HOW DOES SOCIAL MEDIA

INFLUENCE THE CONSUMER'S

BUYINGBEHAVIOR?
(Case study of understanding the use of Social Media on consumers' buying decisions in
Odisha.)

STUDENTNAME:
SweatLenaPanda(000308),ArpitaMohanty(000244)
COURSENAME:
MBA
SUPERVISOR:
ProfessorSomyaRanjanPadhi
SUBMISSIONDATE:
April13,2016

ABSTRACT
SocialMediahave givenplentyof opportunitiestoconsumers in adaptingdifferentaspects
in life. On a dailybasisinpresentday,100,000tweetsare sent, 684,478piecesof content
are shared on Facebook,2millionsearchqueriesaremadeonGoogle,48hoursof videoare
uploaded to YouTube 3,600photos are sharedon Instagram,and 571 websitesarecreated
(James 2012). Social media introduced a new, complex and uncontrollable element in
consumer behavior presenting a new challenge both to the academia and themarketers.
This studyisanattemptto identifytheirroleanddescribetheirimpactonconsumerbuying
decision. Thisresearchgivesexplanation onhow individualsareattending,processing,and
selecting the information on social media before a purchase. The findings indicated that
individuals pursue an active role ininformation searchonsocial mediacomparingtomass
media. To satisfy the research data has been collected from both the primary and the
secondarysources. Secondary sourcesof data havebeen collected through useofinternet,
consulting past studies on the subject and also books have been used, primary data has
been collected from 100respondents through questionnaire by directsurveymethod.The
findings ofthe studycanbe used bymarketers andmedia plannersfor effectivemarketing
results.

INTRODUCTION
Social media provides a virtual network place where people can enjoy expressing and
exchanging opinions disseminate and control messages reach out to friends or family
through social media, sometimes on adailybasis.Onadaily basisinpresentday,100,000
tweets aresent, 684,478piecesof contentaresharedonFacebook,2millionsearchqueries
are madeonGoogle,48 hours ofvideo are uploadedtoYouTube,3,600 photosareshared
onInstagram, and571websites are created (James2012).Asopposedtotraditionalmedia,
social mediaallowsconversation readers/viewers/listeners toparticipateinthe creation or
development of the content. McKinsey (2011) reveals that as companies carry on their
business and interact with individuals, they generate a tremendous amount of digital
exhaust data i.e. data created as a by product of other activities. Social media sites
smartphones and other consumer devices have allowed billions of individuals around the
world to contribute to the amount of big data available.In theearly 1990 s,when World
Wide Web (WWW) was introduced in India, the percentage of people using internet was
just0.2%.Gradually,thereachofinternetstartedincreasingandisaround10%oftheIndian
population at present and most of the internet users view/follow social media sites. The
percentageofIndiansusinginternetisprojectedtoreach19%by2015andto25%by2020.
The technical revolution during the last decade has drastically boughtmarketerstoanew
era Traditionaladvertising viamassmedia is ondecline; SergioZyman(1999),formerChief
Marketing Officer, CocaCola, believes, The era ofmarketingas wehaveknownitisover,
dead, kaput and most marketers don trealizeithefurther clarifies thattechnology
has given peoplemanymoreoptionsthantheyhadinthepastandhascreatedaconsumer
democracyinwhich people around theworldconstantlyusesocialmediaplatformstoseek
and share from discussing consumer productstoorganizingpolitical movements (see Chui
and Manyika2012).Socialmediatoolshavebecomesuperbchannelsformarketerstoreach
consumers. The article titled, Expand your Brand Community Online states that social
media is important for marketers because it allows them to dialogue directly with
consumers, which in turn engages consumers directly with company brands (Hanlon,
Patrick, Hawkins, & Josh, 2008). Many companies, such asAudi andDunkin Donutshave
usedsocial mediaveryeffectivelytoreachconsumers.AccordingtoWasserman(2011),out
of all other brands on Facebook, Audi s fans are themostengaged ofallmajorcorporate
brands on Facebook. Internet offers favourable solutions to marketers these days.
Marketing through social media would be an alternative perspective of interfacing with
individuals, and yet the most influential applications of social technologies in the global
economyare largelyuntapped(Chui andManyika 2012).A companythatusessocialmedia
is more likely to create relationships with members of its targetdemographic ratherthan
traditionalmedia whereconversations betweenthe medium andtheaudienceareunlikely.
Now, socialmedia outletssuchasFacebookandTwitterhavemadeiteasyforconsumersto
post product reviews and reach outtoother likemindedindividualsin their communities.
As social media infiltratesour lives asconsumers,before peoplemakepurchases, they are
increasinglyreachingouttotheirsocialmediacommunitiesforopinions.

