businesses who use social media to promote their products and services see a boost in brand
awareness. Any time a customer's five senses pick up on an advertisement, product, or service,
they've been exposed to the brand's identity. New brands are able to get traction and recognition
in today's digital age thanks to social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Existing
brands benefit from increased visibility on social media channels.”

3) Ability to Advertise More Effectively:

A brand's ability to be seen and heard by potential customers increases dramatically when it
creates a presence on social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. First impressions count

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for a lot for new businesses. In the absence of any publicity, the company's launch will be a
failure. Marketers can also make use of social media to spread the word about their wares.
Products and services can be presented in a more engaging manner on the brand's Social Media
pages. Products' descriptions, photographs and videos, and user reviews and comments will all
be available to customers.

4) Cost Effective:

A major benefit of this media is that it's highly cost-effective. It's a marketing tool that doesn't
require a lot of money or effort to promote. It's a method for promoting a business effectively
and affordably. Acquaintance can get started on a Social Media strategy with a modest
investment, and the benefits can be enormous.

5) Save up on Time:

For the entire year, it's accessible at any time using a variety of methods. Many tasks may be
completed on weekends or while traveling with a smartphone.

6) Increasing Organizational Visibility:

Brand awareness is increased by extending the online presence of the items and the brand
through the use of social media. Brand recognition is a critical consideration for any firm that
makes extensive use of social media platforms.

7) Leads Generation:

Leads are generated using social media when promoting a product.

8) Targeted Traffic:

Social Media Sites, with their millions of users, are an ideal target market for people who want
to promote their products or services online. In fact, social media has proven to be a highly
successful method of driving highly targeted traffic to businesses' websites and blogs. But
social media has opened up a whole new world of possibilities, resulting in an enormous
volume of online traffic. SEO still has a key role to play. With millions of users and an almost
limitless audience, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have become a valuable
resource for entrepreneurs.

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ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Consumers now have a voice and a platform because to the widespread use of social media.
Because of the Internet's openness and the ease with which people may express themselves
using social media, these points of view are easily disseminated. Regardless of whether they're
good, negative, or just a tad off-centre, people are speaking up. In addition, CGM (Consumer-
generated Media) is becoming increasingly prevalent in search results. In brand search results,
entries that firms have little control over are ranked highly. A Google search for "brand name
+ complaints" will bring up a lot more CGM results.

It is possible to monitor and impact a brand's reputation through the use of online platforms
such as social media, blogs, and forums. Reputation is important on the internet. It's common
for communities like eBay and Digg to establish their own reputation management systems for
its users. The success of a member's capacity to transact within the community is based on the
feedback provided by other community members. All three of these factors are considered
when determining a member's reputation (Nitin Kamat Chinmay Nitin Kamat 2017).

NEED FOR THE STUDY

Social networking is becoming increasingly important in today's fast-paced and technology-

driven environment. With the rapid advancement of digital platforms, a growing number of
individuals are actively embracing social networking for communication, entertainment, and
decision-making. Recognizing this trend, companies are leveraging the vast user base to
strategically advertise and promote their products and services. The availability of multiple
purchasing options, including online and physical stores, has significantly influenced consumer
behavior, leading to frequent shifts in preferences and buying patterns. This study specifically
focuses on consumers in the Visakhapatnam district, a cosmopolitan metropolis known for its
thriving IT, ITES, and Industry 4.0 sectors. The region is characterized by a highly educated
population, further contributing to its dynamic market landscape. As businesses compete to
capture consumer attention, marketing expenditures on social media advertising continue to
rise year after year. It has become increasingly evident that companies must gain a deeper
understanding of consumer buying behaviour to optimize their social media strategies
effectively. By doing so, businesses can enhance engagement, improve brand visibility, and
reach their target audience at a lower cost, ensuring maximum return on investment in the
evolving digital marketplace.

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 CHAPTER - 2

REVIEW OF RESEARCH AND LITERATURE

As the present study addressed itself to study the social media and Consumer buying behaviour
in Visakhapatnam district, an attempt has been made in this chapter to review the earlier studies
on the topic of Influence of social media on consumer buying behaviour, which enables to
identify the gaps in the existing body of literature and helps to formulate suitable methodology.
For convenience, the studies have been presented from past to recent.

According to a study by Gagliano et al. (1994)1, "Customer Expectation and Perception of

Service Quality in Retail Apparel Specialty Stores," customers' attention is piqued before they
even step foot inside a store because of external factors like store appearance, well-dressed
employees, and enticing promotional efforts. It was observed that comments were made that a
customer service training programme was more necessary in terms of customer expectations
in order to increase the quality of the service provided.

Roy Howell and Jerry Rogers (1998)2 "Research into Shopping Mall Choice Behaviour" tried
to understand more about the consumer's shopping mall choice behaviour. It also indicated that
there was a one-way link between behaviour and preferences for perception. The research
found that lack of time was a major barrier to gaining access to behavioural options. There is a
long-term effect, however, on customer choice and usage.

Bell et al. (1998)3: According to the study, "Shopping Behaviour and Consumer Preference
for Store Price Format," consumers have a strong preference for certain store price formats.
When it came to making particular category purchase incidence choices, buyers who bought
larger baskets were shown to be less sensitive to price. Consequently, individuals were more
aware of the predicted basket price while making their shop selections.

NirenSirohiand et al(1998)4's retail market development and strong rivalry were investigated
in "A Model of Consumer Perception and Store Loyalty Intention for a Supermarket Retailer."
Perceived value did play a key impact in predicting shop loyalty intention when there was a
high degree of rival appeal.

According to research by Ann Paulins and Loren Geistfeld (2003)5, "The Effect of Consumer
Perception of Store Qualities on Apparel Store Preference," consumers were asked to rate a set
of retail store attributes to assess their impact on store preference. When it came to influencing

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consumer choice, the relevance of shop qualities varied by store type. A correlation between
shop features, education, and age was also found.

An investigation by Paul [Link] et al.(2005)6, "Music and Consumers' Judgments about

Retail Store," offers the findings of an exploratory study into the influence of music on
consumers' judgments about retail stores in various retail contexts. According to the findings,
music, independent of its retail or prestige category, may affect customers' opinions of
businesses.

The research "Consumer Shopping Appreciate for Retail Brands" by Jason Carpenter et al.
(2005)7 examines whether customers value the in-store experience that merchants deliver as
part of the store's overall offering. Researcher found that the data helped merchants recognise
the individuality of the in-store experience that they had worked so hard to get Retailers that
utilise a "store as the brand" approach should continue to concentrate on establishing a unique
shopping experience for their target customers, according to this study's results.

TalhaHarcar et al. (2006)8: Supplementing prior research, "Consumer Perceived Value and
Buying Behavior of store brands: An Empirical Investigation" examines the elements that
influence consumer buying behaviour of store brands. As a result, marketing tactics should
emphasise the "value" components of the product, with a focus on excellent quality in
particular. Value awareness was shown to lead to favourable store brand perception. Marketing
and advertising for these items should emphasise their exclusivity at the shop location.
According to the results, there is a connection between store brand purchases, value awareness,
and past experience, as well as a correlation between these two factors.

Amrik Sohal and Amy Wong (2006)9Researcher conducted retail-based research

"Understanding the Quality of Relationships in Consumer Services: A Study in a Retail
Environment", It was tried to examine how people felt about their retail purchasing
experiences. In the research, it was observed that the quality of service, trust, and dedication
all had an influence on the strength of the connection. To build and sustain long-term
relationships with customers, retail businesses must improve the quality of the services that
they provide to those customers. Retail managers were advised to boost their stores' sales by
energising and educating their staff. Also, retail managers need to evaluate the quality of their
client connections in addition to the quality of their service.

The report "Critical Factors in Consumer Supermarket Shopping Behaviour: A Neural

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Network Approach" byLuizMoutinho et al. (2006)10 examines the shopping habits of UK
supermarket customers by looking at their satisfaction levels, the number of times they visited
the store, and the amount they spent each time. Customers who can take full use of the selection
and great quality on offer are those who are most happy and spend the most money, according
to the research. Aside from pricing and discount availability, customer happiness was also tied
to the environment of the business.

Vijay Durga Prasad (2007)11: In order to attract and satisfy their target customers, retail
establishments play a significant role in India's "The Spread of Organized Retailing in India-
With a Special Reference to Vijayawada City". According to the research Hypermarkets and
convenience shops have replaced department stores and cooperatives, according to an
investigation. Using Vijayawada as a case study, researcher looked at the growth of organised
retailing in India's south-central state.

