how social media influence in purchasing decision of buyer

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A Capstone Project Report

On

“How Social Media influence in purchasing decision of Buyer”

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of

POST GRADUATION IN DIPLOMA MANAGEMENT

In

Marketing and Digital Media

Submitted To: Submitted by:

Dr. Shadab Khan Nirav Mevcha(Assistant Professor) ITM-SIA Business School,ITM-SIA Business School Roll no: - 201312213

ITM-SIA Business School, Dombivli

(2013-2015)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As a Master program student, I feel privileged and grateful in taking this opportunity to express my gratitude to many people who have contributed to the completion of this project.

I would like to express deep gratitude to Dr. Shadab Khan (Faculty Guide) for her unparalleled support and comprehensive guidance through the project and helping me counter personal and professional barriers efficiently.

I am thankful to my college director Dr. V. V. Sople for his co-operation in all possible manners.

Last but not the least; I will express my sincere thanks to all the faculties and colleagues at ITM-SIA Business School for their support and guidance for the completion of the project.

Name of Student:

Mevcha Nirav Jashvantkumar

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INDEX

Chapter Particulars Page No

Executive Summary 8

1 Introduction 9

1.1 Introduction to Social Media 10

1.2 Leveraging Social Networking Sites to generate business 10

2 Literature Review 13

2.1 What is Social Media? 14

2.2 Social Media Marketing 16

2.3 Social Media Sites 17

2.4 A History of Social Networking sites 20

2.5 Why Social Networking? 21

2.6 What to look in Social networking? 21

2.7 How does ‘SNS’ Works 24

2.8 Social Media Optimization 26

2.9 Major Social Networking sites and description about them 27

2.9.1 Facebook 27

2.9.2 Twitter 27

2.9.3 LinkedIn 29

3 Introduction to research Methodology 31

3.1 Objective of the Study 32

3.2 Methodology and Sample Selection 32

3.3 Research Design 32

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3.4 Tool of data Collection 33

3.5 Research Gap 33

3.6 Scope of the study 33

4 Data Analysis 34

4.1 Data Analysis 35

5 Recommendations and Summary 41

5.1 Recommendations 42

5.2 Summary and Conclusion 42

6 Bibliography 44

6.1 Book 45

6.2 Links 45

Annexure 46

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List of Figures

Figure Particulars Page No.

2.4 Time Line of SNS 22

4.1 Gender Classification 35

4.2 Age 35

4.3 SNS Usage 36

4.4 Social media sites 36

4.5 Advantage of SNS over Traditional Media 37

4.6 Seeking opinion of SNS’s Friend 38

4.7 Benefit from SNS 38

4.8 Influence of SNS 39

4.9 Reaction of Respondents 39

4.10 Brand/Organization connectivity on SNS 40

ITM SIA Business School, Mumbai

This is to certify that Mr. Mevcha Nirav Jashvantkumar “Capstone Project” as a part of the course PGDM (Marketing and Digital media) under our supervision and guidance.

Dr. Shadab Khan, Assistant Professor ITM-SIA Business School


CERTIFICATE

Mr. Mevcha Nirav Jashvantkumar has satisfactorily completed ” as a part of the course PGDM (Marketing and Digital media) under

our supervision and guidance.

Dr. V.V. Sople Direct

SIA Business School ITM-SIA Business School

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has satisfactorily completed ” as a part of the course PGDM (Marketing and Digital media) under

Dr. V.V. SopleDirector

SIA Business School

ITM SIA

I hereby declare that the report entitled

for the award of degree of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) in

& Digital Media contains original work ca

work or this idea belongs to someone else.


DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the report entitled “Capstone Project” submitted in partial fulfillment

for the award of degree of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) in

contains original work carried by me and no portion of this report or of this

work or this idea belongs to someone else.


Date:

7

submitted in partial fulfillment

for the award of degree of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) in Marketing

rried by me and no portion of this report or of this


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Executive Summary

Social media use is increasing and with that, more companies are investing time and money to market via social networks. Is the use of social media by companies influencing purchasing decisions?

In this age of globalization, the world has become too small a place thanks to the electronic media and portals. Communication has become effective as never before thanks to the advent of internet. The social networking sites have also played a crucial role in bridging boundaries and crossing the seas and bringing all people at a common platform where they can meet like minded people or find old friends and communicate with them. It has become a potential mean to relation building and staying in touch with all known.

Hence the objective that I wanted to achieve through my research is to: Find out the influence of social networking sites on the purchasing decision of the people- how it affects the business, what are its uses for each individuals and how have they been influenced by these sites.

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Chapter -1Introduction

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1.1 Introduction to Social Media:The social networking sites are gaining a lot of popularity these days with almost all of the educate people using one or the other such site. These have played a crucial role in bridging boundaries and crossing the seas and enabling them to communicate on a common platform. Ithas become a popular and a potential mean for them to stay friends with the existing ones and to grow up their social circle at least in terms of acquaintances.

The question regarding the safety, privacy and the legal issues have been cropping up all this time. The objective of this research is to find out the impact of these networking sites on the purchasing decision of people using them. It is a very subjective question to answer and is very opinion based and the same is reflected in the research methodology adopted.

The research is initiated with the definition of the objective followed with the researchmethodology used along with the research design, sample size, methods used for the purpose of conducting survey. It also incorporates the sampling frame and the data collection procedure.

Subsequent to this is the Introduction to the networking sites along with a brief description of the most popular sites. The next part of the research has the literature surveys which are the articles I took up from the published reports. Then I analyzed and interpreted the data at length. The last part deals with the suggestions and recommendations that have come up with after carefullyanalyzing and incorporating the opinion of all concerned.

1.2 Leveraging Social Networking Sites to Generate Business

It wasn’t until 1997, that the World Wide Web reached 50 million users throughout the United States. Facebook has gained over 100 million users in the US, since January,2009, marking a 145% growth within a year. If you’re a business owner and you still haven’t embraced the boon of a social networking website, you’re perhaps lagging behind. Business organizations can easily boost their profits by marketing their product through a social networking website and stay away from debt. Though the business debt consolidation options are there to assist you in managing your surging commercial debts, you must always take the needed steps to leave behind debt and stay financially fit.

The financial health of your business can easily be determined by perusing the balance sheet where there is a clear comparison of the revenue and the investment. Though few years ago, a social networking website was primarily used for networking and friendship, yet nowadays, most businesses are leveraging the most famous social networking websites to generate more

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revenue within their business organizations. Such steps are being taken to make ends meet amidst the tough economic conditions in the US. Have a look at the significant ways in whichyou can build your business organization by effective socialization in the social networking websites.

• Builds brand awareness – Targeting the brand-conscious people

The online social networking websites are the best platform for building and reinforcing a brand or an image that can be done easily. You just need to create a commercial profile in the most famous networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and place an image or a logo of your company as the display picture. This not only boosts the visibility, but also creates brand awareness among the visitors. However, you also need to maintain a consistency in your words and actions in order to further develop and enhance your identity as the business owner.

