Research Report

Social Media Marketing and Purchase Intention

Submitted to

Asst. Prof. Rupesh Krishna Shrestha

Kathmandu University School of Management

Submitted by:

Group A

Ashim Sharma (15129)

Bijay Giri (12510)

Sugyata Sitoula (15133)

 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Firstly, we would like to express our sincere gratitude towards Kathmandu University

School of Management (KUSOM) for providing us an opportunity to apply the body of

knowledge that we have learnt in the practical scenario.

We would also like to thank Mr. Rupesh Krishna Shrestha, Course Facilitator for

Consumer Behavior for the proper guidance, constructive advices, suggestions and valuable time

that he has provided us while working on this research work.

We are also thankful to all our teachers and staffs of KUSOM including librarians as

well as lab personnel who has helped directly or indirectly in giving proper shape to our research

study.

We are also indebted towards all our respondents for providing their valuable time,

support and suggestion which has been the great resources for completing this report.

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Contents
1.0 Introduction 5
1.1 Objectives of the Study 7
1.2 Rational of the study 7
1.3 Limitations of the study 8
2.0 Literature Review 9
2.1 Conceptual Model Development 16
3.1 Methodology 18
3.1.1 Data Collection Technique 18
3.1.2 Sampling Design 18
3.1.3 Research Design 19
4.1 Demographic Profiling 21
4.2 Media Habits 23
4.3 Findings 25
Age and Purchase Intention: 25
References 33

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4
List of Figures

Figure 1 Conceptual Model 16

Figure 2 Age Group 20
Figure 3 Gender 21
Figure 4 Social Media Usage 22
Figure 5 Engagement in Social Media 23

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 I
Introduction

1.0 Introduction

Human society has found the most interactive and engaging technology based digital platform in

the 21st century that each member of the society involved can add value with her/his

views/update and alteration-that is 'social media'. People are connected to this cost-free platform

24/7 with exponential networking facility that marketers are always keen to keep eye on. So the

marketers have found this social media as the most promising platform to connect with and

attract target consumers, added with the value of voluntary word of mouth, with their marketing

stint.

As we scroll through various social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat etc we

get exposed to various advertisements of the products. Before jumping into the proposal, let's

understand the major terminologies used in this study.

Social Media

" Social media is todays most transparent, engaging and interactive form of public relations. It

combines the true grit of real time content with the beauty of authentic peer-to-peer

communication. " Lisa Buyer

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Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing (SMM) refers to techniques that target social networks and applications

to spread brand awareness or promote particular products. Social media marketing campaigns

usually center around:

Establishing a social media presence on major platforms

Creating shareable content and advertorials

Cultivating customer feedback throughout the campaign through surveys and

contests

Social media marketing is perceived as a more targeted type of advertising and is therefore

believed to be very effective in creating brand awareness. (Techophedia)

As per the statistics, the use of social media is increasing with facebook being the most

dominating one (Chaffey, 2016). Catching up this trend, marketing in social media is also

increasing which can be visible in the social media that we use. Various brands are flooded in the

social networking sites. But will it have any effect on buying intention of the consumers once

they are exposed to advertisements in such platform? Will they develop a positive attitude

towards a product or a brand? Will it have a different impact on different age groups?

One study found that online adults aged 18-34 are most likely follow a brand via social

networking (95%) (LaMontagne, 2015). The other study says that 20% of Facebook posts

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generate an emotional response while no ads did (Smith, 2016). This shows the strength of social

media marketing.

Social Media Marketing touches various demographics of the consumers. This research will be

focusing on attitude of consumers belonging to various age brackets towards the products

marketed in social media.

The finding in the research paper The Impact of Social Media Marketing Medium toward

Purchase Intention and Brand Loyalty among Generation Y (Balakrishnan, Dahnil, & Yi, 2014)

indicate to marketing managers that social media marketing medium has become an important

marketing tool to reach emerging younger generation consumers. According to Kim and kou

(2011), social media can have great effect on the popularity of commercial brand.