A study of "Corporate Brand Image, Satisfaction, and Store Loyalty – A Study of the Store as
a brand, store brands, and manufacturer brands" was undertaken by Rita (2007)12. The goal of
this research was to find out whether the image of a grocery store's corporate brand affected
consumer happiness and brand loyalty. Customer happiness is the store's brand, according to
the research. Retailers need to be experts in their field to succeed. If the business is pleasant
and tidy, customers are more likely to be satisfied, as is the case when the store seems to
understand their demands. Customers are only interested in store brands if they have a certain
demographic in mind. When a customer is satisfied with the goods or service, they are more
inclined to return for more.

The impact of gender and brand name familiarity on customer attitudes toward single vs. hybrid
retail formats was examined by Yoon Cho (2007)13. In order to better understand how
customers perceive single-channel retail firms, such as a catalogue or an ecommerce site, we
conducted a survey of more than 2,000 people. Brand familiarity and gender influences were
also studied in this research to determine the impact of different retail formats. For firms
dealing with sensory items that sell in numerous forms, the research recommends that
merchants give better information in order to boost consumer desire to buy. Research on the
perceptions of customers and their desire to buy from different retail models, such as

Gupta and Tripat Kaur (2007)14 explored how companies are adapting their store layouts to
keep up with shifting buyer preferences. There is a particular emphasis on the rise of huge retail

13
establishments and their private brands in India in this research. There is an examination of
private labels' performance, as well as the consequences for major companies' marketing plans.

Chang and Burke (2007)15 This research, titled "Customer Choice of Retail Shopping Aids,"
looked at how consumer and product category variables impact consumer interest in utilising
different shopping aids. A key takeaway from the research is that businesses should consider
the characteristics of their customers when creating and distributing shopping aids to assist
customers in completing transactions. Consumers' preferences for retail shopping assistance
were explored in this study, and the results have consequences for retailers in terms of how
well shopping aids work in different scenarios.

Sear Sandsand et al. (2008)16 researched on "The Influence of In-store Experiential Events on
Shopping Value Perceptions and Shopping Behaviour," which claimed consumers' value
perceptions and behaviour might be influenced by events that enhance the in-store shopping
experience. There was a discrepancy between what was described as a typical DIY shopping
situation and what really occurred in the store. The ANOVA and mediation tests were
conducted. Value perceptions, such as projected shopping delight and reported buying
behaviour intentions, skyrocket when an in-store event is present.

Rathnayake and colleagues (2008)17 studied the types and scope of retail customer
complaints. The study examined the "complaining behaviour of young retail conumers in
Matara District, Sri Lanka" in detail. The survey approach was utilised to obtain data from 80
customers using a structured questionnaire. It was discovered that customers were mostly
dissatisfied with the quality of market service. Consumers, on the other hand, prefer to make
complaints in order to enhance the service they get from a company. As a consequence, males
turned to whining as a means of venting their frustration. As a result, it was found that young
people preferred private acts and that males were more aggressive.

Parker et al. (2008)18 researched "An Analysis of Customer Perception: Factory Outlet Malls
Versus Traditional Departmental Stores" compared how traditional department stores and
factory outlet malls are perceived by customers. Department shops and outlet stores were found
to have similar levels of customer care.

The research "US Consumers' Perceptions of Non-Price Retail Promotions" by Jason

Carpenter and Marguerite Moore (2008)19 focused on US consumers' perceptions of the
amount of enjoyment associated with non-price retail promotions and projected probability of

14
involvement across demographic groups. Results show that non-price retail promotions are a
lot of fun for some demographics, and the study examines the connections between
demographics and the probability of engaging in such promotions. Retailers in the United
States now have a better understanding of how customers perceive non-price retail incentives,
as well as the demographics of customers most inclined to take advantage of them.

Gupta et al. (2008)20This study examined "Organized Retailing and its Effect on Consumer
Buying Behaviour: With Special Reference to Agra City" It was found that organised retail had
a negative impact on customer purchasing behaviour. Local kirana businesses have been found
to not provide their clients with the full advantages of their items. But at a mall, all the
advantages of the items are passed on to the customer, such as enhanced discounts, free
products and so on. That the product be of good quality was also recommended by the research
Seating in the retail area was also advised since people grow weary of walking so much.

Rohita Kumar Mishra (2009)21: With the fast expansion of retail in India and the introduction
of several new companies, "Benchmarking Scheme for Retail Stores Efficiency" underlined
the need for benchmarking. The results of a benchmarking study of retailing undertaken in this
research were compared to those of many retail outlets. The purpose of this research was to
determine the relative effectiveness of retail establishments. According to the results, a retail
store's efficiency cannot be improved only by increasing sales.

FirdoosJahan and Ramakrishnan (2009)22: An investigation was carried out into Bangalore
hypermarkets. The retail sector in India is developing at a pace of 30 percent each year. The
outcomes of an empirical investigation done in Bangalore were given in this article. A random
sample of 265 clients from a hypermarket was employed in their investigation.

According to SafiekMokhlis (2009)23, "Malaysian Chinese Consumers: Their Ethnic Attitudes

and Shopping Orientations." In this research, the influence of cultural values on human
behaviour was investigated. An investigation examining Chinese consumers' ethnic views,
shopping preferences, and the connection between ethnic attitudes and shopping preferences
was carried out. The t-test findings showed a statistically significant difference between the
high and low groups in answers to two shopping-oriented subscales. According to these results,
certain shopping orientation variables were more closely linked to Chinese customers' ethnic
views than other shopping orientation constructs.

15
 CHAPTER 3

SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

INTRODUCTION

Social media, which emerged around three decades back on global scenario, is no longer in
nascent stage and is an indispensable part of our lives. It has evolved a lot over the last three
decades, it continues to evolve and provides newer, better, and more meaningful ways to
consumers to interact, communicate and engage with friends, family, strangers, events, and
brands. With more than 3.8 billion people using social media, it has indeed become a global
phenomenon (Kemp, 2020)1. To the point where there's now a social networking site for
nearly everything, netizens have access to an incredible number of vibrant online
communities like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (for social networking), Instagram and
YouTube (for media sharing), Quora and Reddit (for discussions), Pinterest (for
bookmarking & content curation), TripAdvisor and Yelp (for consumer reviews), Tumblr
and WordPress (for blogging & publishing) and Goodreads and Houzz (interest-based
communities) to name a few (Kakkar, 2018)2. We have younger entrants to the scenario like
WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, Quora and Pinterest, which are becoming hugely popular
with masses globally, whereas others like Google + (Discontinued on April 2, 2019), Orkut
(became defunct on September 30, 2014) have wrapped up their business. Some like
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are ever shining while Youku (China) and bharat student
(India) are their regional equivalents in the worldwide market.

GLOBAL SCENARIO

The spread of social media has reached unparalleled heights in terms of both its scope and
its pace. Connecting to the internet through wired or wireless means, as well as interacting
with and consuming online material, is highly recommended by the public (Vehr, 2012)3.
Social media users grew from 970 million in 2010 to more than 1.5 billion in 2012, which
was 80 percent of the world's internet users. It took 40 years for radio, 10 years for television
and three years for the internet to reach the 50 million mark for Facebook and Twitter,
respectively (Chui et al., 2012)4. More than 3.8 billion people will be using social media in
2020, an all-time high for this statistic. More than half of the world's population is expected
to be using social media by the middle of 2020. Between January 2019 and January 2020,
more than 321 million new social media members were added. By 2020, it is estimated that

16
410 million years will have been spent on social media. Young adults, particularly those
between the ages of 15 and 34, are the primary users of social media platforms like Facebook
and Twitter. As social media matures and older users continue to use it (e.g., those in the 15-
34 age bracket), this difference may lessen and all age and gender groupings may be
discovered to be utilising social media. On social media, the digital gender disparity is even
more pronounced, with men dominating these platforms, particularly in Asia. With each
passing year, people's time spent on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter
grow. The amount of time individuals spend on social media has skyrocketed. In today's
world, the typical person spends 2 hours and 24 minutes every day on social media. Half of
the 3.7 hours people spend on their mobile devices each day are spent evaluating social
media. The amount of time and energy spent on social media by teenagers and young adults
is much greater, to the point that it has surpassed all other forms of online activity and has
become a major and necessary part of their lives (Lenhart et al., 2010)5.

INDIAN SCENARIO

Social media usage in India is rising exponentially with millions of people using social media
but seeing the fact that the population of India being more than a billion this figure of millions
is dismal. Social media penetration in India is expected to touch 31 percent of the total
population by 2023, which is a significant rise from 2.8% in 2010, 6.3 percent in 2012, 10.5
percent in 2014 and 22 percent in 2017. Despite the double-digit growth in social media
penetration, India lags far behind other nations such as USA, South Korea, Japan and
Australia where more than half of the population is using social networking sites. Easy
internet access, internet enabled cheaper mobile phones and Indian Government’s digital
policies and initiatives such as Digital India have spurred social media. It is expected that by
2023, number of social media users will touch 448 million, which is again a significant rise
in absolute numbers of social media users in India with

33.1 million users in 2010, 76.1 million in 2012, 142.2 million in 2015 and 351.4 million in
2019 (Diwanji, 2020)6.

