Beyond Likes and Shares: Exploring the Influence of Social Media on Brand Choices among College of Business Students at a Private Higher Education Institution in the Philippine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajebi.v3i2.2545Keywords:
Social Search, Social Listening, Social Media, Brand Engagement, Consumer BehaviorAbstract
Social media platforms are pivotal where consumers express opinions, seek information, and engage with brands. This study investigates the impact of social listening and social search on consumer behavior and brand engagement. Social listening involves tracking and analyzing online discussions across various platforms, while social search refers to utilizing social media platforms as search engines for information and product discovery. This research explores these practices to assess their influence on consumer perceptions, decision-making processes, purchasing behaviors, and brand loyalty. It employs a quantitative approach, utilizing regression, correlation analyses, and survey data from social media platforms. Key findings indicate that social listening and social search significantly affect consumer perceptions, aiding in product discovery and understanding brand attributes. Positive social media interactions strongly influence purchasing decisions, while active engagement with brands on social media is evident, especially when brands respond to interactions or run interactive campaigns. Moreover, social media emerges as a primary source of product information, with user-generated content deemed more authentic than traditional advertising. The study underscores the effectiveness of social listening tools in providing valuable insights for businesses, enhancing brand perception, and earning consumer loyalty. Gender is a significant factor influencing various aspects of consumer behavior on social media, while educational background has a comparatively more minor impact. Overall, this research illuminates the pivotal role of social listening, social search, and social media interactions on consumer behavior and fostering brand engagement. The findings offer actionable insights for businesses to tailor marketing strategies, prioritize engagement, and leverage user-generated content in the digital landscape.
Downloads
References
Adeola, O., Hinson, R. E., & Evans, O. (2020). Social media in marketing communications: A synthesis of successful strategies for the digital generation. Digital transformation in business and society: Theory and cases, 61-81.
Aljuhmani, H. Y., Elrehail, H., Bayram, P., & Samarah, T. (2023). Linking social media marketing efforts with customer brand engagement in driving brand loyalty. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 35(7), 1719-1738.
Bhaskar, P. P., & Kumar, D. P. (2016). Customer loyalty on e-commerce. International Journal of Management Research and Reviews, 6(12), 1661.
Choedon, T., & Lee, Y. C. (2020). The effect of social media marketing activities on purchase intention with brand equity and social brand engagement: Empirical evidence from Korean cosmetic firms. Knowledge Management Research, 21(3), 141-160.
Curran, T., Treiber, J., & Rosenblatt, M. (2018). Building Brands Through Social Listening. Proceedings of the Northeast Business & Economics Association.
De Vries, L., Peluso, A. M., Romani, S., Leeflang, P. S., & Marcati, A. (2017). Explaining consumer brand-related activities on social media: An investigation of the different roles of self-expression and socializing motivations. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, 272-282.
Hennig-Thurau, T., Hofacker, C. F., & Bloching, B. (2013). They are marketing the pinball way: Understanding how social media change the generation of value for consumers and companies. Journal of interactive marketing, 27(4), 237-241.
Kasperiuniene, J., & Zydziunaite, V. (2019). A systematic literature review on professional identity construction in social media. Sage Open, 9(1), 2158244019828847.
Kim, A. J., & Johnson, K. K. (2016). Power of consumers using social media: Examining the influences of brand-related user-generated content on Facebook. Computers in human behavior, 58, 98-108.
Macnamara, J. (2020). Corporate listening: Unlocking insights from VOC, VOE and VOS for mutual benefits. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 25(3), 377-393.
Mehmet, M., Heffernan, T., Algie, J., & Forouhandeh, B. (2021). Harnessing social listening to explore consumer cognitive bias: implications for upstream social marketing. Journal of Social Marketing, 11(4), 575-596.
Usman, A., & Okafor, S. (2019). Exploring the relationship between social media and social influence. In Leveraging Computer-Mediated Marketing Environments (pp. 83-103). IGI Global.
Wang, F., Wang, M., Wan, Y., Jin, J., & Pan, Y. (2021). The power of social learning: How do observational and word-of-mouth learning influence online consumer decision processes?. Information Processing & Management, 58(5), 102632.
Zhang, H., Zhao, L., & Gupta, S. (2018). The role of online product recommendations on customer decision-making and loyalty in social shopping communities. International Journal of Information Management, 38(1), 150-166.
Zhao, Y., Zhang, Y., Wang, J., Schrock, W. A., & Calantone, R. J. (2020). Brand relevance and the effects of product proliferation across product categories. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48, 1192-1210.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Joefrelin C. Ines, Marilou Q. Tolentino
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