To achieve these objectives, we conducted two primary research methods, questionnaire

and interview to investigatethe impactof SocialMedia sitesonuserschanging behaviour
whoaimtopurchaseonline

SOCIALMEDIAVSSOCIALNETWORK

We have been developingand upgradingour technologythroughoutthehistorywhich has

been making our communication smoother and more effectiv. For sending and receiving
messagesoverlongdistance telegraphwas used whichstartedin1792 . EmileDurkheim,a
French sociologistand Ferdinand Tonnies, aGermansociologist,werethepioneersofsocial
networks during1800.According to Tonnies social groups could exist because members
sharedvalues,beliefsorconflict.
Durkheimintegratedempiricalresearch withsociologicaltheory.Radioandtelephonewere
usedforsocial interactioninlate 1800,though through radioonlyonewaycommunication
was possible. Phone phreaking was the word used in1950 aboutwhich Brett Borders has
said that phreakers hacked (got unauthorized accessed through selfmade devices) the
mailboxes (Telephone system) of corporates and hosted first blog and podcast. We can
understand social Media as strategy for broadcasting, and Social Networking as usage for
connecting with people .Through social media communication or interaction is done with
people at large whereas social networking is a means of communication or interaction
among audience with common interests. So, social media is a system or communication
channel and social networking is a twoway communication. Social networks gained
momentumin2005 with Yahoo360, YouTubeandFacebook. Only Harvardcommunityhad
access to Facebook initially, but later to high school students and then it was made
accessible to everyone. Facebook got 1 million new users every week in 2007. Through
Yahoo360peoplewithcommon interestcouldconnectorgetconnectedwiththeirfriends
by creating profile and photo album. Reference shows that social media is one of the
applications of internet which facilitates generation and exchange of usergenerated
material. Itisreferredasusergenerated materialormedia;someads arelikedornotliked
because of the fact that those are created by customer. Social media have enabled
organizations to reachcustomers onlineand interact withthemaboutthebrandsandbuild
the brand reputation. Social media which have three components; concept, media and
interface. Different segments of users use online interaction for the satisfaction of their
needs. Such electronic media have not been acknowledged so much earlier that these
facilitatecustomers to recognizetheirneedandcommunicatetotheconcernedcompanies
accordingly. People,sometimes, havemore faithonthesemediaascomparedtotraditional
promotionalmix sponsoredbycompanies.Theimportanceofsocialmediavariesworldwide
,themostwidelyusedareTwitter(56.7%)andFacebook(53.7%)andothersignificantsocial
sites were YouTube(38.8%), Flickr (26.9%),and TripAdvisor(23.9%). According tothem all
hotels appeartotheirmarketingactivities through varioussocial mediasites andtheyalso
found that approximately 22% hotels used blogs forsuchactivities,andfew ofthem used
LinkedIn, Myspace, Second Life to communicate with the customers. Social media as per
organizationspecifictraits.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in US conducted a successful
awareness campaignat thetimeofH1N1 virusoutbreakin2009.ThroughTwitter,widgets,
web 2.0, and YouTube they disseminated relevant information to the masses to actively
participate against the swine flu [3]. As a result 3 million views of H1N1related YouTube
videoswererecordedbyCDCand1millionfollowersofTwitterlinkedthroughtheiraccount

