does social media can affect to consumers purchasing decision...
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Does social media can affect to consumers’
purchasing decision – High-street & Online
A study submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
MSc Information Management
at
THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
by
Suwei Lin
September 2015
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Abstract
Background
Social media has been seen as a series of virtual communities with the growth on
Internet, not only to provide users with a means of communication but also something
that is widely used by business channels. With the advent of social media, it broke the
traditional business model as an effective tool for better understanding consumers’
purchasing decisions and communicating with consumers.
Aims
The research aims to examine whether social media is able to affect consumers’
purchasing decisions and find out which shopping model will be preferred by
consumers, High-street or online.
Methods
As the only research method used in this research, a self-completed online
questionnaire was distributed by email via the University of Sheffield system and social
networks. A total of 170 effective responses was received.
Results
This study testified that social media is a main factor that affects consumers’
purchasing decisions. With further analysis, through the impact of social media,
consumers prefer to go shopping on the High-street which can attract them to directly
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identify the performance of products and make use of some unique advantages of
High-street shopping.
Conclusion
Social media performs effectively during consumer purchasing decisions. Further
studies could increase the sample size and analyse a specific area or nation of
consumer’s’ purchasing decisions influenced by social media. On the other hand, the
high-street retailer could investigate the usability of existing social media strategies
they have used and explore some more effective social media strategies.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to sincerely thank my supervisor, Professor Elaine Toms, for her responsible
guidance and recommendation. Also, I would like to give thanks for the research of
Yang Lu. I am honoured to have had a chance to read her research and consult with her
about some useful elements to add to my research. Moreover, I would like to all 170
participants who take part in this research. Finally, I want to thank my family, my wife
Yijun Wang and my friends for their support and encouragement during my year of
studying as a master.
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Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Background ............................................................................................................................ 2
Aims........................................................................................................................................ 2
Methods ................................................................................................................................. 2
Results .................................................................................................................................... 2
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 3
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... 4
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 11
1.1 Background ............................................................................................................... 11
1.2 Research Aims and Objectives .................................................................................. 12
1.3 Structure of the dissertation ..................................................................................... 13
2. Literature review .................................................................................................................. 14
2.1 Definition of social media ......................................................................................... 14
2.2 Consumer Purchasing Decision ................................................................................. 15
2.2.1 Role and Process of Need Recognition .......................................................... 15
2.2.2 Information Seeking ...................................................................................... 16
2.2.3 Alternative Evaluation ................................................................................... 16
2.2.4 Purchase Decision .......................................................................................... 17
2.2.5 Post Purchase Decision .................................................................................. 18
2.3 Social Media Impact on Consumer Purchasing Decision .......................................... 18
2.3.1 Why Consumers Follow Brands on Social Media .......................................... 19
2.3.2 Social Media and Buying ................................................................................ 20
2.4 Reason behind the Use of Social Media on Making Purchase Decisions .................. 22
2.4.1 Traditional Word of Mouth ........................................................................... 23
2.4.2 E-word of Mouth ........................................................................................... 24
2.5 Impact on High-Street Shopping ............................................................................... 25
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2.5.1 Pre-shopping Information ............................................................................. 25
2.5.2 High-Street Shopping Preference .................................................................. 26
2.5.3 New Store Concepts ...................................................................................... 27
2.6 Impact on Online Shopping....................................................................................... 27
2.6.1 Online Security .............................................................................................. 27
2.6.2 Product Specification ..................................................................................... 28
2.6.3 Customer Support ......................................................................................... 28
3. Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 30
3.1 Research approach ................................................................................................... 30
3.2 Questionnaire ........................................................................................................... 31
3.2.1 Instruments ................................................................................................... 31
3.2.2 Participants .................................................................................................... 35
3.2.3 Procedure ...................................................................................................... 36
3.2.4 Data analysis .................................................................................................. 38
4. Data results .......................................................................................................................... 39
4.1 Descriptive analysis ................................................................................................... 39
4.2 Personal information ................................................................................................ 40
4.2.1 Gender of respondents.................................................................................. 40
4.2.2 Nationality of respondents ............................................................................ 40
4.2.3 Age level of responds .................................................................................... 41
4.2.4 Educational background of respondents....................................................... 42
4.3 Social media usage and affects to purchasing decision ............................................ 43
4.3.1 Use of social media ........................................................................................ 43
4.3.2 Frequency of using social media ................................................................... 45
4.3.3 Social media contents .................................................................................... 46
4.3.4 “Follow” official account of High-street ........................................................ 48
4.3.5 Social media influences purchasing decision ................................................ 48
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4.3.6 Factors of purchasing decision influenced .................................................... 51
4.3.7 “Word-of-mouth” .......................................................................................... 53
4.3.8 High-participation of brands ......................................................................... 54
4.3.9 Reward programmes of brands ..................................................................... 55
4.3.10 Bad shopping experience by using social media ........................................... 56
4.4 High-street vs Online shopping mode ...................................................................... 57
4.4.1 Choose High-street or Online shopping mode .............................................. 57
4.4.2 Social media affects purchasing decision on High-street vs Online .............. 59
4.4.3 Products bought on High-street vs Online .................................................... 60
4.4.4 Advantages of High-street shopping VS Online shopping ............................. 63
4.4.5 The style of website design on social media can stimulate High-street shopping ....................................................................................................................... 65
4.4.6 Whether developing of E-business poses a threat to the High-street .......... 66
4.4.7 Necessary for establishing High-street’ own online store............................. 67
5. Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 68
5.1 Can consumer forwardly use social media for shopping? ........................................ 68
5.2 How social media affects consumer purchasing decisions ....................................... 69
Discount information ................................................................................................... 70
Word of mouth ............................................................................................................ 70
Brand awareness .......................................................................................................... 71
High participation of brands on social media .............................................................. 72
5.3 Impact of social media on High-street & Online shopping ....................................... 73
5.4 Social media strategy for High-street brands ........................................................... 74
Establish High-street brands’ own online stores ......................................................... 75
Demography information ............................................................................................ 76
5.5 Research Limitation .................................................................................................. 77
6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 78
6.1 Research Findings ..................................................................................................... 78
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6.2 Further research ....................................................................................................... 79
References ................................................................................................................................... 81
Appendixes ................................................................................................................................... 87
Appendix A: Ethics Application ............................................................................................ 87
Appendix B: Approval Letter ................................................................................................ 92
Appendix C: Questionnaire Consent Form........................................................................... 93
Appendix D: Questionnaire .................................................................................................. 95
Appendix E: Dissertation Cover Sheet ............................................................................... 109
Appendix F: Access to Dissertation .................................................................................... 110
Appendix G: Address & First employment destination detail ........................................... 111
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List of figures Figure 4.1 Gender distribution .................................................................................................... 40
Figure 4.2 Nationality .................................................................................................................. 41
Figure 4.3 Age Level .................................................................................................................... 41
Figure 4.4 Education background ............................................................................................... 42
Figure 4.5 Use of social media .................................................................................................... 43
Figure 4.6 Which kind of contents on social media do your prefer ............................................ 46
Figure 4.7 Content of “Shopping information” on social media within gender ......................... 47
Figure 4.8 Purchasing decision affected by social media when “Follow” High-street account on social media ........................................................................................................................ 50
Figure 4.9 Factors of purchasing decision influenced by social media ....................................... 52
Figure 4.10 “Word of mouth” influenced purchasing decision .................................................. 53
Figure 4.11 High participation of brands influence purchasing decision .................................... 54
Figure 4.12 Reward programmes influence purchasing ............................................................. 55
Figure 4.13 Choose High-street vs Online shopping mode ......................................................... 58
Figure 4.14 High-street purchasing decision influenced by social media ................................... 59
Figure 4.15 Online purchasing decision influenced by social media .......................................... 60
Figure 4.16 Products bought on High-street VS Online .............................................................. 62
Figure 4.17 Advantages of High-street shopping ........................................................................ 63
Figure 4.18 Advantages of online shopping ................................................................................ 64
Figure 4.19 Website design of High-street brands’ social media will stimulate customer purchasing .......................................................................................................................... 65
Figure 4.20 Developing E-business mode will threat to High-street .......................................... 66
Figure 4.21 High-street brands establish own online store ........................................................ 67
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List of tables Table 4.1 Social media usage within different country people ........................................... 44
Table 4.2 Frequency of using social media within gender ................................................... 45
Table 4.3 Which kind of contents on social media do your prefer within gender............... 46
Table 4.4 “Follow” High-street account on social media ..................................................... 48
Table 4.5 Purchasing decision affected by social media within gender .............................. 49
Table 4.6 Purchasing decision affected by social media within age group.......................... 49
Table 4.7 purchasing decision affected by social media within education background ..... 50
Table 4.8 Factors of purchasing decision influenced on social media ................................. 51
Table 4.9 Descriptive statistics of “Word of mouth” ........................................................... 53
Table 4.10 Descriptive statistics of high participation of brands ......................................... 55
Table 4.11 Descriptive statistics of reward programmes .................................................... 56
Table 4.12 Bad shopping experience by using social media ................................................ 57
Table 4.13 Choose High-street VS Online shopping mode within gender ........................... 58
Table 4.14 Products bought on High-street ......................................................................... 61
Table 4.15 Product bought on Online .................................................................................. 62
Table 4.16 Descriptive statistics of website design ............................................................. 65
Table 4.17 Descriptive statistics of developing E-business mode will threat to High-street66
Table 4.18 Descriptive statistics of High-street brands establishing own online store ....... 67
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1. Introduction
This chapter is an introduction of the research subject with an accompanying
background, followed by the purpose and aims of the research. At the end, it concludes
by outlining the structure of the research.
1.1 Background
When the first email was sent between two computers in 1971 it meant that the social
networking era was beginning. In the following years, many social networking websites
were launched before Facebook revolutionised social media in 2004 (Mousavi and
Demirkan, 2013). According to statistics from Statista, by the first quarter of 2015
Facebook had more than 1.44 billion active users (statista.com, 2015). If we were to
imagine Facebook as an online country or state it would have the third largest
population in the world, surpassed only by China and India.
Bringing a new dimension to human communication via the Internet (Kaplan &
Haeblein, 2010), social media allows users to share a connection, post comments and
reproduce the connection - with permission - to more users. However, it not only
provides a platform for conversation between people, it also boasts the facility to
influence consumer purchasing decisions. On social media platforms word-of-mouth
reverberates between people, usually to give advice or offer experience to other users
via comments or feedback through social networks, forums and blogs. The spreading of
rumors can be greatly used by word-of-mouth, which compliments the traditional
marketing approach of business (Bansal and Voyer, 2000).
The exponential growth of social media users offers organizations the opportunity to
join a conversation with millions of customers around the world every day. In order to
create online conversation with customers, Merrill, et al., (2011) believed that the
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organization should encourage businesses to change their traditional marketing
strategies and focus on the goal of ‘depending the relationship’ between companies
and customers. They also suggested, by comparison with the traditional media
expectation of consumers listening passively to radio and television broadcasts, or
reading newspapers and magazines (Unilateral export), social media provides a
platform for customers to “know, like, and trust” a company when they have direct
communication with said company and opportunities to express their opinions.
