Holmes Institute HI6008: Social Media's Effect on Buying Behavior

This report investigates the impact of social media advertisements on consumer buying behavior, focusing on the cognitive dissonance and word-of-mouth effects. The research employs a comprehensive methodology, including interpretivism philosophy, inductive research approach, and descriptive, exploratory, and illustrative research designs. The study utilizes secondary data analysis to examine the relationship between social media marketing strategies and consumer purchasing decisions. The report reviews literature on the topic and analyzes consumer perceptions and attitudes towards social media advertisements. The research aims to provide a detailed understanding of how social media influences consumer behavior, providing valuable insights for marketing strategies and business development. The report also details the research strategy including literature review and data collection methods, and concludes with potential outcomes and interpretations regarding the effectiveness of social media in shaping consumer choices.

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Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................2
Research title.................................................................................................................3
Research methodology......................................................................................................3
Research philosophy......................................................................................................4
Research approach........................................................................................................4
Research design............................................................................................................5
Research Strategy.........................................................................................................6
Data collection................................................................................................................7
Data analysis..................................................................................................................7
Potential outcome..........................................................................................................9
Interpretation..................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................10
Bibliography.....................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Advertising is different from public relations because it is non-personal form of
communication that is not directed to a particular individual. It helps the company in
promoting its products and services to the target audience. Advertising is significant
because it attracts many consumers towards the particular product or services; it is
communicated through several mass media options such as television, magazines,
radio and newspaper (Gurun et al., 2016). Therefore it is important for the organization
to make the effective presentation of the message which can be understood by the
consumers. Nowadays, organization use social media to communicate with the target
consumer, it is considered effective to reach large number of people (Grewal et al.,
2016).
Social media is considered computer-mediated technologies which leads in creating,
transferring the message, information, ideas and other related data about the product
and services offered by the organization via virtual communities and networks
(Daugherty et al., 2018). However, most of the well-known websites which is used by
the companies are Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram because of millions of
user are registered on this website, which helps the organization in providing complete
information about the product and new features as well as expanding the market share
globally (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). Social media helps in connecting the companies
with their consumers and can encourage them to buy the product and services.
However, it finds estimate that in the year 2019, there are 4.39 Billion users using
internet worldwide, it also estimate that social media has significant effect on the buying
behavior of consumers (Digital, 2019).
This study is conducted to find the effects of social media on the buying behavior of
consumer, because earlier most of the study is conducted to find the effectiveness of
mouth word as well as awareness and consciousness among the user after screening
the advertisement. However, none of the researcher finds the effectiveness of social
media on consumer behavior. This topic is selected because needs and desire of the

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consumer’s changes overtime and organization makes various initiatives in promoting
the product and services by using various tools of social media and advertisement.
Research title
The topic of the study is to examine the effect of social media advertisement in
consumer buying behavior. However, in this study for investigating social media effects
the cognitive dissonance and words of mouth is taken into consideration.
Research methodology
Research methodology contains particular techniques, methods which are used in
conducting the study. In this all the activities such as planning, organizing, selecting,
analyzing and interpretation of data is done and also include all the tools and
techniques which are used in collecting the relevant and specific information about the
subject matter (Fletcher, 2017). This methodology part helps in critically assessing the
overall reliability and consistency of the study; it also leads in theoretical investigation of
the principles, methods, techniques which are associated with the partition of data,
information and knowledge. However, it is the plan and preparation which is done by the
researcher while conducting the study (Ramirez et al., 2015).
The plan is made by conducting the study through different aspects, in this study the
division of the research methodology is done with different approaches which are
research design, data collection, research strategy, research philosophy. In these
different philosophies, strategy, data collection method is used to know the effects of
social media in the consumer buying behavior. The different research strategy is made
because needs of consumers changes in short span of time and they gets more
influenced towards the social media advertisement. The study is conducting by using
the secondary approach and after collecting the data analyzing is done to know the
consumer behavior. In this research methodology interpretation is drawn through
collecting and analyzing the data, which is appropriate, suitable and related to the
subject matter. The social media effectiveness in the buying behavior of consumer is
selected because nowadays majority of the consumers are affected through the
messages of organization about the products and services in advertisements (Attia &

