Factors such as technological advancement and globalization have led to a majority of

businesses operating in different sectors to select the social media platform as an appropriate

medium for marketing their campaigns to a wide range of consumers. The growth of the

social media platform has become an important communication channel between businesses

and their targeted customers. It has also led to the creation and emergence of virtual

communities that may have never met in the real world due to various factors such as their

respective geographical locations, and social classes. Social media platforms such as

Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked-In are affecting consumer behavior

especially in terms of their purchasing decisions. Some of its available features such as easy

access have enabled a majority of consumers to connect with others to share information,

thoughts, and feedbacks in the relation of the different products that they use.

Chu and Kim (2011) provide the argument that social media platforms present an ideal

platform for the modern day consumer to provide information and exchange opinions about a

certain product or service. Mangold and Faulds ( 2009) also argue that the social media

platform offers a great influence on every stage of the consumer decision-making process, a

feature that was not available, or had little effect on consumers when the traditional media

platforms were being used. It has been established that today, a majority of consumers rely

more on user reviews, and customer feedbacks than the description of the product, or

information from an expert to make a purchasing decision.

Social media is becoming an important tool for consumers who are seeking to obtain new

product information, and also has created a platform for them to share their information

through reviews and feedbacks on different products and brands. This ( providing feedback

and reviews) in the past was not easily accessible to consumers when businesses were using
the traditional form of media for their marketing campaigns. A majority of the most

competitive, or companies that want to achieve a high sense of competitiveness, and

sustainability they are beginning to integrate the social media systems, and adapting social

media programs in order to meet their marketing needs.

Faulds (2009) states that the new business dynamics have forced companies to adapt to new

marketing campaigns that will help them reach more customers and also provide them with a

competitive edge over their rival businesses. Social media plays an effective role in terms of

customers dissemination of information. Although the social media platform has been seen to

be advantageous in terms of helping businesses reach their targeted customers and therefore

achieve some if not all of their marketing objectives, its influence on the consumer behaviors

impacting their purchasing decisions and consumption habits are considered to have a

negative effect on the consumers especially the teenagers.

Bernoff (2008) states that teenagers and young adults today consist or represent the first

generation that was born during the internet boom, and grew up or are growing up as the

social media platforms are increasingly becoming popular. This means that they frequently

use the internet and social media to stay connected with their friends, manage their

relationships with family and friends, and also seek new information on different issues that

are affecting their lives.

Heinonen (2011) states that a majority of teenagers are after the following three motives

when they are accessing the internet, and social media platforms seeking information,

entertainment, and social aspects. Heinonen (2011) further adds that the relationship between

the social media and consumer decision indicates that the social media affects the consumers’

attitudes, purchasing intentions of the consumers, and also brand attitudes. Hawkins and

Motherbauugh (2010) note that one of the main reasons that have led the digital, or social
media to become more popular than the traditional media is its ease of flow of

communication, it is mainly in real-time, and these platforms are designed to encourage

contributions and feedback from different people. It allows both professional and

unprofessional opinions, positive and negative feedback, and other forms of contribution.

Social media affects the way the youth behave in relation to the different stages during their

purchase decision-making processes.

Researchers such as Vollmer and Precourt (2008) state that one of the major reasons that

teenagers today are more influenced by the social or digital media platform that is the case

with traditional media is due to the fact that these websites have created an easily accessible

venue that promotes consumer conversation in relation to products and different brands. It

( social media platforms) is considered to be an ideal tool for the electronic word-of-mouth

because consumers are able to freely provide their information on a certain product on the

social media platform. In general the social media platform affects the following stages of

purchasing decision for the consumers ( teenagers): identity formation, expectations of a

product, formation of habits, their engagement with different brands and also firms, brand

loyalty, purchase behavior, lifetime value of a brand, and the way they value a firm in the

long-term.

Maschio (2016) states that most teenagers and people who frequently use the social media in

one way or another are trying to achieve a certain individual uniqueness. This is displayed by

the status update they share on Facebook, Instagram pictures they will post and share, and

even tweets. In addition to that, it is demonstrated by the popular personalities they follow,

and what they like in the different existing social media platforms. Such information is

crucial for a marketing department of a company that wants to target these consumers. For

instance, for a company such as Coca-Cola or Pepsi in order to promote their drink to

basketball enthusiasts, they are likely to use basketball personalities such as Lebron James, or
Stephen Curry to act as its brand ambassador. The reason for this is that the basketball

enthusiasts want to emulate what Lebron James or Stephen Curry does, and this might mean

consuming the Coca-Cola beverage. In most cases, these enthusiasts will not be influenced by

scientific studies that may have shown that Coca-Cola is not a healthy drink. For them,

Lebron’s James endorsement is enough for them to be loyal to that brand.

Maschio (2013) is of the opinion that these new marketing developments have also had an

impact on the commercial brands. Most of the successful brands in the different range of

categories are coming up with new strategies that will help them acquire creative digital

communities that enhance the way people contribute knowledge, expertise, and also advice

on the different online forums. These platforms such as Facebook pages and online

discussions about different brands in various sectors influence young people to be able to

recognize the existing new needs on social media. This will be achieved through surfing on

different social media networks such as Facebook whereby they will be able to see what their

friends are displaying on their timeline in terms of the products that they are using, or

interested in through the ‘like’ button which provides them with notifications, or also what

they share.

Heinonen ( 2011) holds an interesting perspective on the impact of the social media on the

buying behavior of the teenagers. It has affected the buying behavior process theory in a

manner that most of the young people today are buying attitudes are not entirely impacted by

the traditional media or communication channels. The online platform is influencing the

customers’ purchasing decisions. This is the primary reason as to why businesses are

implementing the social media platform as their primary marketing medium. The purchasing

decision process normally includes things such as problem recognition, information search,

searching for alternative products, making the decision to purchase a product, and also

post-purchase behavior that a consumer will experience after buying a product.

Problem Statement

Different studies ( National Cancer Institute, 2008; Angus & Hastings, 2009) that the

traditional media has been used to market unhealthy food products to adolescents and young

adults. This marketing strategy has for years influenced their purchasing behavior towards

these products. The internet not only provides such marketers with new channels to reach and

influence teenagers and young adults, but it is not controlled and can have disastrous effects

on this group of people. It is also creating a platform that transforms the young targeted

audiences from being passive recipients of advertising to become active participants who are

able to provide their opinions, create and share marketing messages for different brands. The

social media platforms allow companies to ‘befriend’ their customers creating an appealing

approach that ensures the young customers not only purchase these products but associate

with their brands.

Although there is readily available research on the influence and impact of traditional media

on the teenagers in terms of their purchasing behavior, it will be interesting to determine the

impact of social media on the teenagers. In this paper, it outlines how teenagers who

regularly access and interact with the messages from different companies that sell unhealthy

food, and beverage products, alcohol, and tobacco can influence their purchasing behavior.

General Objective

 The general objective is the impact of social media on the purchasing intention and

buying behavior of teenage customers towards unhealthy products.

Specific Objectives

 To assess how the social media influences the pre-purchase stage of a buyer’s decision

process
  To establish how the social media influences the purchase stage during the buyer’s

decision process

 To assess the impact of social media on the post-purchase behavior in the buyer’s

decision process.

The significance of the Study

The study will be of significance to various stakeholders. It will impact the following:

Scholars and Academicians

Researchers will use this study to further their own research especially on the issues

pertaining the social media and its influence on the purchasing behavior of teenagers on

different products. The baseline data that will assist future researchers to determine their

focus and parameters to use to advance their own studies.

