The Influence Of Social Media On Consumer Behavior:An Empirical Study On Factors Influencing Consumer Purchase Intention In Malawi

Social media isn't about associating with just companions and acquaintances anymore;it's a whole lot more.Social media introduces new challenges and open doors to organizations to promote their products online.Individuals depend like never before on their informal communities when settling on choices.This study therefore investigates how social media activities,in specific the Facebook in Malawi,affect the perception of brands,and ultimately influences the purchase decision process of consumers while considering the risk.From a theoretical standpoint the results of this study contribute to understanding of the influence of social media campaigns and demonstrate how the perception of brands is influenced through social media for consumers to make an actual purchase.For brand managers this study is of esteem,as it demonstrates that social media affect consumer's behavior on their purchase intention.Consumers would prefer not to go to organization's site to see what's new;they need to stay refreshed and associated with the image on their terms every day through social media.In light of social media,an ever increasing number of individuals are presently directing where and how they get their information;they no longer need to search out the information they need;through web-based social networking,it will discover them.In the event that an organization isn't the place where the buyer is,then they are losing the opportunity to promote their products.Individuals are ready and anxious to associate with the company image via social media.Malawian companies shouldn't miss on that opportunity but open door to connect with the consumers on social platforms.Many consumers follow their brands on social media since they like the content or the company,not just in light of the fact that they are getting a free coupon or discounts.Through social media that Malawi is reviving their desire to advance utilization of privately made products and ventures on the web.Malawi Government through Ministry of Information have introduced buy Malawi strategy.Buy Malawi strategy helps promote Malawian products on social media and online.Malawians are turning out to be more mindful of Internet shopping destinations via social media and an enormous number are utilizing this to shop than physically go to the shops as they think its additional tedious.Exploiting this,imaginative opportunities have settled on cutting edge methods for offering items,one of which is online deals via web-based networking media.Not at all like Malawi,in different nations,have online deals ended up being more aggressive.Web based services,for example,Amazon and E-Bay,just to say for example,have gotten to be needed for purchasers and venders as they associate with customers via social media.In any case,despite the fact that online shopping has just started growing in Malawi compared to other countries this is another route for them to improve their personal satisfaction by purchasing products they have decided upon without the physical weight of really leaving their homes,schools or working environments.Company managers in Malawi need to consider consumer's trust on of social media so they can recommend other consumers.Consumers are increasingly using social media to search for information and turning away from traditional media such as television,magazines,and radio.Companies,therefore,need to create effective online advertising strategies to capitalize on current market segment by incorporating effective features in online advertising,especially in social media.Some firms in Malawi are reluctant to take part in social media networking for showcasing and business.This research will show that consumers actually make purchases on social media,which legitimizes the need of many firms to go social media in Malawi.This study offers theoretical contributions and conceptual model to existing research on Social Media and Consumer's purchase Intention.This study highlights the characteristics of online ads and its influence on intention to purchase.While prior studies have investigated different features of online ads towards attitude and consumer's buying behavior,this study provides a new set of consumer's response towards Social Media ads with respect to Purchase Intention.The gap that exists in Malawi between online networking clients and unsuccessful organization techniques for item advancement can be credited to the absence of strong observational discoveries from the exploration range to help direct administrators choices.The small number of quantitative reviews undermines limited time endeavors attempted by little and medium companies and their particular techniques,since much of the time they don't have the know-how contrasted with bigger firms.The study utilized a strategy plan that was helpful to capture the best of both subjectiveresearch and quantitative research.These were separated into two stages: Stage 1: The subjective research technique utilized as a part of this stage is web-based social networking brand bunch.The strategy depends on gathering interviews in which members are chosen and amassed by scientists to talk about a specific brand in light of individual's encounters keeping in mind the end goal to give bits of knowledge and sentiments to specialists.Stage 2: The quantitative research and examining and information gathering was utilized in the wake of outlining writing and online networking brand bunch meet and recognizing potential develops for the review,a hypothetical system and a few speculations were proposed.Both research phases involve several critical steps,especially in quantitative research,which requires checking the reliability and validity of the questionnaire and constructs and data screening and cleaning process to ensure good results.Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS)software,Amos software and Microsoft Excel.The results will show that developing countries,in particular Malawi needs to grow in-terms of online purchasing through social media.