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Edge, 2017). In this study to understand the subject matter in-depth several articles are
reviewed and perception as well as behavior of the consumers is analyzed. However,
this is done to know the buying behavior of the consumer and various other tools is also
used for providing the value and consistency in the investigation.
Research philosophy
It focuses on increasing the knowledge about the subject matter which is conducted by
the researcher in their study. However, it refers to the approach which is used by the
researcher in performing the process of research design, collection, and analysis. It also
provides clear and correct understanding about the procedure of strategy, however, it
provide complete information about all the procedure through which the study is
conducted (Padilla-Díaz, 2015). It is considered vital because it helps in forming the
thoughts, guidance about the structure in the research. There are various forms of
philosophies which researcher used in the research and to get the efficient results that
are realistic, pragmatic, positivist and interpretivism research philosophy. These all
philosophies are different in diverse terms, the researcher select the philosophy
according to the needs and requirements of the study. However, it is very important
approach of methodology because it helps the researcher in gathering the information
efficiently and appropriately (Mayer, 2015).
In this study, researcher investigates all the philosophies to select the best philosophy
for the research. However, in this researcher selects and used interpretivism
philosophy, because this philosophy helps in providing the accurate facts and correct
information about the effects of social media in the buying behavior and attitudes of the
consumer. It also helps in examining the consumer awareness and cognitive
dissonance among the consumer for the social media advertisement. The interpretivism
philosophy also leads the researcher in providing the exact and valid data as well as
information about the subject manner (Gog, 2015). Through investigating several
philosophies, the researcher analyzed that the accurate outcomes and results will be
accomplished through the theory of interpretivism because the nature of the study is
emotional. Therefore researcher believes that interpretivism philosophy is effective and
matches with the study conducted by the researcher.

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Research approach
It is the plan, structure and method which comprise various phases of wide assumptions
for specifying and detailing the structure of collecting the data, analyzing the data as
well as interpreting the data in efficient manner (Singh, 2015). It focuses on the nature
of study which helps in addressing the research problem by providing detail information
about the framework. Further, the research approach is separated in two areas that are
data collection and data analysis. Research approach also helps in selecting the
research design according to the ethical and moral presumption which is conveyed by
the researcher in study (McLachlan & Garcia, 2015). However, there are various types
of approaches which researcher can used in the study according to the requirement and
necessity for getting the accurate results, the approaches are adductive, deductive and
inductive approach of research (Sefotho, 2015).
In this study, an inductive approach is used by the researcher; the reason for selecting
this approach is that it helps in investigating the effects of social media in the buying
behavior of consumer by using the secondary approach. This approach is effective
because inductive approach is usually related with the qualitative research and leads
the researcher in generalizing ideas and guidelines about the study (Pin-Fat, 2016).
However, through this analysts receive accurate data with regards to research study.
This inductive approach leads the researcher in upgrading the actuality as well as
accuracy of research outcomes. Through this approach researcher gets the general
information about the behavior, perceptions and attitudes of the consumers as well as
also helps in getting the data regarding the effects of social media in the buying
behavior of target customers. In this study, this approach helps the researcher in
effective application of other approaches such as research design, research strategy
and collecting as well as interpretation of data.
Research design
A research design is considered the systematic and organized approach, which allows
the researcher to carry out a technical study. However, it helps the researcher in getting
the authentic as well as reliable result by following the strategic methodology (Little et
al., 2015). It refers to the structure of tools and techniques which is selected by the
analytics for combining several parts of research in most consistent as well as rational