As commonly used modes of shopping, both High-street and online customer’s
purchasing decisions may be influenced by social media. However, recent high profile
closures point to the fact that the traditional High-street mode is in trouble. In the
survey by PRWeek and Global Research agency (2013), it was presented that 38% of
consumers agree that online stores are the most to blame for High-street store
closures. In the same vein, 64% of consumers also believe that High-street stores have
been too slow to adapt to a more digital approach. On the other hand, some of the
best brands know how to connect the physical and the online together. For example,
Apple allows customers to buy their products online and bring those products into
stores for services, repair or similar. Therefore, “being a best tool to bridge this gap,
social media can help retailers to integrate High-street and online” (Mads, 2013).
1.2 Research Aims and Objectives
The aim of this research is to investigate whether social media affects a consumer's
purchasing decision via assessment from both High-street and online shopping modes
and then recommend how High-street retailers might develop appropriate social media
strategies to adapt to recent shopping trends. Based on this aim, the research
objectives will be categorised as follows:
To examine whether consumers can forwardly use social media for shopping
To identify the impact of social media on consumers’ purchasing decisions
To identify the impact of social media on High-street and Online shopping mode
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To suggest how High-street brands might develop appropriate social media strategies
1.3 Structure of the dissertation
This research will consist of the following chapters:
Chapter 1 Introduction: This chapter briefly introduces the background of social media
and consumers’ purchasing decisions.
Chapter 2 Literature review: This chapter presents the relevant literature used in the
research, which focuses on social media in relation to consumer’s purchasing decisions
and High-street & Online shopping modes.
Chapter 3 Methodology: This chapter discusses the methodology of research the design,
including philosophy, approach, and strategy.
Chapter 4 Data result: This chapter will objectively present the research data.
Chapter 5 Data discussion/analysis: This chapter examines the data results in order to
provide reasoned answers to the research questions.
Chapter 6 Conclusion: This chapter concludes the overall research and provides
guidance for further research which may extend from this research.
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2. Literature review
2.1 Definition of social media
Social media is defined by Merriam-Webster (2015) as a method of communication
through the internet, and from which users create virtual communities to exchange
ideas, personal information, news, and other content. It is used to interact with other
people from anywhere in the world at any time. The most popular platforms of social
media include interactive web pages such as Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace, online
communities, blogs, and podcasts (Allie & Merve, 2010). In creating a social media
account, users post information about themselves—location, gender, occupation, and
hobbies, for display to the public, unless a privacy setting is applied. Some users choose
to be more detailed about their posting, while others prefer to only show basic
information.
Social media has several features. It provides users with a means to take an active role
in enhancing their relationship with the people in their circle, or in establishing
connections with the people they are interested about (Tufekci, 2008). The same allows
users to construct their own self-identity. They are able to present themselves in a
manner they want to be perceived by the public. On the other hand, social media offers
businesses an instrument for drawing the attention of the targeted population (Allie &
Merve, 2010). Businesses use social media sites to collect information about the
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consumers, to build a more personal relationship with existing buyers, to improve their
public image, and to keep people up to date with their product launches.
2.2 Consumer Purchasing Decision
The thoughtful, consistent action undertaken by consumer to satisfy their needs is
called purchasing decision (Shareer, Kumar, & Kumar, 2008). It reflects the emotional
responses, sensory gratification, and aesthetic preferences of the consumers. Among
the several factors that influence consumer buying decisions may include culture, social
background, and personal choices (Suroto, Fanani, and Nugroho, 2013). For-profit
organisations create purchasing decisions in the consumers by meeting their needs and
increasing satisfaction. The importance of learning about consumer purchasing decision
lies in the fact that it is by observing consumer behavior that commercial organisations
are able to find new opportunities for business.
2.2.1 Role and Process of Need Recognition
The need for recognition is the first and most important step in purchasing. If there is
no need to buy, there will be no buying. Recognition occurs when there is a gap
between the actual and the desired situation of the consumer (Jeddi, Atefi, Jalali,
Poureisa, & Hagi, 2013). This does not mean, however, that all needs result in a buying
behavior. It is also necessary that the gaps between the two situations are of
significance to the consumer (Bei & Widdows, 1999). For instance, a commuter who is
always late in his appointments finds that owning a vehicle will be more suitable. His
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decision to buy a car, however, will depend on the level of his need to get to his
destinations on time. Three conditions that dictate the situations include the following:
1) the desired situation of the consumer has changed, 2) the desired situation has not
changed, but the present situation has, and 3) both situations have changed.
2.2.2 Information Seeking
After the need is identified, a consumer will then seek information about the possible
solutions to his problem. A consumer will search for more or less information based on
the intricacy of the choices to be made (Bettman, 1979). In planning to buy a car,
choices are likely to be affected by the actual price of the car versus the price that the
consumer can afford, the cost of commuting versus the cost of fuel and car
maintenance, safety and reliability, and the like. The consumer will seek information
that will guide him in his decision making. Two types of search method may be applied.
The first is called internal search, which involves the use of stored knowledge about the
products (Lehman, 1999). If internal search is not enough, the consumer will usually do
an external search, which is done by interacting with family and friends and examining
reviews from other consumers (Wood & Sheer, 1996).
2.2.3 Alternative Evaluation
The consumer will evaluate the alternatives using the information gathered during the
earlier step. He will decide on the product that meets his needs best. Two aspects of
the alternatives will be investigated: objective, which includes their actual
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specifications, and subjective, which entails their perceived value as influenced by
brand or reputation (Lunn, 1974). In performing alternative evaluations, a consumer
usually dwell on prices, brand name, or country of origin. For example, brand name has
been found to be a major influence when purchasing non-prescription drugs (Gentner,
2011). Hence, consumers would rather pay more for a popular brand of aspirin than
settle with a generic even when they know that all aspirins have the same basic
formula. On the other hand, consumers are likely to use price as a reference of quality
when they lack knowledge or external information about a product. Further, the higher
the level of involvement of the consumer, the higher the number of alternatives the
consumer will consider as important (Engel, Blackwell, Miniard, 1995).
2.2.4 Purchase Decision
This is the point where a customer is able to choose the product or brand that suits his
needs. This proceeds to the actual buying (Weiner, 1992). Three purchase decision
categories have been noted from studies. First is the fully planned purchase, which
reflects a consumer who has decided on the product and brand to buy before going to
the store (Bloch, Sherrell, & Ridgway, 1986). Next is a partially planned purchase, which
is seen in a consumer who intends to buy a product but is not sure about the brand to
choose. The last is the impulse purchase, which describes a consumer who decides on
the products to buy and their brand in the store. These purchase types may be shaped
by situational factors such as the quality of the consumer shopping experience,
availability of promotional discounts, store atmosphere, etc. (Marcoulides, 1998). For
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example, a consumer who has made up his made about buying kitchen furniture of a
well-known brand could change his decision if his encounter with the sales
representative is unpleasant.
2.2.5 Post Purchase Decision
The consumer, after buying and using the product, will be able to decide if it is able to
satisfy his original needs, or if he is satisfied with the overall quality of that product
(Howard, 1999). The satisfaction or dissatisfaction felt by the consumer toward his
purchase will impact his decision for the next similar purchase. If the product brought
satisfaction, the consumer will do less information searching and alternative evaluation
for his next purchases. Satisfaction can produce brand loyalty, however, if the product
brought disappointment then the consumer will redo the five stages of the purchasing
decision process, particularly the information search and alternative evaluation.
2.3 Social Media Impact on Consumer Purchasing
Decision
As discussed in the above section of this paper, the purchasing decision of a consumer
is dependent on several factors. The intention to buy a product and the choice of a
brand may still be changed by what goes on in the environment (Mangold & Fauld,
2009). Social media has the potential to influence the thinking of a consumer about
products. In fact, there is evidence suggesting that social media is a powerful force that
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makes a consumer want to buy a product, or change his mind about making a
purchase.
According to statistics, about 71 percent of consumers base their buying decisions on
referrals from social media (Rudolph, 2014). Meanwhile, 40 percent of consumers who
use social media buy a product after they shared it to the other users in their networks.
80 percent of those who make an item their favorite make their purchases in less than
three weeks. This only goes to show how important it is that a product is given
favorable feedback in social media. Social media reinforces the desire to buy a product
and adds to the information a consumer has about a product. Nevertheless, these are
not the only ways by which social media affects consumer buying decisions.
2.3.1 Why Consumers Follow Brands on Social Media
Social media acts as an external source of information to consumers. It is, in fact, what
they use to follow brands on the internet. Apparently, social media provides a fast and
easy way for consumers to become constantly notified about a brand (Ionanas & Stoica,
2014). Even when a consumer is not sure of the identity of those who make their
recommendations, he is persuaded of the value of a brand if it has good reviews in
social media. Discussed below are the rationales behind the use of social media for
keeping track of a brand.
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To keep up with events. Consumers who are loyal to a brand feel that they have
to get involved in, or at least hear about, the activities hosted by it. Social media
acts as a good source for that information.
To know more about a product or service. Some consumers who have used a
product share their experiences, good or bad, to social media. Hence, those
who are yet to buy the same item will turn to social media for reviews.
To join in communities. Communities allow consumers to interact with others
who have the same interests as them. Consumers refer to social media to know
about relevant communities that they can participate in.
To buy. Social media is not only a source of information but also a tool for
making a purchase. Facebook, for one, is used by many local retailers to sell and
promote their products (Ross, Orr, Sisic, Arseneault, Simmering, & Orr, 2009).
To complain about a product. Consumers who are dissatisfied about a product
or service talk about their experiences through social media. It can be their
intention to get the attention of the seller, to communicate with others who
had the same issues, or to warn others not to buy.
2.3.2 Social Media and Buying
It is also important to note that the impact of social media can be enormous to the
extent that it can make an individual buy a product he stumbles upon on social media,
even if he had not thought about buying the product, or had not considered buying at
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all (Rudolph, 2014). About 40 percent of social media users make an impulse purchase,
and 50 percent allot a segment of their social media account primarily for buying
decisions. The other ways by which social media influences purchase decisions are as
follows:
Reliable source of information. Consumers nowadays are more cautious in their
buying decisions (Ryan, 2014). The information found in advertisements is
typically biased in favor of the seller; hence, consumers turn to other sources
they believe can provide truthful assessments of the product they plan to
purchase. Social media is where consumers find other consumers who have
actually bought and tested the products. A consumer who finds more positive
comments about a product may be convinced that it is worth buying.
Product recommendations. Social media is packed with information that can be
of value to consumers. A significant number of users report that they discover
products that they did not know existed through social media (Gordon, 2014).
In many instances, it is when a consumer becomes aware of the availability of a
product that he also becomes aware of his need for it. Once that need is
established, the consumer will be inclined to find more about the product, and
eventually, decide to purchase it.
