Linkage of Consumer Behaviour with Social Networking - Essay Example

? Consumer Behaviour Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Social Networking 4 Overview 4 Roles 5 Linkage of Consumer Behaviour with Social Networking 5 AIDA model and Social Networking 5 Decision Making process and Social Media 6 Negative side of Social Networking 7 Invasion of Privacy 7 Risk of negative publicity 8 Possibility of Ineffective targeting of consumers 8 Loss of interest of the consumers 9 Conclusion 9 Reference 10 Introduction The world of 21st century is prevailing in an era of rapid change and fast development. The emergence of high speed internet based connectivity along with the fact of development of highly sophisticated kind of technological gadgets like laptops; Smartphones, I-pads, etc have played a major role in the process of catalyzing and communicating diverse range of global trends in various corners of the world. It can be said that the superior level of internet penetration in various regions of the world has played a crucial role in creating a demand for products and services of global standards in various markets. It is important to highlight that this demand among the consumers for new products and services has created a platform of unique business opportunities and has in return triggered the need for opening up of closed economies (Free, 2010, p. 464). The opening up of economies, along with the smooth integration and penetration of internet in various corners of the world has lead to the formation of a globally connected marketplace, where the geographical barriers are absent. With the opening up of previously closed economies, many new markets with unique patterns of consumer behaviour and consumer psychology are emerging from various regions of the world (Hargrove and et.al, 2006, p. 411). It is important to mention that the consumers of today’s date are highly tech savvy in nature. In an effort to maintain connectivity with their friends, relatives as well as to keep themselves updates with the global events and incidents, consumers from various markets are increasingly opting to stay online in the virtual world through various social networking sites like Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook etc. So, in an effort to communicate the value offered by the products and services to the consumers in the most effective manner, the organizations from all over the world are opting to engage with their consumers using the virtual social platform. Social Networking Overview From the sociologic point of view, it can be highlighted that human beings are born with unique social needs, which involves interacting and communicating with each other as it helps in the development of individual or generalized perceptions and feelings (Kendall, 2011, p. 102). Because of the high penetration of technological devices along with the existence of highly digitized nature of information content in today’s date, people automatically think of social networking as an online medium rather than a traditional offline medium. From the general point of view, it can be said that the social networking today represents a series of virtual platforms which facilitate the process of human interaction and communication of individuals, with their friends, relatives, families and even fans and followers located in various corners of the world. It is interesting to state that though the social networking is a part of the social media, which actually represents a very diverse and broad range of platforms which comprises of online blogs, discussion and knowledge forums, podcasting sites, public video sites like YouTube yet the various social and professional networking sites help the most in sharing and linking up of individuals with their close and important contacts (Jue & et.al, 2010, 44). Because of its ability to connect with people in the easiest and fastest manner, it can be said that the social networking sites has gained the status of a very important marketing tool for organizations who are trying to communicate the values of their own products and services to a specific demography of consumers. Roles While the basic role of social networking sites mainly comprises of networking of individuals, yet it can be said that there are various supporting roles that are often played out by the social media. One of the most important supporting roles that are played by social networking sites is the fact that it acts as a very effective online bridge for communicating in a one to many kind of a relationship. Talking on this note, it can be said that the online networking sites helps in a great way to communicate various kinds of important and highly relevant information to multiple and large number of individuals at the same time (Journalism.org, 2012). It also has to be mentioned that the online networking sites play a very critical role in the process of forming a platform that helps to generate participation from a large number of respondents at a relatively low cost (Newson & et.al, 2009, p. 49). Linkage of Consumer Behaviour with Social Networking It is important to say that because of the highly busy schedule of the masses around the world, the need to socialize has been shifted mostly to the online platform. As a result, this has provided the online social media with the maximum amount of reach in the lives of the modern day consumers and has automatically converted it into a very vital tool in regards to online marketing. AIDA model and Social Networking It can be said that marketing comprises of the process of value creation, value communication, value distribution and value delivery of products and services of organizations and enterprises to the desired target audience through effective segmentation, targeting and positioning methods. Talking in regards to this case, the AIDA model of marketing can be highlighted since it represents the diverse stages that the minds of a rational consumer travels in regards to making the final purchase transaction. The AIDA model increasingly talks about the issues related to Attention, Interest, Desire and Action (Egan, 2007, p. 43). It has to be said that attention and interest are part of above the line promotional activities while desire and action forms the basis of the below the line promotion activities. Because of the high level of online presence of the modern day consumers, advertisement of various products and services made in the online networking sites of the