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manner. This helps the researcher in solving the research problem in most efficient and
effective manner. Research design gives the insight to the researcher about the
conducting of study through the specific methodology (McCaffrey & Moules, 2016).
The researcher investigates various devices of the research for selecting the different
instruments of research and handling the problem of investigation. In this study, several
research designs is used by the researcher that is the descriptive research, this helps
the researcher in getting the in-depth information about the research problem. The other
is exploratory research design allows the researcher to be focused and meet the aim of
the study in timely manner and examined the cost of the study. The other techniques
were also used by the researcher that is illustrative research technique for calculating
the information about the behavior of consumers through the social media
advertisement, words of mouth. Therefore, it provides the accurate information about
the social media effectiveness in buying behavior and helps in reaching at the solution.
Through in this design researcher manages the diverse attitudes of the different person
and also collects, concentrates and achieves the objective in efficient manner (Salles et
al., 2019). These all research design was used in sequential phases, so that
information cannot be mismatched and reduce the duplication. However, this design
helps the researcher in developing the research strategy and gathering of data.
Research Strategy
A Research Strategy is considered the approach in which researcher does planning in
sequential steps, so that it provide support as well as guidance to the researcher. It
helps in empowering to direct research methodically and is a strategy which helps in
delivering quality outcomes and detail report (Attia & Edge, 2017). This research
strategy empowers one to remain focused, reduce dissatisfaction, improve quality and
save the funds, time as well as assets. The Research Strategy describes the validation
of study as well as does the investigation through which the objective and goal of
conducting the research is achieved. However, this approach will discuss the more
significant stage in the procedure and clearly as well as accurately defines the strategy
for the study (Blok, 2018). The research strategy helps in identifying the research gap in
the existing information, comprise all the divisions for increasing the resources. It is also

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known as the approach of technique, it is the strategy and the specific plan which is
made by the researcher to finding the answers of following questions.
The researcher has several manners to achieve the purpose of research; however, in
this study the analytics conduct the literature review method to accomplish the objective
of the study efficiently. However, this approach provides the support in getting the
dependable information about the attitudes, cognitive dissonance of the consumers. It
also provides the data about the awareness of the customer about the particular
advertisement and their effectiveness; it is the efficient approach in the data collection
regarding the study. In this study, researcher does the review of several articles which is
based on the effects of social media in buying attitudes of the consumer, theory of
cognitive dissonance and awareness among the target customer. Researcher used the
exploratory study for examining about the subject matter, this helps in providing the
accurate as well as reliable information (Mebius et al., 2016). In this study, the
investigation method is also used by the researcher to find the relationship between
both of them and the change in the behavior with the advertisement and mouth of word.
Data collection
Data collection is considered the efficient way to gather and estimate data from an
assortment of sources to get a total and exact image of an area in which the research is
interested. Data collection empowers an individual or association to respond to
significant inquiries, assess results and make expectations about future probabilities
and patterns (Sutton & Austin, 2015). However, accurate collection of data is become
significant in holding the truthfulness and reliability of the study, makes the informed
judgment regarding the subject matter and helps in ensuring the value as well as quality
of the study. There are two types of data collection that are primary approach and
secondary approach, the researcher can use one method but can also use both the
approach for providing in-depth information about the subject matter (Grewal et al.,
2016).
In this study for examining the effects of social media in buying behavior of the
customer, in this the theory of cognitive dissonance and words of mouth is also taken
into consideration by using the secondary approach. However, it helps the researcher