Seller location or identification. In some cases, it is not the product but the
source of that product that is unknown to the consumer. A consumer who is
serious about buying a product will find out where it can be purchased from. He
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will refer to social media to read posts of other users who have tried the same
product (David & Miles, 2011). If the seller information is not readily available,
the consumer may be forced to join forums and make direct questions about
the seller.
Purchase alarm. Some forms of social media can be customised to act as a
keeper of the list of products that the user intends to buy in the future (Gordon,
2014). A consumer can have many needs and forget one need in favour of the
other. However, when a need is recorded in a place that the consumer gets
regular access to, that need is not likely to be overlooked. There is a good
chance that the specific product that meets this need will be bought sooner or
later.
Product sale reminder. A consumer will not miss an upcoming sale if he uses
social media as a reminder. It may be the sale itself that influenced the
consumer to buy but, with a little help from social media, he may not change his
decision about buying. In addition, the consumer will be more certain about
buying if other users are also talking about it (Taylor & Miles, 2011).
2.4 Reason behind the Use of Social Media on Making
Purchase Decisions
The scope of social media is infinite. There is no limit to the places in the world or the
number of people that it can get to. Different individuals have different reasons for
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their use of social media. Whatever their purpose is, however, social media users get
exposed to a wealth of information that affects their buying decision (Constantinedes,
2004)). Social media is not just about establishing relationships with other people, it
also entails the transfer of information – business or personal – between people who
share the same goals or interests.
Indeed, social media impacts buying decisions in various ways. There are even
consumers who depend entirely on social media when seeking to learn about a product
they think about buying. Hence, it is critical that a product keeps its promises to the
consumers or it will end up being rejected by a community of social media users
(Bagozzi, 2007). The future of a product talked about in social media usually depends
upon the positivity or negativity of the information surrounding it. In other words, it
results from the dynamics between the consumers interacting on social media, the
actual performance and attributes of the product, and the social media itself
(Dellarocas, 2010). The question is, why must a consumer use social media when
making a purchasing decision? Two of the likeliest answers are detailed below.
2.4.1 Traditional Word of Mouth
The transfer of information in physical settings is called traditional word of mouth
(Brown, Broderick, & Lee, 2007). A consumer who knows enough about a product is
likely to spread the information to a friend or family who he believes has a need for
that product. The same is done by a consumer who has tried the product and is
delighted by his purchase. He will mention his satisfaction of that product in a face to
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face conversation with his acquaintances. Traditional word of mouth arouses the
interest of an individual about a product (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). It can be the
starting point of a purchase decision, one that triggers an individual to consider his
need for a product. Traditional word of mouth can also play an important rule during
the second step of the purchasing decision process (Reigner, 2007). A consumer who
plans to buy an item will ask the opinion of those who have bought the same item.
However, a recommendation of a few persons may not be enough to convince a
consumer to buy. A consumer who wants to get more involved in the decision would
then do his search on the web and see what the online community says about the
product (Akrimi & Khemakhem, 2012).
2.4.2 E-word of Mouth
As the term implies, e-word of mouth is simply recommendations posted on or done
over the internet (Dellarocas, 2003). With e-word of mouth, which is mainstream in
social media, consumers are able to get first-hand information about a product from
other users. Red flags posted about a product from two or more users can be enough
of a reason for a consumer to reject the idea of buying that product, and to seek other
options that have better consumer reviews (Hennig-Thurau, Gwinner, Walsh, &
Gremler, 2004). Consumers are aware that reviews about a product are not entirely
accurate, but they are inclined to believe that a product recommended by several users
is worth a try.
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2.5 Impact on High-Street Shopping
High-street shopping, the term used to refer to the purchase of goods form physical
shops located in the main streets, is also affected by social media (Williams & Cotthrell,
2000). The fact that social media and high-street shops do not belong in the same
realm does not necessarily mean that they are completely separate from each other.
On the contrary, high-street shops rely on social media to increase the awareness of
consumers about them and the products they offer. Social media may not directly
promote high-street shopping but the effect on consumers who prefer physical
shopping is high (Kuruk, 2007).
2.5.1 Pre-shopping Information
Social media plays a vital role in the pre-shopping experience. Consumers who seek a
good buy will make sure that they are making the right decision by getting the opinion
of the social media users (Ahuja & Galvin, 2003). Many of the consumers use the web
to find quick information and reviews about a product they intend to buy, even when
they are buying not from the web itself but from a local shop. Both online and physical
shoppers take advantage of the availability of information on the
internet—information that they cannot easily find from printed sources (Hanna, Rohm,
& Crittenden, 2011). However, just as pre-shopping experience can motivate a shopper
to carry out a planned purchase, it can also dissuade a shopper from buying, or making
purchases from a certain high-street shop. Social media has not changed the attitude of
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most consumers towards high-street shopping as such, but they change or make up
their mind instantly based on what they find out from social media.
2.5.2 High-Street Shopping Preference
Results of a study indicate that most shoppers aged 15 to 21 years old shop from a local
retail store. This data is consistent with those from a recent Gallup poll, which shows
that 33 percent of consumers that belong to the same age bracket prefer high-street
shopping even when it is easier to buy online (Jones, 2014). It is also found that, while
internet-based platforms offer convenient shopping experiences, consumers like it
more if they can see and touch the product. Online shopping can only allow consumers
to see images and read descriptions of a product being sold, which does not make
some consumers happy.
Many consumers find high-street shopping to be more fun than online shopping. It is
either the physical experience or the excitement of going out that have a considerable
influence on the buying decision of a consumer (Molenaar, 2015). Social media gives
consumers an idea of what they can expect from a physical store, or information about
the stores from which they can purchase the product they have in mind. Hence, social
media acts as an effective tool for promoting not only a product or service, but also a
physical shop in the high-street.
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2.5.3 New Store Concepts
It is apparent that high-street shops need passers-by. These shops cannot simply
depend on traditional word of mouth to increase their customer base. Social media,
which tells of the needs and wants of consumers, are used by high-street shops in
developing new concepts for enhancing shopper experiences (Kardes, Cronley, & Cline,
2011). Sellers decide on the aspect to concentrate on: price, utility, variety and/or
appearance, through the information obtained from social media users.
2.6 Impact on Online Shopping
Social media is undeniably a valuable instrument for shops to market a product or
service. The likes of Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat spread the word at a very fast
rate and are accessed by millions of people from anywhere in the world. In effect,
social media is found to boost sales of or raise confidence of consumers using online
stores. Several issues arise from purchasing online which affect the buying behavior of
the consumers. Through social media, however, consumers are able to make
well-informed decisions about purchasing. Below are some of the most common issues
related to online shopping and the role played by social media in addressing them
properly.
2.6.1 Online Security
Many consumers are hesitant to make purchases online for fear that the personal or
financial information they entered into the portal run a risk of being accessed by
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unauthorised third parties (Jarvenpaa, Tractinsky, & Saarinen, 1999). Users who share
their shopping experience with an online store through social media influence other
users to set aside their doubts about the safety of making purchases on that particular
store. When a consumer is aware that many other users shop in that store, he is easily
convinced that he should not worry about his data getting into the wrong hands.
2.6.2 Product Specification
Most products sold online will appear good in the picture. While consumers can decide
based on what is shown, others will dig out as much detail as they can about a product
before they finally give in to the urge of buying. Social media allows users who have
technical knowledge of a product to educate other users about it (Williams & Williams,
2008). Consumers are able to find expert, objective opinions about a product not by
talking to a store representative, but by interacting on social media. They are
motivated to buy when consumers have enough reason to believe that the product will
bring them satisfaction.
2.6.3 Customer Support
There are also consumers who think that buying online is not advisable when
technical products are concerned (Mersey, Malthouse, and Calder, 2010). The reason is
that they cannot easily return a product that is defective, or online support is not as
efficient as that provided in physical stores. Companies that run a store online use
social media, on top of other methods, to address consumer complaints or answer
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basic queries. They use social media, also to inform consumers of where they can take
the item for replacement or repairs. Further, online communities are maintained by
many online stores to clarify any problems that consumers may have with a product
they sell.
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3. Methodology
3.1 Research approach
Aliaga and Gunderson (2002) described quantitative method as “Explaining phenomena
by collecting numerical data that are analyzed using mathematically based methods
particular in statistics”. It can be argued that the quantitative approach is not a
comprehensive approach; it only provides some research data based on the research
goals. Therefore, in order to explain the existing social phenomenon, a quantitative
research methodology will be utilised for this study.
To describe this further, Creswell (2003) said “if the problem is identifying factors that
influence an outcome, the utility of an intervention, or understanding the best
predictors of outcomes, then a quantitative approach is best”. It is also suitable for
testing a theory regarding an explanation. However, if a concept or phenomenon needs
to be understood because of a new topic, then a qualitative approach would be more
appropriate. This research aims to examine the effects of social media on consumers’
purchasing decisions, both on the High-street and Online. In the above chapter, social
media is shown as an important tool to connect brands with customers, a tool which
has been widely used in business. It is no longer an unfamiliar area in our lives.
In fact, the application of quantitative approach takes place through measurement
(Gramatikov and Barendrecht, 2010). The impact of social media on High-street and
Online shopping modes has been discussed. According to this existing phenomenon, it
consists of many direct or indirect factors leading consumer purchasing decisions by
social media for High-street & Online shopping. Therefore, it needs to measure and
analyse quantifiable types of real and descriptive data. As a major function of
quantitative approach, it involves manipulation of some independent variables while
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other extraneous variables are held constant (Hancock, Ockleford and Windridge,
2009). In this research thing like gender, age, frequencies of using social media, etc.,
can be seen as variable factors to collect.
Consequently, in aim to survey the perceptions of consumers on purchasing decisions
using social media within a High-street & online shopping mode, this study selects a
Self-administrated Questionnaire as the tool for a quantitative research method
operation. McNabb (2015) believes that questionnaire is the most popular way to
gather primary data, particularly if the research problems calls for a descriptive design.
In order to collect actual data, the method self-administrated questions provided
respondents with greater feelings of anonymity and thus more comfortable in
expressing their honest answers on even personal or sensitive topics (Mitchell & Jolley,
2009). Also, in a relatively short time, the self-administered questionnaire survey can
help collect large amounts of information, thus is a significantly efficient means of
collecting data at a low cost (Cargan, 2007).
3.2 Questionnaire
As the qualitative approach and self-administrated questionnaire survey has been
identified, the following section will describe instruments, participants, procedure and
data analysis.
3.2.1 Instruments
A structured questionnaire is one in which questions asked are precisely designed in
advance. The major advantage of this type of questionnaire is efficient use of time for
both researchers and participants. Another advantage is all of these questions are
standardised with common and clear meaning. That would be easier for participants to
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select the answer, and efficient for the research to differ and statistic each answer
group (Bechhofer & Paterson, 2012). Thus, this research questionnaire will be divided
into 3 parts of investigation including demographic questions, behavioral questions and
attitudinal questions.
The closed-ended question is applied in both the demographic and behavioral
questions. Closed-ended questions are the norm in questionnaires because it provides
a great uniformity of responses and they are easily processed (Babbie, 2010). However,
It is critical to ensure that the correct response codes are designed for the answers
otherwise the participants are put in the category of “others”.