to H1N1 link. So people got involved actively for the social welfare and they could take
decisionsrelatedtoH1N1virus.
Companies whichanalyseandunderstandtheinterestsandneedofaudienceandformulate
thesocialmediamarketingstrategyaccordinglyaresuccessful.
Customerpurchasedecisionistakeninfivesteps;
1)Needrecognitionorproblemrecognition
2)Informationsearch
3)Comparisonofalternatives
4)Finalpurchasedecisionand
5)postpurchasebehaviour

Problem recognition is the first step of customers purchase decision process. It drives
decision making because it is the difference between the present state and the desired
state. The moment the customer feels the drive from within he / she starts searching
information and collecting data from different sources. If such information resolves his
problem or appears to satisfy his need, he will take finalpurchase decisionorelsehewill
like to collectmoredata.In thestageof evaluationofalternativesthe customercompares
different choices whichcansolve the problem;by doingso the customerdevelopsbelieves
and attitude (positive or negative) towards such different choices. The customer starts
analysing critically and responding over different attributes of the alternatives and their
advantages and disadvantages. In purchase decision stage the customer make his mind
decisively after classifying different brands. In post purchase behaviour, the customer is
eithersatisfiedorheregretshispurchasedecisionwhichdependsonthepurchasedproduct
whether it livesuptothecustomerexpectationortheproductperformanceisnotuptothe
expectation.
Out of many consumer decisionmaking models the model which is broadly at the core
suggeststhreestepsbroadly:searchofinformation,evaluationofdifferentalternatives,and
postpurchase behaviour. In this process of purchase decision, customers think about the
attributes of different products and services logically and avail the trial to take decision
aboutparticularproductwhichcansatisfyhisneedinminimumcost.

RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY

(a) Research Design: To analyse the behaviour of customers towards Social Media
Marketingdescriptiveresearchdesignwasused.Primarydatawascollectedwiththehelp of
closeendedquestionnaire.
(b)SampleDesign:Our targetpopulation involves theusers ofSocialMedia.100Internet
userswereselectedthroughconveniencesamplingfromUdaipur.
(c) Analysis: Thedatacollectedwasanalysed with thehelp ofvariousstatisticaltoolslike
frequencydistribution,Chisquaretest,andarithmeticmean.

OBJECTIVE
This research paper is basedonperceptionofconsumerregardingimpactofsocialmediain
buyingbehaviourdecisionmakingofconsumer.
AreaofResearch(Universe):
Odisha(Bhubaneswar,Cuttack)
Sourcesofdata:
PrimaryData(CollectedThroughQuestionnaire)
SecondaryData:
(CollectedthroughBooks,Websites,Journals&Publication)
DataCollectionMethod:
SurveyMethod
SampleSize:
100Respondents
SampleDesign:
RandomSampling
Hypothesis:
BasedonavailabilityofData
ResearchDesign:
Exploratory&DescriptiveResearch
ScaleUsed:
NominalScale
DataInterpretation&Tabulation:
Table

Analysis&Interpretations
Table1:DemographicProfileofRespondents

As per shown in table demographics of respondents were classified according to their

gender,education,age,monthly income & averagemonthlypurchasefromorganizedretail
outlet. Outoftotal respondents57% aremale&rests are female. Majorityofrespondents
are graduate (48%) & 37% respondents belongto theage groupof25 to35 years.38%of
respondents have their monthly income in the range of Rs. 30,001toRs.40,000 and28%
respondentshavetheirmonthlyincomefromRs.20,001toRs.30,000

AwarenessofSocialMediaWebsites:
Table2:AwarenessofSocialMediaWebsites

SerialNo Response Noofrespondents Percentage

1 Yes 92 92%
2 No 08 8%
Total 100 100%

Out of the total respondents 92% respondents were aware about the social media so
furtherstudywasconductedwiththesegroupofpeopleonly.

