The Way Young Consumers Behave Prior to Their
Purchase Decision and Consumption
A consumer’s belief and attitude have a major impact on how they perceive advertising and, conversely, the effectiveness of advertising helps shape consumer attitude and beliefs . Various studies have revealed that this concept applies to social media advertising too. Wang and Sun found that consumer attitude towards social media advertising is greatly influenced by their beliefs . If the consumer is sceptical about online advertising and social media as a medium of conveying genuine messages to masses, they are more likely to respond negatively or simply ignore social media advertising .
Young people form one of the largest and most power consumer groups, especially I the lifestyle, electronics, and other consumer goods sectors. It is common among the youth to rely on worth of mouth and trusting their friends to guide them in their purchases . At the same time, modern day teenagers have the ability and capability to make independent purchases. They are capable of making informed decisions and are well educated about a diverse range of advertising methods and techniques. The younger consumers are considered to be the future of overall consumer base and hence, their choices and trends serve as signs of social change .
The place of importance that the youth hold in the market also makes it crucial for organization’s to follow their personal choices and preferences as these can prove to be a practical guide of marketing efforts. For examples, television was a major source of entertainment for the youth till about a decade ago, due to which a massive amount of advertising was directed towards this medium so as to reach the maximum number of consumers. However, in the last decade, online social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and YouTube have increasingly become a major draw for the youth.
Social networking sites are places where people maintain their online friendships and social circle, interact with them and share information. Facebook alone had over 1 billion active users as of 30th September 2012 , that is about 1/7th of the global population which stands a little over 7 billion . This mass of consumers regularly using one medium poses a highly attractive prospect for marketing activities. As such, social media has fast become one of the most prominently used methods and mediums of advertising.
However, the youth is a particularly difficult consumer group to market to as it is tough to connect with them on a personal level in order to convince them to buy products. Herbig et al. noted that dilution of advertising efforts due to the large number of mediums available as well as scepticism among the youth about the reliability of marketing messages are major reasons for this hurdle . In order to appeal to the youth, online advertisements tend to incorporate elements such as sports, entertainment, fashion, music and technology as these have been known to attract young audiences. It is considered important to be able to connect with the youth through the medium that they prefer and use the most – social media and networking sites.
Companies also utilize social networking sites to target focus groups using data and statistics shared by the site. For example, if a person marks fashion as an interest on Facebook, advertisements from fashion houses and online shopping sites will automatically be directed towards them. Similarly, popular blogs that have a large number of followers attract companies that promote products that are similar in theme with the blog. For example, a blog for adolescents may attract advertisements from the entertainment, sports, gaming and shopping industry. It is important to understand why such companies believe that marketing on these social networking sites will be effective.
Festinger’s Social Comparison Theory first proposed that humans adapt their behaviour after drawing comparisons with peers or those with whom they interact at a social level .A study conducted by Bati , revealed the 74% of participating teens used social networking sites to interact with friends with whom they met regularly in real, while another 69% used the medium to connect with friends they only saw occasionally in person. 71% either owned a blog of their own or followed those of others. 75% of Twitter and 64% of Facebook members said that they would recommend brands that they themselves follow online through these sites. They are also likely to follow brands that have been recommended by their friends on these sites. As such, there is a great scope of brands acquiring massive amounts of followers on social networking sites, with the possibility of converting them into active consumers.
In the same study of school and college students, 54% of participants were fans at least one brand through a social networking site, while 50% at least followed a brands activities. A large portion of the participants said that they found advertisements on social networking sites to be credible. However, over one thirds would follow recommendations of online peers rather than solely relying on advertising. Brands promoted through the blogs of friends and peers are also considered to be more reliable than out-right advertisements. 53% of participants believed the social networking sites made them more aware of brands and while an astounding 85% believed that a brand needs to have a ‘strong electronic presence’ . Finally, 62% of the participants thought that, if a brand does not have a presence on Facebook or Twitter, they are simply not connected with the ‘electronic’ masses who extensively use these sites.
In conclusion, it can be said that social media plays a very crucial role in the development of beliefs and attitudes of the modern youth. A vast majority of teenagers and young consumers use social networking sites almost all the, with the ability to access them from their cell phones. It has been proven that youth heavily rely on the opinion of peers when making their own decisions about brands. Considering the fact that social networking sites as well as other social media such as blogs and forums are a means of interacting with friends, brands that manage to build a good reputation and fan following on these sites stand a good chance on converting fans into active consumers. This can give them a definite edge over competitors who are not utilizing social media to advertise and market their brand. Such companies stand the risk of developing an image of being ‘disconnected’ with one of the largest consumer groups in the world, the youth.
Works Cited
Bati, U., 2010. The Era of the New Marketing: Attitudes of Young Consumer towards Social Media Marketing, s.l.: 7th International Symposium of Interactive Media Design.
Bauer, R. A. & Greyser, S. A., 1968. Advertising in America: The Consumer Review. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Festinger, L., 1954. A theory of social comparison processes. Human relations, Volume 7, pp. 117-140.
Herbig, P., Koehler, W. & Day, K., 1993. Marketing to the baby bust generation. Journal of consumer marketing, 10(1), pp. 4-9.
Kelly, L., Kerr, G. & Drennan, J., 2010. Avoidance of advertising in social networking sites: The teenage perspective. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 10(2), pp. 16-27.
Mehta, A., 2000. Advertizing attitudes and advertising effectiveness. Journal of advertising research, 40(3), pp. 67-72.
Olanoff, D., 2012. Facebook announces monthly active users were at 1.01 billion as of 30th September, an increase of 26% year over year. [Online] Available at: http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/23/facebook-announces-monthly-active-users-were-at-1-01-billion-as-of-september-30th/[Accessed 8 December 2012].
US Census Bureau, 2012. U.S. & World Population Clocks. [Online] Available at: http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html[Accessed 8 December 2012].
Wang, Y. & Sun, S., 2010. Assessing beleifs, attitudes, and behavioral responses towards online advertising in three countries. International Business Review, Volume 19, pp. 333-344.
Widdicombe, S. & Woffitt, R., 1995. The Language of Youth Subcultures: Social Identity and Action. London: Harvester wheat-sheaf.
Zollo, P., 1995. Talking to teens – the teenage market is free-spending and loaded with untapped Potential, A veteran of the teen market research explains what’s cool, what’s not and how to tell the difference. American Demographics, 17(11), pp. 22-28.