• Being with your customersTargeting the right audience for your business. This effect of the social networking websites is unavoidable. Such websites entirely rely on the regular presence of the millions of users. There are a huge number of people who spend their whole day browsing through different profiles in the social networking websites, irrespective of their age. Thus, if you can create a niche in such a website, you can well understand the effect that you may create online.

• Level of Accessibility Using the popularity of the websites to your benefit You must be well aware of the fact that the social networking websites are becoming increasingly popular with time. A large number of users are resorting to such sites for creating their personal business network and boosting the traffic to their company. One of the biggest benefits of leveraging the social networking sites is to boost the acceptability of your company website. As the networking websites are extremelyacceptable by the people, any company that has a profile in such a site is also automatically accepted by the people.

• Cost-effective methodEnhancing profits in a relatively cheap way while a business organization comes into operation, there are multiple things that need to be considered by the owner. The business costs are one of the most important points to be taken into consideration by the lenders. Boosting your business profits through asocial networking website is a relatively cheap method as there is no such cost involved. You just have to create a profile in a site to continue with your efforts.Before opening an account and becoming active on a particular social networking website, it is crucial to consider what each site offers to its visitors and how you may benefit from their resources. Take some time to realize your personal social media marketing strategy and create a fully developed plan to enhance your business goals. Augment the returns and use the

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proceeds in creating an emergency fund so that you need not run to business debt consolidation companies during a financial urgency.It is a golden rule of networking that people do business with people that they know, like, trust and respect. Networking meetings are facilitated at all times, breakfast, brunch, lunch, evenings, dinners, events etc all over the country enabling people to network face to face on a regular basis in order to build up those relationships.You need to present yourself to the outside world in a way that attracts interest. Not just a very brief note of who you are and a list of the things you do but a personal statement that brings your personality to life and makes people want to know more about you and what you do. Photographs are important because research shows that people are far more likely to respond to someone they can "see".

Benefits of promoting your business and expertise within a networkYou gain credibility and visibility. You gain and dispense knowledge and expertise. Youhelp others and are helped by others. You can market, promote, advertise and sell yourproducts or services online. You can use a social network as a marketing database to find customers or clients through key word searches. You can conduct market research through polls. You can look at what your competition is doing. You can define your target market and address them. It is a low cost route to market. People do business with people that they know, like, trust and respect. You can "meet" online and then arrange face to face meetings. Online networks are a great filter. They bring together people with mutual wants and needs and with like minds. They find you suppliers and clients. They find you partners, they find you staff and consultants. They match supply and demand. The community may be purely business, purely social or increasingly somewhere in between because "people are people".

Utilizing personal networks and the internet to find new contactsOnline networks and clubs bring together people with similar interests. Search facilities

allow you to find people, people to find you and people to find each other. Visibility todaydoes not mean what you know or who you know but who knows YOU

Building your business through referrals and collaborationOnce you have established visibility and credibility you will start to get testimonials andpeople will advocate and recommend you and you will quickly find you have a regularsupply of referrals being passed to you based upon your reputation and expertise. Others will approach you and ask you to collaborate with them or work in partnership and together you may be able to win contracts that you would not win as a sole trader.

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Chapter -2Literature Review

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2.1 What is Social Media?

Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalablecommunication techniques. Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Heinlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content."Businesses may also refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value.

People obtain information, education, news and other data from electronic media and print media. Social media are distinct from industrial or traditional media, such as newspapers, television, and film. They are relatively inexpensive and accessible to enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information, compared to industrial media, which generally require significant resources to publish information. Social media are widely used in marketing of products and services. One of the key components in successful social media marketing implementation is building "social authority". Social authority is developed when an individual or organization establishes themselves as an "expert" in their given field or area, thereby becoming an influencer in that field or area.

It is through this process of "building social authority" that social media becomes effective. That is why one of the foundational concepts in social media has become that you cannot completely control your message through social media but rather you can simply begin to participate in the "conversation" in the hopes that you can become a relevant influence in that conversation.

However, this conversation participation must be cleverly executed because while people are resistant to marketing in general, they are even more resistant to direct or overt marketing through social media platforms. This may seem counter-intuitive but is the main reason building social authority with credibility is so important. Thus, using social media as a form of marketing has taken on whole new challenges. Someone performing a "marketing" role within a company must honestly convince people of their genuine intentions, knowledge, and expertise in a specific area or industry through providing valuable and accurate information on an ongoing basis without a marketing angle overtly associated. If this can be done, trust with, and of, the recipient of that information – and that message itself – begins to develop naturally. This person or organization becomes a thought leader and value provider - setting themselves up as a trusted "advisor" instead of marketer.

As a result of social media – and the direct or indirect influence of social media marketers –today, consumers are as likely – or more likely – to make buying decisions based on what they

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read and see in platforms we call "social" but only if presented by someone they have come to trust. Additionally, reports have shown organizations have been able to bring back dissatisfied customers and stakeholders through social media channels. This is why a purposeful and carefully designed social media strategy has become an integral part of any complete and directed marketing plan but must also be designed using newer "authority building" techniques.

Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users. Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share common interests in hobbies, religion, or politics. Once you are granted access to asocial networking website you can begin to socialize. This socialization may include reading the profile pages of other members and possibly even contacting them.

The friends that you can make are just one of the many benefits to social networking online. Another one of those benefits includes diversity because the internet gives individuals from all around the world access to social networking sites. This means that although you are in the United States, you could develop an online friendship with someone in Denmark or India. Not only will you make new friends, but you just might learn a thing or two about new cultures or new languages and learning is always a good thing.

Since their introduction, social network sites (SNSs) such as MySpace, Facebook, Cyworld, and Bebo have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integrated these sites into their daily practices. As of this writing, there are hundreds of SNSs, with various technological affordances, supporting a wide range of interests and practices. While their key technological features are fairly consistent, the cultures that emerge around SNSs are varied. Most sites support the maintenance of pre-existing social networks, but others help strangers connect based on shared interests, political views, or activities. Some sites cater to diverse audiences, while others attract people based on common language or shared racial, sexual, religious, or nationality-based identities.

Sites also vary in the extent to which they incorporate new information and communication tools, such as mobile connectivity, blogging, and photo/video-sharing. Scholars from disparate fields have examined SNSs in order to understand the practices, implications, culture, and meaning of the sites, as well as users engagement with them. This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together a unique collection of articles that analyze a wide spectrum of social network sites using various methodological techniques, theoretical traditions, and analytic approaches. By collecting these articles in this issue, our goal is to showcase some of the interdisciplinary scholarship around these sites. One of the most important parts of social media marketing research is that it opens upthe door to communication with your current and prospective customers. This gives you an unequalled opportunity to form a relationship with them, understand them, and ensure that they understand you. Social media

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marketing research means that you can have a conversation with precisely the individuals who are buying your products or services, or who are currently looking for what you have to offer. With this communication, you can answer questions and, in doing so, not only educate your customers but also find out what they want to know about your business. This helps you to improve your marketing so that it provides improved information within its message.