1.1 Objectives of the Study

To understand the effect of Social Media Marketing on purchase intention of

consumers

To test the hypotheses on different matters related to purchase intention from

social media marketing.

1.2 Rational of the study

Social media research and insight is a powerful tool for companies in this day and age, and in

todays context, its important to understand why. Social Media Examiner found that using social

media for marketplace insight ranked as the third most valuable benefit of social media, with 72

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percent of those spending 11 hours per week using social media for research reported seeing

benefits. Thats a huge number, and with 78 percent of companies planning to further integrate

or begin integrating social media data into marketing campaigns, more companies than ever are

recognizing the value of social media. (Insights in Marketing)

To marketers, social media marketing is a powerful platform that must be taken advantage of

while its still in the spotlight. According to Hubspot, 92% of marketers in 2014 claimed that

social media marketing was important for their business, with 80% indicating their efforts

increased traffic to their websites. And according to Social Media Examiner, 97% of marketers

are currently participating in social mediabut 85% of participants arent sure what social

media tools are the best to use.

This demonstrates a huge potential for social media marketing to increase sales, but a lack of

understanding on how to achieve those results. Social media develops 18% of the purchase

intention on consumers (Insights in Marketing). Through this study, we wanted to verify the

purchase intention that social media marketing formed in Nepal. The findings from this study

would be beneficial for the marketers who are thinking of promoting their products through

social media. It would be beneficial for them for segmenting, targeting and positioning.

1.3 Limitations of the study

The limitations this study has faced are listed as under:

The sample size may not be representative or large enough to generalize the purchase

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 intention of social media users. The study could have been more meaningful had we

been able to collect more samples.

As the study was carried out within a short duration, it might not have held the

meaningful implication for the concerned parties in future. The efforts, resources and

expertise could have been better utilized with more time for this study.

The respondents in this research are more homogenous group, therefore the findings

cannot be representative of all age and income group

II
Literature Review and Conceptual Framework

2.0 Literature Review

Having reviewed various literatures regarding social media, attitudes towards marketing in this

platform and consumer purchase intentions, it has helped to clarify the definitions and relevant

terms. It also helps to understand different views of researchers on these topics and themes, more

specific, the ways they approach and solve the problems. The following are some conclusions

from literature review:

Kaplan and Haenlein (2010, 61) define social media as a group of Internet based applications

that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and allow the creation

and exchange of user generated content. Sinclaire and Vogus (2011, 294) cite OReillys

(2005) definition: social media is a broad term that describes software tools that create user

generated content that can be shared. However, there are some basic features necessary for a

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website to meet the requirements as a social network website: the site must contain user profiles,

content, a method that permits users to connect with each other and post comments on each

others pages, and join virtual groups based on common interests such as fashion or politics.

(Gross & Acquisti, 2005; Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007; Lenhart & Madden, 2007; Winder,

2007; Boyd & Ellison, 2007 as cited in Cox 2010).

"Social media marketing is the use of social medial platforms and websites to promote a product

or service. Most of these social media platforms have their own build-in data analytics tools,

which enable companies to track the progress, success, and engagement of ad campaigns.

Companies address a range of stakeholders through social media marketing including current and

potential customers, current and potential employees, journalists, bloggers, and the general

public. On a strategic level, social media marketing includes the management of the

implementation of a marketing campaign, governance, setting the scope (e.g. more active or

passive use) and the establishment of a firm's desired social media "culture" and "tone". To use

social media effectively, firms should learn to allow customers and Internet users to post

user-generated content (e.g., online comments, product reviews, etc.), also known as "earned

media", rather than use marketer-prepared advertising copy. While social media marketing is

often associated with companies, as of 2016, a range of non-for-profit organizations and

government organizations are engaging in social media marketing of their programs of services."