Companies and Individual Businesses

The online platform is still largely unregulated, and some businesses may not know that some

of their practices although in line with the marketing laws, they still have a moral obligation

to ensure that they do not promote unhealthy products to teenagers. This is either through

direct and indirect means. The study aims at illustrating how various marketing campaigns

influence consumers to make the wrong or negative purchasing decisions that will have

short-term and long-term impacts on their lives, especially in relation to their health.

Teenagers

The study will illustrate how the youth interact with the social media platform, and how it

influences their purchase decisions of different products. It will show them how they may end

up making wrong purchasing decisions.

Definition of Terms

Social Media: It is a group of application that provides a platform for the creation, and

exchange of the users generated content. The popular social media platforms are Facebook,

YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Linked-In (Kaplan &Haenlein, 2010).

Consumer decision process: These are the stages that a customer will pass through before

determining whether or not to make a purchase. They include the identity of their needs, the

collection of relevant information, assessing the different options, and then making the

purchase decision in relation to the psychological and economic factors (Khatib, 2016).

Pre-purchase Stage: It is the point whereby the client identifies a certain need and makes the

decision to search for product information, in order to determine the right decision about the

intended product (Kotler, 2009).

Purchase Stage: This is the next stage of the pre-purchase stage. At this point, the customer

has already identified the need, assessed the different existing options, and selected a specific

product that he or she is going to purchase (Hawkins et al., 2010).

Post-Purchase Decision: It is the stage of purchase where a consumer determines whether or

not he or she was satisfied with the product, and if he will in future identify with that product

or brand.

CHAPTER 2

Introduction

In this chapter, it focuses on the literature review based on the research objectives that were

formulated in chapter one. It is divided into four parts: the theoretical framework, how social

media influences the pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase behavior in terms of a buyers

decision-making process. There will also be a chapter summary.

Theoretical Framework

Teenager’s Behavior on the Social Media

Teenagers today are being raised in an era of smartphones, available, and accessible internet

services, and they cannot remember a time when there were no social media. According to

Tulgan (2013), they are referred to as Generation Z, and they are defined by their birth years,

which range from the late 1990s to 2010s. It has been determined that a majority of the

millennials are watching digital content instead of the traditional television shows. It is

therefore highly likely that a majority of teenagers are highly likely to identify with social

media influencers instead of TV personalities, or movie stars. According to Defy (2015),

most teenagers find it easy to relate to the social media influencers in comparison to the

traditional media celebrities.

Teenagers Sense of Identification in Comparison with Social Media Influencers

Social media influencers are more likely similar in terms of appeal, admiration, and

popularity as the traditional media celebrities. What makes them become more popular, and

admirable to the youth than the traditional media celebrities is attainability and relatability. A

majority of the teenagers feel that they can relate to these influencers because they naturally

perceive them as equals. In most cases, they are just average teenagers as them who are able

to create unique content and distribute it via the internet. These teenagers may even know

them from living in the same neighborhoods or attending the same schools. The only reason

why they receive such attention is that they have unique talents, personalities, or creativity

levels that the other teenagers aspire to have. Therefore, their difference or uniqueness makes

them become more popular.

In addition, their journey to popularity is attainable in terms of they started with 0 followers,

and as they added more content in the social media platforms, their popularity increased.
Variety (2014) stated that a majority of the teenagers cannot relate to the lifestyles of

Holywood celebrities, and therefore they have little influence on their purchasing decisions.

Bentley et al. (2011) also state that in most cases people tend to copy the behavior of the

people that they like, or feel that they share a similar behavioral style. Researchers from

Stony Brook University (2015) found out that behaviors and beliefs tend to be more

contagious among people who have a similar or shared social connection.

A majority of the teenagers, therefore, feel that social media influencers are authentic when

they are conducting a review of a certain product, or brand (Influencer Marketing, 2012).

Most of their followers believe that their reviews and recommendations are honest based on

their personal use of the products. They also find it to be more authentic than is the case of

information reviews that have originated from a certain company or brand because they

assume that a social media influencer has no ulterior motive. They feel that they are after

more likes, or to increase their followers by sharing information. In addition to that, in order

to be regarded as honest, and authentic whenever they are sharing a message that they were

paid for by a certain company they normally label it using a hashtag, or any other method that

the teenagers will know that this information is influenced by another company.

Sehdev (2014) states that social media influencers increase their popularity by staying active

and interacting with their followers. Marrs (2015) provides an example of one of the most

famous social media influencer PewDiePie. He interacts with his followers on a personal

level to the point that he refers to them as ‘bros.’ The personal interaction that he accords to

his followers, and ensuring that he does not provide them with general responses makes him

more lovable. They feel that he does not assume them, and takes their comments and

feedbacks into consideration.

Miller and Dollard (1941) proposed a theory known as the social cognitive theory whereby

they emphasized that a majority of people learn from their experiences of the social

environment. The theory postulates that for most people learning occurs through observing

other people in a social context. In 1977, Bandura conducted an experiment to demonstrate

this aspect of social learning. The Bobo doll experiment demonstrated when and why

children normally show aggressive behavior, and therefore the importance of practising novel

behaviors in front of young people. The social cognitive theory has been applied in different

sectors such as mass media, and marketing. For instance, in marketing, the use of celebrities,

and social media influencers to endorse a certain product or brand to a certain demographic is

something that is commonly practised by a majority of the organizations, especially the most

successful, and companies that want to maintain a competitive edge.

Bandura (1986) states that one of the most effective learning methods is through observing

other people (models). There are different types of models that influence the behavior,

inclusive of the purchasing behavior of the teenagers. A majority of the teenagers have the

opportunity to learn their purchasing behavior from their parents and older siblings (live

models). They may observe how they compare different products, and the influence that leads

them to make the purchasing decision through the stages of buying a product. For instance,

teenagers who regularly accompany their parents to shopping will model their window

shopping, negotiation, and selection of their products from them.

There are also symbolic models, and these are real or fictional characters from movies, music,

sports, and even more recently from the social media. A majority of the teenagers will model

their behaviors from the influential personalities that they follow. McLeod (2016) feels that a

majority of the teenagers today model their behavior from the social media influencers

because they perceive themselves to be similar to them. It is important to point out that, most

of the teenagers will only imitate their behaviors from influential figures of the same sex.
Also, the reward and punishment system from the environment determines if they will

continue ascribing to these behaviors. For instance, if a teenager becomes more popular by

emulating a certain influential figure then the practice will continue. However, if he or she is

reproached, or ridiculed, then he or she will highly likely desist from such practices.

When people identify with models, they will adopt their values, beliefs, behaviors, and also

attitudes. It is important to point out that identification should not be confused with imitation.

The reason for this is that imitation is considered to be copying a single behavior, while in the

case of identification, it involves assuming a number of behaviors from an influential figure

and incorporating them to be their own. McLeod (2016) further notes that if a social media

influencer has specific qualities that a teenager loves, then it is highly likely that the teenager

will identify with, and copy such behaviors.

Ormrod (2006) believes that the teenagers who adopt this behavior (from social media

influencers) are the ones who are considered to have good self-efficacy. This is the high

belief in their ability to be able to complete tasks and reach certain goals. For people who are

considered to have a high sense of self-efficacy, they believe that they can be able to solve

problems, while for those who are considered to have low self efficacy they are less confident,

and they believe that they cannot be able to complete any challenging tasks.