BrandAwarenessthroughSocialMediaWebsites
Respondents were asked that whether social media websites make them aware about
variousbrandsindifferentproductcategories,theresponsesofsameareshownin

Table3:BrandAwarenessthroughSocialMedia

SerialNo Response Noofrespondents Percentage

1 Yes 68 73.9%
2 No 24 26.1%
Total 100 100%

Majority ofcustomers(i.e. 73.9%)admitted this factthatsocialmediahelpthemtoidentify

thebrandsavailableinthemarket. Itincreasestheirawarenessleveltowardstheavailability
of brand.Onthecounterside26.1%ofrespondentssaidthatsocialmediadoesnotincrease
theirawarenesstowardsthebrands.

BrandPreferencethroughSocialMediaWebsites
Everymarketerwants toknow whetherthe customerprefersthebrandwhichisadvertised
through social media. In the same line respondents were asked to reveal their purchase
intentiontowardsthebrandwhichisadvertisedonsocialmediawebsites.
Table4:BrandPreferencethroughSocialMedia

SerialNo Response Noofrespondents Percentage

1 Yes 56 60.9%
2 No 36 39.1%
Total 92 100%

60.9%of respondentssaidthat they preferthebrandwhichisadvertisedonsocialmedia,it

clearly shows that impact of social media on brand preference among customer is
significant. On theothersidestillthereare 39.1%respondents whodont preferthe brand
advertisedonsocialmedia.

Relationship between Brand Awareness & Brand Preference through

SocialMediaWebsites
To study the influence ofsocialmediaonbuyingbehaviour ofcustomer thedataof brand
awareness&brandpreferencewasclubbedasunder
Table 5:RelationshipbetweenBrandAwareness&BrandPreferencethroughSocialMedia
Websites

BrandAwareness Total
Factor Yes No

Yes 46 10 56
Brand
Preference
No 22 14 36

Total 68 24 92

It can be clearly inferred from the table that majority of customers whogetawareabout
brand through social media, they also purchase the same brand. To be very precise
followinghypothesiswastested:
Inadditionfollowingcriteriaisusedforanalysispart:
a)Thescoreamong1.001.80meansStronglyDisagree
b)Thescoreamong1.812.60meansDisagree
c)Thescoreamong2.613.40meansNeutral
d)Thescoreamong3.414.20meansAgree
e)Thescoreamong4.215.00meansStronglyAgree

Serial Statements MeanScore Level of

No Agreement
1 Advertisements through social media are more 3.69 Agree
interestingthantraditionaladvertising.
2 Social media advertisements are more interactive 4.21 Strongly
thantraditionaladvertising Agree
3 Social media advertising is more informative than 3.87 Agree
traditionaladvertising.
4 Irefertothe opinionofexpertsonsocialmediasites 2.65 Neutral
whileconsideringanyproductorservice.
5 I am subscribed to updates and alerts regarding a 2.12 Disagree
brand or product through social media networking
sites.

6 Organizations that use social media for marketing 3.74 Agree

purpose are more innovative than others who are
notusingit.
7 I feel comfortable in sharing my information on 3.51 Agree
socialmediaSites.

CONCLUSION:
Bythefollowingresearchitcanbeconcludedthat:
(1)Peoplehaveknowledgeaboutsocialmedia.
(2) People are using social media not only for communication but also for collecting
informationregardingproduct.
(3)Facebookisthemostusedwebsiteassocialmedia.
(4)Nowdaysin21st centurybuyingbehaviourdecisionmakingisinfluencedbysocialmedia
directlyandindirectly.
(5)In todayscompetitive environment andin21stcentury socialmediabecameveryuseful
techniqueformarketingpromotionalstrategy.