2.2 Social Media Marketing:

Social media marketing is a recent addition to organizations’ integrated marketingcommunications plans. Integrated marketing communications is a practice organizations follow to connect with their target markets. Integrated marketing communications coordinates promotional elements: advertising, personal selling, public relations, publicity, direct marketing and sales promotion. Increasingly, viral marketing campaigns are also grouped into integrated marketing communications. In the traditional marketing communications model, the content, frequency, timing, and medium of communications by the organization is in collaboration with an external agent, i.e. advertising agencies, marketing research firms and public relations firms. However, the growth of social media has impacted the way organizations communicate. With the emergence of Web 2.0, the internet provides a set of tools that allow people to build social and business connections, share information and collaborate on projects online.

Social media marketing programs usually centre on efforts to create content that attractsattention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it is coming from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself.

Social media has become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet access. Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often, improved customer service. Additionally, social media serves as a relatively in expensive platform for organizations to implement marketing campaigns. With emergence of channels like Twitter, the barrier to entry in social media is greatly reduced. Social media marketing is known as SMO or Social Media Optimization and benefits organizations and individuals by providing an additional channel for customer support, a means to gain customer and competitive insight, recruitment and retention of new customers/business partners, and a method of managing reputation online. Key factors that ensure its success are its relevance to the customer, the value it provides them with and the strength of the foundation on which it is built. A strong foundation serves as aplatform in which the organization can centralize its information and direct customers on its recent developments via other social media channels, such as article and press release publications. Oftentimes, corporate social media platforms are used to offer unique incentives to customers who are willing to engage (i.e. "like" a Facebook Page).

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Social media has become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet access. Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often, improved customer service. Additionally, social media serves as a relatively inexpensive platform for organizations to implement marketing campaigns. With emergence of channels like Twitter, the barrier to entry in social media is greatly reduced.

Software tools

Several companies are now providing specialized tools and platform for social media marketing. Tools can be used for a variety of different things such as:

Social Media Monitoring Social Aggregation Social Book Marking and Tagging Social Analytics and Reporting Automation Social Media Blog Marketing Validation

2.3 Social Networking Sites:

Social network sites can be defined as web-based services that allow individuals to:

1. Construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system.2. Articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and3. View and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.

The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site. While we use the term "social network site" to describe this phenomenon, the term "social networking sites" also appears in public discourse, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. "Networking" emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers. While networking is possible on these sites, it is not the primary practice on many of them, nor is it what differentiates them from other forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC).

What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between "latent ties" who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily "networking" or looking

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to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, Ilabel them "social network sites (SNS)."

While we use the term "social network site" to describe this phenomenon, the term "social networking sites" also appears in public discourse, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. We chose not to employ the term "networking" for two reasons: emphasis and scope. "Networking" emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers. While networking is possible on these sites, it is not the primary practice on many of them, nor is it what differentiates them from other forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC).

What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between "latent ties" (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily "networking" or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them "social network sites."

While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical features, their backbone consists of visible profiles that display an articulated list of Friends 1 who are also users of the system. Profiles are unique pages where one can "type oneself into being" (Sundén,2003, p. 3). After joining an SNS, an individual is asked to fill out forms containing a series of questions. The profile is generated using the answers to these questions, which typically include descriptors such as age, location, interests, and an "about me" section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a profile photo. Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding multimedia content or modifying their profiles look and feel. Others, such as Facebook, allow users to add modules ("Applications") that enhance their profile.

The visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user discretion. By default, profiles on Friendster and Tribe.net are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account. Alternatively, LinkedIn controls what a viewer may see based on whether she or he has a paid account. Sites like MySpace allow users to choose whether they want their profile to be public or "Friends only." Facebook takes a different approach—by default, users who are part of the same "network" can view each other’sprofiles, unless a profile owner has decided to deny permission to those in their network. Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary ways that SNSs differentiate themselves from each other.

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After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the system with whom they have a relationship. The label for these relationships differs depending on the site—popular terms include "Friends," "Contacts," and "Fans." Most SNSs require bi-directional confirmation for Friendship, but some do not. These one-directional ties are sometimes labeled as "Fans" or "Followers," but many sites call these Friends as well. The term "Friends" can be misleading, because the connection does not necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense, and the reasons people connect are varied (boyd, 2006a).The public display of connections is a crucial component of SNSs. The Friends list contains links to each Friends profile, enabling viewers to traverse the network graph by clicking through the Friends lists. On most sites, the list of Friends is visible to anyone who is permitted to view the profile, although there are exceptions. For instance, some

MySpace users have hacked their profiles to hide the Friends display, and LinkedIn allows users to opt out of displaying their network.

Most SNSs also provide a mechanism for users to leave messages on their Friends profiles. This feature typically involves leaving "comments," although sites employ various labels for this feature. In addition, SNSs often have a private messaging feature similar to webmail. While both private messages and comments are popular on most of the major SNSs, they are not universally available.

Not all social network sites began as such. QQ started as a Chinese instant messaging service, Lunar Storm as a community site, Cyworld as a Korean discussion forum tool, and Sky rock (formerly Skyblog) was a French blogging service before adding SNS features. Classmates.com, a directory of school affiliates launched in 1995, began supporting articulated lists of Friends after SNSs became popular. Asian Avenue, MiGente, and BlackPlanet were early popular ethnic community sites with limited Friends functionality before re-launching in 2005-2006 with SNS features and structure.

Beyond profiles, Friends, comments, and private messaging, SNSs vary greatly in their features and user base. Some have photo-sharing or video-sharing capabilities; others have built-in blogging and instant messaging technology. There are mobile-specific SNSs(e.g., Dodgeball), but some web-based SNSs also support limited mobile interactions(e.g., Facebook, MySpace, and Cyworld). Many SNSs target people from specific geographical regions or linguistic groups, although this does not always determine the sites constituency. Orkut, for example, was launched in the United States with an English-only interface, but Portuguese-speaking Brazilians quickly became the dominant user group (Kopytoff, 2004). Some sites are designed with specific ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, political, or other identity-driven categories in mind. There are even SNSs for dogs (Dogster) and cats (Catster), although their owners must manage theirprofiles.

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While SNSs are often designed to be widely accessible, many attract homogeneous populations initially, so it is not uncommon to find groups using sites to segregate themselves by nationality, age, educational level, or other factors that typically segment society (Hargittai, this issue), even if that was not the intention of the designers.