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providing the valid information about the topic, for which the study is conducted.
Researcher gathered the data by reviewing several articles and the information is also
gathered through the books, online as well as offline sources. Therefore, this reviewing
the article is considered significant because it provides the complete, systematic data
about the background of diverse consumer and the influence they get in changing their
buying behavior. The secondary approach helps in maintaining the quality of results as
well as provides effective and accurate data (Salganik & Levy, 2015).
Data analysis
In this method the information which is received from data collection is assessed,
utilized and measured to get the final result (Gurun et al., 2016). Information from
different sources is accumulated, analyzed and distributed to provide findings. It is
strategy of examining the data in proper manner, so that the correct outcome can be
achieved (Grewal et al., 2016). However, it is the procedure of cleaning the data,
analysis of quality, stability of the results, using the statistical method as well as
representation of knowledge it is done with the aim of achieving the objective of getting
the new information about the subject manner.
From the literature review it is finds that social media advertisement is the approach of
attracting as well as targeting large group, however, enterprises get the benefit from it
by getting the advantage of demographic data and focus their needs. However,
nowadays organization uses social media strategy to get the feedback from the
consumers about any improvement (Ashley & Tuten, 2015). The companies use various
initiatives to increase their sale and to sustain in the competitive environment. From the
customer point of view, the social networking sites is become one of the trends among
the customers. The social media may be classifying into Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook
as well as virtual social world (Gog, 2015). However, from the reviewed articles, it
demonstrates that electronic words of mouth is considered the communication among
the consumer and communicator. The customers provide the rating for the products and
services offered by the organization to make the product more effective. It results that
words of mouth is more convincing, because it is the personal form of communication,
which is mostly held between the friends as well as relatives. However, words of mouth

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is impacted from several reasons which are interest, level of preference, awareness of
the customers as well as propensity to create enquires (Gurun et al., 2016).
Through reviewing articles it also shows that, the behavior of the customers can be
classify into various types according to threat, expenditure, and involvement. The
behavior can be complex behavior in the products of vehicles and computers, reducing
the dissonance in furniture and carpets because of few differences in the brands. The
buying habits is in the product of groceries, goods for households, choosing behavior in
restaurants, there are various model in finding the buying behavior of consumer such as
economic model, pavlovian learning model (Salles et al., 2019). However, the buying
behavior of consumer is influenced through the various emotional as well as social
factors. It finds that there are positive relationship among the social media
advertisement and buying behavior because it provides various choices to the
customer. Many researchers believe that social media advertisement helps in gaining
the competitive advantage. However, it sometimes it can also impact negatively
because of annoying advertisement and can results in cognitive dissonance such as
stress and frustration etc. The people who are introvert can effectively respond to the
cognitive dissonance as compared to extrovert because extrovert cannot allow rival
thoughts as well as actions influenced them (Pin-Fat, 2016).
Potential outcome
It is considered the results which are achieved by the individual after giving the
treatment (Gurun et al., 2016). In this study the researcher gets the reliable and
accurate outcomes after using the secondary approach and through analyzing the data
in appropriate manner. However, there is relationship between the advertisements in
the social media with the buying behavior of the consumer because it affects the
attitude of the customer in larger manner. From analysis, researcher words of mouth
also become credible source in changing the behavior of the consumer, researcher
conducted the study in sequential phases to receive the better and accurate outcomes.
Interpretation
In this part the outcomes which is received from gathering as well as analyzing
information is discussed. The data collection is done by reviewing the articles on

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different subject matter in several steps to get the understanding about the consumer
behavior, cognitive dissonance. However, from the analysis the accurate results are
drawn that is consumers gets affected through the words of mouth and social media
advertisement. It is considered significant to study on this topic because of changing
behavior of the consumer and increase in the promotion of the product through the
social media and helps them to earn profits in the long run.
It can also interpret that there are different buying behavior for different products but it
can sometimes be affected because of interest, awareness. However, the consumer’s
behavior changes overtime because of variety of options available in the market, which
motivate the consumer to buy the product which satisfy the needs and requirement of
the consumer (Salganik & Levy, 2015). Through the data analysis it can also be
interpret that the introvert individual responds to the stress and frustration which is
drawn from viewing various varieties in effective manner than the extrovert individual.
Conclusion
From the above it is conclude that, study is conducted on the topic of examining the
effects of social media advertisement and words of mouth in the buying decision of the
buying. The several research methodologies are used to get the appropriate result such
as inductive research approach, exploratory study. From the above it also conclude that
data collection is done by using the secondary approach in each subject matter such as
buying behavior of consumer, social media advertisement, theory of cognitive
dissonance, words of mouth and their impact. However, it finds that these strategies
effect the buying decision of customer.
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