SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AND BUSINESS BUYING BEHAVIOUR

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

The internet which is widely used all over the world for many reasons especially in searching, gathering, storing and sharing information with less time and effort has made online communication fast and easy for people anywhere in the world and, the most innovative of its technology is the social media which is the most visited destination on the internet. Social media is an online communications medium dedicated to content-sharing, forums, social networking, social bookmarking, etc. Social media such as Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, Linkedin, Wikipedia, Pinterest, etc. are dynamic tools that facilitate online relationships between individuals (Golden, 2011).

Social media competences have brought about diverse online platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Pinterest, which has become the new and attractive way as the world has become a global entity and wide coverage of information disseminations shared through social media (Abigail, Michael &Mammo, 2018). In business, social media is used to market products, promote brands, and connect to current customers and foster new business which brought about social media marketing. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) defined social media as “Internet-based applications that aid consumers to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives. Social media marketing is now the modern and innovative way of doing business specifically in-service marketing; it takes advantage of social networking to help a company increase brand exposure and broaden customer reach. Social media marketing has become the most powerful model for companies seeking to reach out to their prospects and customers around the globe (Kaplan &Haenlein, 2010).

Social media has changed the way of communication between consumers and marketers. Since social media has no commercial influence, peer reviews and recommendations play a considerable role in their buying decision process, because of the benefits than traditional media. According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), social media marketing is a relatively low-cost form of marketing and allows organizations to engage in direct and end-user contact. Given the choices made available to consumers and the influential role of social media marketing, the brands and consumers have a changing role to play in the organization’s strategy in that they now have an economic impact (Lindermann, 2004; Mayfield, 2008).

Over the last decade, social media marketing has revolutionized traditional marketing methods and brought professionals to a new era. In this new marketing era, social media has transformed the relationships of marketers with the sellers, distribution channels, end consumers, and others. It has brought about the information age, flooding consumers with huge amounts of information on a minute to minute basis. This cost-effective way has not only helped companies to increase brand awareness but has drastically improved brand loyalty and customer satisfaction by helping them gain better marketplace insights. With consumers spending more & more time in the social media realm an increasing share of communication occurs within these social network environments (Gulzar & Maqbool, 2018).

According to Weinberg (2009), social media marketing is more important when compared to traditional media strategies because it facilitates a natural discovery of new contents, it boosts up traffic numbers, it helps in strong relationship building, and it is also a cheap alternative to traditional marketing.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Social Media is shifting the power from marketers to consumers, because all users as consumers can now be in contact with each other exchanging the information about products and services, which push marketers changing their old methods to match the new needs of consumers, and contact with them in individual as possible as they can, especially in their buying behavior by using social media as marketing channel in both free as word-of-mouth and paid as social media advertising. Many organizations have increased their social media presence by creating company pages and accounts on these social sites and also through direct marketing by advertising on different platform of social media in order for customers to constantly view their products and services while socially connecting with others. Social media marketing has been attributed to sales increases for some companies and the success of various retail sales promotions. Despite these reports the question still remains to be answered, in reality, how effective is social media marketing in influencing business buying behaviour in SMES in Lagos, Nigeria?

1.3       Objectives of the Study     

The main objective of this research is to examine impact of social media marketing on the business buying behaviour in SMEs in Lagos State, Nigeria.

The specific objectives of the study are to:

1.      Ascertain the ideal social media marketing strategy

2.      Examine the role of social media marketing in business purchasing decisions of SMEs

3.      Determine the influence of social media marketing on business buying behaviour

1.4       Research Question

The study attempts to answer the following questions:

i.                    What are the ideal social media marketing strategy?

ii.                  What role does social media marketing plays in business purchasing decisions of SMEs?

iii.                Are there significant influence of social media marketing on business buying behaviour?

1.5       Scope of the Study

The essence of this study is to primarily examine the impact of social media marketing on the business buying behaviour in some SMEs in Lagos State, Nigeria. This study focused on SMEs operating in Lagos Mainland Local Government Area, Lagos State, because large number of registered SMEs in Nigeria are located in Lagos. According to SMEDAN/NBS (2013) 11,663 Small and Medium Enterprises are found in Lagos State.

1.6       Significance of the Study

It is the researcher’s opinion and belief that findings and recommendations of this research therefore would assist SMEs managements in knowing the importance and benefit they tend to gain if social media marketing is considered and carried out adequately.

It will also be seen as an eye-opener for SMEs industry in Nigeria, in order for them to learn more about social media marketing and make adequate use of it. This research work will also provide relevant materials and stand as reference for the society and anyone willing to start a small and medium scale business.

1.7       Definition of Operational Terms

Social Media: These are interactive computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.

Social Media Marketing: This is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic.

Buying Behaviour: This is the decision processes and acts of people involved in buying and using products

Business Buying Behaviour: This refers to the buying behavior of the organizations that buy goods and services for use in production of other products and services that are sold, rented, or supplied to others.

Buyer: This is any person or organization who pay to acquire a courier or service in return for some form of business.

Small and Medium Scale Enterprises: These are non-subsidiary, independent firms which employ fewer than a given number of employees.

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