2.4 A History of Social Network Sites:

The Early Years

According to the definition above, the first recognizable social network site launched in1997. SixDegrees.com allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and, beginning in 1998, surf the Friends lists. Each of these features existed in some form before Six Degrees, of course. Profiles existed on most major dating sites and many community sites. AIM and ICQ buddy lists supported lists of Friends, although those Friends were not visible to others. Classmates.com allowed people to affiliate with their high school or college and surf the network for others who were also affiliated, but users could not create profiles or list Friends until years later. SixDegrees was the first to combine these features.

Six Degrees promoted itself as a tool to help people connect with and send messages to others. While Six Degrees attracted millions of users, it failed to become a sustainable business and, in 2000, the service closed. Looking back, its founder believes that Six Degrees was simply ahead of its time (A. Weinreich, personal communication, July11, 2007). While people were already flocking to the Internet, most did not have extended networks of friends who were online. Early adopters complained that there was little to do after accepting Friend requests, and most users were not interested in meeting strangers.

From 1997 to 2001, a number of community tools began supporting various combinations of profiles and publicly articulated Friends. AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet, and MiGente allowed users to create personal, professional, and dating profiles—users could identify Friends on their personal profiles without seeking approval for those connections (O. Wasow, personal communication, August 16, 2007). Likewise, shortly after its launch in 1999, Live Journal listed one-directional connections on user pages. Live Journals creator suspects that he fashioned these Friends after instant messaging buddy lists (B. Fitzpatrick, personal communication, June 15, 2007)—on Live Journal, people mark others as Friends to follow their journals and manage privacy settings. The Korean virtual worlds site Cyworld was started in 1999 and added SNS features in 2001,independent of these other sites (see Kim & Yun, this issue). Likewise, when the Swedish web community Lunar Storm refashioned itself as an SNS in 2000, it contained

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Friends lists, guest books, and diary pages (D. Skog, personal communication, September 24,2007).

The next wave of SNSs began when Ryze.com was launched in 2001 to help people leverage their business networks. Ryzes founder reports that he first introduced the siteto his friends—primarily members of the San Francisco business and technology community, including the entrepreneurs and investors behind many future SNSs (A. Scott, personal communication, June 14, 2007). In particular, the people behind Ryze,Tribe.net, LinkedIn, and Friendster were tightly entwined personally and professionally. They believed that they could support each other without competing (Festa, 2003). In the end, Ryze never acquired mass popularity, Tribe.net grew to attract a passionate niche user base, LinkedIn became a powerful business service, and Friendster be camethe most significant, if only as "one of the biggest disappointments in Internet history"(Chafkin, 2007, p. 1).

Like any brief history of a major phenomenon, ours is necessarily incomplete. In the following section we discuss Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook, three key SNSs that shaped the business, cultural, and research landscape.

2.5 Why Social Networking?

Through social networking, people can use networks of online friends and group memberships to keep in touch with current friends, reconnect with old friends or create real–life friendships through similar interests or groups. Besides establishing important social relationships, social networking members can share their interests with other like–minded members by joining groups and forums. Some networking can also help members find a job or establish business contacts.

Most social networking websites also offer additional features. In addition to blogs and forums, members can express themselves by designing their profile page to reflect their personality. The most popular extra features include music and video sections. Members can read bios of their favourite music artists from the artists profile page as well as listen to their favourite songs and watch music videos. The video section can include everything from member–generated videos from hundreds of subjects to TV clips and movie trailers.

2.6 What to Look for in Social Networking?

The phenomenon of online social networking—made extremely popular by MySpace.com, as evolved to include more than the teenage stereotype looking to expand his/her network of online friends. People of all ages and backgrounds have discovered that they can enrich their lives through the contacts they make on a social networking website. Below are the criteria Top Ten REVIEWS used to evaluate Social Networking websites.

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Figure 2.4 Time Line of SNS

Figure 2.4: Timeline of the launch dates of many major SNSs and dates when communitysites re-launched with SNS features

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Profiles

The heart and soul of social networking sites are user’s personal profiles. It’s like their own Internet sanctuary, a place where they can express their thoughts and feelings, post photographs and show off their network of friends. The most popular social network websites put a strong emphasis on the user’s profile, making it easy to use yet still reflective of the user’s personality.

Security

The Internet can be a dangerous place to post personal information. All social networks should provide the ability to set profiles to private in some way or another. Additionally they should have the ability to report and block users.

Networking Features

A good social network goes above and beyond just allowing users to post profiles and update pictures. Additional features should include music sections, video uploads, groups and more.

Search

The object of a social network is to find friends and expand relationships. Top social networking websites allows members to search for other members in a safe and easy to use environment. Common search functions include search by name, city, school and email address.

Help/Support

Most social network sites are self-explanatory. However, in the off-chance a user needs help there needs to be some way to contact the webmaster or answers in an FAQs section.

Legitimate Friend Focus

The growing trend for social networks is to communicate and keep in touch with people you already know. No one wants to be inundated with unsolicited spam friend requests. The best social network sites keep profiles and search options private enough that the only people that can find you are the ones actually looking for users in their own school or neighborhoodnetworks. Even with a completely public profile, users shouldn’t be bothered with more than a couple of unsolicited comments or messages.

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2.7 How Does ‘SNS’ Work:

While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical features, their back bone consists of visible profiles that display an articulated list of Friends who are also users of the system. Profiles are unique pages where one can type oneself into being. After joining an SNS, an individual is asked to fill out forms containing a series of questions. The profile is generated using the answers to these questions, which typically include descriptors such as age, location, interests, and an "about me" section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a profile photo. Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding multimedia content or modifying their profiles look and feel. Others, such as Face book, allow users to add modules ("Applications") that enhance their profile.

The visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user discretion. By default, profiles on Orkut or hi5.com are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account. Alternatively, sites like MySpace allow users to choose whether they want their profile to be public or "Friends only." Face book takes a different approach—by default, users who are part of the same "network" can view each others profiles, unless a profile owner has decided to deny permission to those in their network. Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary ways that SNSs differentiate themselves from each other.

After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the system with whom they have a relationship. The label for these relationships differs depending on the site popular terms include "Friends," "Contacts," and "Fans." Most SNSs require bi-directional confirmation for Friendship, but some do not. These one-directional ties are sometimes labeled as "Fans" or "Followers," but many sites call these Friends as well. The term "Friends" can be misleading, because the connection does not necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense, and the reasons people connect are varied.

The public display of connections is a crucial component of SNSs. The Friends list contains links to each Friends profile, enabling viewers to traverse the network graph by clicking through the Friends lists. On most sites, the list of Friends is visible to anyone who is permitted to view the profile, although there are exceptions.

Most SNSs also provide a mechanism for users to leave messages on their Friends profiles. This feature typically involves leaving "comments," although sites employ various labels for this feature. In addition, SNSs often have a private messaging feature similar to webmail. While both private messages and comments are popular on most of the major SNSs, they are not universally available.

