Effects of Social Media on Consumer Product Adoption Process

Running Head: EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CONSUMER PRODUCT ADOPTION PROCESS 1.
Effects of Social Media on Consumer Product Adoption Process
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EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CONSUMER PRODUCT ADOPTION PROCESS 2.
1.0 Introduction
Technological advancements have revolutionized the modern corporate world and
primarily through the rapid growth of social media. Social media has grown from a social
interaction platform to one of the most significant platforms for enhancing business marketing
strategies with some companies using the platform to extend their product or services campaign
to a broader range of customers (Tuten et al., 2018). Social media has been found to have a
significant influence on every stage of consumer decision making and therefore has been used by
companies to gain a competitive advantage in the market by improving their interactions with
their consumers. Consumer decision making is influenced by many factors which have an impact
on their consumption behaviors (Ramprathap et al., 2017). Understanding consumer behavior
and decision making are very critical to the success of a business. However, it is essential to
understand the factors influencing the change in consumer behavior. With the new order of
social media marketing companies have developed integrated systems and also have adopted the
use of social media programs to meet the needs of their organizations (Macarthy, 2018).
However despite the change of company marketing tools, change in how consumers get to know
about products or even the shift in consumer behavior, it has remained the fact that consumer
product adoption process does not change. The method of customer product adoption has
continued unchanged, and therefore this study aims to develop a research proposal on the effects
of social media on the consumer product adoption process.
The research project will be organized in different sections which will help us in building
and enhance our understanding of the effects of social media on consumer product adoption.
Section one of the project proposal will provide an introduction to the overview of the
underlying issues in this study. Section two will give a detailed statement of the research

EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CONSUMER PRODUCT ADOPTION PROCESS 3.
problem while section three will provide an analysis of research aims, objectives and research
questions. Part four of the proposal will provide a detailed justification and potential outcomes of
the research project. Chapter five provides a conceptual framework analysis of the project wile
section six provides a review of the research methodology and presentation of secondary data.
Lastly section 7of the project proposal will outline the organization of the study, the proposed
project budget as well as the timeline schedule for the project.
2.0 A detailed statement of the research problem
Social media has emerged as one of the most significant platforms for a variety of
purposes, such as market research and analysis, customer interactions, marketing & advertising,
and a lot more. It has revolutionized the modern business activities and marketing strategies.
However, the business organizations in the present era are still not accustomed with the measures
and practices that they shall adopt to gain the maximum out of the social media channels and
data sets (Chen, Chen & Xu, 2016). Different scholars have engaged in various research studies
in understanding the effects of social media on consumer behavior, consumer purchasing
behavior as well as on their decision making. However, three is limited research developed to
determine the impact of social media on consumer product adoption process (Wang & Kim,
2017). Therefore, this project proposal will investigate the effects that social media has on
consumer product adoption process for better decision-making and development of marketing
strategy.
3.0 Proposed Research aims, objectives and research Questions
The research aims to investigate the primary, secondary, and tertiary effects that the
various social media channels have on the consumer product adoption process. The study also

EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CONSUMER PRODUCT ADOPTION PROCESS 4.
aims at identifying these effects in multiple industry sectors and the social media data sets that
may be used for the purpose. The benefits of the procedure, tools and techniques, the role of
social media in consumer decision-making process, and primary challenges will also be covered
(Hajli, 2014).
For effectiveness and reliability of our project proposal, the findings of the project will be
guided by various research objectives as well as questions. The first objective of the project will
be to provide an understanding of the concept of consumer product adoption and the process
involved in helping consumers make adoption decisions (Greve, 2014). The project seeks to
provide a detailed analysis of the social media practices influencing consumer behavior and
decision making. It is the objective of the company too to give an understanding of the effects of
social media on the consumer product adoption process. The proposal also seeks to define the
procedures, tools, and techniques used in developing social media strategies to contribute to
improved consumer decision-making process.
3.1 Research Questions
RQ1. Does a social medium impact consumer product adoption process and what are the likely
effects of social media influences on consumer decision making process?
RQ2. Does a social medium influence the various stages of consumer adoption process or will
the process remain unchanged as it has been over the past years?
RQ3. Does consumer decision-making process have an impact on their product adoption
process?