ABSTRACT

The broad objective of the study was to examine the relationship between social media and consumer buying behaviour of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria. The specific objectives were to; examine the influence of Facebook on purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria; examine the level of influence of Whatsapp on purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria; determine the nature of influence of Twitter on purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria; and to determine the level of influence of instagram on purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria. The researcher adopted a survey technique for data collection. The population of the study consisted of 3560 students of the selected universities in the South East Region of Nigeria which are Abia State, Anambra State, Imo State, Enugu State and Ebonyi State. Each of the states has various categories of universities either state or federal. The nature of the population made it uncertain, and thus, infinite. In the study the sampling was non-probable and purposive. With purpose sampling, copies of the questionnaire were given to 250 students across the study area. The data obtained for the purpose of the study were analyzed with descriptive statistics and correlation model. All data presentation and analyses were done through the SPSS software version 20.0. Findings showed that the correlation coefficient (r) between Facebook and purchase decision was 0.897, and also significant at the 1% probability level. This implies that there is a strong positive and direct relationship between Facebook and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria. Also, the correlation coefficient (r) between Whatsapp and purchase decision was 0.881, and also significant at the 1% probability level. This implies that there is a strong positive and direct relationship between Whatsapp and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria. Similarly, the correlation coefficient (r) between Twitter and purchase decision was 0.798, and also significant at the 1% probability level with p-value = .000.  This implies that there is a strong positive and direct relationship between Twitter and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria. It was also found that the correlation coefficient (r) between Instagram and purchase decision was 0.608, and also significant at the 1% probability level. This implies that there is a moderate, positive and direct relationship between Instagram and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria. It was recommended that firms using social media platforms should segment their consumers based on the type of social media they use. There should be constant public enlightenment by online firms on the use of the Social Networking Site to know and understand its efficiencies and importance in customer acquisition strategy. Also, a more effective online loyalty community should be built around the social network site of firms’ wall page. The firms should identify and manage the opinion leaders of the digital groups, stimulating them to positively talk about their products.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title Page i

Declaration ii

Dedication iii

Certification iv

Acknowledgements v

Table of Contents vi

List of Tables viii

List of Figures ix

Abstract x

 

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study 1

1.2 Statement of Problem 3

1.3 Objectives of the Study 4

1.4 Research Questions 4

1.5 Research Hypotheses 5

1.6 Justification of the Study 5

1.7 Scope of the Study 6

1.8 Definition of Terms 7

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Conceptual Framework 8

2.1.1 Concept and definitions of social media (SM) 8

2.1.2 The development of social media marketing 10

2.1.3 Segmentation of social media users 12

2.1.4 Marketing and social media 12

2.1.5 Type of social media 15

2.1.5.1 Blogs 15

2.1.5.2 Facebook 16

2.1.5.3 Twitter 16

2.1.5.4 Social news 17

2.1.5.5 Social networking sites (SNS) 17

2.1.5.6 Media sharing sites 18

2.1.6 Consumer behaviour 19

2.1.6.1 Digital groups 21

2.1.6.2 Psychographic variables 22

2.1.7 Social media and consumer behaviour 23

2.1.8 Advantages and disadvantages of social media on consumers 27

2.1.8.1 Advantages of social media 28

2.1.8.2 Disadvantages of social media 32

2.1.9 Stages in the consumer buying processes 39

2.1.10 Factors affecting consumer behaviour 42

2.2 Theoretical Framework   43

2.2.1 Symbolic Interactionism Theory (Blumer, 1969) 44

2.2.2 Hyper-symbolic Interactionism Theory (Lynch & McConatha, 2006) 44

2.2.3 Social Penetration Theory (Bridget Carroll, 2007) 45

2.2.4 Communication Theory 46

2.2.5 Hierarchy of Effects Model 47

2.3 Empirical Review 48

 

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design 53

3.2 Population of the Study 53

3.3 Sample Size Determination 53

3.4 Sampling Technique 54

3.5 Sources of Data Collection 54

3.6 Validity of the Research Instrument 55

3.7 Reliability of the Research Instrument 55

3.8 Method of Data Analysis 55

3.9 Model Specification 56

 

CHAPTER 4

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSES

4.1 Presentation of Data 58

4.1.1 Questionnaire Distribution and Return 58

4.1.2 Sex of Respondents 59

4.1.3 Marital Status of Respondents 59

4.1.4 Academic Level of Respondents 60

4.2 Test of Hypotheses 64

4.2.1 Relationship between Facebook and Purchase Decision of selected University Students

in the South East Region of Nigeria 65

4.2.2 Relationship between Whatsapp and Purchase Decision of selected University Students

in the South East Region of Nigeria 66

4.2.3 Relationship between Twitter and Purchase Decision of selected University Students

in the South East Region of Nigeria 67

4.2.4 Relationship between Instagram and Purchase Decision of selected University Students

in the South East Region of Nigeria 68

4.3 Discussion of Findings 69

 