Wikipedia

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Social media has advanced from simply providing a platform for individuals to stay in touch

with their family and friends. Now it is a place where consumers can learn more about their

favorite companies and the products they sell. Marketers and retailers are utilizing these sites as

another way to reach consumers and provide a new way to shop. Technology related

developments such as the rise of powerful search engines, advanced mobile devices and

interfaces, peer-to-peer communication vehicles, and online social networks have extended

marketers ability to reach shoppers through new touch points (Shankar et al. 2011, 30).

Consumer Attitudes/Motives

It is vital for retailers and marketers to be aware of the factors that affect consumer attitudes and

motives because consumers are increasingly creating content about brands, something previously

controlled solely by companies (Heinonen 2011). As a result, current research has examined

what aspects of social media sites affect consumer attitudes and motives. Chu (2011) examined

the link between Facebook brand related group participation, advertising responses, and the

psychological factors of self-disclosure and attitudes among members and nonmembers of

Facebook groups. The study determined that users who are members of groups on Facebook are

more likely to disclose their personal data than nonmembers are. Chu (2011) explains group

participation and engagement with online ads requires a higher level of personal information

because users openly reveal their connections with Facebook groups and promote brands or

products when they pass on ads to their friends. Facebook groups provide channels that

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consumers deem useful when seeking self-status in a product category, as does passing on viral

content about brands to their social contacts (Chu 2011, 40).

Chu (2011) also found that users who are Facebook group members maintain a more favorable

attitude toward social media and advertising. Users who have more positive attitudes toward

advertising are more likely to join a brand or a retailers Facebook group to receive promotional

messages. Based on this result, Chu (2011) suggests that a link exists between consumers use of

and engagement in group applications on a social media sites. The relationship between

consumers use of and engagement with group applications influences the rate and effectiveness

of advertising on social media, particularly Facebook. Generally, as Chu (2011) notes,

Facebooks college-aged users have the most favorable attitudes toward social media advertising

and are the largest growing demographic, which suggests that social media sites are a potentially

rich platform for online advertising campaigns, especially for companies with a younger target

market.

Cox (2010) also investigated the correlation between age and attitude and found that social

network user attitude toward online advertising formats (i.e. blogs, video, and brand channel or

page) differed to some extent across age groups. She explains that users who fall in the 18-28 age

brackets had strong positive attitudes towards blogs, video, and brand channel ad formats. This

was because users found these ad formats to be eye catching, informative, and amusing. The

35-54 age groups preferred ad formats on video and brand channels because they found them to

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be more eye catching, informative, and had better placement within the online page layout.

Overall, online advertising formats with positive attributes are welcomed by users; however, ads

that are intrusive or interfere with online social networking activities, such as pop up,

expandable, or floating formatted ads were disliked by network users (Cox 2010).

Keeping track of the behavior is extremely important for both advertisers and the websites

themselves, as they obviously influence the consumers attention (Cheng, Blackson, Wang &

Cho, 2009). According to a study, only 22% of consumers questioned had a positive attitude

towards digital advertising, and 8% of users studied had left a certain social network because of

what they felt as excessive publicity (David et al., 2011).

Social networks' utility for companies

The principle of advertising on social media is to include the potential customer at every level of

the marketing strategy: his role is no longer only passive (Parsons, 2013) and the challenge is to

get him involved and to establish a lasting connection by making him participate indirectly in the

marketing operation. The customer can now be an active player in the process, and the

advantages of this are numerous and mutual (Rodgers & Chen, 2002). Such customer

participation is less expensive than common advertising as it enables both direct links and

communication between the targeted public and the organization, allowing a customized

promotion. Long-term relationships are built through interaction, which is enabled by the tools of

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social networks - the comments, the likes and the different features offered by the platforms.

One of the purposes of this kind of marketing is to participate actively but not too formally, in

peoples lives, so that in turn users are involved in the creation of marketing content (Chu, 2011).

Companies can participate on the platforms in different ways: by creating their own page or by

communicating through an already existing community, or by promoting the communication and

interaction with consumers, just like these latter do with their friends and family (Rodgers &

Thorson, 2000).

