Investigating Social Media's Role in Shaping Online Shopping

This research report investigates the impact of social media platforms on consumer purchasing decisions in the Australian online retail industry. It explores how social media influences consumer behavior, focusing on the connection between social networks and buying preferences in the food and apparel sectors. The report addresses the gap in existing literature regarding the direct impact of social media on consumer choices, aiming to understand how social platforms shape consumer mentality. It uses a conceptual framework based on social influence theories, including compliance, internalization, and identification, to analyze the effects of virtual communities and online information sources on purchasing decisions. The study also considers market segmentation and the influence of physical and social environments on consumer behavior, providing a comprehensive analysis supported by a detailed research methodology, budget allocation, and project timeline. Desklib provides access to this document along with other past papers and solved assignments.

Research in Business
Impact of Social Media on Online
Shopping
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Problem statement...........................................................................................................................4
Aim and objective/ research questions............................................................................................4
Justification and potential output of the research............................................................................5
Conceptual framework and hypothesis development......................................................................6
Hypothesis Development...............................................................................................................10
Research Methodology..................................................................................................................11
Research approach and data sources..........................................................................................11
Proposed data collection and analysis techniques used in the research.........................................12
The organisation of the study....................................................................................................12
Budget allocation, WBS and Gantt Chart......................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
It has been found that the humans nowadays are constantly engaging into the variety of activities
on the social media platforms which effectively allows them to share their knowledge, important
information, opinions, experiences and also take part in discussions as well. With the growth of
internet sources, it has been found that the social network has effectively emerged as one of the
most important sources of communication which have also helped various communities to speak
up and open up to the world as well (Hajli, 2014). This social communication has not only
opened up the world to become a small place but has also impacted various decisions of the users
as well. One of the most significant aspects that have been majorly affected due to the emergence
of social media is the purchasing decision of the users. The internet has created a new social
forum for the consumers that are active over the internet sources and over these forms the users
are able to connect and share their experiences gained after using a particular product these
reviews and experiences of the users have been identified to be one of the major sources that
have a major impact over the purchasing decision of the users (Nadeem et. al., 2015). In order to
undertake these decisions, there are various platforms such as communities, social websites, and
blogs etc. which play a major role in influencing the decision of the consumers in the industry.
In the research report provided below, the main aim of the researcher is to identify the impact of
social media on purchasing decisions of the udders over online platforms. In order to present the
report, a detailed structure of the report has been followed which is inclusive of research
proposal in section 1. This proposal is then followed by Problem Statement, Research
Objectives/Questions, Justification of the proposed proposal and the expected outcomes which
would be covered in the 2nd and 3rd section of the report. Following this, the topics Conceptual
Framework and Research Hypothesis and research methodology have been discussed. At the end
of the report, there is a discussion presented on the organisation of study which will effectively
and efficiently discuss WBS of the study and its Gantt chart respectively. The discussions about
the project budget are also specified in this last section.
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Problem statement
With the emergence and development of the social networks, it has been found that the influence
of people has increased in various ways. It has also been believed by the researcher that food and
apparels are in strong influence with the people's life which makes it even more important for the
researchers to study the impact of social media on the buying preferences of the consumers. It
has been found that there is some gap in the literature which is in direct relation to the topic of
study. It has been found that there is a lack of information in regards to the connection between
the social networks and its impact on the purchasing decision of the consumers in food as well as
in the apparel industry.
Aim and objective/ research questions
The main aim of the study is to identify and analyse the impact that the social media platforms
levy on the buying decisions of the consumers in the retail industry of Australia. The research
data is based on the sources and information extracted from past 5 years.
Research questions
 What is the influence of social media on the purchasing decision of the customers?
 What is the impact of social media on the mentality of consumers?
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Justification and potential output of the research
After analysis of various articles, it was found by the researcher that there are much research
conducted on the fact that how companies use social media in order to promote their products but
very less researcher conducted on the impact of social media on the buying decision of the
consumers. This further creates a gap between the social media and the buying preferences of the
consumers. Fulfilling this gap is important to further understand the impact of social media
which is also the main rationale of this study.
It should be noted that each and every question which have been included in the research
proposal have been effectively answered in this report which is mainly based on the data
collection done. The findings and analysis of the report would be presented taking the same into
consideration. It should be noted that the output of the research will be effectively reviewed as
one of the most important works for the problem that has been identified in this research. This
research would also be useful for the end users and targeted audience.