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Beyond profiles, Friends, comments, and private messaging, SNSs vary greatly in their features and user base. Some have photo-sharing or video-sharing capabilities; others have built-in blogging and instant messaging technology. There are mobile-specific SNSs(e.g., Dodgeball), but some web-based SNSs also support limited mobile interactions(e.g., Face book, MySpace, and Orkut). Many SNSs target people from specific geographical regions or linguistic groups, although this does not always determine the sites constituency. Orkut, for example, was launched in the United States with an English-only interface, but Portuguese-speaking Brazilians quickly became the dominant user group. Some sites are designed with specific ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, political, or other identity-driven categories in mind. There are even SNSs for dogs (Dogster) and cats (Catster), although their owners must manage their profiles.

While SNSs are often designed to be widely accessible, many attract homogeneous populations initially, so it is not uncommon to find groups using sites to segregate themselves by nationality, age, educational level, or other factors that typically segment society, even if that was not the intention of the designers.

Utilization in Business

There are many ways that business’ can use social networking web sites to their advantage but we are going to focus on three. The first aspect of a business that could use a social networking website for would be the hiring of employees. Such sites asMonster.com actually help many people searching for jobs and many companies looking for employees to find each other. It’s as simple as creating your own resume and putting it out there. Monster.com then takes your resume and compares it to the needs and wants that companies have posted on the web site and connects the company with people who meet or exceed their posted standards. This a lot faster and involves a more broad spectrum of resources for which a company can use to find the perfect employee.

Another aspect of business affected by social networking websites is marketing. With themillions of people that use social networking web sites, what better way to market your product then by buying space on those web sites? Whether it’s through banners or links millions of people will view your ads should they be placed on a social networking website. An example is that of 1up.com. Through its great reputation to gamers many gaming companies are willing to spend thousands of dollars for advertising space since they know that gamers who view the web site will most likely learn about their product. Not only is online advertising more effective than commercial advertising such as TV ads and magazines, it’s also more cost effective and reaches far more people than other forms of advertising. An example of the effectiveness of internet advertising isYouTube.com in which experts have estimated that “Given its traffic levels, video streams and page views, some have calculated that YouTubes potential revenues couldbe in the millions per month.” (YouTube, 2007).

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A third aspect of business that is affected by social networking websites is that of fair pricing. With so many businesses’ out there creating virtually the same product it’s easy for one to get lost in the broad spectrum of products. With social networking websites people can get advice from experts, gain knowledge of product through others who have used it, and get reviews on nearly anything that is mass produced today. This in turn is also great for businesses. With all this information out there concerning products it’s easy for a company to look through it and see what customers want and for how much. This in turn leads to better products being made to suit the customers’ needs and wants.

2.8 Social Media Optimization:

Social Media Optimization (or SMO or Social SEO) is the methodisation of social media activity with the intent of attracting unique visitors to website content. SMO is one of many online methods of website optimization. One of the many other methods is search engine optimization or SEO.

There are two categories of SMO/Social SEO methods:

Social media features added to the content itself, including: RSS feeds, social newsand sharing buttons, user rating and polling tools, and incorporating third-partycommunity functionalities like images and videos

Promotional activities in social media aside from the content being promoted, including: blogging, commenting on other blogs, participating in discussion groups, and posting status updates on social networking profiles.

Social Media Optimization is related to search engine marketing, but differs in sever always, primarily the focus on driving traffic from sources other than search engines, though improved search ranking is also a benefit of successful Social Media Optimization. Social Media Optimization (SMO) is not limited to marketing and brand building. Increasingly smart businesses are integrating social media participation as part of their knowledge management strategy (i.e. product/service development, recruiting, employee engagement and turnover, brand building, customer satisfaction and relations, business development and more). Additionally, Social Media Optimization is often at times implemented to foster a community of the associated site, allowing for a healthy business to consumer relationship.

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2.9 Major Social Networking sites and description about them:

2.9.1 Facebook:

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. As of January 2014, Facebook has more than 1.3 billion active users. Users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Facebook users must register before using the site. Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics. The name of the service stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the United States to help students get to know each other better. Facebook allows any users who declare themselves to be at least 13 years old to become registered users of the website.

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saver in, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The websites membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities before opening to high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over, but based onConsumersReports.org on May 2011, there are 7.5 million children under 13 with accounts, violating the sites terms.

A January 2009 Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social networking service by worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace. Entertainment Weekly included the site on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "How on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers birthdays, bug our friends, and play a rousing game of Scrabulous before Facebook?" Quantcast estimates Facebook has 138.9 million monthly unique U.S. visitors in May 2011.

Some studies have named Facebook as a source of problems in relationships. Several news stories have suggested that using Facebook causes divorce and infidelity, but the claims have been questioned and refuted by other commentators.

2.9.2 Twitter:

Twitter is a website, owned and operated by Twitter Inc., which offers a social networking and micro blogging service, enabling its users to send and read messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the users profile page.

The website is based in San Francisco. Twitter also has servers and offices in San Antonio and Boston. Twitter, Inc. was originally incorporated in California, but as of 2011 is incorporated in Delaware.

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Twitter was produced in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched in July. Since then Twitter has gained popularity worldwide and is estimated to have 100 million users, generating 190 million tweets a day and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day .It is sometimes described as the "SMS of the Internet".

As of December 2014, Twitter has more than 500 million users, out of which more than 284 million are active users.

The company experienced rapid growth. It had 400,000 tweets posted per quarter in2007. This grew to 100 million tweets posted per quarter in 2008. In February 2010,Twitter users were sending 50 million tweets per day. By March 2010, the company recorded over 70,000 registered applications. As of June 2010, about 65 million tweet swere posted each day, equalling about 750 tweets sent each second, according to Twitter. As noted on Compete.com, Twitter moved up to the third-highest-ranking social networking site in January 2009 from its previous rank of twenty-second.

Twitters usage spikes during prominent events. For example, a record was set during the 2010 FIFA World Cup when fans wrote 2,940 tweets per second in the thirty-second period after Japan scored against Cameroon on June 14, 2010. The record was broken again when 3,085 tweets per second were posted after the Los Angeles Lakers victory in the 2010 NBA Finals on June 17, 2010, and then again at the close of Japans victory over Denmark in the World Cup when users published 3,283 tweets per second. When American singer Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, company servers crashed after users were updating their status to include the words "Michael Jackson" at a rate of100,000 tweets per hour.

Twitter acquired application developer Atebits on April 11, 2010. Atebits had developed the Apple Design Award-winning Twitter client Tweetie for the Mac and iPhone. The application, now called "Twitter" and distributed free of charge, is the official Twitterclient for the iPhone, iPad and Mac.