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary of Findings 72

5.2 Conclusion 73

5.3 Recommendations 74

5.4 Contribution to Knowledge 75

5.5 Suggestions for Further Studies 76

REFERENCES

LIST OF TABLES

3.1: Sample distribution for students of the selected Universities in the

South East Region of Nigeria 53

4.1:  Questionnaire Administration 58

4.2:  Frequency distribution showing Sex of Respondents 59

4.3: Frequency distribution showing Marital Status of respondents 59

4.4: Frequency distribution showing Academic Level of respondents 60

4.5: Frequency distribution showing responses on whether the respondents enjoy

using social media platforms when seeking for/buying some products 60

4.6: Frequency distribution showing responses on the social media

platforms the respondents enjoy using most 61

4.7: Descriptive statistics showing responses on use of Facebook 61

4.8: Descriptive statistics showing responses on use of Whatapp 62

4.9: Descriptive statistics showing responses on use of Twitter 63

4.10: Descriptive statistics showing responses on use of Instagram 63

4.11: Descriptive statistics showing responses on purchase decisions 64

4.12: Correlation coefficient table showing the relationship between Facebook and

purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region

of Nigeria 65

4.13: Correlation coefficient table showing the relationship between Whatsapp and

purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of

Nigeria 66

4.14: Correlation coefficient table showing the relationship between Twitter and

purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region

of Nigeria 67

4.15: Correlation coefficient table showing the relationship between Instagram and

purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region

of Nigeria 68

 

LIST OF FIGURES

1: Stages in the Consumer’s Purchasing Process 39

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

With the increasing usage of the Internet as an interactive tool for influencing purchasing decisions and measures of attention, social media has become a preferred internet application and one of the most important communication tools for businesses today. As the frequency of the internet use increases, the rate of social media also increased (Dryer, 2010).

 Internet and virtual communities have transformed consumers, societies, and corporations with wide spread access to information, better social networking and enhanced communication abilities (Kucuk and Krishnamurthy, 2007).

 In recent years the online environment is viewed by users from a new perspective, in a commercial way. Its development and the emergence of online stores have turned users into consumers. Also, the most important role of social media has changed the way of how consumers and marketers communicate (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004). Social media provides a new channel to acquire product information through peer communication, (Kozinets, 2009). In recent times, people’s way of shopping has significantly changed and improved. Consumers used to shop at physical stores like large shopping malls and many still applying the same method while purchasing (Hsiao, 2009). Moreover, by using social media, consumers have the power to influence other buyers through reviews of products or services used. Consumers are also influenced by other psychosocial characteristics like: income, purchase motivation, company presentation, company or brand's presence on social networks, demographic variable (age, sex, disposable income etc.), workplace method of payment, type of stores, online or physical (Elisabeta, 2014).

Students are currently harnessing the opportunities social media presents. Today, every average student has access to internet directly or indirectly. This automatically has assisted students all over the word to interact with other communities as well as enhance their learning. Social media grows rapidly and is an indispensable part of every sector, institution or organization. In the last two years, social media use has become one of the most rapid growing activities worldwide, since the invention of television.

According to Global social network survey conducted worldwide in 2012, the following statistics were found: America has 273,785,413 users, Asia has 1,076,681,059 users, Africa has 167,335,676 users, South America has 254,913,745 Users (Tromboth, 2012). In a different study, results showed that within 30 years, radio reached 50 million listeners, while it took only 13years for television to reach 50 million viewers. Strikingly, the internet reached 50 million users in only four years, indeed, Facebook reached that figure in one and half years. Designed for students at Harvard University in 2004, Facebook is a single phenomenon. In 2009, Facebook had100 million members, and by the end of 2010, that number increased to 500 million users worldwide. As social media grows at a faster rate than other communication programs, the importance of social media increases and following its development has become even more challenging.” (Civelek, 2009; Şener, 2012).This is supported by another research by Ejere(2015) were he concluded that the rate at which face book and whatsapp users increased within Enugu metropolis from 2010 – 2015 has increased above 100%. Among the users of the social network, it has been proving that they are more youths, students and business men (Ejere, 2015).   