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Conceptual framework and hypothesis development
As per Hajli (2014), there are various platforms of social networking which effectively
allows the users to get in touch with the world and communities which further ensures in making
the world a small place. Over these platforms, the individual members effectively and efficiently
share their experiences knowledge and information with the persons that have similar taste or
interests. The platform of online social networking plays a major role in changing the manner in
which persons think and this is effectively facilitated by the manner in which companies and
consumers make interaction with each other. It has been identified that nowadays the manner of
interaction has significantly changed over the social media platforms and the impact of same can
be seen in the thinking of the consumers (Hajli, 2014). Online and social media platforms have
had a significant impact on the products and brand that are currently being used in the industry
and it has also been found that the changes in behaviours of the individuals are majorly
influenced by the social platforms.
It should be noted that there are various social networking blogs and websites that have
grown at a rapid pace are now serving as a base for the social discussions. For example Facebook
which grew by almost 70% in last five years. Apart from this, there are various social platforms
as well such as Instagram, Snapchat etc. These measurements also show that the numbers of
users have also increased (Siamagka et. al., 2015).
According to Stephen (2016), every day the users have been found to buy the products in
accordance to their needs and requirements and at the same time, the users make purchasing
decision as well. The consumer behaviour can be defined as the activities that are undertaken by
consumers at the time of obtaining, consuming and disposing of a particular product or service. It
should be noted that the consumer behaviour can be effectively and efficiently identified by
taking into consideration various personal and environmental factors (Stephen, 2016). The
purchasing and buying decisions can be further stated as the central part of consumer behaviour
and there are various steps included in this.
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It has been found by various Godey (2016), that there are three major modes of social
influences that play a major role in changing the social influences of the consumers i.e. 1)
compliance (subjective norm) which occurs when the individuals realise that they are the social
actors that own the power and can perform a social behaviour, 2) internalization (group norm)
which is the sharing of the idealised goals with others as well, 3) identification (social identity)
which happens when the individuals start accepting the influence when they would like to
establish the relationship with others (Godey, 2016). It should be kept in mind that these
influences can have less or more power which is directly dependent on the circumstances of the
individual.
It has also been researched by Zhang et. al. (2014), that the majority of the users in
today’s environment are using the virtual communicates and seek friends in order to exchange
the information and experiences based on their common interests. The virtual communities
provide various benefits to the individuals which could be harnessed by them effectively such
that they are able to reach a diverse group of people. It is important that the participants choose
the level in which they are undertaking the interaction such that they are able to express their
opinions and share the information (Zhang et. al., 2014). It is important for the virtual
communities to effectively and efficiently help the consumers to get an idea about the
information about specific product service or the company which is being targeted by them.
The online sources have now become a credible source of information and consumers
nowadays are seeking direct information from the companies through these platforms which
further helps in enhancing the importance and significance of these platforms. It should also be
noticed that over these platforms the consumers are effectively able to share about the negatives
and positives about the product which makes it important for the company to make sure that their
products have a good image over the social media (Ramanathan et. al., 2017). This image of the
product is one of the major factors that have a major impact on the purchasing decisions of the
consumers.
Consumer behaviour can be effectively defined as the study of processes which are
involved in the buying and purchasing preferences of the consumers and also in the disposal of
products. It should be noted that the consumer behaviours has effectively and efficiently shifted
from why individual make certain purchasing decisions. It should be noted that one of the major
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and most important aspects of the consumer purchasing decision is market segmentation as the
consumers within a certain market segment are less or more in the terms of product desire or
needs. In the market segmentation, there are various categories covered are of certain categories
such as demographics, geographic constraints, psychographic constraints and behaviour of the
consumers (Erkan & Evans, 2016).
As per the words of Lamberton & Stephens (2016), it is also important to keep in mind
that the physical and social environments of the consumer have a major impact on their
purchasing decisions and these can make a big impact on their desires and motives regarding a
particular product or service. Apart from this, one of the most important dimensions of the
consumer behaviour is the social time which can be defined as the total time for which a
particular consumer is indulged over the social networks in their personal time, working hours,
eating hours and in other schedules as well (Lamberton & Stephens, 2016). The social
communication has a major role to play in the information of the consumers and the impact that
has been levied on the purchasing decision and behaviour of the individuals.
According to Warren et. al., (2014), it is important to analyse that the consumers on
everyday basis make a certain decision which has a major impact on their lifestyle as well. the
consumer behaviour can not only be termed as the act in which the individuals make a certain
buying decision but this is also inclusive of all the other factors in which the consumer shares
their information and experiences with the product as well (Warren et. al., 2014). Though
decision making is the central aspect in the consumer behaviour, it is important to keep in mind
that this process is also inclusive of certain steps which might have a major impact over the
purchasing decision and buying preferences of the consumers in the industry (Solomon et. al.,
2014).