In alignment with social tsunami worldwide, Indian social media is also dominated by youth
and is tilted in favor of men compared to women. As per Vizisense (2010)7, 84 % users of
social media users in India were young men and college going students, thereby making
them the biggest users of social media in urban India. This phenomenon was not restricted
to the big cities alone. Rather 66% out of these belonged to smaller urban cities and towns

17
of India spread across the country. In 2010, Facebook and Orkut were the most popular social
media platform in India, both together catering to more than 90% of social media users. The
other major social media players in India were Ibibo, Twitter, LinkedIn and bharatstudent
(Vizisense, 2010). Currently most favored social media platforms in India are Facebook,
Pinterest, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Reditt among others. Facebook has so
far been most popular platform in India since inception.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Term social media on the other hand is used in reference to only the social aspects of online
applications. These social aspects include how it helps people to connect to each other
(connectedness), how it helps in making online communities (community), facilitates
participation (participation), facilitates interaction (conversation) with no physical or
temporal boundaries (openness) of Web 2.0 (Constantinides et al., 2008)8.

As per Mayfield (2008), Social media have been defined as a gamut of novel digital media,
which facilitates participation of all (as no division are between producers and consumers of
content), openness (no barriers on usage and accessing of content, providing feedback via
comments and participation in discussion), conversation (interactions among parties instead
of broadcasting), community (easy formation of common interest group exchanging
common theme based relevant information) and connectedness (giving other websites,
resources and individuals a chance to connect back). Kaplan &Haenlein (2010)9 state that
Using Web 2.0's ideology and technical basis, social media apps allow social interaction

CATEGORIES/ CLASSIFICATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social Networks: Social networks let people associate with their friends, family, strangers
and brands through personal home pages. These home pages are used by individuals and
business to upload content of their choice, to interact with friends, to play games, to search
for information & to send virtual gifts e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Google+ etc. Businesses
use these networks for furthering their business interests such as creating awareness about
their brands, to maintain customer relationship and for customer service. As Facebook is the
world's most popular social network., it has been included in the study. Some major events
and main facts about Facebook have been given below:

Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook, headquartered at Menlo Park, California,

on February 4, 2004 along with his co-founders Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and

18
Eduardo Saverin with a mission to enable people to connect to their friends and family. It
was launched to enable people to form online communities, in order to keep up with global
events, to express their views on various topics and to share it with their friends, family and
world in general. India is home to more than 270 million Facebook users. This makes India
a dominant contributor to Facebook audience size. Other countries having more than 100
million users are USA (190 million), Brazil (130 million) and Indonesia (120 million)
(Clement, 2019b). As per one estimate, there will be 320 million Facebook users in India by
2021 and 444.2 million in 2023. The Facebook penetration rate in India is expected to be
around 23 percent in 2021 against an almost 15 percent penetration rate in 2016 (Diwanji,
2019)12. In 18 years to 24 years age group, 74 million males and 23 million females were
using Facebook and 71 percent Indians in 18 years to 34 years age group were found to be
using Facebook with average daily usage time of one to two hours. As per (―Facebook
users…‖,), 23 percent of Indian population was using Facebook and out of these 76.5 percent
were males and maximum users were form the age group 25 years to 34 years.

Blogs: Blog, shorter version of Weblog, is one of the popular and fast-growing social media
categories. Blogs are online journals/diaries having text, media, images and links to other
web pages. Blogs are web-based discussion or information having separate entries in reverse
chronological order, latest ones appearing first. Language used in comments is
conversational. Blogs, generally, can be attributed to an individual, though at times, more
than one author maintains these. These are usually focused on a specific issue, although they
may also be focused on a wider theme. At the conclusion of a blog there is a comment area,
message board or discussion part where readers may share their thoughts. Blogs are often
combined with Podcasts. The term "vodcasts" refers to audio and video files that are released
digitally and made accessible to subscribers.

Forums/Bulletin Board: Forums/Bulletin Boards are those social media channels, which
are used for searching, exchanging, discussing, examining and interacting about a variety of
fields. Forums are mostly centered on some specific area of interest of the participants like
cars, music, flower, movies etc. Online discussions, called threads, are akin to face-to-face
conversations, albeit in the virtual world and are an established and oldest ways of running
social campaigns. Similar to conversations in the real world, online discussions can range
from frivolous to serious heated debates. Forums are managed by an administrator and can
exist in a standalone format or may be woven in company websites.

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Content Communities: Prima facie content communities appear to be similar to social
networks as both allow users profile, a home page, connection with others in the form of
friend or follower and comment and like options. As per Boyd & Ellison (2008)13, some of
the early content sharing sites gradually started to look like social networks with the addition
of social features. However, whereas social networks is high in self-awareness and self-
presentation, content communities demand less self-presentation and self-disclosure
(Thompson, 2011)14. Further, in content communities ‘content being shared is more
important than any other aspect and thus these network communities are centered on sharing
of only a particular kind of content. For example, YouTube and Instagram are media sharing
communities. Flicker and Slide share are other popular content communities. Content
communities help business in brand building, targeting, placing advertisements and
generating leads.

Micro Blogging: Micro Blogging, also called Tumblelogs, is the cross between social
networking and blogs. It is that vehicle of social media which permits users to send short
messages, images or video links over internet or mobile networks updating about current
status. Microblogs are short posts and at times are called micro posts. These can be taken as
truncated blogs. Microblogs can have simple posts such as simple updates about the current
situation or status or it can be theme based. Organizations may use it for promoting their
products and services. Some micro blogs use privacy settings and permit only selected users
to see their posts. Features of microblogs such as ambient awareness, push-push-pull
communication, real time communication and virtual exhibitionism have encouraged
companies to introduce twitter feeds. Media houses such as BBC and CNN have been
benefitted immensely using twitter feeds as it has helped them in breaking news in real time.
Microblogs help organizations in influencing customers in the pre-purchase, purchase, and
post-purchase stages of decision-making. Some of the famous microblogging sites are
Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Plurk. Twitter, being world’s most famous microblogging site, has
been included in the research and some major happenings about Twitter have been given
below:

Twitter: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass founded Twitter, a
microblogging site; head quartered in California, USA in March 2006 and currently has more
than thirty-five offices around the globe. Twitter is all about initiating conversations related
to latest trending developments worldwide. It is unquestionably the most popular micro-

20
blog. Users can register themselves on the site and then can upload short messages. Tweets
can be either sent as direct messages or can be posted publicly to a profile. Users can follow
any user having a public profile. This feature of Twitter has a lot of appeal to users as it
enables them to get in touch and communicate with celebrities or other significant
personalities in their area of interest or profession. Twitter can be accessed either through
website interface or through short message service or through mobile app.

After introducing Twitter, gained popularity globally at a neck breaking speed, number of
users were more than 140 million, tweets in a day were around 340 million and search queries
were around 1.6 billion per day. By 2013, Twitter was termed as "the SMS of the Internet"
and featured in top most-visited sites. By 2018, number of monthly active users swelled to
336 million and in 2019, number of average monthly active users was 330 million. In
addition, company started to use monetizable daily active users (mDAU) instead of monthly
active users (MAU) as its user reporting metric. As per Clement
(2020)15, USA has the highest number of Twitter users with 59.35 million followed by Japan
(45.75 million), United Kingdom (16.7 million) and Saudi Arabia (14.35 million).

Business Applications: More and more companies across various industries are using social
media platforms. Applications of social media or collaborative technologies or social web or
web 2.0 in business organizations have extended well beyond traditional applications of
marketing and communication. Impact of social technologies on business operations is so
profound that businesses are being termed as social businesses or Enterprise 2.0.
Organizations are using social media for engaging customers, which are difficult to reach
via interruptive media. Social concepts of sharing, commenting, connecting and
collaborating have the potential to make business operations ranging from marketing to sales
to customer support to product design more efficient. For example, crowd sourcing and
social conversations can be effectively leveraged to enhance customer experiences by
incorporating suitable changes in the products. Some of the business uses of social media
platforms are advertising, garnering direct responses, sales transaction, crowd sourcing of
ideas, getting customer insights, cocreation, collaboration, lead-generation, customer-
service, relationship-building, brand awareness, brand exposure, monitoring, forecasting and
market intelligence, brand advocacy, e-word of mouth, social commerce and customer
engagement to name a few. Social media has helped businesses to add value to their
operations, to have strategic collaborations and to have improved communication with

21
customers and suppliers. Organizations have reported reduced marketing costs, enhanced
sales, better exposure, better search ranking, more online and offline footfall, better business
forecasts, improved products, loyal customers and enhanced productivity after induction of
social media in their business operations.