Social Media Influence on the Pre-Purchase Stage in the Buyer’s Decision Making Process

Blythe (2008) states consumer behavior studies have shifted from the reasons as to why

people make purchases to the consumption behavior of customers. The most important aspect

of study in relation to consumer behavior is market segmentation. The reason for this is that

consumers who are classified to be in the same market segment are more likely to have

similar needs, and purchase intentions. They are also highly likely to be grouped in the same

physical and social environments, and these factors have a huge influence on their purchasing
decision, and are impactful in terms of their desires, and motives of making product

purchases. Schiffman and Kanuk (2005) state that a buyer’s intentions are normally

influenced by a variety of stimuli in the market such as marketing activities of the firms that

are trying to convince them to make purchases. In a bid to convince their customers to

purchase their products companies will use a variety of brand objects such as their prices,

quality of their products, service, distinctiveness, and also availability to promote their

products. In addition to that they may also use the media or salesman as a marketing strategy

to reach a large target market. Consumers are also influenced by their social environment in

terms of their purchase decisions.

Heinonen (2011) states that one of the reasons why social media is becoming the most

influential marketing tool is because it has a social interactive tool that consumers can use to

inquire information about products such as their prices, and quality of brands before making a

purchasing decision. A majority of the consumers today feel that the social media platforms

are more trustworthy in terms of collecting information than company websites. In addition to

that because they have interactive tools, consumers can effectively use them to pass and share

information such as feed-backs and recommendation to other potential customers.

Customer Needs

Kardes et al. (2011) state that before a customer can make a pre-purchase decision, he or she

has to develop a need or recognize that he or she has a problem that needs to be solved. The

potential customer will then begin searching for information on the best product that he or

she can use in order to solve the need, or problem that has arisen. The decisions that a

consumer can make are divided into two: the ones that are easily recognized, defined, and

also solved. However, there are unexpected problems that can be difficult to solve. Solving

an identified need is not as easy as has been projected in this paragraph. Hawkins et al. (2010)
state that there are different factors that normally affect problem recognition such as: social,

and cultural factors, environmental factors, and reference and recommendation groups.

Rasool (2015) states that needs can be triggered by internal and external stimuli. The social

media can trigger a consumer’s needs through the advertisements that are placed on its social

media pages such as Facebook. For instance, the Facebook ‘Like’ button is considered to be a

powerful tool in terms of trigerring a new need for the customers. The reason for this is that

when an individual likes a certain brand page, or even a product, all his, or her Facebook

contacts will see that he or she has liked that product. This may influence his or her friends to

also become interested in that product, search for more information, which can lead to them

making the pre-purchase decision. Also, the ‘follow’ button on Twitter, and tagging option

can also be used to trigger new needs for customers.

Kardes, Cronley and Cline (2011) state that social media sites are considered to trigger the

external stimuli of the consumers, and that this marketing strategy has a considerable impact

on teenagers. Khatib ( 2016) states that the social media platform normally triggers needs to

the teenagers through the advertisments that are displayed on platforms such as Facebook, or

‘chats’ with friends on the social media sites, which will make a consumer realize that he or

she has an unfulfilled need. As has been noted before, traditional media is not the only source

of information for the consumers. The development of the digital media means that

consumers are exposed to a vast amount of information. Therefore, in order for a company or

a business to elicit a considerable amount of interest from its targeted customers, which will

increase their need for that product, they have to identify a claim in terms of the services that

they are offering, which is unique and interesting from the consumers perspective.

Information Search
The next step after the identification of a problem is that the consumers will begin seeking

information using both the internal and external information search. The internal search of

information will involve a consumer’s memory about various products. This means that the

consumer has had an experience with these products and services, and therefore is in a

position to evaluate the experience that he or she had. On the other hand, an external search

includes a variety of methods such as actual visits to the store to assess the product,

communication using the word of mouth from family and friends, and the social media.

Broilo et al. (2016) feels that decision making in this case will be difficult because the

consumer will be exposed to multiple sources of information through the different

consultation methods that he or she will use. This may complicate his, or her pre-purchase

decision because of the different opinions that he or she has of different products and

services.

Kosavinta et al. (2017) states that social media therefore becomes a valid option for the

consumers who do not want to be negatively impacted by the overproduction of information.

They can only rely on the information from their friends, and through the pages that they will

‘Like’ on Facebook, or ‘Follow’ on Twitter. The researchers are of the opinion that the social

media platforms today are effectively involved in the purchase decision process, and that the

internet has become a valuable tool that can be used for information search.

Kotler and Keller (2009) state that a potential buyer will enter into an active information

search by seeking information from his or her friends or through the social media platform.

They further state that even though the consumer may receive most of the information about

a product on the official website of a brand, the most effective, and believable information

will be the one from personal, and even public sources, which are considered to be

independent authorities. In addition to that, the online platform presents the consumers with

information on the products that are trending, which influences their pre-purchase decisions.
McCormick and Livett (2012) state that the social media platform becomes more influential

to consumers when they are either purchasing a product for the first time, or in situations

whereby the product is expensive. These two factors will normally lead to a consumer to

conduct more research, and even seek information from friends, family members, and even

social media influencers. It is an actual demonstration on how the social media plays an

influential role in influencing consumers during their information search stage as a majority

of the consumers especially the teenagers will use this social media platform to get

information about the different products and services. The advantage that the social media

platform has on the traditional media is that it offers instant information to the youth through

different sources such as their friends, but also from the social media platforms. Online

environments such as Facebook allow two-way communication between an organization and

the consumer, which is instant allowing the customer to make his or her pre-purchase

decisions quicker and in an effective manner.

Evaluation of the Alternatives

Blythe (2008) states that this is the last step in the pre-purchase decision stage. The

consumers at this step after searching and getting relevant information about a certain product

or services will start to look at alternative options. This is in order to ensure that he or she

will make the right decision during the purchase period. In most cases, consumers will make

the purchasing decision based on a factor such as price, they will go for the cheapest products.

However, there are situations whereby the price of a product is not an important factor. In

these cases, the consumers will be looking for the alternative which will be the best option in

terms of fulfilling their needs. Broilo et al. (2016) states that in such cases most of the

potential consumers will rely on the information from their friends, or peers. They will then

make a decision based on the different alternatives that they are offered, and the one that best

fulfill their immediate or even long-term needs.

Kardes et al. (2011) state that through different experiences that they have with a certain

product consumers will be involved in obtaining and storing knowledge in relation to the

different brands potentials, and then rank them in accordance to how they feel they will

satisfy their needs. The ranking will be determined by the beliefs and attitudes that a person

holds of the potential of the different brands. Ho (2014) states that the beliefs and attitudes of

different products will be determined in most cases by the family and friends of the potential

consumer. Erasmus et al. (2011) states that social media has increased the ability of

individuals to be able to access any content that they feel they need. The social media users

will seek the information from the social media to rank the different products that they have

learned about, or interacted with before making the decision to purchase. This will be through

the consumer reviews, or ratings from reputable sites on the different available products for

instance Wikis and content communities. In addition to that videos from You Tube can also

be instrumental during the evaluation process by the consumer.

Influence of the Social Media on the Purchase Decision in the Buyer’s Decision Making

Process

Relevant information is important for a consumer as it makes hims or her evaluate the

different alternatives that he or she has before making a choice on the product to purchase.

Most consumers will select certain products because they find them to be appealing to them.

However, the choice can also be influenced by the information that a consumer has gathered

from different social media sources. This therefore illustrates the importance of the social

media as a marketing tool towards their targeted customers. There are five factors in relation

to reading information from the social media markets that makes them influence the

purchasing decision of their consumers. These are: it helps them to obtain the buying-related

information, it allows for social orientation through the information that the consumer
collects, allows community membership, renumeration, and the consumer will learn about

new products.

Purchase intentions normally lead to purchase decisions. However, there are occasions when

there are certain existing factors that may lead to a consumer not to make a purchase. These

factors include: cash flow problems, and the product being out of stock. This may lead them

to modify his or her decision, or avoid making a purchase decision.