From September through October 2010, the company began rolling out "New Twitter", an entirely revamped edition of twitter.com. Changes included the ability to see pictures and videos without leaving Twitter itself by clicking on individual tweets which contain

links to images and clips from a variety of supported websites including YouTube, Flickr, as well as a complete overhaul of the interface, which shifted links such as @mentions and Retweets above the Twitter stream, while Messages and Log Out became accessible via a black bar at the very top of twitter.com. As of November 1, 2010, the company confirmed that the "New Twitter experience" had been rolled out to all users. On April 5, 2011, Twitter tested a new homepage, as well as phasing out the "Old Twitter." However, a glitch came about after the page was launched, so the previous "retro" homepage was still in use until the issues were resolved. On April 20, 2011, the new homepage was reintroduced, though the "Switch to Old Twitter" option is still available to users.

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2.9.3 LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. As of 22 March2011, LinkedIn reports more than 100 million registered users, spanning more than 200countries and territories worldwide. The site is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Russian and Turkish. Quant cast reports LinkedIn has 21.4 million monthly unique U.S. visitors and 47.6 million globally.

LinkedIn filed for an initial public offering in January 2011 and traded its first shares on May 19, 2011, under the NYSE symbol "LNKD".

One purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people with whom they have some level of relationship, called Connections. Users can invite anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection. However, if there cipient of an invitation selects "I don’t know", this counts against the person inviting them, and after five such "IDKs" a member cannot invite another to connect without first supplying their recipient mail address.

This list of connections can then be used in a number of ways:

A contact network is built up consisting of their direct connections, the connections of each of their connections (termed second-degree connections) and also the connections of second-degree connections (termed third-degree connections). This can be used to gain an introduction to someone a person wishes to know through a mutual contact.

It can then be used to find jobs, people and business opportunities recommended by someone in ones contact network.

Employers can list jobs and search for potential candidates.

Job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers and discover which of their existingcontacts can introduce them.

Users can post their own photos and view photos of others to aid in identification. • Users can now follow different companies and can get notification about the new joining and offers available.

Users can save (i.e. bookmark) jobs which they would like to apply for.

The "gated-access approach" (where contact with any professional requires either a pre-existing relationship, or the intervention of a contact of theirs) is intended to build trust among the services users. LinkedIn participates in the EUs International Safe Harbour Privacy Principles.LinkedIn also allows users to research companies with which they may be interested in working. When typing the name of a given company in the search box, statistics about the company are provided. These may include the ratio of female to male employees, the percentage of the most

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common titles/positions held within the company, the location of the company’s headquarters and offices, or a list of present and former employees.

The feature LinkedIn Answers, similar to Yahoo! Answers, allows users to ask questions for the community to answer. This feature is free and the main difference from the latter is that questions are potentially more business-oriented, and the identity of the people asking and answering questions is known.

Another LinkedIn feature is LinkedIn Polls. A mobile version of the site was launched in February 2008 which gives access to are duced feature set over a mobile phone. The mobile service is available in six languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

In mid-2008, LinkedIn launched LinkedIn Direct Ads as a form of sponsored advertising. In October, 2008, LinkedIn revealed plans to opening its social network of 30 million professionals globally as a potential sample for business-to-business research. It is testing a potential social-network revenue model-research that to some appears more promising than advertising. In October, 2008, LinkedIn enabled an "applications platform" that allows other online services to be embedded within a members profile page. Among the initial applications were an Amazon Reading List that allows LinkedIn members to display books they are reading, a connection to Tripit, and a Six Apart, WordPress and TypePad application that allows members to display their latest blog postings within their LinkedIn profile.

In November, 2010, LinkedIn allowed businesses to list products and services on company profile pages; it also permitted LinkedIn members to "recommend" products and services and write reviews. In January 2011, LinkedIn acquired CardMunch, a mobile app maker that scans business cards and converts into contacts. LinkedIn plans to integrate this functionality into theirservices in the near future.

LinkedIn also supports the formation of interest groups, and as of March 24, 2011 there are 870,612 such groups whose membership varies from 1 to 377,000. The majority of the largest groups are employment related, although a very wide range of topics are covered mainly around professional and career issues, and there are currently 128,000groups for both academic and corporate alumni. Groups support a limited form of discussion area, moderated by the group owners and managers. Since groups offer the ability to reach a wide audience without so easilyfalling foul of anti-spam solutions, there is a constant stream of spam postings, and there now exist a range of firms who offer a spamming service for this very purpose.

LinkedIn has devised a few mechanisms to reduce the volume of spam, but recently took the decision to remove the ability of group owners to inspect the email address of new members in order to determine if they were spammers. Groups may be private, accessible to members only or may be open to Internet users in general to read, though they must join in order to post messages.

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Chapter -3Introduction to the Research Methodology

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3.1 Objectives of the Study:

Over the past few years, social media has been platform which is part of day to day human lifes. The focus of the study is to understand the consumer buying behaviour and influence of social media’s in decision making.

Thus the specific objectives of the study were; To find out the influence of social Networking sites on the purchasing decision of the people. To find out how Social Networking sites helps in the marketers. To understand the various advantage of using Social networking sites. To find out whether the users believe in online marketing.

3.2 Methodology and Sample Selection:The methodology of the study is as follow.

Data Collection Method:After the secondary collection through data collection over the internet, a primary research was carried out through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was well structured and the responses were sought from the respondents. The nature of the questions was such that it avoided ambiguous responses from the respondents and it also helped in quick analysis of data collected.

The questionnaire was e-mailed to respondents who filled it and mail it back.

Sample Size:In this study 110 people selected as sample.

3.3. Research Design:

Research: Descriptive researchData Source: PrimaryResearch Instrument: Questionnaire (Survey)Type of Questionnaire: Structured non-disguisedType of questions:- Close ended questionsSample unit: 110 Contact method: onlineMode of collecting data: Questionnaire was mailed to people and requested to fill survey forms.Determined sequences: The secondary data was collected from various books, journals, news.Period of study: 1st Feb. 2015 to 31st March 2015

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3.4 Tool of data collection:

A questionnaire is developed with the help of google docs to collect data from respondents.

The primary data are analyzed and interpretation of the result was made done with the help of pictorial representation.

3.5 Research Gap:

The limitations of this study are as follows,

Sample size could have been greater than 100 to match the diverse background of the respondent.

Influence is difficult to measure properly, since a recommendation can be positive, and yet still have a negative impact on purchase behavior.

Customer feedback and the social network are often found overtaking price, and in some cases brand as a major factor in online purchase decision.

Until recently, many online purchase decision were driven by brand and security concern, Small companies are seeing becoming the champions of the networks.

3.6 Scope of study:

a) The survey is span across different age groups and genders.b) The survey is span across individuals perception in use of social networking sites in

purchasing decision.

It’s not just individuals that are populating Social Networking Sites – companies, brands, products and even bands are realizing that SNS is an excellent way to gain exposure over a vast audience. Even people who have resisted joining SNS in the past are quickly recognizing its potential to become and stay connected to other people and organizations. This has largely contributed to SNS’s rapid growth and shows no signs of slowing down. In the Internet Marketing and promotion of the online businesses Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter are always considered as a good source of traffic and getting direct customers.