The “Numerical rating scale” (Hill, Brierley & Macdougall, 2003) is designed for the part
of attitudinal questions. Without a semantic response, the scores are numbered
between 1 and 5, with 5 as strongly agree with my opinion and 1 is strongly disagree.
This digital questionnaire design was completed on Sojump (www.sojump.com), a
professional Chinese questionnaire design platform. The details of every question's
objective is shown as follows:
Part 1 (Demographic Questions) collects personal data from participants including the
gender, the age, nationality and educational background. According to this basic
information, the perceptions of participants are grouped in order to distinguish their
following views in different groups’ analysis.
Part 2 (Behavioral Questions) This part is in order to capture participants’ experience
of using social media and their behavior of High-street & Online purchasing.
Question 6: “Please choose which social media you are using.” This question aims to
understand which social media participants mostly use in their daily lives, such as
WeChat, Facebook and Twitter.
Question 7: “How often do you use social media?” This question aims to find out the
frequency that participants use social media in their daily lives because later on it
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would help me to better understand their purchasing decisions connected with usage
of social media.
Question 8: “What kinds of contents on social media do you prefer?” This questions
aims to find out the information that participants focus on such as other people's posts.
This will later relate with the “word-of-mouth” method.
Question 9: “Are you willing to ‘Follow’ some official accounts of High-street brands on
social media platform?” This questions aims to gather the degree of attention given to
High-street brands on social media. In later discussion, it will be used as evidence
related with social media strategy for High-street brands.
Question 10: “Will the information on social media influence your purchasing decision?”
Being a critical question, this question forms the basis of this theme.
Question 11: “What information on social media will influence your purchasing
decision?” As discussed above, this question measures the degree social media affects
consumer’s purchasing decisions, which can recommend to brands about social media
strategy.
Question 12: “Have social media brought you any ‘bad’ shopping experience?” This is an
essential backward question because some participants may not have their purchasing
decision influenced by social media. I want to understand whether social media leaves
a bad impression on customers after they trust social media with recommendations.
Question 13: “If there is a product that can be bought both in High-street and online,
which way will you choose?” This question is aimed at finding out the phenomenon of
recent shopping trends. Also, this question provides contextual information for the
High-street and online shopping.
Question 14&15: “What kinds of products will you purchase in ‘High-street’/
‘E-business’?” These two questions aim to compare the products purchased from the
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High-street and online. These will act as important information intelligence for brands
to consider their social media strategy.
Question 15&16: “What do you think are the advantages of ‘High-street’ / ‘Online’
shopping?” These two questions aim to find out the reason why participants select
“High-street” or “Online”. But according to different characteristics of these two
shopping modes, the responses of each question will provide different selections.
Part 3: (Attitudinal Questions) This question is in order to gather participant attitudes
about the impact of social media on customer shopping decisions and encourage some
discussion about High-street & online shopping modes.
Question 18: “Do you agree that ‘word-of-mouth’ on social media (e.g. other customers’,
family’s and peer’s opinions) will influence your purchasing decision?” Word-of-mouth
is a critical factor that influences customer purchasing decisions, and has been
described in the review of literature above. This question aims to examine the position
in customer perceptions when they identified the purchasing decision.
Question 19: “Do you agree that high participation (e.g. active response of question,
feedback or updating of brands on social media) will stimulate your purchasing?” Some
previous literature has discussed that high participation on social media will enable
brands to earn a high brand awareness. This question aims to examine whether
participants agree with this view.
Question 20: “Do you agree that the reward programs provided by social media will
stimulate your purchasing? For example, you will be offered a discount if you ‘Follow’
the High-street brand’s official account or retweet their posts.” Reward programs are
commonly used in many brand's social media strategies. This question aims to find out
whether this strategy is really effective.
Question 21: “Do you agree that the website design of High-street brands' social media
will stimulate your purchasing?” Being another essential factor of social media strategy,
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this question is aimed at identifying whether the first impression of social media visual
design can attract customers’ purchasing decisions.
Question 22: “Do you agree the developing of E-business mode will threat to the
traditional High-street shopping mode?” Aimed at the trend of High-street recession,
this question hopes to explain whether the recent High-street situation was really
affected by developing E-business. Connected with Question 13, the results from both
questions can be basis for the brands’ recommendations.
Question 23: “Do you agree that traditional High-street brands should establish their
own online stores alongside physical ones?” This question provides a recommendation
for High-street brands. From this question result, I hope to know whether this
recommendation is supported by the customers.
3.2.2 Participants
The respondents only requirement is to be over 18 years old; gender, nationality and
educational background have no influence. It is because everyone has a right to use
social media and decide what to purchase, but the subjective views from adults (over
18's) would be more effective for this research. Moreover, no other limited condition
to participants complies with the practical operation of the brands, because aiming at
different groups of customers will provide different social media strategies. This is a
point that the research will discuss on later section.
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3.2.3 Procedure
3.2.3.1 Pilot study
Before posting to the public, the questionnaire needs to be conducted in a pilot study
which means checking whether the survey can be administered and provide accurate
data (Cargan, 2007). The process of pilot study proceeded in three steps.
First step: My supervisor was invited to check the questionnaire and give some key
suggestions about the question design. Based on the feedback, the questionnaire was
revised with the following points: 1. Examine for validity by making sure that all the
main topics have been included. 2. Examine for reliability by checking the format of
questionnaire and the clarity of the questions being asked.
Second step: I invited two postgraduate students of the University of Sheffield to
complete this survey in order to guarantee all the questions are appropriate for the
participants being surveyed and without grammatical error.
Third step: Being an online survey, this questionnaire has been tested so that it
operates normally on any electrical devices.
3.2.3.2 Posting questionnaire on web
After identifying the potential participants, this questionnaire conducted an online
survey. Katsirikou and Skiadas (2009) presented evidence that online questionnaires
obtain a higher number of responses than paper-based questionnaires. The major
benefits of online questionnaires are cost, time-saving and that they are without
geographical limitation. Moreover, this approach does not only have the potential to
collect a large amount of data in a relatively short time frame, but also the collected
results can be analysed immediately by the programme used.
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3.2.3.3 Recruiting participants
Participants will receive invitations via two channels. One channel is sending the survey
link to friends via social media platforms. When my friends complete my questionnaire,
they will recommend this survey to their other friends. Aimed at some Chinese
participants, all of the questions and consent form provided an accurate Chinese
translation alongside the original questions. The other channel is that my supervisor
will request to spread this questionnaire to all students of the University of Sheffield via
university e-mail. All of the participants who agree to complete this survey will be
voluntary.
3.2.3.4 Ethical aspects
According to the “Code of standards and ethics for survey research” (CASRO, 2011), a
researcher has legal responsibilities to their respondents and must consider the
principles of fundamental ethics. For this reason, the ethics form of this research has
been approved by the University Of Sheffield Ethics Committee Of Information School.
At the beginning of survey, this consent form will be presented which clearly explains
the purpose of the survey. Then, participants will tick the box with “Agree” if they
understand the content of the consent form and agree to volunteer to take place this
survey. If they feel any discomfort during the survey, participants are free to withdraw
at any time without any negative consequences by closing the browser window. This
survey is not associated with very sensitive issues. The results of the data are only used
for inclusion in this dissertation and all of the privacy information will not be published
or analysed in this study's results.
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3.2.4 Data analysis
Based on the questionnaire data, both Excel and SPSS software would be utilised for
data analysis. The process of data analysis will be divided into four stages.
Determining variables: In SPSS, every question would be set as a variable. That means
an amount of 23 variables would be associated with all 23 questions. Every alternative
answer has a variable value. If the response made multiple choices available, the
multiple dichotomy method was applied.
Data importing: All the data from Sojump system will accurately transfer to Excel
document. Also, in SPSS, all the data was acceptable through Excel.
Statistics analysis: In order to understand the basic characters of data and make
specific variable standardisation, descriptive statistics would be utilised in this study
through means of calculation, frequencies and crosstabs. Moreover, graphing methods
would be duly deduced to keep data simple and understandable.
Data outputting: All the results of treated data would be shifted into this dissertation
with charts and graphs.
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4. Data results
During the time limitation, the survey received 170 responses in total. After checking
the results of all responses, all 170 questionnaires were valid with agreements on all
consent forms and no missing data.
In this chapter, data gathered from respondents of the online self-administrated
questionnaire will be objectively presented with descriptive analysis. All results of the
questions are grouped into different parts according to the following objectives. The
first section will very briefly indicate the role of the descriptive analytical tool. The
second section will present basic data on respondents’ personal information. The third
section will describe respondents’ use of social media and impact on purchasing
decision. The fourth section will explore respondents’ purchasing behaviors both on
High-street and online shopping modes.
4.1 Descriptive analysis
Hootman (1992) explained descriptive analysis as the sensory approach which adapted
to use when detailed information is required on individual characteristics. Aiming
towards quantitative descriptive analysis, this chapter duly utilises graphs and tables to
present the characteristics of each data group.
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4.2 Personal information
4.2.1 Gender of respondents
The gender of the respondents in this survey presented that more female responded
this questionnaire than male participants. Figure 4.1 supports this statement: occupied
with 55% female and 45% male.
Figure 4.1 Gender distribution
4.2.2 Nationality of respondents
From figure 4.2 below it can be seen that the respondents occupied different
nationalities. However, the large proportion of respondents came from china, with
more than three-quarters in total. 17% of the participants came from UK, which
occupied the second largest population in this survey. Among the remaining 7% of
participants I grouped these participants into ‘others’ because of the small number of
respondents with a variety of nationalities.
Male 45%
Female 55%
Total : 170 Male: 77 Female: 93
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Figure 4.2 Nationality
4.2.3 Age level of responds
Figure 4.3 below shows that the range between 18 to 25 years old had the largest
number of respondents, which occupied 66%. The second largest chunk in this graph is
the number of people who are aged between 18 and 35, which owned 45 respondents.
Only a few participants were over the age of 36.
Figure 4.3 Age Level
Chinese, 130, 76%
British, 29, 17%
Chinese
British
Saudi
Irish
Egyptian
Kurdish
Malaysian
Romanian
Singaporean
South East Asian
Others, 11, 7%
112
45
9 4
18-25 26-35 36-45 46+
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Nu
mb
er
of
pe
op
le
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4.2.4 Educational background of respondents
In figure 4.4 it can be seen that the majority of the respondents came from
well-educated backgrounds, with 92% of participants owning undergraduate,
postgraduate or PhD degrees. Specifically, the largest group is undergraduate with 99
people out of 170 respondents (a total of 58%). The number of postgraduates was
nearly half of the undergraduates with 45 people, while the high school and other
educational background participants are only 6 and 8 respectively.
Figure 4.4 Education background
6
99
46
11 8
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
High school Undergraduated Postgraduate PhD Others
Nu
mb
er
of
pe
op
le
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4.3 Social media usage and affects to purchasing decision
4.3.1 Use of social media
Respondents were allowed to choose one or more answers in this question. Figure
4.5, as shown below, lists that WeChat had 132 responses which is the largest number
of used in participants. Sina-weibo as a micro-blog in china had the second largest
number of responses with 93 votes, followed by Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and
Twitter occupying 58, 50, 41 and 40 votes respectively. LinkedIn, Google+ and other
social media were the three least used by respondents.