Also, a consumer may fail to make a purchase decision due to the perceived risks that he or

she may associate with a product. There are different perceived risks such as: functional risk-

where the product will not perform according to the expectations of the consumer; physical

risk- the consumer may feel that the product based on its design or its constituents poses a

risk to their health, or physical well-being; financial risk- in this case, the consumer may feel

that the product is not worth its price due to quality issues, or the need that it is satisfying,

and psychological risk- the consumer may feel that the product does not conform with the

consumer’s perceived image.

Consumer Attitude

As has been stated before, during the evaluation process, a consumer will form a preference

in terms of the existing alternatives. However, before making a choice on the actual product,

there are factors that will influence his or her decision- attitude of other people towards the

product, and also unanticipated situational factors. The extent of an individual’s attitude

towards a consumer’s preference will influence his or her purchase decision, especially if the

consumer finds the individual to have a positive influence in his or her life. For instance, if a

teenager follows a certain social influencer, and this person endorses a brand or product, then

the teenager ( who is a potential consumer) will most likely purchase this product. However,
if he provides a negative critic of the product then it will reduce the chances of the consumer

purchasing that product.

Yogesh and Yesha (2014) state that consumer attitude is an important element in relation to

the consumer behavior, and it is defined as a set of beliefs, experience, and feelings, which

form a predisposition for an individual to act in either of the existing two directions-

favorable or unfavorable. They felt that it is important in terms of making the decision

towards a certain product or service. Also, they made the claim that during the purchase

decision stage, social media will influence the attitude of an individual consumer, and this

will lead to either a favorable or unfavorable outcome in relation to a consumer’s attitude

towards a product.

Thu Ha (2014) states that attitude towards a product will be expressed through the evaluation

of a product, or brand either in a favorable or unfavorable manner. He adds that in most cases,

a consumer will develop a positive attitude towards a product if it is cheaper than the existing

alternatives. Rant (2014) observed that an individual’s attitude affects the way he or she feels

about certain products and services. He adds that there are many factors such as social,

cultural, personal, or psychological that affect an individual’s attitudes towards a certain

product, or service. Marketers can be able to influence some of the mentioned factors,

however, there are others which cannot be changed.

Consumer Motivation

According to Duffett (2017) choices are normally made in order to accomplish specific goals.

People make choices on a regular basis, and therefore, motivation will not only impact the

direction of the choice ( favorable or unfavorable) but also the intensity of the behavior. Rant

(2014) states that the level of motivation will influence the buying behavior of the customers.

The reason for this is that different customers have specific needs such as biological, social,
and also psychological needs. There are needs that require immediate attention because they

are more pressing than others. This means that a need will become a motivation or an

influencer as the consumer will look for ways to satisfy the need.

This motivation is directly related to a need. In order to increase sales, and also encourage the

consumers to purchase a product, brands should try to create, or make a need to become

pressing from the consumer’s perspective. This will increase the purchase motivation in order

to ensure that the customer becomes more interested in purchasing the product. They must

also develop ways of identifying a need, and therefore coming up with the solution that the

consumer needs, or requires.

Duffett (2017) defines purchase goal as a planned behavior of a consumer who is prepared to

purchase a certain product. It is important to note that there is a direct relationship between

the purchase intention and also brand image. Marketers have realized that the social media is

an important tool in terms of increasing or improving the brand image for the targeted

consumers. This has led to companies adapting to the use of social media stimuli in order to

positively impact the purchase intentions of the consumers. Social media also allows

companies to provide personal information to the different consumers instead of a general

message as was the case in the traditional media marketing tools. This information will also

be provided at a faster rate, which leads to a consumer making his or her buying decision

faster than is the case with the traditional media.

Consumer Perceptions

Rant (2014) defines consumer perception as the process uses during the selection,

organization, and interpretation of information, which determines his or her perception

towards the product. Gro (2012) feels that although the price of a product can influence a

consumer to purchase a product, in most cases low prices are associated with low quality.
Duffett ( 2017) holds the opinion that the perception of quality is subjective in relation to a

consumer’s evaluation of the product and the judgment he or she makes based on the

different attributes of the product. Ioanas and Stoica (2014) provide the argument that there is

a relationship between the perceived value, price quality and risk. There through the

price-quality relationship a consumer may use price as a definitive indicator of the quality of

a certain product. Also, there is normally a positive relation between the perceived value of a

product, and purchase intention. The differences in price of the alternative products normally

creates the perception of value. Therefore, if the price of a product increases within a certain

price range that was set by the consumer, his or her perception of value will increase. Howver,

perception of value will decrease if the price of the product reaches levels that are beyond the

price range of the consumer.

Social Media Influence on the Post Purchase Decision of the Buyer

After the consumption of a product, a consumer will assess his or her satisfaction, or

dissatisfaction level in relation to the need that led to the purchase, and the consumer’s

overall experience. There are two potential outcomes that are determined from the experience:

satisfaction or dissatisfaction. In situations whereby a consumer experiences dissatisfaction in

relation to the purchase made, then the choice will normally be de-valued. This will lead the

consumer to begin the process of searching, obtaining information, and seeking alternatives

for future purchase decisions, and these processes will lead to the triggering of a new

behavior.

The post-purchase phase determines whether the consumer will fully adapt to the use of the

product and make repeat purchases, or whether he or she will seek alternatives. Repeat

purchases will be inspired by the comfort level that the consumer felt when using a product,
and that it satisfied a certain need. They will also recommend the product to their family and

friends.

Chen (2014) states that in the post-purchase stage, consumers will normally evaluate their

outcome in relation to their purchase decision, and this will influence their future purchases.

The social media becomes an ideal avenue to talk about the experiences that a consumer had

with a product. They will provide their own feedback and also seek opinion from their peers.

As was noted before, the social media has made it easier for consumers to spread information

about a product quicker, and to more people than is the case with the traditional media. It also

influences the purchase decision-making process of the consumers since they are able to

share, comment, and read positive or negative experiences in relation to a product.

Feedback Loop

The social media allows consumers to generate and obtain data from different people who

have had experience with a certain product. The conversations between the different users are

dynamic since it allows a two-way communication. It also allows for the accessibility and

also transparency of experiential data, which is generated from current customers, and can be

used for review purposes by future customers. The reason for this is that after the

consumption process, the consumers will provide their different experiences in terms of their

satisfaction and dissatisfacion levels in relation to the fulfillment of a specific, or general

need by the product. The customers can also rate the quality of the decision that they made in

relation to the product that they selected.

Maschio (2016) notes that if the performance is below his or her expectations, then it is

highly likely that the customer will be dissatisfied. On the other hand, if the product meets his

or her expectations then the customer will be satisfied with the product. Alternatively, there

are situations whereby the product exceeds the expectations of the customers, and he or she
will be delighted, or ecstatic about the product. It is important to point out that a majority of

the consumers today rely on the online opinions in order to make their purchase decision.

Approximately 50 percent of the teenagers share and inform their online friends about the

products that they like on their social media pages. Social media is able to influence a

consumer’s decision based on its interconnected elements such as: communication media,

social interaction, and the contents that they share. Therefore, after a purchase and use of a

product most of the consumers will share their experience with the product, and their friends

can easily access this information from their friends via the social media sites. Through the

feedback loop, consumers can be able to share their own recommendations in relation to the

product as well as their personal opinions. It also presents them with an opportunity to

compare their experiences with their friends, and also other consumers. Through the use of

this feedback they may influence the purchasing decision of a potential buyer of a certain

product.