WhatsApp: With WhatsApp, you can exchange data, photographs and videos as well as
online chats like Blackberry Messenger through instant messaging. In spite of the fact that it
is an instant messaging programme, it utilises a contact recognition system, verification, and
message delivery using a mobile phone number. This software has been built to allow users
to connect with one another in a variety of ways, including for business, education, and
leisure, as explained by Cooper (2012)16. Because you may use the same internet data plan
to send and receive WhatsApp messages as you do for email and online surfing as a means
of disseminating data. There is a lot of information that is up to date and readily accessible
through social networking sites. A few minutes later, I was able to use the knowledge I had
learned.

YouTube: Using YouTube's Application Programming Interface (API), academics and

others may obtain information about its videos automatically using a computer application.
Many YouTube videos can only be accessed through this API data; hence it has become the
primary method for doing large-scale research on the site Video-sharing site YouTube has
had a major impact on how people view and engage with internet videos, making it a
widespread pastime. On top of that, it is the most popular videosharing website in the world,
according to [Link] in December 2019, and the second most popular website of any
kind.

LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is a business-focused social media platform that connects people via their
professional networks. LinkedIn's major goal is to provide a digital platform for professional
networking. Employers publish employment opportunities on the site, and job seekers
upload their resumes for the positions they are interested in applying for. The LinkedIn
([Link]) online community has seen a dramatic increase in membership. For job
searchers, LinkedIn is the most widely used platform for connecting with recruiters and
companies. When it comes to recruitment, LinkedIn is the most popular social media site.
Almost exclusively, it is used in the context of cultivating business relationships. Linkedin

22
is more like a résumé, Cunningham, (2012)18 said, and it is used to connect professionally,
including for recruiting and selection. Aside from discovering commercial contracts and
prospects or customers, LinkedIn may also be used to canvass views on a specific issue, to
market or contact or advertise services or credentials, or to connect old colleagues.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

In a consumer-oriented society, the customer is a vital element of the ebb and flow of all
business. Our consumption decisions have an impact on the demand for fundamental raw
materials, transportation, manufacturing, banking, and other services at the regional, national,
and worldwide levels. Consumer is a term or notion that is commonly used in academic
literature that focuses on the micro-level components of the economy. In most cases, it denotes
a buyer.

A buyer is not precisely described in detail in early economic works. However, subsequent
theoretical breakthroughs, as well as the rise of the economy and its changing dynamics, shifted
the consumer to a considerably more significant position. Traditional consumer behaviour
theories describe the customer in a fairly limited fashion, giving rise to a separate subsidiary
discipline known as ‗consumer behaviour.

Consumer behaviour can be defined as the comprehension of consumer behaviour in a market

context and the reasons behind such behaviour. To put it simply, this requires an understanding
of his wants, likes and dislikes, motives and preferences, decision-making ability as well as
habits and attitudes, expectations and views.

According to Markin (1969), ―the consumer and his behaviour are a function of what he is;
what he has been; what others around him are doing, thinking, and talking about; what he has
witnessed, experienced, and felt; his expectations about today and tomorrow; and nearly
everything else constituting his environment. Markin's definition is quite thorough and
encompasses practically every aspect of consumer behaviour. According to the above
definition, there are biological elements, psychological factors, and sociological aspects that
influence consumer behaviour.

Consumer behaviours defined as ―the behaviour that consumers exhibit in searching for,
purchasing, using, reviewing, and disposing of items, services, and ideas that they anticipate
will meet their requirements‖ (Schiffman, 1990).

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The study of how individuals decide how to spend their available resources (money, time, and
effort) on items associated with consumption is known as "consumer behaviour." It entails
figuring out what people buy, why they buy it, and how they buy it, and when they purchase it,
where they purchase it, and how frequently they purchase it. Thus, a study of an individual's
consumption behavior in the area of cosmetics products, say cleanser, could include a study of
why he uses cleanser (e.g., to clean his skin), which brand of cleanser he buys (e.g., L'Oreal),
why he buys it (because he believes it will cleanse his skin better than competing brands), how
he buys it (for cash or credit), when he buys it.

Consumers are often divided into two groups. The two sorts of customers are personal
consumers and organisational consumers. As the name suggests, a personal consumer is
someone who buys goods and services for their own consumption or that of their family or
household members', or even for a friend's benefit. End users, sometimes referred to as ultimate
customers, are the people who will really utilise the products once they have been acquired.

Commercial enterprises, state and federal government agencies, and non-profit organisations
(such as schools, churches, prisons, and temples) are all examples of organisations that, in order
to function properly, must procure goods and services.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

Millions of individuals use social media on a daily basis as a means of communication and
connection, and it has evolved into an important marketplace where businesses can advertise
and sell their wares. Posting marketing content, promoting products, and so on social media is
the best way to get your message out there.

Many experts, tiny merchants, enormous shops, and major corporation houses miss the
relevance of social marketing. It's difficult for them to grasp how social media marketing is
now being used by a wide range of companies and services. Consider the case of LinkedIn,
which was established in the year 2303. There are now over 120 million users registered on
this website. LinkedIn supplies you with an up-to-date professional identity online. Facebook
is another instrument for altering one's thinking. Facebook is become a household name. Not
only do business owners and consumers utilise Facebook marketing, but so do many college
students. With Facebook, you may reach a far larger audience than you would with more
traditional forms of advertising. Students, professionals, and even stay-at-home moms may all
join Facebook now. The primary goal of Facebook marketing is to expand your network.

24
Everyone has the ability to build a Facebook page and market through it. Every marketer should
push community connection over that. Many people make frequent blunders on Facebook, such
as broadcasting. Another common blunder is confirming Facebook rates, which could result in
your page being blocked. Do the kind of job that Facebook does for you rather than you doing
it for them.

Commercial usage of Twitter is permissible. The use of Twitter and other social media
platforms has become more commonplace. Consider, for instance, YouTube and Whatsapp.
There is a 140-character character limit on tweets under Twitter's platform. Twitter enables you
to share your ideas with a big number of persons locally or far away. On SMS, the name SMS
stands for Short Message Service, but in Twitter, the message you send is referred to as a tweet.
You may use Twitter to connect with as many people as you want in order to grow your
company and your network.

The technology in general, and the internet in particular is becoming more crucial in
contemporary times. The internet is a platform where individuals, groups, and cultures may
engage in numerous ways and share for individuals to communicate with one another is via
social media platforms. There is a user-friendly platform that will transform the ideas and habits
of many customers. According to Krishanan, the major purpose of marketing in the year two
thousand and one is to preserve and develop an image in the minds of customers. As a result,
not only is the brand's image improving, but so is its financial worth. We all know that client
behaviour is always changing, and he has the option to alter his mind about acquiring products
and services at any moment. Electronic marketing is rising in prominence in today's world.
Consumers are the primary target of this sort of advertising. Marketers' duties are getting more
vital as the value of the digital age develops. In the year two thousand eleven, Golden
highlighted the following aspects of social media marketing:

Demographic, social, cultural, psychological, and environmental factors all have a role in
consumer behaviour on social media platforms. Social media users may be classed depending
on their gender, age, income, location, education, and marital status. Companies classify social
media users based on family cluster, socioeconomic class, and cultural characteristics in order
to market things to distinct customer groups. During the preceding decade, changes in
consumer behaviour altered marketing strategies. Television, newspapers, magazines, and
word-of-mouth recommendations are common sources of product information for customers.
However, social media has taken over the lives of consumers due to the advent of the internet

25
and the widespread usage of it. With the aid of social media, the notion of branding has been
more widely known and appreciated than it ever has been before. Today, the majority of firms
utilise social media to enhance band exposure. Social media has millions of users, and there
are hundreds of social media sites that contribute to everyday business. Because of the speedy
broadcasting of comments, independent of time and place, availability, and accessible to all
online users, social media impacts consumer decisions.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The significant point of media publicizing is to effect on purchasing conduct. Each organization
is endeavouring to spend tons of cash in media promotion to pull in client. Truth be told, the
cost of getting new clients is higher than the cost of holding existing clients. Subsequently, all
organizations are attempting to hold their current clients. This is conceivable just when the
organizations make brand reliability among the clients. Yet, it is a troublesome errand. In the
present market situation, there is a successive passage of new brand and new organizations.
The shoppers are additionally utilizing and purchasing the items at visit interim. They are
having such a significant number of choices, decisions and brands. Henceforth, it is extremely
hard to set up the unwaveringness among clients in durable market. In any case, a few
organizations have accomplished it, while some others are endeavouring to accomplish it.
Keeping in mind the end goal to accomplish it, there is a higher requirement for a point-by-
point examination on different sorts of media, the level of notice impact, natural impact, client
contribution, factors affecting client's choices and the linkage between them. The organizations
have done all the works persistently to make the brand progress. It has been observed that
organizations are spending heavy amount for the advertisements and for promotional activities
on various platforms to attract new customers or hold the existing customers, as the consumers
are looking for new choices due to changing behaviour of consumers. Therefore, it is necessary
to conduct the research for identifying social media influence on the consumer buying
behaviour, so that the organizations can reduce the cost, to attract the new customers and
satisfying the existing client base.

