How Social Media Influences Online Shopping

How Social Media Influences Online Shopping
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How Social Media Influences Online Shopping
The increasing adoption of social media has presented new opportunities for communication and commerce between sellers and buyers. Notably, advertisers follow their target audiences and take advantage of new features offered by new marketing platforms such as social media. Ansari et al. (2019) report that organizations require an entrepreneurial spirit to gain a competitive advantage in the market, with online marketing focusing on social media presenting one of the ways through which organizations can use to outperform competitors. Sharma et al. (2022) attribute the importance of social media to an organization to social media’s ability to shape values that are pursued in society. 
Several studies have been conducted to explore the influence of social media on customers’ purchasing decisions. Akar and Nasir (2015) conducted a review whose findings reported that content credibility and reviews in social media were the two main ways through which social media influences purchasing decisions. In the same vein, Poturak and Softic (2019) conducted a study to explore the role of social media content in influencing purchasing intentions in customers. The findings from their study indicated that social media communication generated by the company and other social media users had a significant influence on the extent to which social media influenced purchasing intentions in customers. Mason, Narcum, and Mason (2021) reported that the importance of social media in influencing purchasing decisions increased in importance following the onset of COVID-19. 
The following project adds to the existing literature on the importance of social media in influencing purchasing decisions. More information on how social media influences purchasing intentions can help organizations make informed marketing decisions. The three hypotheses that will be investigated in the current project are:
H1: Educational attainment has a relationship with the social media purchasing behaviors of a customer
H2: The frequency of social media use influences online purchasing behaviors
H3: Positive attitude toward social media influencers has a positive influence on online purchasing behaviors
Method
In the current study, 694 participants were required to fill out a survey exploring their demographics and social media use. The participants in the study were recruited through convenience sampling in the sense that the majority of the participants were referred by their friends to take part in the present study.
Descriptive Statistics
582 out of the 694 participants in the study provided their ages. The mean age of the participants was 35.45 years, with a standard deviation of 16.114. There were 107 males in the sample, which represented 15.7 percent. Females participants in the study were 475, representing 68.4 percent of the study participants. 2 participants identified as non-binary, which is 0.3 percent of the total participants. 3 participants offered different identities.
In terms of race, 21.2 percent of the participants indicates that they were of Hispanic origin, 1.3 percent identified as Black or African Americans, 73.5 percent identified as White, 0.1 percent identified as Native Americans, and 7.9 percent of the participants identified as Asian or Asian Americans. 0.3 percent indicated that their race was not listed among the choices.
The majority of the participants reported that they had college degrees (26.9 percent), with 25.2 reporting that they went to college. 17.6 percent of the participants (122) indicated that their highest level of academic achievement was a graduate degree. Among the participants, 10.2 percent (71) had high school graduates as their highest level of education. One percent of the participants indicated that they reached 12th Grade (7), while 0.7 percent indicated they reached 11 Grade (5).
In regards to party affiliation, 196 of the respondents identified as Republicans, 222 identified as Democrats, and 115 participants identified as Independents. Only 31 of the participants identified as Others. 
Description of Survey Items
Several surveys were administered to investigate the social media characteristics of the participants. The attitude towards influencers was measured using 9 items. The focus of the survey was determining the sentiment held by the participants toward social media influencers. Online purchasing behaviors were measured using the average of three items that measured the participant’s purchasing behaviors in social media. Social media frequency was measured by averaging 6 items that examine the frequency of social media use based on the type of platform. Connection to social media influencers was measured using an item that required the participants to rate their perceived closeness to social media influencers. 
Results
Hypothesis 1
The focus of the first hypothesis was to identify the extent to which educational attainment has a relationship with online purchasing behaviors. A correlation test was used to identify the relationship between educational attainment and online purchasing behaviors.
Correlation
Pearson's Correlations

Variable

 

purchase_avg

highest_degree

1. purchase_avg


Pearson's r


—






p-value


—


 


2. highest_degree


Pearson's r


-0.111


—




p-value


0.008


—



The results showed that there is a negative correlation between education attainment and online purchasing at statistically significant levels (r=-0.1111, p=0.008).
Hypothesis 2
The second hypothesis investigated whether the frequency of social media use has an influence on online purchasing behaviors of a social media user when controlling for age and social media use.
Pearson's Correlations

Variable

 

purchase_avg

social_freq_avg

1. purchase_avg


Pearson's r


—






p-value


—


 


2. social_freq_avg


Pearson's r


0.167


—




p-value


< .001


—



An investigation of the correlation between social media frequency and purchase reported a positive correlation between the two variable at statistically significant levels (r= 0.167, p< 0.001).
Linear Regression
Model Summary - purchase_avg


Durbin-Watson

Model

R

R²

Adjusted R²

RMSE

Autocorrelation

Statistic

p

H₀


0.000


0.000


0.000


0.891


0.113


1.770


0.005


H₁


0.167


0.028


0.026


0.880


0.102


1.793


0.012



 
From the model, social media frequency only account for 2.8 percent of variance in online purchasing behaviors of the participants. The model is valid as the Durbin Watson statistic is between 1 and 3.
ANOVA

Model

 

Sum of Squares

df

Mean Square

F

p

H₁


Regression


12.953


1


12.953


16.739


< .001


 


Residual


450.349

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