Viral Advertising

Viral advertising has become a way in which retailers are marketing and providing more

information on their brands or products. A viral approach to online advertising has a major

advantage because communication is more targeted to a brands intended consumer (Bampo et

al., 2008). This can be attributed to the fact that viral communication affords the marketer a

greater degree of creative license through a message delivery medium that is more intimate and

personalized, thereby increasing the likelihood of reaching hard to get audience members

(Bampo et al. 2008, 274). Viral advertising is unpaid peer to peer communication of

provocative content originating from an identified sponsor using the Internet to persuade or

influence an audience to pass along the content to others (Porter and Golan as cited by Chu

2011, 31). Viral advertising differs from UGC because an identified sponsor is associated with

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the ad, thus signifying the origin of the ad and who created it. Numerous studies of viral

advertising have found that humor, sexuality, stealth, and positive experiences are relevant

factors that contribute to the success of viral advertising.

Kelly et al. (2010) determined that three factors influencing ad avoidance online: interruption of

task, perceived clutter on the Internet sites, and negative past experiences with Internet

advertising. Research shows the believability of trustworthiness of the medium influences how

the consumer views the credibility of the information offered (Moore and Rodgers as cited in

Kelly et al. 2010, 17). Based on this study, the majority of ads featured on social networking

sites are not relevant to consumers, and they only notice ads when it annoys or entertains them. It

has become clear that advertisements that provide entertainment are usually liked and accepted

which reconfirms the results of some previous studies.

While purchase intention referred to the subjective judgment by the consumers that is reflected

after general evaluation to buy products or services (Hsu, 1987; Dodds et al., 1991; Blackwell et

al., 2001 and Shao et al, 2004). There is several meaning from the statement, which is: (1)

consumer willingness to consider buying, (2) buying intention in the future, (3) decision

repurchase. Other than that, purchase intentions refer to the degree of perceptual conviction of a

customer to purchase a particular product (or service).

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Word of Mouth

Word of Mouth is the powerful tool to influence people and also can influence their buying

behavior. This can be proved according to (Richins & Root-Shaffer, 1998) stated that Word of

Mouth has been shown to play major role for customers buying decisions. According to Hennig

Thurau et al. (2004, 39) define online Word of Mouth as being: Any positive or negative

statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about the product or company which is

made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the internet. While as consumers are

increasingly using the Internet and social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Flickr,

and so on. According to Cheung et al. (2008) more and more consumers use Web 2.0 tools such

as online discussion forums, consumer review sites, weblogs, and social network sites to

exchange product information. Online Word of Mouth can provide the opportunity to consumers

to read other consumers consumption opinions and experiences as well as write contributions by

themselves.

Forum are online communities formed around a specific interest (Pitta and Fowler, 2005; 266)

and are usually divided into specific topic areas. For the product information, they can post their

opinion whether they satisfied after they consume the product. Within each area, users can start

forum threads about different topics, and these threads can continues for years, allowing

newcomers to read the previous communication within the forum and learn from wider

knowledge base (Pitta and Fowler, 2005; 265).

Online advertisement works very quickly given the fact that the day that one gets started is the

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same day that results manifest. There is basically neither waiting period nor long startup process.

Once an entrepreneur is ready to get started, he/she can very easily launch a successful

advertisement promotion on a number of channels.

Loyalty is a core dimension of brand equity. Aaker (1991, p. 39) defines brand loyalty as the

attachment that a customer has to a brand. Grembler and Brown (1996) describe different levels

of loyalty. Behavioral loyalty is linked to consumer behavior in the marketplace that can be

indicated by number of repeated purchases (Keller 1998) or commitment to rebuy the brand as a

primary choice (Oliver 1997, 1999). Cognitive loyalty which means that a brand comes up first

in a consumers mind, when the need to make a purchase decision arises, that is the consumers

first choice.

While purchase intention referred to the subjective judgment by the consumers that is reflected

after general evaluation to buy products or services (Hsu, 1987; Dodds et al., 1991; Blackwell et

al., 2001 and Shao et al, 2004). There is several meaning from the statement, which is: (1)

consumer willingness to consider buying, (2) buying intention in the future, (3) decision

repurchase. Other than that, purchase intentions refer to the degree of perceptual conviction of a

customer to purchase a particular product (or service).