Relationship Between Social Media and Teenagers’ Purchasing Intentions of Unhealthy

Foods

Anderson et al. (2009) conducted a study and found out that there was overwhelmning

evidence that adolescents and young adults were regularly exposed to and influenced by the

marketing of unhealthy products using the traditional media. The internet today provides a

majority of the marketers with new marketing tools that they can use to disseminate or

communicate their messages to their potential customers. The increased popularity of the

social media has revolutionized the marketing landscape. Today, a majority of the young

targeted audiences have been transformed from the passive receipients of advertisements to

active participants who are involved in both the co-creation and dissemination of these

marketing messages. The social media sites allow businesses to be-friend their customers,

and also use an appealing approach so that the customers can have a personal attachment with
their brands. In the following sub-sections it will highlight how teenagers are exposed to, and

regularly interact with messages from a variety of companies that sell unhealthy food and

beverages, alcohol and tobacco using the social media. This then influences the purchasing

decision of these young clients.

Nutrient Deficient Food and Energy Dense Beverages

The adolescence stage is a period whereby people learn the behaviors that ‘will most likely

stick with them’ for a long time. Therefore, it is the best time to teach them healthy behaviors

such as eating well, staying active, and loving themselves. These are fundamental in terms of

increasing their quality of life, and improving their physical function. However, in a majority

of the developed countries globally are facing adolescent obesity as part of its public health

challenge. According to Ogden et al. (2014) in the US approximately 34.5% of adolescents

are considered to be overweight or obese. These teenagers are at a higher risk than

adolescents who are not overweight or obese to develop chronic health conditions in their

adulthood because of their current condition ( having excess weight).

Shively (2014) states that most of the companies that deal with ‘Junk Food’ are promoting

their products using the social media platforms. Companies such as Burger King chicken

sandwiches, and Coke are using the social media sites to promote their campaigns especially

to the youth. For instance, in 2014, Coca-Cola started using the ‘Share A Coke’ campaign.

The objectives of this campaign was to increase its sales, and also engage with customers

through talking to them. Coca-Cola had decided to take this direction because for the past ten

years prior to 2014, they had been recording decreasing sales as most of their previous

consumers were opting to take healthier drinks.

The strategy that the company undertook was to engage its customers through personalization.

Customers were encouraged to propose names that will be labeled on Coke bottles. People
proposed names such as ‘Family, Mama, Papa, and even personal names such as Julie, and

Peter.’ In order to create a ‘buzz’ the company encouraged its customers and potential

customers to actively participate in the social media. The following results were obtained

from this campaign. The ratio of young to adult consumers of Coca-Cola increased by seven

percent. The company’s Facebook page experienced an increase of 39% of fans. In Australia

alone, a country of 23 million people in 2014, in that year alone it sold more than 250 million

bottles of its product.

The social media sites are becoming ideal platforms for food and beverage companies to

engage teenagers, and influence their purchasing decision. For instance, a recent US market

survey showed that 63% of teenagers and young adults have posted a photo of themselves on

their social media sites of the food or drinks that they were consuming. According to DMR

(2015), in a study that they conducted in 2015, they found out that 40% of its users aged

between 16-24 have shared a photo of what they were consuming. It further noted that at that

time there were over 71 million posts that contained the tag #foodporn. A majority of the

food and beverage companies are capitalizing on this consumer-driven marketing.

Techniques that are Used By Food and Beverage Marketers on the Social Media

Boelsen-Robinson et al. (2015) conducted a study to investigate how the top three food and

beverage brands in Australia were promoting their products using the social media sites. The

researchers found out that out of the 21 digital promotional strategies that were being used by

these brands, seven were in Facebook. The target audience of these strategies were

adolescents (13-17 years). The common techniques that were used to engage this group with

their unhealthy food and beverage products were flash animation, music and games. In

addition to that, the study also established that these companies also used competitions as
their ideal marketing strategies based on the user-generated content in order to increase

consumer engagement (Freeman et al., 2014).

These researchers noted that there was increased interaction between these brand owners and

Facebook users. Page administrators of these brands responded directly to the user posts.

They also liked, and replied to the comments that were made by users. In addition to that,

they shared some of these posts. Freeman et al. (2014) stated that the adolescent Facebook

users were highly receptive with being engaged using such methods. They responded by

sharing and spreading these marketing messages on behalf of the food and beverage

companies with little or no incentive required.

Exposure Incidences to Food and Beverage Marketing on Social Media

Harris et al. (2013) conducted a study to measure the teenager’s total exposure to the food

and beverage marketing on the social media sites. This was in order to determine how the

exposure has affected their dietary choices. The researchers also noted that that over the years

there has been an increase in terms of social media sites usage, and also spending on social

media advertising. The study consisted of 18 of the US most popular fast-food chain

restaurants. Harris et al. (2013) found that the amount of money that these restaurants used on

Facebook alone totalled approximately $6 billion. They also noted that a majority of these

fast-food outlets in this study had 1 million or more Facebook likes ( this is in comparison to

only 10 that had reached the 1 million mark in 2010). Additionally six of these outlets had

more than 10 million likes.

Montgomery et al. (2012) noted that in light of the increased social media use by the

unhealthy food and beverage brands in order to influence the dietary decisions of teenagers

public health professionals such as the Obesity Policy Coalition called for interventions and

also policies that are meant to target this vulnerable group ( teenagers). The reason for this is
that these companies are violating the voluntary nature of the advertising codes that are meant

to limit the adolescents exposure to unhealthy food and beverage products. The reason for

this is that most of these voluntary codes are not applicable for the social media sites.

Therefore, these companies are taking advantage of these loopholes to target this group and

influence their purchase decision, and choice of food and beverages that they take on a

regular basis (Boelsen-Robinson et al.,2015).

Alcohol

Different studies have indicated that young adults ( 18-24 years) in various parts of the world

have the most problematic levels of alcohol consumption. According to a study that was

conducted by SAMHSA (2013) over 13 million of the young adults drank five or more

standard drinks in a single sitting at-least on a monthly basis in 2013. The Australian Institute

of Health and Welfare (2014) showed that 46% of the young adults drank six or more

standard drinks in a single sitting. The study also reported that 18% of the group drank 11 or

more standard drinks.

Alcohol initiation during adolescence has been linked to problematic drinking in later stages

of life. Alcohol advertising is regarded as one of the most influential methods of initiating an

adolescent to drinking alcohol. This is the main reasons why there are regulatory restrictions

in the traditional media in terms of broadcasting alcohol. It is meant to reduce adolescent

exposure to various messages and appeals that may influence them into making the decision

to purchase these products. However, according to Cukier and Jernigan (2014) even though

these restrictions are in place in the traditional media sites, they have proved to be ineffective.

The social media sites presents these companies with new opportunities to avoid the barriers

that are placed by these restrictions and also increased engagement with the adolescents.
Hebden et al. (2015) notes that Facebook has been the most researched social media site in

terms of the alcohol content posted by the alcohol brands that use this platform for

advertising. The researchers noted that there was increasing evidence of the relationship

between the user-generated alcohol-related posts on the young people’s Facebook profiles

and drinking problems among the adolescents. Ramezani et al. (2014) also pointed out that

alcohol is a common topic among the young adults in the different social media sites such as

Facebook and Twitter. The researchers pointed out that there was an increase in social media

marketing traffic during the weekend nights, public holidays, and special events such as

birthdays, and graduation ceremonies.

Existing Rules for Alcohol Marketing on Social Media

Beese (2015) states that in the US, industry-specific codes are used to govern alcohol

marketing on the social media sites. For instance, alcohol companies are restricted to only

share, or advertise their brands where are least 71.6% of the audience is of the legal purchase

age of alcohol. They also need to conduct age affirmation before engaging in direct

interaction with a user. In addition to that, they are expected to offer instructions to ensure

that their messages are not forwarded to individuals who are below the legal drinking and

purchase age.

