Background
Direct recommendations and advertisements on social media or unintended brand-related activities taken by the community on social media can both influence people’s behavior online. People spend more and more time on the Internet communicating, studying, and buying goods and services. Shopping has become easier not only thanks to online stores. Even ordinary boutiques and brands have social media accounts to promote their products. Moreover, product reviews made by both popular individuals and ordinary users can be found on the Internet. When intentional media consumption, users search for products in search engines, immediately on store websites, in groups of brands and stores on social networks, and ad sites.
Data about products that users searched for is collected by websites and search engines. This data is used by advertisers: this is how users are shown ads that are more likely to interest them. Social networks also play a big role here. In social networks, users not only show ads based on their interests but also personalize their news feed. Influence marketing implies that a brand can attract opinion leaders to advertise products. With the advent of social media, influencer marketing has evolved there as well, but it has also been transformed.
Involuntary Media Consumption
A sharp increase in the daily volume of incoming and outgoing information is directly related to the acceleration of the pace of life. It is almost impossible to meet a person who does not have an account on social networks and also does not communicate through instant messengers, and often such communication is not periodic, but permanent and is included in the daily practices of the individual.
When it comes to customers on social media, the first thing you notice is the shortening of the path to purchase. People used to learn about a product, see an advert on TV a few times, and the next week they could go shopping and finally buy the product. Now, this process may take several minutes. However, the path to the buyer has become not only shorter but also more difficult. Social media has made product research more accessible to users. For example, if a customer sees a product on Instagram, they can immediately search for the hashtag, find reviews for it, and decide if it’s worth buying. As a result, customers spend more time researching and checking more sources for reviews.
The first trend, and the most high-reach one, is the demand for the video format on all social networks. Users are very fond of watching videos and are ready to spend most of their time spent online on this. Social networks are becoming the best sources of this content, as it is collected here in an incredible amount. A person can find any format that interests him from duration to subject. With the development of communication quality, high-speed Internet, and the improvement of gadget screens, involuntary media consumption will only grow.
Reaction to Media Messages
I observed that recently my media intake had increased significantly. I can spend hours checking boxes and social media. Internet communications have deeply entered our daily life and brought significant changes to it, changing habits and typical ways of interacting with people. The study of media consumption and the audience of the Internet today is relevant, in addition, it is social networks that are one of the most popular media sources in a rapidly changing reality. The consumption of media content in the online space has now become commonplace and plays a big role in the life of every individual. Moreover, at the moment it is difficult to find a person who would not have a single profile in any social network, would not communicate in the virtual space, and would not consume and distribute information online.
Effect On Behavior
New methods of looking for and receiving information on the wide range of goods and services available have been made possible by the social media revolution. The influence of the Internet varies depending on the stage of the decision-making process. Initially, just the information search stage was helped by the Internet, but more recent developments in social media, online decision aids, and recommender systems have expanded the influence of the Internet to all decision stages (Voramontri & Klieb, 2018). Other contributing elements to the quality of online decision-making, in addition to time costs and the cognitive costs of gathering and processing information, include perceived risk, product knowledge, and trust. Internet or online skills have also become more significant. In other words, the more often people use the internet, the more probable it is that they will utilize it to make decisions.
References
Voramontri, D. & Klieb, L. (2018). Impact of social media on consumer behavior. International Journal of Information and Decision Sciences, 11(3).