Figure 4.5 Use of social media
132
93
76
40
26 20
58 50
41
13
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
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Table 4.1 Social media usage within different country people
By the analysis from SPSS crosstab, in table 4.1 above 97.7% of Chinese respondents
used WeChat, but only 30% of them used Facebook. However, Facebook was the most
widely used social media by British (93.1%) and other countries’ participants (90.9%)
except Chinese (30%). While the percentage using Skype and WhatsApp are same as
Facebook usage in other countries with 90.9%. Equally, in British respondents, Skype as
a second largest usage was significantly lower than Facebook with only 62.1%.
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4.3.2 Frequency of using social media
Table 4.2 Frequency of using social media within gender
As shown above by table 4.2, a majority of respondents (94.7%) use social media
several times a day, while only 2.9% used it several times a week. The percentage of
participants using social media several times a month was the same as the percentage
of participants that never use it with 1.2%. According to further analysis, the frequency
of participants using social media showed no significant difference between males and
females; females used a little more frequently than males with a gap of only 2.2%.
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4.3.3 Social media contents
Table 4.3 Which kind of contents on social media do your prefer within gender
Figure 4.6 Which kind of contents on social media do your prefer
89%
31% 31%
71%
59%
7%
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Pe
rce
nta
ge
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This question allowed multiple choices for respondents. Both figure 4.6 & 4.7 were
based on the SPSS crosstab (table 4.3) results. As shown above (Figure 4.6), content of
‘friends’ posts’ was preferred on social media with the highest ranking at 89%. The
contents of ‘entertainment’ and ‘news’ also ranked high with 71% and 59% respectively.
However, only 31% respondent reported using social media for ‘shopping information’.
According to a further presentation about shopping information within gender (figure
4.7), 43% of female respondents would focus on ‘shopping information’ which was
much higher than males with only 16.9%.
Figure 4.7 Content of “Shopping information” on social media within gender
16.90%
43%
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
40.00%
45.00%
50.00%
Mele Female
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4.3.4 “Follow” official account of High-street
Table 4.4 “Follow” High-street account on social media
Table 4.4 above shows approximately two-thirds (66.5%) of respondents followed the
High-street’s official accounts on social media. But of these, 73.1% of female
respondents reported they followed, a higher percentage than males who totalled
58.4%.
4.3.5 Social media influences purchasing decision
The survey (table 4.5, table 4.6 and table 4.7) indicated that 21.8% of participants do
not believe their purchasing decisions were altered by social media. However, the
remaining 78.2% of participants responded that their purchasing decisions would be
influenced by social media. Aiming to understand the connection between purchasing
decision and personal information, the following tables present the purchasing
decisions affected by social media within the groups of gender, age, and education
background respectively.
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Table 4.5 Purchasing decision affected by social media within gender
According to table 4.5 above, compared with gender factor, 82.8% of female
respondents indicated that their purchasing decision would be affected by social media,
which was higher than the male responses rating of 72.7%.
Table 4.6 Purchasing decision affected by social media within age group
In consideration of age level factor, from table 4.6 we see that the purchase decision of
83.9% of respondents which age range are 18-25 would be influenced by social media,
along with 73.3% of respondents within the age range of 26-35. Only 33.3% of
participants within age of 36-45 reported their purchasing decision to be influenced by
social media. However, in the group of 46+ years old, 75% respondents indicated they
would be influenced.
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Table 4.7 purchasing decision affected by social media within education background
By connecting this issue to education background, as the above table 4.7 shows, all of
respondents within High-school (100%) and other (100%) education backgrounds
reported that their purchasing decisions were affected by social media. While the
respondents from undergraduate and postgraduate also have high rate of agreement,
with 75.8% and 82.6% respectively. However, out of the respondents who belong to
PhD, only 54.4% agreed with this opinion.
Figure 4.8 Purchasing decision affected by social media when “Follow” High-street account on
social media
Influenced, 100, 88%
Uninfluenced, 13, 12%
N=113 113 respondents 'Follow' the High-street account on social media
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By connecting with issues of ‘Social media affects purchasing decision’ and ‘People who
‘followed’ High-street accounts on social-media’, from figure 4.8 we see that the
majority of respondents’ (88%) purchasing decisions would be influenced when they
‘followed’ an official High-street account on social media, while the remaining 12% of
respondents cannot be influenced to change their purchasing decision even they
‘followed’.
4.3.6 Factors of purchasing decision influenced
Table 4.8 Factors of purchasing decision influenced on social media
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Figure 4.9 Factors of purchasing decision influenced by social media
This question allowed multiple choices for respondents. Figure 4.9 above showed
factors of purchasing decisions influence on social media with discount information
ranking highest with a percentage of 65.9% and brand awareness ranking third (52.4%).
On the other hand, 37.1%, 31.2% and 32.4% of respondents had their purchasing
decisions affected by news of latest products, social trends and information about
products that they used before respectively. However, the factor of friend’s
recommendations ranked second with a percentage of 54.7%, while family’s and
celebrity’s recommendations occupied 24.7% and 20.0% respectively. These other’s
recommendations all belong to the ‘word-of-mouth’ method and these percentages
show almost half of the purchasing decisions influenced by ‘word-of-mouth’.
52.40%
65.90%
37.10%
54.70%
24.70% 20.00%
31.20% 32.40%
18.20%
1.20%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
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4.3.7 “Word-of-mouth”
Being compared with the attitudinal question about ‘word-of-mouth’, as show below in
table 4.9 and figure 4.10, the mean value of this question is 3.36 and standard
deviation is 0.952. It can be seen that most respondents tend to be neutral and agree.
However, 42.96% of respondents viewed agreement for this opinion including strongly
agree.
Figure 4.10 “Word of mouth” influenced purchasing decision
Table 4.9 Descriptive statistics of “Word of mouth”
2.94%
12.94%
41.18%
31.18%
11.76%
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
Stronglydisagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
Pe
rce
nta
ge
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4.3.8 High-participation of brands
Table 4.10 shows the average score of this question is 3.28, which means most people
tend towards neutral opinions of high participation of brands on social media
influencing customer’s purchasing decisions. The score of stand deviation (1.086)
means this average score is invalid because of strong volatility. According to further
analysis (figure 4.11), 32.25% and 11.76% of respondents agree and strongly agree
respectively, while 21.76% disagree (including 4.47% strongly disagreeing) and 15.29%
were neutral with this point. Therefore, nearly half of the respondents supported the
notion that high-participation of brands on social media can influence customer’s
purchasing decisions.
Figure 4.11 High participation of brands influence purchasing decision
6.47%
15.29%
34.12% 32.35%
11.76%
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
Stronglydisagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
Pe
rce
nta
ge
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Table 4.10 Descriptive statistics of high participation of brands
4.3.9 Reward programmes of brands
Table 4.11 listed that the average score of this state is 3.25, which means most people
tend to have a neutral opinion about reward programmes on social media.
Nevertheless, after calculating the stand deviation, it presented as 1.146 which is over
the reference value. Therefore, further analysis is required. According to the histogram
(figure 4.12), 33.53% of respondents thought the reward programmes stimulated
purchasing behaviour and 12.94% of them strongly agree with this statement. More
specifically, almost half of them were sensitive to reward programmes.
Figure 4.12 Reward programmes influence purchasing
8.82%
16.47%
28.24%
33.53%
12.94%
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
Stronglydisagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
Pe
rce
nta
ge
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Table 4.11 Descriptive statistics of reward programmes
4.3.10 Bad shopping experience by using social media
Based on the results, over 30% of respondents indicated that they had not come cross
some bad experience within the shopping process by using social media. In other words,
about 70% owned at least one instance of a bad shopping experience. The biggest
trouble at 38.2% acknowledged that the actual product was not the same as described
on social media. 10.6% and 18.2% of respondents respectively stated poor quality of
products and hard to find products were the issue. Moreover, the frequency of bad
shopping experiences has not reflected in the gender factor, being almost equal
between male and female. Evidence can be found in table 4.12 below.
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Table 4.12 Bad shopping experience by using social media
4.4 High-street vs Online shopping mode
4.4.1 Choose High-street or Online shopping mode
In order to measure any changes in purchasing behaviour, it was necessary to capture
which respondents preferred which shopping mode. Based on the results, figure 4.13
below shows that 53.5% of respondents really prefer the High-street shopping mode
when a product can be bought both on the High-street and online. The remaining 46.5%
preferred the online mode. It can be seen that the traditional High-street mode meets
with better favour than the online shopping mode.
As shown in table 4.13 below, both males and females choose to go shopping on the
High-street more than online.
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Figure 4.13 Choose High-street vs Online shopping mode
Table 4.13 Choose High-street VS Online shopping mode within gender
High-street, 53.50%
Online, 46.50%
N=170
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4.4.2 Social media affects purchasing decision on High-street vs
Online
Since it was gathered above that 53.5% of respondents prefer to go shopping on the
High-street, it was necessary to identify whether social media influenced their
purchasing decisions while High-street shopping. Connected with related questions
above, it can be observed from figure 4.14 that social media has influenced the
majority of respondents (81%) purchasing decisions while High-street shopping. The
other 19% of respondents who prefer to go shopping on the High-street indicated
social media would not be able to influence their purchasing decisions.
On the other hand, the same procedure was adapted to obtain respondents’
purchasing behaviour for online shopping. Figure 4.15 show that three-quarters of
respondents had been influenced by social media; while only 25% of respondents
viewed themselves as immune. Therefore, it can be seen that social media has a
greater role for customers on the High-street than online.
Figure 4.14 High-street purchasing decision influenced by social media
Influences, 74, 81%
Uninfluenced, 17, 19%
N=81
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Figure 4.15 Online purchasing decision influenced by social media
4.4.3 Products bought on High-street vs Online
The questions on products bought asked to check for changes in main channels to buy
products by respondents. Both questions allowed multiple choices for respondents.
Table 4.14 below listed products bought on the High-street, with clothing ranking
highest with 68.2%, followed by food ranked with 65.9%. Jewellery and health &
beauty products also ranked highly with 58.8% and 51.5% respectively. 41.8%, 38.2%
and 31.8% of respondents selected purchasing electrical appliances, technology &
gaming and entertainment & books respectively. Baby & toddler products had the least
selections at 17.1% respondents choosing.
Influenced, 59, 75%
Uninfluenced, 20, 25%
N=79
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Table 4.14 Products bought on High-street
Compared with products from the High-street, online shopping still saw clothing as a
high scoring option, owning 62.9% of respondents. However, it can be observed in
table 4.15 & figure 4.16 below that the percentage of respondents purchasing
entertainment & books were the highest ranked with 70.6%. Also, technology &
gaming and electrical appliances increased to 50.6% and 44.7% respectively. Health &
beauty (27.1%), food (42.9%) and baby & toddler (8.8%) differed from the scores given
previously (24.7%, 23%, and 8.3% respectively). Moreover, the percentage of
respondents buying jewellery from the high street (45.9%) decreased extremely in
online shopping, with only 12.9%.
