[Changing customer perception with the growing use of social media: an explorative approach]

by

Acknowledgement

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to explore customer perception with the growing use of social media.

Recent years have witnessed the rise of new media channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Google, and Twitter, which enable customers to take a more active role as market players and reach (and be reached by) almost everyone anywhere and anytime. These new media threaten long established business models and corporate strategies, but also provide ample opportunities for growth through new adaptive strategies. This paper introduces a new ''pinball'' framework of new media's impact on relationships with customers and identifies key new media phenomena which companies should take into account when managing their relationships with customers in the new media universe. For each phenomenon, we identify challenges for researchers and managers which relate to (a) the understanding of consumer behavior, (b) the use of new media to successfully manage customer interactions, and (c) the effective measurement of customers' activities and outcomes.

Table of Content

Abstract4

CHAPTER I6

Introduction6

Background6

Aims And Justification For The Research8

Research Questions8

CHAPTER II9

Literature Review9

What is New Media?9

Digital9

Pro-active9

Visible10

Real-time and memory10

Ubiquitous10

Playing Pinball15

The Psychology behind buying behavior19

Understanding Unregulated Buying Behavior20

Pre-Purchase Stage29

Purchase Stage31

Post-Purchase Stage33

CHAPTER III35

Methodology35

Procedure35

Sample35

Measures37

Research Questions40

Chapter I

Introduction

Background

The ways consumers communicate with each other have been changing dramatically over the last decade, and the same is true for how consumers gather and exchange information about products and how they obtain and consume them. The rise of a plethora of new media has provided consumers with extensive options for actively providing information on services and products: ''The digital innovations of the last decade made it effortless, indeed second nature, for audiences to talk back and talk to each other'. New media have also empowered them to promote and distribute their own offers - consumers today serve as retailers on eBay, media producer-directors on YouTube, authors on Wikipedia, and critical reviewers on Amazon and Tripadvisor; they do all of this and more on Facebook and MySpace. And they no longer require their computer to do so - through high-tech mobile phones, portable computers and portals such as Twitter, realtime information exchange has become an integral element of consumer behavior anywhere and anytime. User-generated content has become a mass phenomenon, with Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Twitter all being listed among the Top 15 websites, accounting for more than 11 percent of global internet traffic, as of April 2010 (Alexa 2010). This development threatens established business models. Printed newspapers and magazines are facing a major crisis, as consumers move from print to digital media, and piracy ...