Social Media Characteristics and Consumer Purchase of Mobile Phones in South-East Nigeria

Abstract:

The advent of the electronic world has facilitated the social media for quick, easy and communal groupings and sharing of information among members, friends and followers. This study has investigated the effect of social media on consumer purchase of mobile phone users in Federal Universities in the South East Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to examine influences of social media accessibility, interactivity, connectedness, conversation and communality on consumer purchase of mobile phones. The study was anchored on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) for its relevance to a study that aims to find out the extent to which behavioral control innovation can influence the behavioural performance of a consumer. Five research questions and null hypotheses were formulated in line with the specific objectives of the study. The framework for methodology was based on survey design. The Taro Yamani formula was adopted to obtain a sample size of 398 from the 68,392 population of all the students in the five Federal Government-owned Universities in South East Nigeria. The method for data analysis was percentage frequencies, bar charts, and multiple regression analysis. The results showed that all the social media characteristics jointly influence about 93% consumer purchase of mobile phones. The specific findings showed that: Social media accessibility has a positive and significant (coef = 0.358, t=13.228; p < 0.00) influence on consumer purchase of mobile phones; Social media interactivity has a positive and significant (coef = 0.678, t=26.911; p < 0.00) influence on consumer purchase of mobile phones; social media connectedness has a positive and significant (coef = 0.034, t=6.321; p < 0.00) influence on consumer purchase of mobile phones; social media conversation has a positive but insignificant (coef = 0.034, t= 1.537; p < 0.125) influence on consumer purchase of mobile phones; and social media communality has a positive and significant (coef = 0.050, t= 2.227; p < 0.027) influence on consumer purchase of mobile phones. The study posits that improved involvement with social media characteristics have a positive influence on consumer purchase. Based on the findings, the study recommended that marketers should build and maintain a proper mechanism through social media for enhanced consumer patronage. As social media characteristics have a high impact on consumer purchase experiences, manufacturers of mobile phones and other volition controlled production should engage the social media as a veritable e-marketing channel.