SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING AND ITS INFLUENCE ON AUDIENCE PREFERENCE OF SIMILAR PRODUCT

CHAPTER ONE

1.0     INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Nowadays social media becomes part of a person’s life. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkIn has a numeral number of the user and keeps growing every day. It is estimated that over 500 million people are interacting with social media (Ostrow, 2010). The number of social media users growing have attracted marketers. Marketers have recognized that social media marketing as an important part of their marketing communication strategies.

Also, social media helps organizations to communicate with their customers. These interactions help marketers determine customer needs and understand what their market might look like. Key business factors of social media allow consumers to estimate products, make recommendations to contacts or friends, and share any of the purchases through their social media.

The influence of social media on buying behavior can be in any services or products. Quality, brand, advertising or price could effects consumer decision-making.           The relationship between social media and consumer decision-making present that social media affects advertising attitudes, brand attitudes, and purchasing intentions of consumer. It will not necessarily affect consumer’s decision-making, but might possess a mediating effect (Taining, 2012).