Caswell (2012) notes that one of the reasons why it has proven difficult to govern the alcohol

messages that are posted by different brands in the social media is because different countries

offer varying degrees of regulations in terms of how such content can be shared. This has led

to calls in terms of introduction of a global response in relation to the regulation of online

alcohol marketing. For instance, in Australia the ABAC Scheme (2014) is an industrial code

that covers digital communication inclusive of the mobile, social media and user generated

content. The existing problem with this code is that it only governs content, and not where it
is actually placed meaning that adolescents are still exposed to alcohol advertising. In

addition to that, ABAC provides the marketers with practice guidelines such as age

verification. However, the document emphasizes that the advice is non-binding, and it is only

meant for guidance purposes of how alcohol brands should market their brands in the social

media.

Facebook has also taken the initiative of trying to reduce young people from being exposed to

content that may negatively affect their behaviors. For instance, one of the requirements by

Facebook has been to provide a data of birth, which is used to establish an individual’s

profile. This will automatically restrict an individual from assessing certain pages that contain

an age limit due to the messages and content that they are sharing. Although it is a great

initiative, Facebook does not have a process that it can use to accurately verify the

information that is provided by a user. It assumes that the user will provide genuine

information. Although Twitter does not require an individual’s age information in order to

establish one’s profile, it has an age screening tool that can be used by alcohol marketers,

which requires the date of birth before an individual can access certain content. In this case,

the follow request will be declined if the date that an individual has entered indicates that

they are under the legal drinking age in a specific country of residence. In addition to that,

You Tube does not have automatic features to control or regulate access to inappropriate

messages or content. Instead, it has a facility that normally enables brands to ask for date

births of its users, and limits access to specific channels to its registered users who have not

reached the required age.

Accessibility and Impact of Alcohol Marketing on Social Media

Barry et al. (2015) conducted a study to determine the age restriction features that have been

placed on different social media sites. They created fictitious profiles of users aged 14, 17,
and 19 and used them to access You Tube channels of 16 selected alcohol brands. The

researchers found out that all the created profiles were able to access two-thirds of the alcohol

brand channels, and watch their videos. They also created fictitious profiles of 13, 15, 17, 19

and 21 Instagram user profiles. They ten conducted a study for one month where they

followed the official Instagram pages of 22 alcohol brands. The researchers found out that not

only did all the fictitious profiles manage to follow the alcohol brands during the duration of

the study, but they were also able to receive messages directly on their smart phones, during

the month of the study, comment on the posts, and also the requests that were posted by the

underage profiles were directly responded to by the different brand representatives.

Winpenny et al. (2014) conducted a similar study in the UK. They created fictitious profiles

for a 14-year old and a 24-year old user on Facebook, Twitter, and also You Tube. The

researchers determined that only the 24-year old was able to access the facebook pages of

five selected alcohol brands. However, they were able to access all the You Tube channels

that they investigated and three of the five selected Twitter accounts for alcohol brands.

Hoffman et al. (2014) conducted a survey of the US college students who had a mean age of

21 years and their use of social media. The researchers found out that social media interaction

( liking, posting, and commenting) was positively correlated with increased alcohol

consumption. Jones et al. (2015) conducted a similar study of Australian Facebook users aged

16-24 years. The researchers were able to establish that there was an association between

active social media interaction and alcohol consumption and problematic drinking. Alhabash

et al. (2015) found out that there was a positive correlation in terms of alcohol-marketing

status updates and an individual’s drinking intentions. The researchers were able to find out

that the study participants who reported stronger behavioral intentions such as liking, sharing

and commenting to alcohol-related posts, also indicated higher intentions towards alcohol
consumption. This correlation was also higher if a study participant stated that he or she had

liked or shared a lot of alcohol-related content.

Tobacco

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015) although there has been

a decline in terms of smoking among the young adults in developed countries, the proportion

of the teenagers who are still smoking is still high (16.7%) in the US. The Australian Institute

of Health and Welfare (2014) notes that smoking initiation mainly occurs in adolescence or

young adulthood stages of life. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (2015)

has pointed out that there is need to introduce stringent restriction measures to reduce the

increased marketing of tobacco on social media sites such as Facebook. The reason for this is

that social media offers a unique opportunity for tobacco companies to advertise their

products in a more influential manner than is the case in the traditional media.

A majority of the existing social media sites have policies in place that restrict the direct

advertising of tobacco products. For instance, Facebook advertising policies restrict that

advertisements should not be used to promote , or even facilitate in the sale or consumption

of the tobacco products (Facebook, 2015). In addition to that, according to Google (2015)

You Tube also does not allow tobacco products to be advertised on its site. However, it is

important to point out that the aspect of advertising in this case means paid forms of

promotions such as the advertisements that are embedded in videos or advertisements that

will appear after conducting certain key word searches.

Extent of Tobacco Marketing on Social Media

Cranwell et al. (2015) in their study found out that the most researched social media site in

relation to tobacco content is You Tube. The study conducted an analysis of the themes and

also content of the most viewed videos in relation to the five leading cigarette brands. The
study conducted an analysis of 163 videos in which 71% of the videos were considered to

contain pro-tobacco content, or promoted a certain tobacco brand, versus only 3% of videos

that were considered to be educating people against the use of tobacco. Cranwell et al. (2015)

also conducted an analysis of the top 40 UK music videos in 2015, and found out that tobacco

content was showcased in 22% of the music videos. Liang et al. (2015) noted that in that year

alone there was a release of over 120,000 pro-tobacco videos on You Tube.

Richardson and Vallone (2014) have noted that there are more vidoes that show other tobacco

related products such as hookah, cigars, and smokeless tobacco that are gaining more

popularity than cigarettes. There is increased viewership of videos promoting these

tobacco-related products by teenagers in the 13-17 year age group. Freeman and Chapman

(2010) found out that British American Tobacco (BAT) employees were promoting the BAT

brands by joining Facebook pages as fans and posting photos of BAT events, products, and

also promotional items. The authors noted that this was a ploy against the restrictive policies

because these employees will claim that they are not the ones who created these pages, and as

fans are free to post these events, or promotions. In addition to that, they may even claim that

it is the responsibility of the page administrators to control the content that is viewed by the

different members of that page. However, moral authority dictates that they should be aware

of the effect of their promotional activities on the teenagers that may have access to these

pages.

Accessibility and Impact of Tobacco Marketing on Social Media

Cavazos-Rehg et al. (2014) in their research found out that approximately 50% of US middle

school and high school students reported receiving tobacco ads or promotions via different

social media sites such as Facebook. Cranwell et al. (2015) in their study also found out that

of the 32 popular YouTube music videos that either promoted alcohol or tobacco messages,
81 percent of the British adolescents had seen at least one. The average number of the

identified videos that had been watched by the teenagers in the UK was 7.1.

The National Cancer Institute (2008) found out that there was a strong evidence between

adolescent exposure to tobacco imagery, and increase in tobacco use. These researchers

found out that the smoking depictions in the mass media influenced and shaped the behavior

of teenagers through smoking. This was by changing their social norms and depicting

smoking of tobacco as being normal and cool. The impact of promoting tobacco on social

media has not been well investigated to see its actual effects in terms of changing social

norms and attitudes towards smoking developed by the teenagers. Depue et al. (2015)

conducted a study to assess the role of social media in increasing tobacco smoking behavior

among the teenagers. The results of the study indicated that the social media depictions of

tobacco were more influential than the exposure to the TV and movie depictions of smoking

in terms of predicting short and long term smoking behavior among the teenagers. However,

this study failed to determine the exposure differences i.e. peer or brand-generated in

relation to influencing smoking behaviors. Therefore, one cannot determine which

factor (peer or brand promotions) is more influential.