2.1 Conceptual Model Development

The conceptual framework has been derived after. The research paper by (Duffett, 2015)journal

shows the positive relationship between informative advertisements, entertaining advertisements,

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engagement hours in social media and attitude towards social media with the purchase intention.

It presents that entertainment, information in advertisements increases the perceived ad value

which in turn developed positive attitude towards social media marketing. Positive attitude and

purchase intention have direct and positive relationship. Similarly one research suggested that

long standing user engagement in Facebook applications, incentives and interaction, consumers

tend to establish more favorable brand attitudes and greater purchase intentions pertaining to

brand advertising on this platform (Rau et al., 2008). Ha and Janda (2014) postulated that

positive attitudes had an influence on online behavioral intentions. Similarly, another paper

suggested that the effects of product placement conducts (product prominence and presentation)

in social media are similar to the effects of product placement in other media (Liu, 2015).

Placement of advertisement helps in formation of attitude towards a product. Thus with these

literatures the conceptual framework has been formed as under.

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Figure 1 Conceptual Model

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 III
Research Design

3.1 Methodology
This section describes the methodology of this research through the model operational process.

This process will be supported by the data collection technique, the sample selection and by an

understanding of the respondent group characteristics that are considered for future research on

other groups of respondents. The data analysis will illustrate measure and specify the conceptual

model and hypothesis.

3.1.1 Data Collection Technique

Data collected through structured survey of 120 respondents from various sectors (including

students, professionals, household). Participants involved by means of set of questions. All the

respondents are of various sectors and ensure valid responses to questions about their perspective

and attitude through digital survey.

The questionnaires were distributed to the respondents through email and through social media.

Questions related to consumer demographics, media habits, attitude towards social media

marketing and purchase intention were asked. The questions were formed after reviewing the

literature.

3.1.2 Sampling Design

Population: The total population of this research comprises of all the users of social media as

Thus target population are all the users of social media sites

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Sample frame: The target populations are the ones who have account on social media sites and

are exposed to social media marketing in these sites.

Sample design: Non probability sampling technique was used for this research as only the

contacts in our list were requested to fill up the form. Thus, convenience sampling was done by

collecting the responses from the respondents easily accessible to us.

Sample size: Responses were collected from 120 respondents.

3.1.3 Research Design

Purpose of study: Since we already have an existing body of knowledge regarding the subject

matter and our motive is to describe the several characteristics of the variables involved. So the

purpose of the study will be descriptive as well as hypothesis testing.

Study setting: The quantitative approach was conducted in a natural setting. The respondents

were asked to fill up the questionnaire by marking number.

Unit of analysis: Unit of analysis is individual. Respondents were asked to fill up the form once

if they used any of the available social media.

Type of investigation: Co-relational investigation is carried out. This study intends to identify

the relationship between the variables.

Time horizon: Cross-sectional time horizon will be used for this study as it will be conducted

for one-time study.

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Instrumentation

Based on the literature reviews, a standard questionnaire were developed for the purpose

acquiring the relevant data for analysis. This questionnaire was used as an instrument of

investigation in order to get a clear picture of the purchase intention that a social media

marketing created.

Analysis of data

The data collected from questionnaire are analyzed using quantitative technique through

Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS) software. Statistical analysis such as correlation

analysis, regression analysis, standard deviation and mean were carried out. The results were

compared with the results found in literature

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24
 IV
Survey Outcomes

The responses were sent through email and through social media to fill up the form. Total 120

responses were collected and the personal information related to age, gender and income were

collected.

4.1 Demographic Profiling

Age Group: The respondents in this survey found not so diverse. Out of 120 respondents 55.8%

of them belonged to 20-29 years, 39.2% belonged to 30-39 Years, 3.3% belonged to below 20

years and 1.7% of them belonged to 40-49 Years of age group. No other responses were received

from age group of more than 50 years of age, from which it can be implied that the age group

belonging to the age group more than 50 years of age are not so active in social media.