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 CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

In the literature review, different perspectives have seen regarding social media marketing. This
is the unique and fundamental idea to purchase the Apparels. However, many customers are
focusing on this marketing process, so that they can get demanded products through the apparel
industry. In India, many customers are looking for feasible and reliable stores that can provide
better products. Based on this fact, customer behaviour is changing from negative to positive.
Proper methodology and research programs are used here to understand the apparel industry,
social media marketing's influence on consumer behaviour.

RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY

In the research philosophy, four types of philosophies can be found: positivism, realism,
interpretivism, and pragmatism. Here, positivism philosophy is chosen to manage this research
factor. Positivism is mainly used to manage quantitative data, so that the measurement of
collected data can be developed and improvised. This philosophical approach helps to manage
knowledge of the research topic and maintain all critical data analysis factors to get positive
outcomes from the research methodology. It can also be said that knowledge is increased by
collecting or gathering all information and essential data; due to this reason, researchers are
focusing on their tasks and measuring all collected data to maintain biasness (Ryan, 2018).

Positivism philosophy is very effective than other research philosophies. All quantitative data
can be analysed properly with the help of positivism philosophy. It provides freedom value,
maintains the research pattern, and current trends and many more things. Positivism philosophy
helps to provide better results regarding the research topic. Reliability, representation, objective
data, and other factors are effectively managed to gain the information ([Link],
2021). In this case, readers can easily get the proper results and get accurate results with the
help of this philosophical approach. Apart from this, researchers are trying to maintain all
quantitative data based on the impact of social media marketing and customer behaviour
regarding this impact. Additionally, positivism philosophy is generalised to a large degree and
maintains the research topic carefully to get clear concepts based on the apparel industry
(Pham, 2018). Inaccuracy, deeper view, human relationships, and many more things are

27
included in this research philosophy; this is the way to get accurate results regarding social
media marketing. The apparel industry is maintaining social media marketing to manage
behaviour of all customers in India. This marketing process is effectively increased the business
process and manages all profitable factors, which can influence the customers' behaviour. This
information can get to know through this research program. However, research philosophy
helps to provide positive results or outcomes to maintain a research program.

Mainly, positivism relies on the hypothetical deductive method, which helps to verify priorities
that are started from the quantitative functional method. In addition, it is possible to regulate
functional interactions between explanatory and accidental elements in order to achieve
appropriate results. Utilizing virtual entertainment advertising might impact shoppers'
encounters. Different apparel industries are providing different services, which can influence
or affect customers based on those services. Many obstacles and issues may come; due to this
reason, social media marketing must be developed to maintain marketing strategies. All data
and information can get to know building positive results regarding this research topic.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Many types of research designs are included in the research design. Individual research designs
are used from different perspectives. Descriptive design, qualitative design, quantitative
design, experimental designs are included in the research design. Apart from this, descriptive
design is used here to manage this research topic. This design helps to describe each point
based on this research topic. It can be said that descriptive design creates an opportunity to
know about any specific topic. A descriptive process can elaborate on different sections, such
is the influence of social media marketing and consumer behaviour on the garment sector. All
these factors can be learned through this research design.

According to Harb, and Abu-Shanab, (2020), knowledge management evolution can increase
the integration or description of a specific topic. It leads to difficulties in learning, research and
other things. Apart from this, descriptive factors can easily spread information and make clear
concepts based on the topic. Proper knowledge management facts and additional concerns must
be focused on to improvise descriptive sessions. The descriptive research study provides a
higher level of activities to enhance the quality of research and it effectively maintains
disciplinary aspects, different research categories, such as technical, non-technical, business

28
management, marketing and many more things. These advantages can be enhanced the research
session and increase ability to manage each section of research.

Descriptive research design is creating the right way to explore different sections based on a
research topic. Apart from this, a systematic way of description can enhance the knowledge
and readers can easily understand the systematic approaches with the help of this research
design. This design also helps to reduce errors by giving a detailed structure of research (Sime
et al. 2019). A research methodology is helping to develop the research session by providing
different segments regarding some specific topics. Here, descriptive design effectively focuses
on research categories that can discover different research paths to discuss the marketing,
consumer behaviour, and a host of other factors that are easier to relate to.

This research design explores new variables, maintains research topic characteristics, finds
new aspects of research format, and establishes a concrete research study for readers. All these
components have effectively increased the quality of a research study. Moreover, it has some
capabilities that can simplify critical factors. For example, a customer can be unsatisfied due
to a lack of better services. In that case, apparel industries can enhance their social media
marketing procedures to satisfy customers for business achievement. In this way, many
customers will be pleased to have fashionable products and clothes on social media market.
Now, it can be said that all these critical sides can be described with the help of descriptive
research design for better results.

RESEARCH APPROACH

Research approach is important for continuing the research program. Research techniques may
be divided into two broad categories: inductive and deductive. Mainly, research approaches are
effectively helping to manage all consecutive factors based on research topic. It can say that all
approaches are designing logical plans and procedures; it consists of broad assumptions
grounded theory, data collection procedures and other things that are analysed by these
approaches. In this case, a deductive strategy is used to analyse the study question. This
approach is helping to develop the logical and analytical process of research. The logical
methodology depends on various philosophical underpinnings and can draw ramifications of
inductive examination for perusers, specialists, and editors (Woiceshyn, and Daellenbach,
2018).

29
Many advantages can be found in this research approach. It develops hypothesis data based on
some existing theories. On other hand, it designs a research strategy to test those data. Apart
from this, all reasoning factors are concerned with propositions. Mainly, deductive approach
helps to explain causal relationship between variables and concepts. Possibly, it measures all
research concepts and those concepts are quantitative data. Proper generalise findings can get
through a deductive approach. Risk management, time availability, resources management
other relevant factors rely on this approach. Therefore, deductive approach is following all
research circumstances.

The deductive approach is effectively managed to build the research management. However,
all hypothesis data and information can be managed theoretical, logical and functional factors
are based on a research topic. A deductive approach can manage the disciplines, quantitative
factors, knowledge-based aspects, produce interpretations, and evolve many more things. In
this way, researchers can enhance their experience and maintain all ethical issues for better
results. Apart from this, review process, simplification, reducing complications and many more
advantages can get through deductive approach. The result can drive huge control on research
aspects that can clearly understand the research program (Shaw, 2017).

According to Klein, and Müller, (2019), deductive approach is effectively managed to build
hypothesis arguments and logic. Different experimental theories and empirical results can be
justified with the help of deductive approach. The relationship between variables and concepts
can be justified and make a reliable connection between them. Apart from this, all researchers
are effectively managed logical, analytical, and theoretical factors, so that they can increase
their research study based on this topic. All customer behaviour management, marketing
factors, financial growth of the apparel industry and relevant information can be analysed in
this research session.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD

In this section, a proper data collection method is used to manage the entire research process.
Three sorts of information assortment strategies can be utilized in this exploration meeting:
essential subjective, auxiliary subjective, and quantitative ([Link], 2021). Here, the
quantitative method is used to manage survey program. In addition to the primary data,
secondary data is also used. However, in order to know consumer buying behaviour towards
Apparels, primary data was used. It can be said that all participants are included in this program

30
to provide essential information and data regarding this research topic. Many numerical data
can get through this research method, which provides a clear understanding of a specific
research topic. Five-point Likert scale questionnaire is included here to get all data and
information from intended sample.

Additionally, the quantitative data collection method helps to increase understanding of

consumer buying behaviour towards Apparels which is due to impact of social media
marketing, so that reviewers and readers can easily get the point of given data. Based on this
method, many variables, intellectual properties and other quality factors can be learned through
this research method. However, it is a quite lengthy process to make questionnaires, but
researchers are making this and asking questions about consumers buying behaviour towards
Apparels. In this way, proper findings, capital, marketing process, business management,
financial growth, and other properties can be analysed. Usually, a quantitative method provides
an understanding of the sustainable environment of different companies or organisations. Due
to this reason, readers can get to know the procedures of quantitative methods and its impact
on research programs (Srikalimah et al. 2020).

According to Nguyen, and Tran, (2021), the quantitative method is mainly helping to analyse
the structure of the industry, which can provide a clear structure of the organisational facts.
Through statistical analysis, a survey program can conduct to analyse all numerical data and
variables. In this way, market analysis, business development, sustainability, customer
behaviour, and other factors can get to know to make this research. All participants are playing
their roles effectively. Efforts of those participants are very essential to make this research
study. Social responsibility, knowledge sharing, organisational culture and other relevant things
can obtain with the help of this research method.