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Table 4.15 Product bought on Online
Figure 4.16 Products bought on High-street VS Online
68.2%
58.8%
65.9%
38.2% 41.8%
31.8%
51.8%
17.1%
2.4%
62.9%
12.9%
42.9%
50.6% 44.7%
70.6%
27.1%
8.8% 4.7%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
High-street
Online
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4.4.4 Advantages of High-street shopping VS Online shopping
Questions on advantages of shopping on the high-street and online were aimed at
understanding their respective strength and to compare the common characteristics.
Both questions allowed multiple choices for respondents. Figure 4.17 below shows
directly understanding products performance (78.2%) and physical trading (69.4%) are
the most common benefits of High-street shopping for respondents, followed by
reliable after-sale service, enjoying the process of High-street shopping and safety
payment occupying 51.2%, 42.4% and 34.7% respectively. However, only 13.5%
respondents reported convenient traffic as a High-street advantage.
Figure 4.17 Advantages of High-street shopping
69.40%
13.50%
78.20%
34.70%
51.20%
42.40%
2.90%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
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In the advantages of online shopping, by contrast, 84.1% and 72.4% respondents
reported that time-saving and unlimited location are the most common advantages.
Also, products cheaper than High-street and more product choices were both big
advantages of online shopping and were selected by most of respondents, with scores
of 67.6% and 60% respectively. Also, being more characteristic of High-street shopping,
only 5.9% and 2.4% of percentage supported the last two advantages.
Figure 4.18 Advantages of online shopping
67.60%
84.10%
72.40%
60%
5.90% 2.40% 2.90%
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Cheaperthan High-
street
Time-saving Unlimitedlocation
Moreproductchoices
Saferpayment
Morereliable
after-saleservice
Others
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4.4.5 The style of website design on social media can stimulate
High-street shopping
Table 4.16 calculated the average score of this question at 3.42 which means most
people among tend to be neutral or agree. Nevertheless, after calculating the stand
deviation the result was 1.013 which is over the reference value. Therefore, further
analysis is required. According to the histogram (figure 4.19), 40% of respondents
thought website design could stimulate High-street purchasing behaviour and 12%
strongly agree with this statement. More specifically, over half of them were sensitive
to the style of website design.
Figure 4.19 Website design of High-street brands’ social media will stimulate customer purchasing
Table 4.16 Descriptive statistics of website design
5%
11%
32%
40%
12%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Stronglydisagree
Disagree Neutral Adgree Strongly agree
N=170
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4.4.6 Whether developing of E-business poses a threat to the
High-street
Table 4.17 showed the average score of this question is 3.52 which means most people
tend to be neutral or agree with the opinion of a developing E-business mode
threatening the traditional High-street mode. However, the score of stand deviation
(1.147) means this average score is invalid because of strong volatility. According to
further analysis (figure 4.20) 32% and 22% of respondents agree and strongly agree
respectively, while 20% disagree (including 5% strongly disagree) and 25% are neutral
with this point. Therefore, over half the respondents (55%) support that developing
E-business threatens the High-street.
Figure 4.20 Developing E-business mode will threat to High-street
Table 4.17 Descriptive statistics of developing E-business mode will threat to High-street
5%
15%
25%
32%
22%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Stronglydisagree
Disagree Neutral Adgree Strongly agree
N=170
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4.4.7 Necessary for establishing High-street’ own online store
In table 4.18 below the average score (4.05) means many respondents agree that the
High-street should establish their own online store. However, the standard deviation
(1.025) is over 1 which means this result requires further evidence. According to the
analysis in figure 4.21, 32% and 41% respondents agree and strongly agree with this
opinion respectively. This result can be testified that the majority of people support
that the establishment of online stores for the High-street is necessary.
Figure 4.21 High-street brands establish own online store
Table 4.18 Descriptive statistics of High-street brands establishing own online store
4% 3%
20%
32%
41%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Adgree Strongly agree
N=170
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5. Discussion
The aim of this section is to discuss the findings of the research from the online
questionnaire. In order to achieve the research objectives, these findings will combine
with previous studies.
5.1 Can consumer forwardly use social media for
shopping?
According to the results, social media has obtained wide approval and is used by
people frequently no matter what age, educational background and birth place. If
searching for information was the most critical development of the last decade, sharing
information might be among the most critical of this time (Pew, 2011). That is a major
role of social media which, through their various platforms, enable sharing and
connection. Being an initiative behavior, sharing cannot force people to accept and
spread some information which they are uninterested in. The result of the research
shows that friend’s posts in social media are generally preferred by users. Conversely,
the selection of shopping information on social media received little response because
this information was similar to television advertising; some people instinctively rejected
some information which they did not care about or trust (Merrill, T et al, 2011).
To “Follow” is proper online etiquette that allows a user being a follower to access
some account on social media which they fond of. Surprisingly, more participants
would like to follow one or more High-street brands' official accounts on social media.
Compared with traditional advertisements, ‘follow’ being a social media behavior allow
users to filter and receive information and news intuitively (lonanas & Stoica, 2014).
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One possible explanation is that these brands were exactly what participants desire
and feel loyal to. Data from gender distribution showed that the number of female
participants was more than male participants. Obviously, with shopping behavior,
females would be more obsessed with shopping than males; this situation is reinforced
in my result that female occupied two-thirds in ‘follow’ high-street brands on social
media. Being a behavior for seeking information, “Follow” can be seen a good source
for that information. One possible explanation is perhaps that some social media
platforms will randomly recommend some brands official accounts since users sign up
at the beginning of using a platform. Despite the findings of the survey, it was
anticipated that people would favor ‘following’ High-street brands' official accounts.
This expectation is testified if information is actively searched for by people; it can be
more easily be accepted by them in this case. This is consistent with the opinion of
Chiles, which suggests that the more people that follow the better brands’ engagement
will be because users can eliminate bad engagement (2015).
5.2 How social media affects consumer purchasing
decisions
According to statistics from this research, three quarters of participants base their
decisions on referrals from social media. This finding is consistent with the survey of
Rudolph (2014) that shows most consumers would make purchasing decisions with
social media. Based on some major functions of social media, this research has asked
some further questions in order to identify the real factors which affect consumer’s
purchasing decisions.
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Discount information
Participants tend to select discount information on social media as their most powerful
motivation. This is opposite to the finding of Taylor & Miles (2001), in which social
media tended to be a product sale reminder for customers, but of little help to actual
purchasing behavior. They suggested that the reason for influenced purchasing
decision is sale itself, and the other reason is that consumers can be provided with sale
information through others talking about it. However, Taylor & Miles’ findings may
have ignored the situation of people using social media frequently. The results found
that almost everyone uses social media several times a day. It can be seen that users
have more opportunity to capture more discount information on social media. Another
possible reason is people may not have much opportunity to gain this kind of
information with daily conversation.
Word of mouth
Being an external form of information seeking, word of mouth plays an essential role
during the purchasing decision process (Reigner, 2007). However, the results of the
research show that less than half of participants acknowledged that word of mouth
would be useful to their purchasing decision. The possible reason for this situation is
that most of the participants come from China; they don’t really understand the actual
meaning of word-of-mouth. However, within the results are some factors which affect
consumer purchasing decisions: the choices of friends, celebrity's and family’s
recommendations, all of these involve word-of-mouth. Participants tend to trust
friends' recommendations more than the other two factors. It is possible that social
media provided a platform like communities in which consumers prefer to interact with
friends who have the same interests as them (lonanas & stoca, 2014). Whilst online
questionnaire data for the word-of-mouth factor is limited, there appears to be no
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significant difference in the role of purchasing decision without word-of-mouth.
Therefore, there is not enough data to confirm that consumers tend to believe that a
product recommended by several users is worth trying.
The research findings reveal that nearly 70% of participants have had bad experiences
when making a purchasing decision by using social media. It was anticipated due to the
product not being as described on social media, since many products are overstated by
advertisements in order to attract more attention in the form of millions of posts on
social media. However, despite the effectiveness of this sales promotion in the
short-term, if consumers have a bad experience once then it may harm the brand
awareness of some companies through word of mouth on social media. Actually, social
media is where consumers hope to finds more positive comments about a product
worth buying (Ryan, 2014). This finding corresponds with the opinion of Ross, Orr et al.
(2009) that consumers will share some dissatisfaction about products and warn others
not to purchase the same product.
Brand awareness
The data findings of this research captured that brand awareness on social media
influences consumer's purchasing decision. It is because social media can been seen as
a reminder that awakens the habit or inertia of consumers’ purchasing behavior.
Ehrenberg et al. (1990) pointed out, based on cognition of the use of awareness as a
choice heuristic; brand awareness provides considerable potential in explaining repeat
purchase behaviour. Actually, raising brand awareness may not rely utterly on social
media; social media as an external propagation medium can only help brands to spread
useful information. The real brand awareness should depend upon an internal
company's actual strength with reasonable price levels, high-quality products and
thoughtful after-sale services. Therefore, the actual reason behind purchasing decision
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on social media is a company's real brand image. This is consistent with the previous
findings of Macdonald and Shard (2000).
High participation of brands on social media
Since the rapid growth of social media, brands have a high motivation to participate in
social media (Schau, Muniz, and Arnould, 2009). Through communicating on social
media, brands hope to have positive effects on the main brand loyalty and on
community value creation practices. However, the result of this research demonstrated
that less than half participants agree with the opinion that high participation of brands
will influence their purchasing decisions. That was opposite to original expectations and
to many others previous studies. The main possible explanation is that most responses
came from Chinese user experience. In some Chinese social media platforms, although
many brands have their own official account, they prefer to post latest product
information or advertisements rather than reply to some users experience or query, or
they do not respond promptly because of millions of comments. Due to these
experiences, participants may not be provided the sense of presence by brands on
social media. Therefore, due to the limitation of participant’s nationality, the result of
this research cannot fully reverse the previously finding of Zailskaite-Jakste and
Kuvykaite (2012), which proposes that consumers will be motivated and trust brands if
companies notice such consumers successfully participating in brand communication.
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5.3 Impact of social media on High-street & Online
shopping
The finding of the result showed that over half of the participants preferred to go
shopping on the High-street rather than shopping online under the impact of social
media. Whilst, Kuruk (2007) also holds the opinion that social media's influence on
consumers who prefer physical store is higher than online, even it may not directly
promote high-street mode achievement. The main possible reason for this finding may
depend on some unique advantages of High-street shopping for consumers.
First reason: From the result, most of participants tend to prefer the physical trading of
products via a High-street mode which can be directly known as the performance of
product. Social media only provides consumer attraction and attention of products
through the description of good words and photographs. That may not satisfy
consumers with a real understanding and trust towards a product; they hope to
understand a product directly perceived through the senses. This corresponds to the
opinion of Jones (2014) in the previous review of literature. Therefore, although online
shopping may offer a good price, if a consumer can not obtain enough information to
convince them to purchase, they would prefer physical trading on the High-street even
if it is more expensive than an online store.