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

In terms of identifying the impact of social media on consumer’s purchasing decision on

unhealthy food and beverage products among the teenagers, this study identified the

population and also sampling design in order to come up with an appropriate representative

sample. In this chapter it elaborates on the sampling techniques that were used, sample size,
research procedures, data collection methods, and data analysis methods that were used in

this study.

Research Design

Cooper and Schindler ( 2014) have defined research design as the blue print of a research

process. It illustrates how the study was conducted using the appropriate technical terms, how

the researcher conducted his or her sample selection, the data collection instruments that were

used in the research, and also the research procedures. Cox and Hassard ( 2010) define the

research design as defined structures in which the research structure is implemented. In this

study, it used a descriptive research design which involves direct exploration, analysis and

description of phenomena from unexplained presumptions, with the aim of achieving

maximum intuitive presentations. According to Saunders et al. (2009) a descriptive research

design is used to document a study phenomenon in its real situation with no interference from

the researcher. It helps the researcher to be in a position whereby he or she can identify and

also describe characteristics of a study population and its relationships.

Population and Sampling Design

Population

Coopler and Schindler (2014) define population as a group that constitutes the total collection

of all the elements that a researcher will like to study. The focus of this study was teenagers

( people who are in the age group of 13-18 years). They also were required to be frequent

social media users. The reason for this is in order to assess whether social media has affected

their dietary choices, especially making them select unhealthy food and beverage products.

According to the US Census Bureau estimates of 2015 there were 41, 731,233 youth between

the ages of 10-19 in the United States. Therefore, the total study population is 41, 731,233.

Sampling Design
A sampling design is an important component in a research as it acts as the framework guide

that will determine how study samples will be selected from the study population. Saunders

et al. (2009) defines sampling design as the technique that is used by a researcher to select a

sub-group from a population that will involved in a research study. The sub-group is

normally carefully selected in order to act as a representative of the whole population, and it

will consist of all the characteristics that will be required or needed to fulfill the research

objectives. All the research participants are referred to as subjects or respondents.

Sampling Frame

The sampling frame consisted of youth between the ages of 13-19 years old. It was also

essential for these teenagers to be users of the social media sites in order to determine its

overall impact on their decision processes when it comes to unhealthy food and beverage

products.

Sampling Technique

The study used a random sampling technique to sample teenagers from New York City ( total

teen population of 8,550, 405) to be an ideal target population. Random sampling technique

is considered to be an ideal method of selecting research participants for a research study of

this magnitude based on the total population that qualify to participate in this research. It

provides each element within the study population with an equal opportunity to be selected or

sampled.

Sample Size

Cooper and Schindler (2014) define a sample size as a group of respondents that consists of

part of the overall target population that has carefully been selected to represent the

population. The sample size helps the researcher to be able to draw a valid conclusion in

relation to the whole study population. The researchers should draw a sample in such a
manner that it will be representative of the study population. In this research study, the

sample size was determined using the Yamane (1967) formula. The formula is used in a study

because it factors in acceptable sampling error, and ensures that the researcher will be able to

determine a good or effective sample size. The Yamane formula is as follows:

n= N/ (1+N (e) 2)

n= Sample size

N= Total Population

e= Desired level of precision

In order to calculate the sample size using this formula, it uses a confidence level of 95%, and

a precision level of 0.05.

n= 8,550,405 and e= 0.05

Sample size = 8,550,405/ (1+8,550,405 (0.05)^2)

= 399.981 which is rounded off to the nearest whole number

Therefore the sample size of the teenagers in New York = 400

It is important to point out that e= 0.05 is considered to be the desired level of precision is

normally selected due to the population of study being too large. A small sample size is

convenient for the researcher in terms of the overall research costs, and time taken to

complete the research.

Data Collection Methods

The primary method that was used to collect data from the research participants was through

the administration of questionnaires. This questionnaires were designed in accordance with

the specific objectives of this research. For easy analysis, the questions included close-ended
questions in the form of a 5-point Likert Scale (agree, strongly agree, neutral, disagree, or

strongly disagree), and there were also open-ended questions. The questionnaire was divided

into four sections. Part A of the questionnaire was aimed at capturing the general information

of the respondents such as their gender, age, and how often they use the social media. Part B,

C, D focused more on the impact and influence of social media on the research participants’

purchase decisions, and also their choices of unhealthy food and beverage products.

The survey period that the researcher determined would be enough for collecting and

analyzing data was two months. The survey period will comprise the following activities:

distribution of the questionnaires to the research participants, collection, and analysis of the

data collected in these questionnaires. It will be important for the researcher to be able to

assess the data collecting instrument that he selected for this research in order to assess its

validity and reliability. The validity of a research can be defined as the ability f the

instrument to measure effectively what it was designed to measure. The questionnaire was

assessed by the researcher through the conduction of a pilot-test study. The researcher used

the feedback that had been provided by the researcher to improve the questionnaire.

It was also important to measure the validity of the research instrument that he

collected for this study. The researcher, in this case, used the factor analysis test to measure

the validity of the instrument. Fujun et al. (2007) state that there are three types of validity:

construct, content, and predictive validity. The researcher decided to measure or assess the

construct validity only because it assesses whether there is a close fit in relation to the

construct of the instrument in relation to what it is supposed to measure and the actual

observations that were determined by the researcher, while he was using the instrument. The

result from the exploratory factor analysis test for the questionnaire was 0.927, which is an

indicator that the instrument that the researcher is using for this study is valid.
 During the pilot test study, the researcher ‘recruited’ his classmates and course mates

to participate in this study. The participants in this pilot test answered the questions that were

provided in the questionnaire, which the researcher analyzed. The total number of

participants that were selected for this study was 32. As it was a pilot test, the researcher was

provided with feedback from the participants in relation to the relevance and complexity of

the questions that were used. The researcher modified and improved the questions that were

included in the questionnaire in relation to the feedback that had been provided in the pilot

study.

As was also stated before, the researcher was also supposed to assess the reliability of

the instrument that he was going to use in the research. If an instrument is determined to be

highly reliable, it means that the instrument can be used effectively in the subsequent studies,

and provide similar results. The reliability test that was used is the test-re-test strategy. As

was the case in the pilot study, 32 participants were selected for this study, and a Pearson

Correlation test was used in order to assess the reliability of the data collection instruments.

The result achieved was 0.967. A Cronbach internal consistency scoring was used in order to

determine the internal consistency of the questionnaire, and the result, in this case, was

α >0.868. It was an indicator that the questionnaire had a consistent internal scale.

Data Analysis Methods

Data analysis is the process that a researcher uses to bring order, structure, and also meaning

to the information that he or she has collected in the research. Another definition of data

analysis is the processing of collecting, recording and transforming data with the aim of

retrieving useful information, suggesting conclusions, which will assist in the decision

making of solving a problem. After data has been collected by the researcher, before it can be

analyzed, it first needs to be organized. In this study both the descriptive and also
inferential statistics methods were used. The descriptive statistics was implemented in the use

of frequencies, mean and standard deviation. On the other hand, inferential statistics was used

in correlation and multiple regression in order to show the relationship between operational

and technological challenges of performance. The researcher also used tables and figures in

order to have a better understanding of the research interpretation in regards to easy

understanding of what was being studied. In addition to that, figures were also used in order

to indicate the number of occurrence of the responses to the particular questions in a more

graphical manner.

