A bird’s eye-view of social media

Does social media influence our daily purchase habits? After investigating this topic, analysing each social networking sites, researching how consumers feel about the presence of brands and bloggers on social media and an insight to how bloggers use social media to promote products. The dilemma still remains. The influence factor is very dependent on people’s personality and behaviour. Are you easily influenced or tempted or are you strong willed and have a mind of your own?

Brands presence on social media aims to increase consumers in becoming easily influenced and tempted, most especially when there is a promotional offer. There was a time where people would feel embarrassed or ashamed to purchase products because it was discounted or on sale but now- it’s becoming a popular trend of bargain shopping! Discounts are promoted constantly by brands both in store and online and during peak times- becomes a promotion war between retail stores. When one store offers a discount-so does them all!

Brands are famous for promoting their offers online, bombarding your emails with constant unique codes or filling your Facebook hoe page with current offers. Brands often pay for promoting their offers on social media using sponsored posts which pop up while you scroll through Facebook or twitter so once you follow a particular brand, sponsored posts of similar brands constantly pops up to entice you to take advantage of their offers and purchase products. It can also become a social habit- once your friends have purchased products that’s in the latest trends- you may want to keep up with your social circle and stay trendy. Various factors can influence our purchasing habits but I found that it is very dependent on our personality and surroundings that gives us that extra push to make it influential.

Bloggers use social media as a way to allow their readers to learn more about themselves. It can increase readership for their blogs as they share their blogs through Facebook and Twitter. Bloggers often promote products through their blogs and get paid commission for it- does this influence consumers to purchase it? Often people may trust bloggers more than brands on social media as the products are being promoted or recommended by real people who may look similar to them rather than seeing a product on a possibly photoshopped model. It was found that an influence through blogs are mainly found depending on the bloggers that readers constantly read from. Some blogs speak honest and truthful about the products they recommend, doing their research and testing products before they decide to promote them where as other bloggers may not take those factors into consideration and purely promote products for the purpose of gaining commission. Bloggers who may not be 100% honest and truthful can be spotted when they’re blogs state “AD” or “SPONSORED”. It was found that we quite often read blogs from bloggers who have a connection with us, whether its interest in the same topic or similar personalities- once it hits the personal level it can become an influence to want the same things that the blogger has and recommends.

Overall,  brand’s presence on social media is allowing consumers to easily stay up to date with their favourite brands and makes it easier for consumers who prefer online shopping to instantly be aware of any promotional offers. It is found useful to a large number of consumers however there is still a number of brands who have not made a presence across the social networking sites and therefore can be missing a valuable marketing tool. The influence of purchasing products is dependent on a person’s personality and other external factors.

Happy shopping!