Second reason: Half of the Participants tend to enjoy the process of High-street
shopping; this corresponds with previous research by Monlenaar (2015). One possible
explanation is that social media only provides a platform for shopping experience
sharing and gives an idea of what a consumer can expect from a physical store. With
this expectation, consumer may feel raptures on High-street shopping when the real
product verifies their expectation or they have a new discovery about the original
products. One possible explanation is perhaps that consumers are able to receive the
physical product immediately after they purchased rather than needing to wait for
delivery or be told some products are out of sale with online shopping.
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Third reason: The emergence of privacy security problems are inevitable with social
media developing. Consumers would like to share their shopping experience with
online stores on social media. Meanwhile, they have to admit that the privacy
information of consumers, especially finance information, perhaps leaks through social
media or online stores. Aiming to avoid this potential risk, consumers would like to go
High-street stores. This corresponds with the results from this research and previous
literature review of Jarvenpaa, Tractinsky and Saarinen (1999).
Fourth reason: Comparing after-sale services between High-street and online stores,
over 40% of participants viewed the High-street store as able to provide more reliable
after-sale service than online stores, which is consistent with the previous finding of
Mersey, Malthouse, and Calder (2010). The possible reason for this is that brands only
deal with some basic queries from consumers, but this essentially did little, if anything,
to solve the problem. Normally, if the product bought from an online store needs to be
returned or repaired, consumers should return their product to the company and wait
for a response, whilst online stores only inform the consumer about a place which can
help them via social media. In contrast, High-street stores can directly provide an
after-sale service and instantly explain the problems with a product, which makes the
consumer trust them. Actually, in High-street shopping, consumers are able to directly
examine the quality of a product in order to avoid some unexpected after-sale trouble.
5.4 Social media strategy for High-street brands
According to the research in 2013 by PRWeek and Global Research Agency, the
traditional High-street store is in trouble. 38% of participants believed that developing
online stores were the most to blame for the High-street stores closure. This finding is
consistent with the result of my research; 52% of participants tended to agree that the
online shopping mode has threatened the traditional High-street shopping mode. The
main possible explanation is that online shopping as a rapidly rising shopping mode has
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succeeded in slicing off a sizable chunk of the High-street’s market share. However, it
does not means that the High-street shopping mode has gradually deteriorated. In
order to truly merge with the majority society, High-street brands should be designed
to work out an appropriate strategy relying on social media because, surprisingly, most
participants in this research still would like to choose the High-street as their shopping
method.
Establish High-street brands’ own online stores
Overall the data shows that nearly three quarters of participants support that
High-street brands should establish their own online store, which is consistent with the
previous literature of Kardes, Cronley and Cline (2011). In contrast with some
comprehensive online shopping websites like Ebay, High-street brands’ own online
stores can provide a more reliable and credible service for consumers because all
products from a High-street online store are the same as in the physical store. In ord to
provide consumers with the same service as a physical store, High-street brands can
easily found and provide a professional response and after-sale service to any
consumer who has bought their product from an online store via Email and other social
media tools.
Surprisingly, participants tend to receive some reward programs, such as discount
codes or giving a present to specific consumers on specific days (e.g. a consumer’s
birthday). Generally, better prices than in a physical store is the main factor that
consumers choose online shopping for, but if High-street brands can use the same
strategy via social media spread and combine with their original brand value,
consumers may prefer to shopping on their own online store, which can promote
brand loyalty.
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However, not all of the High-street brands are fit for online store establishment. If the
brand was a comprehensive shopping mall on the High-street, like Selfridge's, it should
consider which kinds of products would be their main promotions for an online store.
From the research findings, participants tend to online purchase products which can
easily be understood in terms of their performance via social media such as
entertainment & books, clothing and technology & gaming.
Jewellery, food or healthy & beauty products are typically purchased more frequently
on the High-street. That is because these products need to be confirmed and selected
by consumers themselves in a physical store, or only if they have bought these kinds of
products once in a physical store and own brand loyalty.
Demography information
The social media strategy should consider the potential consumers and users (Gehi,
2006). From the results of demography information, the majority of respondents using
social media are aged 18-25 years old, which is consistent with the previous literature
of Crowd Science (2009). Generally, in this age range, people would like to try new
things full of creativeness and fashion. Additionally, most participants had a higher
education background. It could be better for knowledge and own ability of subjective
judgement. Therefore, the brands should more closely view these groups of people as
their potential customers for social media strategies.
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5.5 Research Limitation
There were several limitations in the process of this research which significantly
affected the results of some content.
The time and resource limitation - The research was conducted in a short period as
a dissertation. The data collect mainly relied on the online questionnaire, some
detail attitude views of consumers’ purchasing decisions cannot only be reflected
by this research method. It required support via interview as a further qualitative
analysis especially at the part of social media influence on the High-street. However,
interviewing high street retailers would be very hard since some useful information
may involve some business secrets. Also they may provide only limited useful
information by acknowledgment.
Regional distinction – The participants who responded to this questionnaire did so
through an online platform and nearly three quarters of them came from China.
This may lead the results of the responses to tend towards Chinese attitudes as a
result of some unique experiences and habits in China. This issue was especially
reflected in the attitudinal questions (Q18-23) that the participants who choose
‘neutral’ were not in the minority.
Age level – Most participants were young people between the age of 18 – 25. In
fact, this group of people generally may not reach the peak consumption age. It
could even be said that most of them have no income because they are students.
Therefore, their purchasing decisions are typical of one group and may not reflect
the attitude of all people, although they are the most frequent users of social
media.
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6. Conclusion
6.1 Research Findings
In retrospect, the findings related to the first objective state that social media mainly
plays a role as the platform for user conversation and information sharing. Users of
social media display a preference for reading their friend’s posts, whereas some
shopping information on social media was of less interest, therefore it may depends on
users hobbies and interests. Nevertheless, if users have forwardly followed some
brand's account on social media then this means that they would like to be offered
some information from this brand and have a good impression of the brand.
Returning to the findings regarding the second objective, it examined that the majority
of people would be affected in their purchasing decisions by social media; the discount
information on social media is the most responded to factor. On the other hand, the
factor word-of-mouth did not receive much agreement, which was opposite to the
findings of many previous articles. The possible reason for this situation is that most
participants may not understand the meaning of word-of-mouth because of their
nationality and cultural background. However, surprisingly, participants tend to
recognise they had some bad experience when they made a purchasing decision after
being influenced by social media. This can be communicated if some negative
comments were be shared on social media, resulting in others being encouraged not to
purchase the same product because of word-of-mouth influence. Brand awareness is
also a factor that influences consumer purchasing decisions. However, brand
awareness really depends on the brand's value itself, social media is only a platform to
promote a brand to be known by more social media users. Finally, high participation of
brands on social media is also a factor that influences consumer purchasing decisions.
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Obviously, this behavior will increase consumers’ sense of belonging along with positive
effects on main brand loyalty and on community value of practices.
The third objective was to compare the consumer purchasing decisions on the
High-street and Online stores being influenced by social media. Surprisingly, over half
of the participants tend to go shopping on the High-street through social media
promotion. The possible reason for this phenomenon is High-street shopping have the
following unique advantages: 1. Consumer can directly understand the performance of
product. 2. Consumer has fun during the process of High-street shopping. 3. Consumer
would be more trusting of the payment method on the High-street. 4. The High-street
can provide more reliable after-sale services than an online store.
Finally, in the last research objective it was stated that the establishment of High-street
brands’ own online stores was met with postitive response. It is because customers
believe that brands own online stores can provide the same authentic product and
same service as a physical store. Without question, these would be like some
comprehensive online stores which may sell fake products. By using social media,
High-street online stores can more easily promote their brands and communicate with
customers regarding any queries. According to the different groups using social media
frequently, brands should aim to select promotions for some products, which was the
main interest for the groups of people who use social media most frequently.
6.2 Further research
The research aimed to examine the social media's effects on consumer purchasing
decisions on the High-street and online. However, due to the time and resource
limitation this research also experienced some shortcomings that further research
should consider. This research recruited 170 participants, 113 of which were Chinese.
Further research could focus on demonstrating the findings in a specific nation or area
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by expanding the sample size, since different nation’s people may have different habits
of purchasing behavior and using social media. This method might be more productive
for examining how social media affects consumer's purchasing decisions. Moreover,
this research is based on social media strategy on the High-street but does not
compare with the existing social media strategy which has been used by some
High-street brands. Thus, if further research can analyse the usability of some existing
social media strategies by High-street brands, that could be more helpful for
High-street retailers to grasp the inducement of consumer purchasing decisions.
81 / 112
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Appendixes
Appendix A: Ethics Application
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Appendix B: Approval Letter
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Appendix C: Questionnaire Consent Form
The University of Sheffield. Information School
Does social media influence customers’ purchasing decisions on High-street & Online
Researchers
Student: Suwei Lin Master of Information Management
[email protected] Supervisor: Professor Elaine Toms
Purpose of the research
I am trying to understand how social media influences people’s purchasing decision s on the High-street and Online.
Who will be participating?
I am inviting adults who are over 18 years of age.
What will you be asked to do?
I will ask participants to respond to 17 questions in following parts: Questionnaire: Part A, demographic questions about gender, age, education. Part B, behavioral questions about use of social media. Part C, attitude about social media influence on shopping. The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete.
What are the potential risks of participating?
The risks of participating are the same as those experienced in everyday life.
What data will we collect?
I am only recording the answer from the questionnaire. No other data will be recorded.
What will we do with the data?
I will be analyzing the data for inclusion in my master’s dissertation. The data will be kept securely on my own computer, and the university’s network. After the research is complete, the data will be destroyed.
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Will my participation be confidential?
The data will be collected with no identifying information attached. All participants will only be identified by a random code.
What will happen to the results of the research project?
The results of this study will be included in my master’s dissertation. Please contact the School in six months. I confirm that I have read and understand the description of the research project, and that I have had an opportunity to ask questions about the project. I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time without any negative consequences by closing the browse window. I understand that I may decline to answer any particular question or questions, or to do any of the activities. If I stop participating at all time, all of my data will be purged. I understand that my responses will be kept strictly confidential, that my name or identity will not be linked to any research materials, and that I will not be identified or identifiable in any report or reports that result from the research. I give permission for the research team members to have access to my anonymised responses. I agree to take part in the research project as described above.
Participant Name (Please print) Participant Signature
Researcher Name (Please print) Researcher Signature Date
Note: If you have any difficulties with, or wish to voice concern about, any aspect of your participation in this study, please contact Dr. Angela Lin, Research Ethics Coordinator, Information School, The University of Sheffield ([email protected]), or to the University Registrar and Secretary.
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Appendix D: Questionnaire
Questionnaire of the Influence of Social Media on Consumers' Purchase Decision "社交媒体对
于消费者购买决定的影响"问卷[
Consent Form:
The University of Sheffield. Information School
Does social media influence customers’ purchasing decisions on High-street & Online
Researchers
Student: Suwei Lin
Master of Information Management
Supervisor: Professor Elaine Toms
Purpose of the research
I am trying to understand how social media influences people’s purchasing decision s on the
High-street and Online.