Based on White et al. (2017) statement, quantitative method analysis focuses on specific
abstracts incorporated in the apparel industry. Here, researchers are making communication
with all participants, so that they can get all data and information they want regarding this
research topic. However, it is beneficial to collect each data based on social media marketing
that enhances the knowledge about the consumers buying behaviour towards Apparels. Each
participant gives specific information regarding their usage of social media platforms to
purchase Apparels. Additionally, this method effectively focuses on current data, trends,
organisational environments, and other aspects of which each participant provides information.
In this research method, no external sources are used to make this research study. Due to this

31
reason, all data and information are justified and readers can understand the significance. This
is the way to grow knowledge of customer behaviour, knowledge management of apparel
industry, social media marketing and many factors that are more relevant are incorporated in
this industry.

Sampling Method and Size

Sampling method is a process that scientists and researchers use. Statistical conclusions may
be drawn from a subset of the population, which is represented by a subset of its members.
Apart from this, Van Berkel et al. (2017) stated that sampling method helps to maintain
disciplinary elements in human life. With the help of this discipline, researchers and observers
obtain all data and information to proceed with their research study. Here, intended sample who
are best suited to the study participated in providing essential information. In this way, a proper
sampling method is helping to manage a research program, where interviews, questionnaires,
and surveys are conducted.

Sample size:

The size of your sample is determined by the number of completed surveys you get. Samples
are used since they only reflect a small portion of the whole population being studied. Based
on a desired degree of accuracy and a desired level of confidence, you may use the Cochran
formula to figure out the optimum sample size for your research.

Limitations of the Study

While this study provides valuable insights into the impact of social media marketing on
consumer behavior, several limitations must be acknowledged. Firstly, the research is confined
to the Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. Although Visakhapatnam is a cosmopolitan
city with a diverse consumer base, the findings may not be fully representative of the entire
state or other districts, where demographic, economic, and cultural factors may differ
significantly. The exclusion of other regions limits the generalizability of the study’s findings
to a broader audience. A more comprehensive study covering multiple districts or states could
provide a more holistic understanding of consumer behaviour patterns in different socio-
economic settings.

Secondly, this study is structured around the antecedent components of social media marketing
based on the Technology Adoption Model (TAM). While TAM effectively explains user

32
acceptance and adoption of technology-driven platforms, consumer purchasing decisions are
influenced by a variety of other psychological, social, and economic factors that this study does
not consider. Elements such as brand perception, product quality, peer influence, and traditional
marketing efforts also play a crucial role in shaping consumer behaviour. Since these additional
factors are not incorporated into the research framework, the study’s findings may not provide
a comprehensive view of all determinants influencing buying behaviour in a social media-
driven marketplace. Future research could explore a more integrated approach by incorporating
additional behavioural theories or models.

Another limitation of this study is related to the demographic distribution of social media users.
A significant proportion of social media users, particularly active participants in digital
marketing interactions, belong to the younger generation. As a result, the opinions and
responses gathered in this research may be skewed toward the perspectives of younger
consumers, potentially overlooking insights from older age groups. While younger users tend
to be more digitally engaged and receptive to social media marketing, older consumers may
have different preferences, trust levels, and decision-making patterns. The lack of
representation from various age demographics could impact the study’s ability to capture a
well-rounded perspective on consumer behavior. Future research may consider a more diverse
sample distribution to ensure that the insights are reflective of all age groups.

Additionally, the findings of this study are primarily derived from statistical analyses. While
statistical tools provide a structured and data-driven approach to interpreting consumer
responses, they may not always capture the complexities of real-world consumer behaviour.
Quantitative data analysis often simplifies human decision-making patterns, which can be
influenced by emotions, personal experiences, and situational factors that are not easily
measurable through surveys or structured models. Moreover, consumer preferences and market
trends are highly dynamic and may evolve over time, making it challenging to capture long-
term behavioural patterns through a single study. The reliance on statistical results may also
introduce certain biases, as self-reported data from respondents might not always align with
their actual purchasing behaviours. Future studies could benefit from incorporating qualitative
research methods, such as in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, to gain deeper
insights into the motivations and sentiments driving consumer choices.

Furthermore, the study does not account for external factors such as economic conditions,
regulatory changes, or competitive market dynamics, all of which can significantly influence

33
consumer purchasing decisions. For instance, fluctuations in disposable income, shifts in
government policies, or changes in social media platform algorithms can impact how
consumers engage with online marketing campaigns. Since these external elements are not
within the scope of the study, the findings should be interpreted with caution, considering the
broader economic and technological landscape.

Despite these limitations, the study offers meaningful contributions to understanding the role
of social media marketing in influencing consumer behaviour in Visakhapatnam. It serves as a
foundation for future research and provides valuable insights for businesses looking to optimize
their digital marketing strategies. However, recognizing these constraints is essential for
refining future studies and ensuring that subsequent research efforts build upon a more
comprehensive and inclusive framework.

34
 CHAPTER 5

DATA ANALYSIS
The study examines the impact of social media marketing on consumer apparel purchase
decisions. On this issue, a great deal of study has already been done. According to certain
research, there is a link between social media and garment shopping behaviour. One study
(Ionas.E and Stoica.I, 2014) analysed the effect of social media on consumer purchasing
behaviour toward Apparels.

The European Journal of Business and Social Sciences investigates the influence of social
media marketing on customer purchase behaviour toward Zara. The study's authors (Berthon,
P.R, 2012) found that Zara's production method influenced consumer buying decisions. While
this was a case study, it is important to remember that the impact of social media marketing on
consumer buying behaviour towards Apparels should not be underestimated. The users of social
media sites are well-known. They gather information about their viewers and connect with them
in a variety of ways. For example, the social networking website Facebook has been quietly
working on a new ad system that would target users with ads tailored to their interests. This
type of targeting might be upsetting to some, but others may enjoy this approach. The research
results show that consumers like to network with other consumers who share their interests.

In the research below, data on social media marketing on consumer purchase behaviour toward
apparels was obtained from 750 customers. However, few statistics have been applied wherein
the views of these customers have been rounded up and given to you. These consumer
perspectives will aid in achieving objectives such as determining the impact of social media
marketing on consumer buying behaviour, assessing consumer buying behavior's attitude
toward social media marketing, researching subjective norms of social media marketing,
assessing perceived behavioural control on social media marketing, and examining the impact
of online Customer Generated Reviews on consumer buying behaviour. SPSS software is used
to answer the above objectives. In consumer profiling, areas like age, gender, marital status,
qualification, occupation, annual income, have been looked at. The data has been analysed via
frequency distribution. This distribution is used to present data in a percentage form. The entire
data of 750 apparel online consumers have been verified, wherein the missing data has been
filled by missing value analysis in SPSS. Further, the presentation of the data is done in a
graphical format.

35
GENDER DISTRIBUTION OF PARTICIPANTS

Gender Count Percentage (%)

Male 60 62.5%

Female 36 37.5%

Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.1

Table 1 presents the gender distribution of the 96 participants in the study, highlighting a higher
proportion of male respondents. Out of the total sample, 60 participants (62.5%) are male, while
36 participants (37.5%) are female. This disparity in gender representation suggests that the
findings on social media marketing impact may be more reflective of male perspectives. Given
that consumer behavior can vary based on gender, this distribution could influence the overall
insights into purchasing decisions, engagement patterns, and trust in social media marketing.

CHART FIGURE 1.1

36
AGE GROUP DISTRIBUTION OF PARTICIPANTS

Age Group Count Percentage (%)

18-25 22 22.9%

26-35 35 36.5%

36-45 20 20.8%

46-55 12 12.5%

56 & above 7 7.3%

Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.2

The age distribution of the 96 participants shows that the majority belong to the 26-35 age
group, accounting for 35 respondents (36.5%). This is followed by the 18-25 age group, which
comprises 22 respondents (22.9%), indicating a significant presence of young adults. The 36-
45 age group represents 20 respondents (20.8%), reflecting a balanced middle-aged segment.
Meanwhile, the 46-55 age group includes 12 respondents (12.5%), contributing a moderate
portion. The least represented category is the 56 & above age group, with only 7 respondents
(7.3%), showing lower participation from older individuals. Overall, the data suggests that
younger and middle-aged individuals dominate the study, while participation decreases with
increasing age.

CHART FIGURE 1.2

37
EDUCATION LEVEL OF PARTICIPANTS
Education Level Count Percentage (%)

High School 15 15.6%

Undergraduate 40 41.7%

Postgraduate 30 31.3%

Others (Diploma, etc.) 11 11.4%

Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.3

The education level distribution of the 96 participants indicates that the majority, 40
respondents (41.7%), have an undergraduate degree. This is followed by 30 respondents
(31.3%) with a postgraduate degree, showing a strong presence of higher education among
participants. High school graduates make up 15 respondents (15.6%), while 11 respondents
(11.4%) fall into the "Others" category, which includes diplomas and other qualifications.
Overall, the data suggests that most participants have pursued higher education, with a
significant proportion holding undergraduate or postgraduate degrees.