Recommendation:
Bythefollowingresearchitcanberecommendedthat:
(1)Manufacturer/Producermustusesocialmediaforpromotingtheirproductintomarket.
(2) Before making anyproduct manufacturer/producer shouldcallsuggestionofpeopleby
help ofsocial mediathat which kindof producttheywant andprice ofthe productsothat
theycanmakeproductaccordingtoneedofthecustomer.
(3) Manufacturer should use social media with proper planningand in systematicmanner
forincreasingsuccessoftheirproductinmarket.

Limitationofthestudy:
Followingarethelimitationofthestudy
(1)Time
(2)Cost
(3)Language
(4)Age
(5)Awareness

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Remark from Individual in respect to social media preference over

purchasinggoods
1. I think the biggest difference between the two is the question of who controls the
information supplied: the company or thepublic?In socialmedia,theinformationisoften
independent ofthe company/organization whileinthemassmedia,thereverseisoftenthe
case.
2.ItiseasiertosearchonInternet.
3.Informationislessbiased.
4.PerhapsthepressurethateverybodyisusingaproductsoIhavetodothatto
5. You can attaininformationveryquickly throughsocialmedianetworks whereasinmass
media the situation is quite different in that you have to relyonfor instancemagazines or
TVs andthat takesreallytime. So socialmedia moretimeefficient andeasythanthe mass
media.
6.Twowaycommunication.
7. I don't have opinion as I never look for information fromsocial mediabeforemaking a
purchase.
8.Moreproductdetailsavailability.
9.Thereliabilityofinformationisgreaterinsocialmediathanmassmedia.
10.Socialmediaischeaperforthecompanieswhoareadvertising.
11. The biggest differenceisthat in socialmedia ucanarguewithfriendsaboutyourfuture
purchase,shortcomingsandtheirpreviousexperiencewiththesameproducts
12. The information provided via social media is usually more objective, hence making it
morecredible.
13. In social media,thereare bothpositiveand negativecommentsonthe productsand it
allows more critical thinking onpurchasedecision.In massmedia,only thepositiveside is
shown.
14. Customer experiences, word of mouth, going behind the marketing and advertising
/polishedslogans
15.Socialmediagivesmoretruthfulinformation
16. From mass media advertising I might bysomethingthatIhavenot beenlooking for, a
good deal. Fromsocial mediaItrytofindinformation for apurchase I havethoughtabout
andtrytofindthebestdealformyneed.
17. Mass mediacan bemoreeasilypaid toshow bias, whereassocial mediaismore relied
onindividual'sexperiencesandtastes.

18. The possibility for whoever wants to, to comment on a product. That's beyond the
controloftheproducer.
19. Anyonecangetaccess to socialmediathesedaysandUrnotsureofthequalityandthe
descriptionof theproductisalways100%.moreandmorefakeproductsarelaunchedinthe
socialmediathesedays
20.Officialandpersonal
21.Noidea
22.Wordofmouth.
23. Socialmedia hasmore effect as you relyon your friends opinionmorethan just mass
media24.Theamountofinformationavailable.
25.Socialmediagivesanopportunitytoknowalotofdifferentopinionsofrealconsumers
26.Credibility
27. When usingsocialmedia,youcanactuallysearchfortheaspectsthatinterestyou,when
inmassmediayoucannotreallycontroltheinformationavailabletoyou
28.Icangetmoregenuinecommentsonsocialmedia.
29. I think information from social media is morereliablethan informationofmassmedia
becauseinformationfrommassmediaisalmosteverytimecompaniesownadvertisement.
30.InSocialmediaweliketothinkthatpeopletellthetruth...
31. Social media is more trusted, affects your thinking. Mass media affects your feelings,
withlessinfo.
32.Availability.
33.SocialmediahasrealpeopleIknowusingtheproduct.
35. Informationfromsocialmediacanoftenbefoundmoreeasilyandinlargerquantities.A
largepartofitisalsoindependentinthesensethat theproducingcompanyhasnotpaidthe
writerforapositiveevaluation.
36.Credibilityandthesourceoftheinformation
37.Unwantedinformationissomewhateasiertoskiponsocialmedia.
38. Reliability of the information when using information available in social media, I can
base my decision on experiences of people who have actually used the products/services
themselves. Also as for social media, the people who "advertise" or share their opinions
don'tnecessarilyhaveanyprofitmakingpurposes.
39.Socialmediaaremoredirect.
40.Trustonsocialmediae.g.blogger