Who will be participating?
I am inviting adults who are over 18 years of age.
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What will you be asked to do?
I will ask participants to respond to 17 questions in following parts:
Questionnaire: Part A, demographic questions about gender, age, education.
Part B, behavioral questions about use of social media.
Part C, attitude about social media influence on shopping.
The survey will take about 5 minutes to complete.
What are the potential risks of participating?
The risks of participating are the same as those experienced in everyday life.
What data will we collect?
I am only recording the answer from the questionnaire.
No other data will be recorded.
What will we do with the data?
I will be analyzing the data for inclusion in my master’s dissertation. The data will be kept
securely on my own computer, and the university’s network. After the research is complete,
the data will be destroyed.
Will my participation be confidential?
The data will be collected with no identifying information attached.
All participants will only be identified by a random code.
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What will happen to the results of the research project?
The results of this study will be included in my master’s dissertation. Please contact the School
in six months.
I confirm that I have read and understand the description of the research project, and that I
have had an opportunity to ask questions about the project.
I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time
without any negative consequences by closing the browse window.
I understand that I may decline to answer any particular question or questions, or to do any of
the activities. If I stop participating at all time, all of my data will be purged.
I understand that my responses will be kept strictly confidential, that my name or identity will
not be linked to any research materials, and that I will not be identified or identifiable in any
report or reports that result from the research.
I give permission for the research team members to have access to my anonymity responses.
I agree to take part in the research project as described above.
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知情书：
谢菲尔德大学 信息学院
是否社交媒体会影响消费者的高街和网上购物决定
研究者：
学生：Suwei Lin [email protected]
信息管理硕士
导师：Elaine Toms 教授 [email protected]
研究目标：
我希望了解社交媒体对于消费者在高街和网上购物的导向
谁会是参与问卷的人？
我会邀请任何年龄超过 18 岁的人
你将会做些什么？
我希望参与者能完成如下 22 个问题
问卷：第一部分：人口统计问题，关于性别，年龄和教育背景
第二部分：行为问题关于使用社交媒体
第三部分：社交媒体对于购物的影响
这个调查问卷将花费您 5 分钟的时间
对于参与者的风险是什么？
就跟平常经历的一样。
我将会收集什么数据？
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我只是为了我的硕士毕业论文分析数据。这些数据会将会保密只存储在我的私人电脑以及
学校的数据库。一旦论文完成这些数据将会被销毁。
参与者是否保密？
所有数据并不会对应私人信息。所有参与者将会被随机分配。
对于调查结果怎么处理？
课题的结果将会显示在我的毕业论文里。你可以在六个月之后联系学校。
我确定已经阅读并知晓关于此项目的研究，并且明白可以对此项目的任何问题进行提问。
我明白我的参与是自愿并且我有权关闭浏览器在任何我感到有不利的时候。
我明白我需要回答所有问题，并且一单我决定退出此次调查，我的数据将会被删除。
我知道我的回答将被严格保密， 我的名字或者身份将不会被连接到任何研究资料，并且
我将不会被任何研究资料识别。
我保证我研究小组有权匿名回复。
如上所述，我同意参与此项研究。
1. Do you agree to take part in the research project as described above? 你同意参与此次研究
调查？ [单选题] [必答题]
○ Agree 同意
○ Disagree 不同意
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Part 1: Demographic questions
2. Gender 性别 [单选题] [必答题]
○ Male 男性
○ Female 女性
3. Nationality 国籍 （e.g English, Chinese） [填空题] [必答题]
_________________________________
提示：请用英文填写
4. Age 年龄 [单选题] [必答题]
○ 18-25
○ 26-35
○ 36-45
○ 46+
5. Education background 教育背景 [单选题] [必答题]
○ High school 高中
○ Undergraduate 本科
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○ Postgraduate 硕士
○ PhD 博士
○ Others 其他 _________________
提示：include in process 包括在读
Part 2： Behavioral Questions
6. Please choose which social media you are using.请选择你使用的社交媒体应用 [多选题]
[必答题]
□ WeChat 微信
□ Sina weibo 新浪微博
□ Facebook 脸书
□ Twitter 推特
□ LinkedIn 领客音
□ Google+
□ Instagram 拍立得
□ Skype
□ Others 其他 _________________
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提示：Available multiple choice 可多选
7. How often do you use social media? 你使用社交媒体的频率 [单选题] [必答题]
○ Several times a day 每天
○ Several times a week 每星期
○ Several times a month 每个月
○ Never 从不
8. What kinds of contents on social media do you prefer? 你更喜欢社交媒体上的哪些内容？
[多选题] [必答题]
□ Friends' post 朋友的状态
□ Celebrities' post 名人的状态
□ Shopping information 购物信息
□ Entertainment （Funny pictures, stories and/or videos) 娱乐 （有趣的照片，故事或
者视频）
□ News 新闻
□ Others 其他 _________________
9. Are you willing to "Follow" some official accounts of High-street brands on social media
platform? 你是否愿意在社交媒体上“关注”一些高街品牌的官方账号？ [单选题] [必答题]
○ Yes 是
○ No 不是
提示：高街：泛指市中心或者商业区的实体零售店
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10. Will the information on social media influence your purchasing decision? 社交媒体上的信
息会影响你的购物选择吗？ [单选题] [必答题]
○ Yes 会
○ No （if you choose No, please ignore the next question ) 不会 （如果选择 No， 请
忽略下一题）
11. What information on social media will influence your purchasing decision?社交媒体上的哪
些信息会影响你的购买决定？ [多选题]
□ Brand awareness 品牌知名度
□ Discount information 打折信息
□ News of latest product 最新的产品新闻
□ Friends' recommendation 朋友的推荐
□ Family's recommendation 家人的推荐
□ Celebrity's recommendation 名人的推荐
□ Social trend (e.g. most people use iPhone) 社会趋势 （比如：大多数人使用 iPhone）
□ Information of brands that you used before 之前使用过的品牌的信息
□ Not relevant 不相关的
□ Others 其他 _________________
12. Have social media brought you any 'bad' shopping experience? 社交媒体是否曾给你带来
过“不好的"购物体验？ [单选题] [必答题]
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○ Poor product quality 产品质量差
○ The product is different from the description on social media 产品与社交媒体上的描
述不一致
○ Hard to find the product 难以寻找产品
○ No 没有
○ Other 其他 _________________
13. If there is a product that can be bought both in High-street stores and online, which way
will you choose? 如果一样商品同时可以在高街实体店和网店里买到，你会选择哪种购物方
式？ [单选题] [必答题]
○ High-street （Physical store in city center) 高街 （市中心的实体店）
○ E-business (Online) 网上
14. What kinds of products will you purchase in "High-street"? 哪些商品你会在”高街“上购
买？ [多选题] [必答题]
□ Clothing 衣服
□ Jewellery 珠宝
□ Food 食品
□ Technology & Gaming 电子产品 和 游戏
□ Electrical Appliance 家用电器
□ Entertainment & Books 娱乐 & 书
□ Health & Beauty 保健品 & 化妆品
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□ Baby & Toddler 婴儿用品
□ Others _________________
15. What kinds of products will you purchase by "E-business"? 那些产品你会通过电子商务购
买？ [多选题] [必答题]
□ Clothing 衣服
□ Jewellery 珠宝
□ Food 食品
□ Technology & Gaming 电子产品 & 游戏
□ Electrical Appliance 家用电器
□ Entertainment & Books 娱乐 & 书
□ Health & Beauty 保健品 & 化妆品
□ Baby & Toddler 婴儿用品
□ Others 其他 _________________
16. What do you think are the advantages of "High-street" shopping? 你认为”高街“购物的
优点是什么？ [多选题] [必答题]
□ Physical trading 实物交易
□ Convenient traffic 便利的交通条件
□ Directly know how the performance of the product is 可以直观的了解商品性能
□ Safer payment 更安全的付款方式
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□ More reliable after-sale service 更可靠的售后服务
□ Enjoy the process of High-street shopping 享受高街购物过程
□ Others 其他 _________________
17. What do you think are the advantages of "Online" shopping? 你认为“网上购物”的优点
是什么？ [多选题] [必答题]
□ Cheaper than High-street 比高街更便宜
□ Time-saving 省时
□ Unlimitated location 没有地域限制
□ More product choices 商品选择更多
□ Safer payment 付款方式更安全
□ More reliable after-sale service 更可靠的售后服务
□ Others 其他 _________________
Part 3： Attitudinal questions
18. Do you agree that "word of mouth" on social media (e.g. other customers',family's and
peer's opinions) will influence your purchasing decision? 你是否同意社交媒体上的口头宣传
（比如，来自消费者，家人，朋友的意见）会影响你的购物决定？ [单选题] [必答题]
Strongly Disagree 非常不同意 ○ 1 ○ 2 ○ 3 ○ 4 ○ 5 Strongly
Agree 非常同意
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19. Do you agree that high participation (e.g. active response of question, feedback or updating
of brands on social media) will stimulate your purchasing? 你是否同意品牌公司通过在社交
媒体上活跃的表现（比如，积极的回复问题，给及回馈或者更新帖子）能正面的刺激的你
的购物决定？ [单选题] [必答题]
Strongly Disagree 非常不同意 ○ 1 ○ 2 ○ 3 ○ 4 ○ 5 Strongly
Agree 非常同意
20. Do you agree that the reward programs provided by social media will stimulate your
purchasing? For example, you will be offered a discount if you "Follow" the High-street brand's
official account or retweet their posts. 你是否同意社交媒体的奖励计划会正面的影响你的
购物决策？比如，当你”关注“高街品牌的官方账号或者”转发“他们的贴子，就能获得
折扣券。 [单选题] [必答题]
Strongly Disagree 非常不同意 ○ 1 ○ 2 ○ 3 ○ 4 ○ 5 Strongly
Agree 非常同意
21. Do your agree that the website design of High-street brands'social media will stimulate your
purchasing? 你是否同意高街品牌在社交媒体上的页面设计会对你的购物决定产生正面影
响? [单选题] [必答题]
Strongly Disagree 非常不同意 ○ 1 ○ 2 ○ 3 ○ 4 ○ 5 Strongly
Agree 非常同意
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22. Do your agree the developing of E-business mode will threat to the traditional High-street
shopping mode?你是否同意电子商务的发展会威胁到传统高街购物？ [单选题] [必答题]
Strongly Disagree 非常不同意 ○ 1 ○ 2 ○ 3 ○ 4 ○ 5 Strongly
Agree 非常同意
23. Do you agree that traditional High-street brands should establish their own online stores
alongside physical ones? 你是否同意传统的高街品牌应该建立自己的网上购物平台？ [单
选题] [必答题]
Strongly Disagree 非常不同意 ○ 1 ○ 2 ○ 3 ○ 4 ○ 5 Strongly
Agree 非常同意
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Appendix E: Dissertation Cover Sheet
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Appendix F: Access to Dissertation