CHART FIGURE 1.3

38
OCCUPATION OF RESPONDENTS

Occupation Count Percentage (%)

Student 30 31.3%
Private Employee 28 29.2%
Government Employee 15 15.6%
Business Owner 13 13.5%
Freelancer 10 10.4%
Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.4

The occupation distribution of the 96 participants shows that the largest group consists of
students, accounting for 30 respondents (31.3%), indicating a strong representation of young
individuals. Private employees form the second-largest group with 28 respondents (29.2%),
highlighting a significant workforce presence. Government employees make up 15 respondents
(15.6%), while business owners account for 13 respondents (13.5%), reflecting a fair share of
entrepreneurs. The smallest group consists of freelancers, comprising 10 respondents (10.4%),
indicating a moderate representation of independent professionals.

CHART FIGURE 1.4

39
FREQUENCY OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE

Frequency of Use Count Percentage (%)

Daily 70 72.9%

Weekly 18 18.8%

Monthly 8 8.3%

Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.5

The frequency of use distribution among the 96 participants shows that the majority, 70
respondents (72.9%), use the service daily, indicating a high level of engagement. 18
respondents (18.8%) use it on a weekly basis, reflecting a moderate level of usage. Meanwhile,
8 respondents (8.3%) use it monthly, representing a smaller portion of occasional users. Overall,
the data suggests that most participants are frequent users, with daily usage being the most
common, while weekly and monthly users form a smaller segment.

CHART FIGURE 1.5

40
MOST PREFERRED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM

Social Media Platform Count Percentage (%)

Facebook 25 26.0%
Instagram 30 31.3%
YouTube 20 20.8%
Twitter/X 8 8.3%
LinkedIn 6 6.3%
Others 7 7.3%
Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.6

Among the 96 participants, Instagram is the most preferred platform, with 30 respondents
(31.3%), followed closely by Facebook, used by 25 respondents (26.0%). YouTube ranks third,
with 20 respondents (20.8%), indicating a strong preference for video content. Twitter/X is used
by 8 respondents (8.3%), while LinkedIn has a smaller share with 6 respondents (6.3%),
reflecting its professional focus. Additionally, 7 respondents (7.3%) use other platforms.
Overall, Instagram and Facebook lead in popularity, while YouTube maintains moderate
engagement, and Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and other platforms have relatively lower usage.

CHART FIGURE 1.6

41
PURPOSE OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE

Purpose Count Percentage (%)

Entertainment 40 41.7%
Shopping 20 20.8%
News & Information 15 15.6%
Communication 14 14.6%
Professional Use 7 7.3%
Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.7

The purpose of social media usage among the 96 participants shows that entertainment is the
primary reason, with 40 respondents (41.7%), highlighting its role as a source of leisure.
Shopping follows with 20 respondents (20.8%), reflecting the growing influence of e-
commerce. News & information is a priority for 15 respondents (15.6%), while 14 respondents
(14.6%) use social media mainly for communication. Professional use is the least common
purpose, with 7 respondents (7.3%). Overall, entertainment and shopping dominate social
media activities, while news, communication, and professional use have a smaller but notable
presence.

CHART FIGURE 1.7

42
INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADS ON PURCHASE DECISION

Influence Level Count Percentage (%)

Very Influential 30 31.3%
Somewhat Influential 40 41.7%
Neutral 15 15.6%
Less Influential 7 7.3%
Not Influential 4 4.2%
Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.8

The influence level of social media on consumer behaviour among the 96 participants shows
that 40 respondents (41.7%) find it somewhat influential, indicating a moderate impact. 30
respondents (31.3%) consider it very influential, highlighting its strong effect on decision-
making. 15 respondents (15.6%) remain neutral, while 7 respondents (7.3%) see it as less
influential. Only 4 respondents (4.2%) believe it has no influence. Overall, the majority
perceive social media as having at least some level of influence, with only a small portion
considering it insignificant.

CHART FIGURE 1.8

43
TYPE OF PRODUCTS PURCHASED THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

Product Type Count Percentage (%)

Clothing & Fashion 30 31.3%
Electronics & Gadgets 20 20.8%
Beauty & Cosmetics 15 15.6%
Food & Beverages 12 12.5%
Others 19 19.8%
Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.9

The distribution of preferred product types among the 96 participants shows that clothing &
fashion is the most popular category, with 30 respondents (31.3%), highlighting a strong
interest in apparel trends. Electronics & gadgets follow with 20 respondents (20.8%),
indicating significant consumer demand for tech products. Beauty & cosmetics attract 15
respondents (15.6%), while food & beverages are preferred by 12 respondents (12.5%). The
‘Others’ category, covering additional product types, accounts for 19 respondents (19.8%).
Overall, fashion and technology dominate, with beauty, food, and other products also having
notable interest.

CHART FIGURE 1.9

44
TRUST LEVEL IN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Trust Level Count Percentage (%)

Highly Trust 20 20.8%
Somewhat Trust 45 46.9%
Neutral 15 15.6%
Less Trust 10 10.4%
Do Not Trust 6 6.3%
Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.10

The trust level in social media among the 96 participants shows that 45 respondents (46.9%)
somewhat trust it, indicating cautious confidence. 20 respondents (20.8%) highly trust social
media, reflecting strong faith in its reliability. 15 respondents (15.6%) remain neutral, while
10 respondents (10.4%) have less trust in it. Only 6 respondents (6.3%) do not trust social
media at all. Overall, a majority exhibit at least some level of trust, while a smaller portion
remains sceptical.

CHART FIGURE 1.10

45
PREFERRED MODE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISEMENT

Advertisement Mode Count Percentage (%)

Video Ads 35 36.5%
Image-Based Ads 25 26.0%

Sponsored Posts 15 15.6%

Influencer Marketing 12 12.5%
Pop-Up Ads 9 9.4%
Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.11

The preference for advertisement modes among the 96 participants indicates that video ads are
the most favoured, with 35 respondents (36.5%), highlighting their effectiveness in engaging
audiences. Image-based ads follow with 25 respondents (26.0%), showing strong visual appeal.
Sponsored posts attract 15 respondents (15.6%), while influencer marketing influences 12
respondents (12.5%). Pop-up ads are the least preferred, with only 9 respondents (9.4%),
suggesting their lower acceptance. Overall, video and image-based ads dominate, while
influencer and sponsored content have a moderate impact.

CHART FIGURE 1.11

46
CONSUMER PERCEPTION ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS

Perception Level Count Percentage (%)

Very Effective 28 29.2%
Effective 40 41.7%
Neutral 15 15.6%
Less Effective 8 8.3%
Not Effective 5 5.2%
Total 96 100%

TABLE FIGURE 1.12

The perception of social media marketing effectiveness among the 96 participants indicates
that 40 respondents (41.7%) find it effective, making it the most common view. 28 respondents
(29.2%) consider it very effective, reflecting strong confidence in its impact. 15 respondents
(15.6%) remain neutral, showing mixed opinions. 8 respondents (8.3%) believe it is less
effective, while only 5 respondents (5.2%) see it as not effective at all. Overall, the majority
perceive social media marketing as effective, with only a small portion expressing scepticism.

CHART FIGURE 1.12

47
 CHAPTER 6

DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION

In today's digital world, people can't live without social media. There is nothing new about
companies of all sizes using social media to find and interact with their target market.
According to the stats, customers are 71% more likely to buy a product based on a social media
recommendation than they were before. Millennials are the most active users of the internet,
and 47% of their purchases are impacted by what they see on social media. In addition, they
are 1.6 times more likely to discover new items via digital media. Social media platforms are
in the greatest possible position when it comes to effective digital marketing activities. Keeping
these facts in mind, companies may build best practices before investing in social media
advertising and other marketing tactics by understanding how client purchasing behaviour
works.

"Consumer buying behaviour" is the study of how people and organizations choose and use
products and services. Psychological inclinations such as why consumers purchase particular
items and their preferred brands are a major focus of this research. It also looks at ways to
enhance marketing efforts to better persuade consumers. Personal, psychological, and societal
aspects all have a role in consumer behaviour. Demographics have an impact on an individual's
characteristics, such as hobbies and values. Searching for Product Information can have an
impact on a person's psychological wellbeing. Prospects in this stage are seeking additional
information about the product they are interested in purchasing. This is where product reviews,
websites, blog articles, and Search ads may help create your brand's trust in the market, such
as via paid advertising and SEO, and this in turn can help you convert your prospects into
paying customers. (Kumar and Thakran, 2012). People apply criteria based on their priorities
while assessing goods since there are so many choices. They also consider the constraints they
have in narrowing the scope of their choices. The goal of your marketing efforts at this point is
to convince customers that product's qualities line up with their needs.

