Blog #2

My topic I have chosen to research is effects in social media on purchase patterns, with an emphasis on peer communication (friends, following, social media influencers, etc.). Through my research in this area, I'm becoming increasingly fascinated with how consumerism works. The social media impact is equivalent to a wildfire - spreading its impact on online consumerism so fast and far with little ideas or resources to stop it. At this point in business, it's either hop on the train or get left behind in my opinion. Most research I have found pertains to indirectly reinforcing product (basically how many times a product is shown), but recent trends (over the last few years) have seen a direct effect of peer communication and the 'desire to fit in.' As an avid user of social media, my mind obviously goes to social media influencers first. I think it would be interesting to explore the psychology of 'fitting in' and why social media in general creates a platform to 'show off what I have and what you don't,' but I understand that is a little off topic for this class. It may help strengthen my literature review to have one or two sources of it however, that why I have included one below. Another interesting tangent I have briefly explored was the impact of environmental conservation media on consumer purchasing patterns. There was a lot of information available, but I find it interesting to compare the data between generations to see the effect social media (and technology in general) has on people of all ages.


Overall, I am confident and excited about this information and think I have a good starting point. Any sort of advice or comments or even personal experiences of social media's effect on your purchase patterns would be great! I'm especially wondering if I need to narrow down my topic to a specific age, culture, or social media platform. 


10 Sources (so far):

Wang, X., et al. (2001). Social media peer communication and impacts on purchase intentions: A consumer socialization framework. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 26(4), 198-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2011.11.004

Vinerean, S., et al. (2013). The effects of social media marketing on online consumer behavior. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), 66-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v8n14p66

Byrum, K. (2019). "Hey Friend, Buy Green": Social media use to influence eco-purchasing involvement. Environmental Communication, 13(2): 209-221. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2017.1308404

Zhu, Z., et al. (2016). Exploring factors of user's peer-influence behavior in social media on purchase intention: Evidence from QQ. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 980-987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.037

Men, L.R., & Muralidharan, S. (2016). Understanding social media peer communication and organization-purchase relationships: Evidence from China and the United States. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94(1), 81-101. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699016674187

Castronovo, C., & Huang, L. (2012). Social media in an alternative marketing communication model. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 6(1), 117-134. Retrieved from http://www.na-businesspress.com/JMDC/castronovo_abstract.html

Pandey, A., Sahu, R., & Dash, M.K. (2018). Social media marketing impact on the purchase intention of millennials. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 28(2), https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBIS.2018.091861

Armagan, E., & Cetin, A. (2013). Peer communication and impacts on purchasing decisions: An application on teenagers. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies, 5(2), 60-72. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ijsshs/issue/26218/276029

Vogel, E., et al. (2014). Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem. American Psychological Association, 3(4), 206-222. 10.1037/ppm0000047

Ordenes, F.V., et al. (2019). Cutting through content clutter: How speech and image acts drive consumer sharing of social media brand messages. Journal of Consumer Research, 45(5), 988-1012. 10.1093/jcr/ucy032

Comments

  1. Jaci CookSeptember 14, 2021 at 6:44 PM

    1. Very journal heavy - I could benefit from looking into books and personal sources, although with technology being a focus I might not find great sources from books.
    2. Subheadings could include; impact based on age, types of impact, positive or negative influences, and types of communication used.
    3. I think voices from communication journals are a bit lacking - most of my sources are coming from marketing or business journals.
    4. Like I mentioned earlier, business and marketing journals are supplying most of my sources which is resulting in an imbalance across perspectives and fields. I need to look further into communication testing and influences for my paper.
    5. Sources on specific social media platforms may be of great use in narrowing or enhancing a topic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr. Florence Elizabeth BacabacSeptember 15, 2021 at 1:43 PM

    Hi Jaci,

    Great progress and preliminary thoughts about your topic, so far! I really like the ideas you've presented in this second blog, such as the impact of environmental conservation media on consumer purchasing patterns. At any rate, I suspect you'll be distilling more of this topic as you plow through and annotate the sources so just keep an open mind. When you're ready to write an outline of your Lit. Review final draft OR, most especially, start planning/drafting your Research Proposal, let me know if you need help to sift through a PTW-based focus amidst the diverse sources you've found.

    Keep up the good work!

    Dr. B

    ReplyDelete

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