41. You feel surer about the product and there is no feeling that you are dumpedby the
company'sadcampaign
42.N/a
43.Personalexperienceandfeedbackinfirstcase
44.Company'scontrol
45. Insocial Mediathereisdifferentaspectson productandservices(positivevs.Negative)
howeverinmassmediait'sonlypositivemostofthetimeduetoadvertisingpayment.
46. Customerreviews.Opinionsfoundonlinemust beconsistentwithatrend(i.e.:majority
dislike/likethe product)Willnotfullytrustreviewsifthereonlyafew.Massmediaprovides
onlyabiasedviewfromthemarketer.
48.Socialmediaismoreappearstobemorehonestversusmassmedia.
49.Realinformation
50.feelsmorerealisticwhenreadingusers'commentsonsocialmediasites
51.Informationfromsocialmediaismoreaccrued
52.Morepersonalopinionsorcommentsaregivenfromthesocialmedia
53.Youareabletomakeacommentanddiscussandothersinthesocialmedia.
54. Information from the social media reflects a more subjective opinion from the users
while that from mass media reflects a more objective one. Info from social media seems
morereliable
55.Userbased,moreneutralinformationfound,prosandconscanbefound
56.Thedetailsoftheproductsthatwecangain
57.Normally,thereisnoclearlydirectionofattitudefromthesocialmedia
58. Socialmedia stillseems nonscientific,meaning it provides onlysubjectiveinformation.
Though,theopinionsarehonest,usuallynotaffectedbythecompany.
59. Infoinmassmediahasbeenusuallyprovidedbythemarketerwhereastheinformation
from social media is from a third party and may not share the same thoughts as the
marketingcompany.
60. From socialmedia I pick up themostnegativecommentsfrommyfriendstoavoidtheir
mistakesandfrommassmediaIhearaboutbrandandmakemyownresearchafterit.
61.Thequantityandqualityoftheinformationofaparticularproduct
62. I guess the biggest difference is that howmuchapersonusessocialmediainthe first
place. If one is mostly affected by mass media (like myself) one will more likely make
purchasingdecisionsbyusingtheinformationgiventhere.I'm alwayslookingforcredibility

and reliabilitynomatterwhatIbuy,plusIthinkthatbrandisaBIGdeal.Trustworthybrands
canalwaysmakeit,whethertheymarketthemselvesinsocialmediaorinmassmedia.
63. I'mavailable toreachdifferentuserexperiencesviaYouTube/blogsratherthanonlyone
sidedpromotesfrommassmedia
64. 65. Mass mediaismostlycontrolledbycompaniesandprofitseekingparties.66.Don't
haveanopinion
67. Insocial mediait's allaboutpeerreviewsandopinionsfromanotheraverageconsumer.
Theseopinions(includingnegativeremarks)can'tusuallybeobtainedinthetraditionalmass
media.
68.No
69.Personalexperiencesfromotherssomehowbecomeagoodsourceofinformation
70. Perhaps,massmedia is thereviewofaproduct/servicefrom one personpublishedina
magazine supported by an organization or company even enterprise. But when the
information is about socialmedia could be provide bydifferententitiesasbloggers,normal
users,consumers,clients,samecompany.
71.72.Insocialmediatheinformationcanbemorepersonal.
73. The mass media doesn't necessarily tell you about the possible problems that the
product has or causes. E.g. I always use otherpeoples(friends', bloggers') opinionswhen
buyingcosmetics,becausethemassmediaNEVERtellsenoughofthecosmeticproducts.
74. Mass media is paid not as honest. Items in social media can however become too
popular,whichalsodecreasesmywilltopurchaseifIwantsomethingunique.
75.Questionnotclear
76.Reliability
77. Mass media might affect my thinking, but the finaldecision to buy comes from actual
information.
78. Reviews of things that I plan to purchasearemuch easier tofind throughsocialmedia
without the overbearing initiatives of the corresponding companies to pressure us tobuy
more
79.Userevaluation,butnotrelyingonafew,butmanypeoplesopinions.
80.Theimmediacyandrangeofacquiringproductinformation.
81. Information from the mass media is often too polished and lacks objectivity. Insocial
media people share theirexperienceshonestlyalthoughpeople alsotendtoexaggerateand
e.g.sometimestheirproblems with certainproducts may have beencausedby themselves
andthereforetheopinionlacksobjectivityagain.