The customer has evaluated a variety of products and compared them to one another. They're
on the verge of making a life-or-death decision. Creating a sense of security and delivering
convincing reminders of their demands is critical to the success of a business. The consumer
has made up their mind to buy at this point. Although a possibility might be lost due to factors
like cumbersome checkout processes, hard-to-understand online stores, and unresponsive or

48
broken parts. Whether or not a deal is finished can be determined by how easy it is to complete
the transaction When people buy anything, they're not done yet. Whether or not consumer is
happy with their purchase will be determined by their experience with the goods. Surveys and
thank-you emails following a customer's purchase may greatly assist in addressing any issues
that may develop from discontent while establishing a relationship with those who were
pleased. Customers' purchase choices may be influenced by social media, as has been
previously demonstrated. Among the many ways social media affects the behaviour of a target
audience: Rather than presenting items in chronological order, social media platforms such as
Facebook and Instagram now prioritize posts that have received the most engagement. By
promoting likes, comments, and shares on their content, brands, and enterprises may benefit
from this system. Companies and customers will be able to interact with each other more
effectively as a result of this change. Societal media has altered consumer behaviour, with its
emotional, psychological, and societal factors. Businesses must use every opportunity to get in
front of their target audiences since consumers have access to an almost infinite ocean of
information at any one moment.

The present study's particular goal is to explore the impact of taking into account social media
the accompanying marketing tactics on the purchasing behaviours of customers who shop for
apparels. The study's other goals included assessing the influence of social media marketing
on consumer buying behaviour in the Apparel business, among other things. In addition, the
study intended to investigate the impact of client views toward clothes purchases on their
decisions. In addition, the researchers examined the effect of subjective standards and
perceived behavioural control on consumer purchase behaviour for clothing, as well as the
impact of customer-generated reviews on consumer purchasing behavior for apparel, as part of
this research project.

Socialization and the building of cognitive schemas based on brand-related connections may
occur as a result of customers' unique brand experiences and their interactions with others.
Consumers' grasp of fashion trends, lifestyles, and cultural elements is constantly expanding,
according to recent studies on the subject. As a result, fashion is becoming increasingly
complex. In addition, consumers' brand choices have an effect on the purchase patterns of their
relatives and friends, both directly and indirectly. Customers' buying behaviours may be better
understood by doing complete research on the brand awareness, brand schematics with brand
consciousness, and brand nationality. Consumers purchasing decisions are moderated by brand

49
expertise, particularly when it comes to fashionable clothes labels. Brand schematics,
according to the findings of the study, exerts an effective moderating influence on fashion
clothes brand purchases. Brand identification might help fashion clothes companies get more
customers from this demographic, according to the study. Schematic buyers are getting
increasingly concerned about the number of quality indicators they may utilize to make a
purchasing choice. As a result, fashion clothes retailers should make this information available
to practitioners so they may make an educated selection.

Consumer participation in this study, which investigated how social media marketing
influences their apparel shopping patterns, totaled 750 participants. In the light of this data, As
a result, we can answer issues like how social media marketing influences customer buying
behaviour, how consumers perceive social media marketing, and what social norms are for
social media marketing and how consumers perceive online Customer Generated Reviews
(CGRs) and how they influence consumer purchasing behavior. The statistical package SPSS
is used for the objectives described above. The data biases and variables associated with social
media marketing have been investigated using statistical tests such as frequency distribution,
reliability, factor analysis, and other techniques.

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

The study on the impact of social media marketing on consumer behavior in Odisha provides
valuable insights into user demographics, preferences, and perceptions. The majority of
respondents are male (62.5%), with a significant portion aged between 26-35 years (36.5%).
Education-wise, most have an undergraduate degree (41.7%), while occupation-wise, students
(31.3%) and private employees (29.2%) dominate the sample. Social media usage is high, with
72.9% of respondents engaging daily, and Instagram (31.3%) and Facebook (26.0%) emerging
as the most popular platforms. The primary reasons for social media use include entertainment
(41.7%), shopping (20.8%), and accessing news and information (15.6%). In terms of
influence, social media significantly impacts consumer decisions, with 41.7% considering it
somewhat influential and 31.3% very influential. The study also highlights product
preferences, with clothing & fashion (31.3%) and electronics & gadgets (20.8%) being the most
sought-after categories. Trust in social media marketing remains moderate, as 46.9% of
respondents somewhat trust it, while 20.8% express high trust. Advertising effectiveness varies,
with video ads (36.5%) and image-based ads (26.0%) being the most engaging, whereas pop-
up ads (9.4%) receive the least preference. When evaluating the overall effectiveness of social

50
media marketing, 41.7% of respondents consider it effective, while 29.2% find it very effective.
Only a small portion (5.2%) perceive it as ineffective. These findings emphasize the growing
significance of social media as a marketing tool, particularly in engaging consumers through
visual content and trusted advertising strategies.

SUGGESTION OF STUDY

To enhance the study on the impact of social media marketing on consumer behavior in Odisha,
several key improvements can be considered to strengthen its depth, reliability, and practical
applicability. Firstly, expanding the sample size beyond 96 respondents would improve the
statistical significance of the findings and ensure a more representative analysis of diverse
consumer behaviours. Additionally, ensuring a balanced demographic distribution by including
respondents from various age groups, occupations, and income levels would add greater
validity to the conclusions. Secondly, broadening the geographic coverage to include
participants from both urban and rural areas of Odisha would help in identifying regional
variations in social media usage and purchasing patterns. This would provide businesses with
a more targeted understanding of consumer preferences based on location-specific trends.
Thirdly, incorporating qualitative insights through interviews, case studies, or focus group
discussions could reveal deeper motivations behind consumer decisions. This would
complement quantitative data by explaining why consumers trust or prefer certain platforms,
advertisement types, and influencers over others.A longitudinal study that tracks consumer
behavior over time would help identify long-term trends and the sustained impact of social
media marketing. This approach would be useful in distinguishing between temporary trends
and lasting shifts in consumer preferences.

Another important improvement would be a platform-specific analysis, where the study could
explore how marketing strategies vary in effectiveness across platforms such as Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter/X. This would enable businesses to allocate
marketing resources more efficiently based on platform engagement levels. Furthermore,
including behavioural metrics such as click-through rates, engagement levels, time spent on
advertisements, and conversion rates from actual marketing campaigns could provide more
concrete evidence of marketing effectiveness. These metrics would offer businesses a clearer
understanding of what drives user actions beyond just self-reported preferences.

51
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 ANNEXURE

SECTION 1: DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

1. What is your gender?

o Male

o Female

o Other

2. What is your age group?

o 18-25

o 26-35

o 36-45

o 46-55

o 56 & above

3. What is your highest level of education?

o High School

o Undergraduate

o Postgraduate

o Others (Diploma, etc.)

4. What is your current occupation?

o Student

o Private Employee

o Government Employee

o Business Owner

54
 o Freelancer

o Others (please specify) ____________

SECTION 2: SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE

5. How frequently do you use social media?

o Daily

o Weekly

o Monthly

6. Which social media platform do you use the most?

o Facebook

o Instagram

o YouTube

o Twitter/X

o LinkedIn

o Others (please specify) ____________

7. What is the primary purpose of your social media usage?

o Entertainment

o Shopping

o News & Information

o Communication

o Professional Use

SECTION 3: SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING INFLUENCE

8. How influential do you find social media marketing in your purchase decisions?

55
 o Very Influential

o Somewhat Influential

o Neutral

o Less Influential

o Not Influential

9. What type of products do you mostly purchase through social media marketing?

o Clothing & Fashion

o Electronics & Gadgets

o Beauty & Cosmetics

o Food & Beverages

o Others (please specify) ____________

10. What level of trust do you have in social media advertisements?

o Highly Trust

o Somewhat Trust

o Neutral

o Less Trust

o Do Not Trust

SECTION 4: ADVERTISEMENT EFFECTIVENESS AND PREFERENCES

11. Which mode of social media advertising do you engage with the most?

o Video Ads

o Image-Based Ads

o Sponsored Posts

56
 o Influencer Marketing

o Pop-Up Ads

12. How effective do you find social media marketing in influencing your buying decisions?

o Very Effective

o Effective

o Neutral

o Less Effective

o Not Effective

SECTION 5: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND DECISION-MAKING

13. Have you ever purchased a product based on a social media advertisement?

o Yes

o No

14. What factor influences your trust in a product advertised on social media?

o Customer Reviews

o Brand Reputation

o Influencer Recommendations

o Discounts & Offers

15. How likely are you to recommend a product you bought through social media marketing to
others?

o Very Likely

o Likely

o Neutral

o Unlikely

57