Social media communication and consumer decision making: an empirical perspective

Consumer behaviour is changing dynamically with the emergence of diverse social media platforms. The study considers all phases of consumer decision making (CDM) and states their level of significance with respect to social media involvement. Primary data were collected through self-administered questionnaires. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to check the dimensionality of constructs followed by structural equation modelling. The findings explicate that pre-purchase activities are highly influenced by social media followed by post-purchase evaluation, purchase decision and finally need recognition. The study confers insights to marketers/practitioners/academicians about influence of social media during different phases and relevantly contributes to literature. The study suggests marketers to provide reliable and detailed information of products/services on social media and focus on consumers' opinions published which are considered to be trustworthy information. The study elucidates how business organisations can influence consumers' decision by participating actively on social media and maintaining customer relationship management.