Impact of social media on consumer’s buying decisions

On a daily basis in present-day, 100,000 tweets are sent, 684,478 pieces of content are shared on Facebook, 2 million search queries are made on Google, 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube, 3,600 photos are shared on Instagram, and 571 websites are created (James 2012). Social media introduced a new, complex and uncontrollable element in consumer behavior presenting a new challenge both to the academia and the marketers. This study is an attempt to identify their role and describe their impact on consumer buying decision. This research gives explanation on how individuals are attending, processing, and selecting the information on social media before a purchase. The findings indicated that individuals pursue an active role in information search on social media comparing to mass media. To satisfy the research data has been collected from both the primary and the secondary sources. Secondary sources of data have been collected through use of internet, consulting past studies on the subject and also books have been used, primary data has been collected from 100 respondents through questionnaire by direct survey method. The findings of the study can be used by marketers and media planners for effective marketing results.