So many factors are responsible to consumer purchasing behaviour. Nonyelu (2004) grouped factors that influence buying behaviour as economic factors, personal characteristics, psychological factors, social influence, cultural factors, and situational variables. These factors affect buying behaviour of a consumer but this paper was much interested on the social influence which was discussed alongside with the advancement in technology within the globe.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Man is a social being and his behaviour sometimes is influenced by other persons and by groups he belongs to or aspires to belong.  These groups could be family members, friends, neighbours, work associates, etc. Social conformity is strong in buying decisions process. Sometimes, purchase decisions for certain product categories, especially those that are ‘conspicuously consumed,’ are particularly susceptible to social influence. Social Media role in this regard is one of the major worries of this research work. Many articles have been written on social media influence on consumer buying behaviour but seldom has any research been able to address at the point social media influences purchasing decision since consumers have identified decision process such as problem recognition, information search, evaluation alternatives, purchase and post purchase.

Marketers try to reach their customer through the best possible means. One of the challenges faced by marketers is meeting prospective customers at the right place with the right product and the right promotional/communication tool.  Consumers are now becoming information driven before purchasing their products but unfortunately most marketers are still not much more aware of this fact. Several opportunities have been created by the level of technological advancement and consumers have taken advantage of it, knowing where to meet consumers should be vigorously pursued as that will go a long way to enhance sales and also reduce dissonance on the area of consumers as well as improved healthy economic activities. Most often, marketers struggle to sell their products when they want to tap from the opportunities created by technological advancement but these could be as a result of lack of understanding of their consumers’ behaviour, differences in culture, demography, perception, personality, social, reference group and consumer knowledge.

Additionally, there exist a vacuum in the body of literature on the nature of association between social media and consumer buying behaviour of especially among the Nigerian university students in the South East Region of Nigeria. These observed gaps were the motivation behind the study.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The broad objective of the study was to examine the relationship between social media and consumer buying behaviour of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria. However, the specific objectives were to:

i. examine the relationship between Facebook and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria

ii. examine the relationship between Whatsapp and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria

iii. determine the relationship between Twitter and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria

iv. determine the relationship between Instagram and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Based on the identification of the problems and the objectives of the study, the following research questions guided the study:

i) what is the relationship between Facebook and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria?

ii) what is the relationship between Whatsapp and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria?

iii) what is the relationship between Twitter and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria?

iv) what is the relationship between Instagram and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following null hypotheses were tested in the study:

H0₁: There is no significant relationship between Facebook and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria.

H0₂: There is no significant relationship between Whatsapp and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria.

H0₃: There is no significant relationship between Twitter and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria.

H0₄: There is no significant relationship between Instagram and purchase decision of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

There could be some revelation concerning how the social media can be of immense help to the marketer and the consumer as well as the general public. This work which shall concentrate on the various social media platform shall as well inform users of social media the best possible methods and ways various users’ uses social media to enhance their satisfaction as well as make profit.

The study will aid business practices immensely by providing the appropriate positioning strategies to be adopted in the adoption and use of the social media via the internet. The study will help other people such as businessmen, industrialists and so on to know the value of the social media and how they can be effectively used to attract new market and also win more market share from the existing market

In the world of academics, it shall guide researchers who may want to investigate various issues on social media as well as consumer buying behaviour. This research shall also be of immense help to public servants as well as the governmental agencies on the various social media platforms to reach the masses mostly the youths and students. This research work shall also serve as a reference point and a guide for further study as well as materials for teaching of social media influence on consumer buying behaviour.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study was on the relationship between social media and consumer buying behaviour of selected university students in the South East Region of Nigeria. The scope of the study covered some aspects of the social media such as facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter and LinkedIn which are mostly used by students. Geographically, Students of selected universities within the Southern States (Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia) were surveyed to ascertain the effect of social media on their buying behaviours. Each of these states has both colleges of education, State Polytechnics, Federal Polytechnics, State University and Federal Universities.  For the study, one university was selected from each state from the study area and respondents (students) judgmentally selected. The Universities selected were; Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (Abia), Federal University of Technology Owerri (Imo), Enugu State University of Science and Technology (Enugu), Nnamdi Azikiwe University (Anambra), and Ebonyi State University (Ebonyi). These universities were selected based on their locations and suitability to the researcher.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Social Media: This is an interactive media of internet related activities where people communicate with each other through posts, content, photos, and videos. It is the content people share together through online.

Consumer Behaviour: This is the type of human actions that have direct or indirect impact on purchase of goods and services from the marketing firms. It is also ways by which a consumer uses to evaluate and finally purchase goods and services.   

A Consumer: This is an individual who purchases or has the capacity to purchase, goods and services offered for sale by marketing institutions in order to satisfy personal or household needs, wants and desires.

Facebook: an online social networking website where people can create profiles, share information such as photos and quotes about themselves, and respond or link to the information posted by others.

Instagram: an online photo and video sharing social networking service that allows users to take pictures and videos, add digital filters to them and share to their followers.

Twitter: an American microblogging and social networking service on which users post and interact with messages known as “tweets”.

 

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