virtual social media helps to garner attention of the consumers. It is important to state in these regards that various big brand companies like IBM, Burger King, Dell, Starbucks etc regularly focus on getting the attention of the masses by promoting their services and products in the online networking like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter etc (Zarrella, 2010, p. 3). Also, because of the high advancement of technology, the social media and social is easily accessible through various forms of technological devices like the I-pad, Smartphones etc. This increased reach of the masses through the social media has also helped in the development of the social networking sites as a very important marketing tool. Decision Making process and Social Media It has to be said that consumers all over the world follow a specific pattern of decision making process before deciding on buying a particular product or service. Talking in the right sequence, it can be said that the decision making process of any rational consumer comprises of need recognition, search for alternatives, evaluation of alternatives, making the purchase and finally the evaluation of satisfaction in regards to the purchase. However, it can be said that the social networking sites is mostly dominated by the top networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google +, which essentially forms the foundation of the ‘Big Three’ in the social media. Also, from the statistical point of view, it has been found that over 40% of consumers, who essentially fall in the age category of 20 to 29 years, essentially spend over 10 hours in a single week in various social media sites (Bosari, 2012). The fast evolution and penetration of internet has significantly resulted in the increase of buyer’s power as the consumers prefer to utilize the social media and networking sites to indulge in product and service comparison while going through technological features, benefits, value based rating and review provided by other consumers. This shift in balance in regards to the power distribution as per Porter’s 5 forces model has automatically resulted in the process of companies making an increased number of attempts to connect with their targeted consumers through active participation of the social media. Negative side of Social Networking It is of high importance to mention that the social networking sites, no doubt, provide the marketers of various brands with a unique platform to communicate in a two way direction with their desired target audience (Safko, 2012, Chap 1). However, there are various pitfalls that are highly integrated with the usage of social networking as a value communication media. Invasion of Privacy It is of highest importance to draw into attention the fact that the invasion of privacy of the consumers, users and respondents is the biggest threat associated with social networking sites. It has to be highlighted that various social networking sites makes it necessary for the users to share their personal information, which automatically leads to the increase of digital footprint of the individuals. The high digital footprint increases the risk of inappropriate utilization of high sensitive personal information concern of the consumers and individuals that is often left unscathed in the social media (Troni, 2012). Risk of negative publicity While it can be said that the social networking sites, because of its ability to connect with a large number of consumers and fans at the lowest cost, are highly instrumental in creating a big buzz in the marketplace and amongst the consumers with regards to a new product or service, yet it has the power to make a well known brand highly vulnerable as well. Talking in this regards, it can be said that the failure of a product or service to satisfy the needs, desires and expectations of the consumers will lead to the spreading of negative publicity like an uncontrollable wild fire, thereby impacting the overall brand equity and long term value of the particular brand (Godby & et.al, 2012, p. 23). Possibility of Ineffective targeting of consumers It can be said that companies by opting for online marketing of their products and services has the ability to connect with a large number of consumers. However, talking in these regards, it can be said that a majority of the consumers who are online most of the time, are youngsters when judged in regards to the age perspective. As a matter of fact, the ability to communicate the values of the products and services of diverse nature is limited, as the consumers and respondents are young in nature and has a significant limit in regards to the earning power as well as purchasing power parity. Loss of interest of the consumers It has to be said that while social networking gives the power to organizations to connect with a large number of consumers, yet it has to be said that retaining the interest of the consumers through online marketing campaigns in the social networking sites is very difficult. It has to be mentioned that the consumers are often over exposed to a large number of online advertisements, and hence tends to lose interest and focus in regards to the advertisement featuring a particular product or service. Conclusion Talking on a conclusive note, it can be said that the online networking sites are very instrumental in acting as a bridge for communicating the values of a particular product or service of an organization to a large number of customers. However, talking on this note, it also has to be kept in mind that the limit of effectiveness of the online marketing campaign inducted through the social networking is highly limited to the products and services, which effectively targets the young consumers. Also, because of the mass market characteristic of the online networking sites, it can be said that there is a considerable limit in the amount of online marketing that can be done for high profile luxury products and services. However, it can be said that the online networking sites can act as a good medium to communicate the presence of a particular brand of luxury product or service in a particular market, while simultaneously supplementing with a full scale more effective form of marketing campaign in other more effective physical medium. Reference Free, R.C., 2010. 21st Century Economics: A Reference Handbook, Volume 1. California: Sage Publications Hargrove, K. and et.al, 2006. 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