Figure 2 Age Group

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Gender: Out of 120 respondents 64.2% were female and 35.8% of them were male respondents

as presented by the pie chart.

Figure 3 Gender

Income Group: Most of the respondents belonged to the income group below Rs 20,000 of

group. 25% of the respondents belonged to the income bracket 41,000 - 80,000 while 23% of the

respondents belonged to 21,000 - 40,000. 4.2% of the respondents belonged to income group

81,000 to 1,00,000 while 5% of the respondents belonged to income bracket of Rs. more than

1,00,000.

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4.2 Media Habits
Account on Social Media: Majority of the respondents used Facebook (98.3%), followed by

Instagram(51.7%) and Twitter (46.7%). The respondents were exposed to the advertisements of

the products and in these social media most of the time. Other social media that the respondents

used were LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snap Chat and few other social networking sites.

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Figure 4 Social Media Usage

73% of the respondents who had account on various social media were interested to follow the

updates about the brands in social media.

Reasons for using Social Media:

The respondents used social media mostly for Networking. Other than networking, they were

also interested in knowing the market trends on goods and services (54.2%) and viewing user

reviews on products and services (47.5%). Similarly, some of them used social media for

purchasing goods and services (36.7%) when it came to goods and services in social media. The

respondents seemed quite interested in learning about products and services through social media

according to this survey when they were asked why they were interested in using social media.

However the major reasons for using social media was entertainment factor in there followed by

networking.

Engagement in Social Media

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Most of the respondents (35%) spent 1-2 hours of their time per day in social media. There were

also respondents who spent less than an hour of their time in a day in social media (17.8%). The

time spent by the respondents in social media ranged from less than an hour to more than 5 hours

as depicted by the graph below. The observation of social media engagement in terms of hours

also substantiates the Rational of the Study on this topic where people in this part of the world

are becoming more Social Media fanatic.

Figure 5 Engagement in Social Media

4.3 Findings
Age and Purchase Intention:
Table 1 Age and Purchase Intention

Age Purchase Intention Mean out of

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 5

Below 20 3.08

Years

20-29 Years 3.18

30-39 years 3.44

40-49 years 2.67

As shown in the table, Social media marketing influenced the purchase intention of the

customers who belonged to the age group 30-39 Years most. It influenced the people belonging

to other age groups as well, but it least influenced the people who belonged to the age group

40-49. It must be because some of them in this age group do not belong to the Generation Y who

were exposed to digital and electronic technology. From this it can be inferred that, the marketers

in social media should focus on the people belonging to Generation Y (1980s and 1990s) or

millennial group that are active in social media.

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Gender and Purchase Intention

Table 2 Gender and Purchase Intention

Gende Purchase Intention Mean out of

r 5

Female 3.40

Male 3.19

This survey findings showed that social media marketing formed purchase intention more on

females than males. It's not that males were not at all influenced after getting exposed to social

media marketing but females were more prone to form an intention to make a purchase after

getting exposed to advertisements on social media.

Marketers should therefore place more feminine products and target female customers in order to

influence them to reach a purchase decision. Since lesser male formed purchase intention

through social media marketing, marketing proportionally more products for females can boost

up the sales of the products.

Income and Purchase Intention

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Table 3 Income and Purchase Intention

Income Purchase Intention Mean out of

Below 20,000 3.16

21,000-40,000 3.56

41,000-80,000 3.17

80,000- 1,00,000 3.06

More than 3.61

1,00,000

As per the findings from this survey, social media marketing developed the purchase intention to

all income groups as each of them stand above the average. Social media marketing seems to be

very beneficial for the marketers as it influenced all income groups, be it the people belonging to

low income group or high income group. Though this finding has not shown the direct

relationship between income and purchase intention, it certainly shows that it makes an impact to

all income groups.