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Chapter -4Data Analysis

4.1 Data Analysis & Discussion

Gender Classification of the Respondents

Inference:

Out of the total sample size 110, 66.4% are male & the female denomination is 33.6%. From this it is clear that males are more net savvy than female.

Age

GenderNo: of

RespondentsPercentage

Male 73 66.4%Female 37 33.6%

Age GroupNo: Of


Less than 18 1 0.9%18-25 85 77.3%25-45 22 20%45-60 2 1.8%

More than 60 0 0%

Table No: 4.1

Table No: 4.2

Data Analysis & Discussion

Gender Classification of the Respondents

Fig. 4.1 Gender Classification

Out of the total sample size 110, 66.4% are male & the female denomination is 33.6%. this it is clear that males are more net savvy than female.

Fig. 4.2 Age

Male, 73

Female, 37

Gender Classification

Less than 18

18-25

25-45

More than 60

Other

Age

Percentage

Percentage

35


Out of the total sample size 110, 66.4% are male & the female denomination is 33.6%.

Male, 73


Male

Female

Less than 18

45-60

More than 60

Less than 18

18-25

25-45

45-60

More than 60

Inference:

Out of the total sample size 110, followed by 20% in the age group 25

The age group of less than 18 years is close to 45others who are more active in socially compared to them.

Social Networking Site usage

Inference:

96.4% of respondent have said that they use social networking sites. Only a small percentage of respondent have said that they do not use internet

personally.

Social Network site people using as a part of making purchase decision

ResponseNo: of

RespondentPercentage

Yes 106 96.4%No 4 3.6%

Social Network Used

No: of distribution

Percentage

Facebook 93 84.5%Twitter 32 29.1%

Youtube 54 49.1%Google+ 32 29.1%

Other 37 33.6%

Table No: 4.3

Table No: 4.4

Out of the total sample size 110, 77.3% users are between the age group 18followed by 20% in the age group 25-45years.

of less than 18 years is close to 45-60 years and catching up fast with others who are more active in socially compared to them.

Social Networking Site usage

Fig. 4.3 SNS Usage

96.4% of respondent have said that they use social networking sites. Only a small percentage of respondent have said that they do not use internet


Fig. 4.4 Social Media Site

Yes, 106

No, 4Social Media Usage

93

32

54

32

020406080

100

Facebook Twitter Youtube Google+

Social Media Sites

Percentage

96.4%

Percentage

84.5%29.1%49.1%29.1%33.6%

36

between the age group 18-25 years

60 years and catching up fast with

SNS Usage

Only a small percentage of respondent have said that they do not use internet


Social Media Site

Social Media Usage

Yes

No

37

Google+ Other

Social Media Sites Facebook

Twitter

Youtube

Google+

Other

Inference:

Facebook, Twitter & YouTube is the most popular Number of people using social networking site are increasing day by day. Using this social networking site

batter result for organization.

Advantage of using social neta product/service

Fig. 4.5 Advantage of SNS over Traditional Media

Inference:

From this data we can reach to conclusion that now a days the people find advantage of using social networking sites over traditional media in purchasing a product/service.

53.6% respondent agreed to the statement with a concrete support of 11.8% respondent who strongly agrees

Strongly Disagree, 5

Disagree, 7

Neither agree nor disagree, 26

Strongly Agree, 13

Response

Strongly DisagreeDisagree

Neither agree nor disagreeAgree

Strongly Agree

Facebook, Twitter & YouTube is the most popular Social Networking sites.Number of people using social networking site are increasing day by day.Using this social networking site as a media for marketing product/services will greater

Advantage of using social networking sites over Traditional media in purchasing

Table No: 4.5

Advantage of SNS over Traditional Media

From this data we can reach to conclusion that now a days the people find advantage of using social networking sites over traditional media in purchasing a product/service.53.6% respondent agreed to the statement with a concrete support of 11.8%

agrees with the statement.

Agree, 59

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

ResponseNo of

RespondentPercentage

Strongly Disagree 5 4.5%Disagree 7 6.4%

Neither agree nor disagree 26 23.6%Agree 59 53.6%

Strongly Agree 13 11.8%

37

Social Networking sites.Number of people using social networking site are increasing day by day.

as a media for marketing product/services will greater

media in purchasing

From this data we can reach to conclusion that now a days the people find advantage of using social networking sites over traditional media in purchasing a product/service.53.6% respondent agreed to the statement with a concrete support of 11.8%

Neither agree nor disagree

Percentage

Seeking opinion through social Networking friends

Inference:

69.1% of respondents say that before purchasing service/product they seek the opinion of their social networking friends.

30.9% responded negatively to this statement This show a new market area for the modern business.

Benefit from Social Networking site as a buyer

Inference:

69% of respondents uses SNS for getting user review before purchasing a product/service

63% of respondents uses SNS for getting offers from the brand We can infer that SNS plays a important role as a word of mouth in the market area of

any company providing product/service.

ResponseNo of


Yes 76 69.1%No 34 30.9%

ResponsesNo of

RespondentsGetting user

review69

Offers from the brands

63

More Communication

36

Update of Product/Service

56

Table no: 4.6

Table No: 4.7

Seeking opinion through social Networking friends

Fig. 4.6 Seeking opinion of SNS’s Friend

69.1% of respondents say that before purchasing service/product they seek the opinion of their social networking friends.

responded negatively to this statementThis show a new market area for the modern business.

Benefit from Social Networking site as a buyer

Fig. 4.7 Benefit from SNS

69% of respondents uses SNS for getting user review before purchasing a

63% of respondents uses SNS for getting offers from the brand We can infer that SNS plays a important role as a word of mouth in the market area of any company providing product/service.

Yes, 76

No, 34

Opinion through Social Media

Getting user

review, 69

Offers from

brands, 63

More Communication, 36

Update of Product/Se

rvice, 56

Percentage

69.1%30.9%

Percentage

62.7%

57.3%

32.7%

50.9%

38

eeking opinion of SNS’s Friend

69.1% of respondents say that before purchasing service/product they seek the opinion

Benefit from SNS

69% of respondents uses SNS for getting user review before purchasing a

We can infer that SNS plays a important role as a word of mouth in the market area of

Yes, 76

Opinion through Social Media

Yes

No

Offers from the

brands, 63

More Communication, 36

Getting user review

Offers from the brands

More Communication

Update of Product/Service

Social Networking sites influence purchasing decision

Inference:

58.2 % of respondents agreed that they feel the purchasing decision

6.4% of respondents strongly agreed to this statement We can reach to a conclusion that SNS plays an important role in influencing people

purchase decision.