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The problems recognition is the first step in which the consumers make certain
purchasing decisions as they desire for something new. It has been witnessed that the purchasing
decisions of the consumers generally begins from the result of single or repetitive problems. The
step of problem recognition is mainly impacted by various factors such as cultural factors, social
factors, environmental factors and reference groups (Tomczak et. al., 2018).
After the recognition of the problem, the second step in this is to seek the relevant
information it should be noted that there are two major sources of information i.e. internal
information and external information (Karimi et. al., 2015). The internal information is related
with the memory that the consumer has had with the product while on the other hand the external
information can be stated as the word of mouth advertising, store visits, online social networking
and trials.
The third step in the buying decision of the consumers is the purchasing decision and
evaluation of the alternative products that are required to be done in the means of product
features and needs and desire of the individual (Wee et. al., 2014). Though there are times when
the decisions are simple as when a consumer buys the cheapest product but in some cases, it
should be noted that in some cases there are various choices required to be made by the
consumers.
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After finding the best alternatives, the fourth step in this is to make a certain choice from
the available alternatives. The products chosen by the consumer is required to be appealing
which makes it important that the product should be attractive and present a good image (Scott,
2015). It is important for the consumer to get the details and feedback of the product where the
role of social media comes into play.
The last step in the purchasing decision of the consumers is to identify and analyse that
how the choices of product have worked out for the consumer. In this stage the consumer test
their perceptions of the product with their expectations. Thus it can be said that in order to
impact the purchasing decisions of the consumer the online platforms play a major role. It is
important to keep in mind that the product must have a good image on the social platforms which
can effectively help the company to attract the consumer to buy their products and services (Hajli
& Sims, 2015). It is also important that the company along with consumers should also engage in
discussion forms and address the issues that are being faced by the consumers in the industry.
Hypothesis Development
The literature review that has been conducted in this report will test the hypotheses stated below:
Hypotheses
1
H0: The social media platforms impact the purchasing decisions of the
consumers
H1: Social media platforms have no impact on the purchasing decisions of the
consumers
Hypotheses
2
H0: There are various steps involved in the consumer purchasing decisions
H1: There are no steps involved in the consumer purchasing decisions.
Hypotheses
3
H1: There is a significant correlation between the purchasing decisions of
consumers and social media platforms.
H0: There is no significant correlation between consumer purchasing decisions
and social media platforms.
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Research Methodology
Research approach and data sources
It should be noted that this research has been effectively completed based on the qualitative
sources of data. The major role in order to enhance the development of the report is played by
the sources of data. There are majorly two sources of data i.e. primary and secondary. The
primary data can be stated as the first-hand data which has been collected by the author in order
to ensure that the research conducted remains unique and first hand in nature. Another source of
data collection is the secondary source of data collection (Merriam, 2015). The secondary source
of data collection can be stated as the data which is already available on the internet sources and
can also be stated as the second-hand data. In order to complete this research, the data that has
been collected by the researcher is secondary data (Hewson & Stewart, 2016). The information
in order to conduct the research has been effectively and efficiently collected by the means of
journals, books, articles, and websites.
It should also be noted that the research presented is majorly based on the qualitative sources of
data. There are two types of data i.e. qualitative data and quantitative data. Quantitative data can
be defined as the data which can be effectively addressed and defined in the terms of stats and
numbers while qualitative data can be sated as the theoretical data (Palinkas et. al., 2015). It
should be noted that though the research has been completed in a qualitative manner there is an
inclusion of the information that has been extracted from the quantitative data as well.
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Proposed data collection and analysis techniques used in the research
Population
The targeted populations in order to complete this study are the social media websites n which
the consumers are engaged in order to extract the information from them and analyse the
engagement of the users over these platforms.
Variables and Analysis
The main objective of this study is to helps the reader understand the relationship between social
media and buying preferences of the users. The positive relationship is seen. The dependent
variable of this study is the buying behaviours of the consumers and the independent variable is
the social media over which consumers engage.
As the research is majorly based on the qualitative sources and the information is also present in
the same, the analysis of the research would be done taking into consideration the method of
content reading.
The organisation of the study
The organisation of the study has been presented below as follows:
1. The chapter one of the study is the research proposal.
2. The chapter two of the study is a discussion on the impact of social media platforms on
the buying preferences of the consumers.
3. In chapter three of the study, the details and insights on the methodology of research
conducted has been presented. In this segment of the report, there is a critical discussion
presented on the literature review and information that has been collected through various
sources.
4. Chapter four of the research is the findings and analysis of the data that has been
collected.
5. Chapter five of the study is the summary of the findings and the implications that have
been faced in the report.
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