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Engagement in Social Media and Purchase Intention

Table 4 Engagement and Purchase Intention

Hours in Social Purchase Intention Mean out of

Media 5

Less than an hour 3.33

1-2 hours 3.38

2-3 hours 3.32

3-4 hours 3.44

4-5 hours 2.78

More than 5 hours 3.38

The mean value of purchase intention with respect to the time spent in social media shows that

purchase intention is formed most of the time once they use the social media and are exposed to

advertisements in social media. Marketers need to make the adverts in social media more

engaging so that purchase intention is formed more. The survey showed that 3-4 hours of

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engagement in social media develops purchase intention the most. Therefore marketers should

focus on promoting their advertisements at least once a day in social media as all of the

respondents in this survey used social media every day. The findings in this research paper do

not match with the finding in another paper which says purchase intention increases with the

increase in engagement in social media (Duffett, 2015).

Visual Appeal of Social Media Marketing and Purchase Intention

Table 5 Visual Appeal and Purchase Intention

Visual Appeal In Purchase Intention

Advertisement Mean

Eye Catching 4.10

Informative 4.29

Amusing 3.59

Better Placement 3.71

Table 6 Coorelation between visual appeal and purchase intention

Eye Informativ Amusin Better

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 Catching e g Placement

Purchase Pearson .211* .316** .192* .207*

Intention Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed) .022 .000 .038 .024

N 120 120 120 120

As per this survey, it suggests that when the advertisement in social media is informative, it

develops the purchase intention the most. It must be because, people do not get to touch and feel

the product or service. Most of the time they can't place a query and get an instant reply like

while making queries face to face. Therefore when customers in social media are provided with

enough information about the product or service, their intention for purchasing a product is

developed. All the variables of visual appeals in social media marketing are positively correlated

with purchase intention. Therefore Marketers should give utmost care while making any

advertisement in social media visually appealing so that it forms the purchase intention. Similar

finding was found in the research paper (Duffett, 2015) as well.

Attitude Towards Social Media Marketing and Purchase Intention

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Table 7 Attitude and Purchase Intention

Attitud

Purchase Pearson .376**

Intention Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 120

Attitude towards social media marketing and purchase intention are positively correlated and

significant relationship between these two. This means, when a customer views the marketing

activities positively on social media, he is most likely to form a purchase intention for the

product. Similar finding was made in another study as well (Rau et al., 2008).

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 Conclusion and Recommendation

The research study revealed so many insights related to marketing and how marketing

professionals make best use of them. The marketing manager should first know who their target

customers are and whether that group falls in the category of people who use social media

extensively. If the target customer belongs to an age of 30-39, then the company should focus

social media promotion that will influence the purchase intention of the customers.

As per research findings, the male products being promoted through social media is able to

appeal the purchase decision. So the company whose product line is male products should invest

their time and effort in social media promotion as it is valuable enough. Similarly the marketing

managers of companies manufacturing or dealing with female accessories or products should

exceedingly promote their items by advertising in social networking sites as the females are more

inclined towards purchase decision towards products showcased in social Medias.

The income of customers didnt make that much of difference, so being a marketing manager,

social media promotion targeting any income level customer will be worthy. Social media

promotion without customer engagement is not beneficial at all so ads that can increase customer

engagement and make the customers be repetitive in watching those promotional items so that it

will ultimately influence purchase decision. So the promotional strategy should be made in such

a way that the ads are appealing, engaging and compelling a customer to be attracted towards the

product.

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While making promotional strategy for a product or service, a marketing manager should focus

on making promotional items informative as well as people seek for information while they are

surfing the Social Medias. The first thing that strikes in their minds while surfing these Medias is

Appealing Information attached with the product / service. This informational content will help

to get the initial engagement of the customer and now the content has to be really appealing so

that the customer will increase this engagement.

In a nutshell, using social media for the promotion is commendable enough if a marketing

manager exactly knows his/her customer in terms of they using social media, make the content

informative and appealing, increase the customer engagement and ultimately influence the

purchase decision.

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