Respondent’s reaction towards reviews online

Inference:

ResponseNo of


Strongly Disagree

6

Disagree 13Neither

Agree nor disagree

20

Agree 64Strongly

Agree7

ResponseNo of

respondentPercentage

Consistently 6 5.5%Usually 33 30%Often 26 23.6%

Sometimes 45 40.9%Seldom 0 0%

Table No: 4.8

Table No: 4.9

Social Networking sites influence purchasing decision

Fig. 4.8 Influence of SNS

58.2 % of respondents agreed that they feel the social networking sites influence their

6.4% of respondents strongly agreed to this statementWe can reach to a conclusion that SNS plays an important role in influencing people

Respondent’s reaction towards purchase of products/services after reading their

Fig 4.9 Reaction of Respondents

Strongly Disagree, 6

Disagree, 13

Neither Agree nor

disagree, 20

Agree, 64

010203040506070

Strongly Disagree

Disagree Neither Agree nor disagree

Consistently, 6

Usually, 33

Often, 26

Sometimes, 45

Seldom, 0

Percentage

5.5%

11.8%

18.2%

58.2%

6.4%

Percentage

5.5%30%

23.6%40.9%

0%

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Influence of SNS

social networking sites influence their

We can reach to a conclusion that SNS plays an important role in influencing people

purchase of products/services after reading their

Reaction of Respondents

Neither Agree nor

disagree, 20

Agree, 64

Strongly Agree, 7

Neither Agree nor disagree

Agree Strongly Agree

Often, 26

Consistently

Usually

Often

Sometimes

Seldom

It is clear from the data that the number of purchasing is increasing in a great increase of rate.

In the coming years the online market will boom to the peak of its grandeur.

Connected to brand/organization on social

Inference:

53.6% of respondents are following or connected to any brand/organization on social networks.

Liking Facebook fan Page, following on Twitter brand/organization on social networks.

This makes the people aware about the offers, discounts, other privileges put forward by the organization which will directly reflect in t

ResponseNo of

respondentPercentage

Yes 59 53.6%No 51 46.4%

Table No: 4.10

It is clear from the data that the number of purchasing is increasing in a great increase


Connected to brand/organization on social network

Fig. 4.10 Brand/organization Connectivity on SNS

53.6% of respondents are following or connected to any brand/organization on social

Liking Facebook fan Page, following on Twitter is examples of connected to any brand/organization on social networks.This makes the people aware about the offers, discounts, other privileges put forward by the organization which will directly reflect in the SNS users.

Yes, 59No, 51

Percentage

53.6%46.4%

40

It is clear from the data that the number of purchasing is increasing in a great increase


Brand/organization Connectivity on SNS

53.6% of respondents are following or connected to any brand/organization on social

examples of connected to any

This makes the people aware about the offers, discounts, other privileges put forward

Yes, 59Yes

No

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Chapter -5Recommendation & Summary

42

5.1 Recommendations:

Social media is a good platform to spread the word and it should be used properly to ensure its influence makes a difference. When used properly its influence will certainly lead to change.

People with high technical knowledge can be targeted via Social Networking Sites than using any other traditional marketing scenarios.

Marketers can widely use social networking sites for marketing their products and services, as the reach to the target customers is comparatively high and the cost for promotional activities are low compared to other media’s.

5.2 Summary and Conclusion

A social networking web site is an online community in which people can connect to others with similar interests. Social networking sites (SNSes) like Twitter.com and Facebook attract large numbers of mostly young users who are eager to engage with their favorite brands. But most marketers use traditional marketing tactics like run-of-site advertising and static micro sites to push messages into these networks. Instead, to realize the full value of marketing on SNSes, marketers should be prepared to engage in a personal relationship with users by providing something of value. Promotions are good in this context, but even better are information or brand elements that users can pass on to their friends.

By understanding the social network of users, firms can better understand and influence consumer’s behavior. Social media has disrupted the way marketing has operated for decades. It’s an exciting development, but it presents philosophical dilemmas for many companies. In the span of just a few years, communication has evolved from a one-way to two-way discussion on social media platforms. As consumers have rapidly adopted social media, companies have etched out their plans for effectively engaging with them.

Social media is inherently risky. But like all risky endeavors, it also potentially holds a wealth of positive impact that is arguably unparalleled in today’s marketing world. Taking a stance on these dilemmas and taking preventative steps to lower that risk is not only good social media planning. It’s also good business. Consumers respond less to traditional media and advertising, and are moving towards consumer-to-consumer communication such as blogging, mobile messaging, comparison shopping sites, word-of mouth marketing, and peer-to-peer networks. Research states that 80% of consumers trust advice from friends online, representing three times as much trust than via traditional media. Further, one in three Internet users visits Websites containing user-generated content to help make purchase decisions.

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As you connect with customers or engage in their online communities, you can also receive direct feedback that will help you to better your customer experience. Feedback may include impressions of the brand as a whole, experiences with products and services, convenience with the purchasing process, and even the way that people feel about the look and usability of your website. This information can be invaluable to making sure that you are meeting or exceeding the expectations of your customers.

While it is possible to receive feedback strictly about your own company and products, it is also possible to use social media marketing research to see how your customers and prospective customers feel about your business and its offerings in comparison with your competition. Find out how people feel about certain specifics or about your business as a whole when compared to other organizations that are offering similar (or identical) products and services. With this information, you can strengthen the features that your customers like about your business, and make alterations where they feel that your company is lacking when compared to the competition.

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Chapter -6Bibliography

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6.1 Books:

Social Media Marketing for Dummies:- Shiv Singh, Stephanie Diamond Marketing Management:- Philip Kotler Riding the Social Marketing Wave- Philip Kotler

6.2 Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_marketing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_optimization http://webtrends.about.com/od/socialnetworkingreviews/tp/Social-Networking-

Sites.htm

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ANNEXURE

Full Name* ________________

Gender * Male Female

Age *

Less than 18

18-25

25-45

45-60

More than 60Do you use any social media site? *

YesNo

Which of the Social Networking site do you use as a part of making purchase decision? *(You can choose more than one choice)

FacebookTwitterYoutubeGoogle+Other

Do you agree using social networking site over traditional media in purchasing a product/service provides better advantage? *

Strongly DisagreeDisagreeNeither agree nor disagreeAgreeStrongly Agree

Before purchasing service/product do you seek opinion with your social networking friends? *

YesNo

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How has social networking site benefit you as a buyer? *

(You can choose more than one choice)

Getting user reviewOffers from the brandsMore CommunicationUpdate of Product/Service

You feel social networking site influence your purchasing power *

Strongly DisagreeDisagreeNeither Agree nor disagreeAgreeStrongly Agree

You think that a Brand/Organisation being on a social network influence the purchasing decision of other? *

Strongly DisagreeDisagreeNeither Agree nor DisagreeAgreeStrongly Agree

How often you purchase product.service after reading their reviews online? *

ConsistentlyUsuallyOftenSometimesSeldom

Are you contacted to any brand/organization on social networks?

(e.g. Being a Facebook fan of Nike or following Samsung on twitter)

YesNo

how social media influence in purchasing decision of buyer

Social Media

social media sites

social media marketing

social media optimization

itmsia business school

traditional media

major social networking

influence of sns

sns usage