82. Insocialmediayoucanalsofindoutabouttheresultsorfeedbacksoftheproductsfrom
theconsumers
83."Frommassmedia,wearepassivetoreceivethepositiveinformationfromthebrand.
84. Butfrom socialmedia, wecanalsoget the information fromtheuserswhichmeanswe
arenolongerpassivetoreceivetheinfo"
85.Wehaveaccesstonegativeopiniononthesocialmediabutnotthemassmedia
86. I can get more specific information via social media and also to read about other
peoples'experiences.
87.Informationarecomingfromtheconsumerhimself!
88. Information from social media can make the me more certain of the decision in both
positiveandnegative.
89.Theadvertisementfromthemassmediacouldbeexposedunconsciously.
90. I activelyseek infofrom socialmedia for exampleaboutacertainproductbutthemass
mediainfogetsmerandomly
91. The social media provides moreinformation, andof adifferentkind,includingpositive
and negatives sidesoftheproduct,aswellasreallifeexperiences.Thus,youaregivenmore
realinformation tomakea purchasedecision. And also with thehelpofthesocialmedia, if
you have an uncertainty towards a purchase, you can go and look for help in the social
media by communicating with experts on blogs, people on forums who have used the
product etc. 92. I trust informationfromthe socialmedia more since it is primarily from a
thirdpartyratherthanthecompanyitself.
93.Subjectiveandwordofclick
94. The biggest difference is that I am able to access to information easier and faster
comparing to the mass media. And there are more immediate information and feedback
regardingacertainproduct/service
95.Moreinformationprovidedbyothercustomers
96. Socialmedia informationaremorereliable, of coursethere are people thatare paid to
reviewproducts.
97.Informationfromthesocialmedia:Users'feedbacksseemlikemorerealistic
98.Informationfromsocialmediaismorediverse,therearemanysources.
99.Easierandquickertousesocialmedia
100. Thesocialmedia usuallyshow more effectiveand efficientdetailsaboutexperienceof
using the product, while the mass media is much better and more useful to promote the
brandvalue.

101. The social media allows interaction with people who have purchased the same
product,whichiswhatthemassmediadoesnotprovide
102. Youhave tofilter theinformationfromhundredsofusers'opinionandcomment.Then
makethedecisionofpurchaseyourself.
103.Ithinkusinginformationfromthesocialmediaismorereliable.
104. I don'tknow,Idonotfollowalotofbloggersandimpnotintwitteretc.Imakemostof
mypurchasingdecisionsintheactualshopbycomparingthepackagesandpricesetc.Bigger
purchases of course areconsidered beforehand, that is theonlytime I taketimeto check
somereviewsoraskquestionsfrompeers
105.Thereliability
106. Information via social media might in general be more persuasive to me. Take
Facebook for example,allofmyfriendsonFacebookarepeoplethatIknowpersonally,soI
knowhowcrediblethesepeopleare
107. In case when I purchasing with mass media, media shows only good points about
products,butincaseofsocialmedia,Ishouldtakecareeachperson'sreputationiswithit.
108.Ihavemoreinformationandfeedbackfromsocialmediaandthosearemorereliable