Chapter Summary

As it was determined before, the research used a random sampling technique in order to

ensure that the population sampled in a random manner. The researcher used questionnaires

as the primary data collection method, and they were distributed to teenagers in the New

York area who used social media in order to make purchasing decisions. The researcher

wanted to determined how the social media negatively impacts the choice of teenagers

leading them to purchase food and beverage products that are considered to be unhealthy.

The data collected was analyzed using the SPSS software and the results and findings are

presented in chapter four of this research paper.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS AND FINDINGS

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter the researcher will present the results and findings of the study that was

collected from the respondents. In the first section, it will consist of the reliability analysis,

whereby the researcher will analyze the general information in terms of the demographics

with respect to the respondents. The second section will contain the descriptive analysis of
the social media influences in relation to the pre-purchase stage. The third section will cover

the social media influences on the purchase stage, and the fourth section will analyze the

social media influences on the post-purchase stage. There will also be a correlation analysis

of the objectives of the study.

Response Rate

As was pointed out in chapter three all the respondents of the study were drawn from New

York City. This led to a total of 400 questionnaires to be administered to the teenagers in the

region. Out of the 400 research participants, 389 respondents completed and returned the

questionnaires. This demonstrated a 97.25% response rate. The researcher credited the high

response rate from the research participants to the data collection methods that were used,

and the way the data collection tools were administered. The researcher selected a number of

schools and solicited the help of the teachers in those schools to distribute the questionnaires

to their students. The teachers were also responsible for collecting data, and handing them

back to the researcher for analysis purposes. The reason why the researcher decided to seek

the help of the teachers is that it would be easier for them to conduct a follow-up on the

respondents in order to encourage them to complete and return the questionnaires. Also, the

respondents were informed that they were taking part in an important research.

Table 4.1 Response Rate

Response Frequency Percentage (%)

Responded 389 97

Not Responded 11 3

Total 400 100

Reliability Analysis

Cooper and Schindler (2014) define reliability as the overall consistency of a measure. The

cronbach’s alpha is used to measure consistency. It was established for every objective in

order to determine if in each objective, it will produce consistent results for the researcher.

Table 4.2 illustrates the reliability analysis that was done in this study. In the pre-purchase

stage, it scored 0.729, the purchase stage was 0.667, and post-purchase stage was 0.580.

Table 4.2 Reliability Analysis

Reliability Analysis No. Of Items Cronbach’s Alpha

Pre-purchase Stage 13 0.729

Purchase Stage 10 0.667

Post-purchase Stage 10 0.580

Gender of the Respondents

It was important for the researcher to determine the gender of the respondents in order to

assess the impact or influence of social media on teenagers of different gender. It was

determined that 60% of the respondents were female, while 40% were male in the sample

population as can be seen in figure 4.1 below.

 Chart Title

male female

Age of the Respondents

It was also important to establish the age distribution of the respondents in this study in

relation to social media use and how it affects them. A majority of the respondents- 62%

were in age bracket of 13-15 years, 27% in the 16-17 years, and 11% in 18-24 years. The

18-24 years was factored in due to the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, also they are

young adults and behave in a similar manner as the teenagers. The results are illustrated in

figure 4.2 below:

 Chart Title
70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
13-15 16-17 18-24

Social Media Tools

Previous research has demonstrated that the preference to different social media tools has an

impact on the consumer decision making process. In this study it focused on determining the

preferred social media tools. Based on the data analysis, it stated that 89% of the respondents

preferred to use WhatsApp as their favorite online site. 63% of the respondents stated that

they preferred to use Facebook, 45% Instagram, 42% You Tube, 38% Twitter, and only 23%

Google+. The results are illustrated in figure 4.3 below:

Chart Title

whatsapp Facebook Instagram You Tube Twitter Google +

Time Spent on Social Media Sites

The researcher also felt that it was important to determine the frequency of using social

media of the users. It demonstrated that 29% of the researchers spend 4-6 hours on the social

media sites, 26% 7-9 hours, and 15% more than 10 hours on social media sites. These results

are illustrated in figure 4.4 below:

Chart Title

4-6 hrs 7-9 hrs >10hrs

Impact of Social media Sites on the Consumers Purchase Decision

It was essential for the researcher to determine the effect of social media in terms of acting as

a trigger to the teenagers and influencing them to purchase unhealthy products or beverages

and therefore validating the purpose and findings of this study. The researcher through the

questionnaire asked the respondents to indicate the influence of social media sites on their

purchases of unhealthy food and beverages. The results of the study indicated that 35.3% of

them responded Yes, 10.5% stated No, and 25.3% were not sure if social media influenced

their purchase decision. The results are represented in figure 4.5:

 Chart Title
40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Yes No Not Sure

Impact of Social Media on the Purchase Stage Analysis

In the following sections, the researcher assesses the influence of social media on the three

purchase stages among the teenagers.

Pre-Purchase Stage

Problem Recognition

The first area of study by the researcher was problem recognition during the pre-purchase

stage. Most of the respondents stated that the social media stimulates them to the point that

they are able to recognize a need for something before they purchase it. They stated that the

advertisements on these sites in most cases leads them to purchase a product. Table 4.3 below

shows the results findings in relation to problem recognition.

Table 4.3 Analysis of Social Media Impact on Problem Recognition

Frequency Mean

Social media helps you to 387 4.276

recognize a need even before

you felt the need to purchase

it

Social media influences you 385 3.873

to purchase unhealthy

products through its

advertisements

Social media has increased 389 4.217

your desire of undesirable

products

Conducting Information Search

The researcher felt that it was necessary to determine how the process of information search

during the pre-purchase stage influences the customers decision who are using the social

media sites. A majority of the respondents felt that information search of a product is easier

when using social media sites as compared to the traditional media. The researcher was also

able to establish that the respondents relied on product information from the social media

sites to influence their decision before a purchase. Table 4.4 below illustrates the findings:

Table 4.4 Results of the Information Search on Social Media Sites Influence on Purchasing

Decision

Frequency Mean

Conducting information 389 3.722

search using the social media

sites is easier than the

traditional media sites

Reviews from family and 389 3.886

friends increases the chances

of a consumer trying a new

product

Social media is considered to 389 3.864

be a trustworthy source of

information for both the new

and existing products

Evaluation of the Alternative Products

The respondents of this study indicated that the social media is a credible source of

information when the consumers are uncertain about a product, or its available alternatives.

They felt that they could trust the information that they found in different sites such as

Facebook, Twitter and You Tube. The results of the assessment of alternative products is

represented in table 4.5 below.

Table 4.5: Assessment of Product Alternatives by the Consumer using Social Media Sites

Frequency Mean

Social media is considered to 389 3.477

be more trustworthy than

other sources of information

such as the traditional media

The information from the 389 3.554

social media sites is

considered to be highly

credible when the consumers

are dealing with new

products that they have not

used before

Social media sites has tools 389 3.852

that allows consumer to filter

information about a certain

product, and therefore their

research is more effective in

comparison to the traditional

media sites

Impact of Social Media on the Purchase Stage

In this section, the researcher’s intention was to determine the influence of social media on

the purchase stage of the research respondents. The questions that were used in this section

had a likert scale 1-5 ( 1-strongly disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Uncertain, 4-Agree, and 5-Strongly

Agree).

Impact of Social Media Sites on the Consumer Attitude During the Purchase Stage
Consumer attitude influences the choice of products that a consumer will purchase, and 90%

of the respondents agreed with this statement based on their response to the questions. Table

4.6 illustrates the results on how attitude influences the choice of products that teenagers

consume.

Table 4.6 Impact of Social Media on Consumer Attitude during the Purchase Stage

Frequency Mean

The comments made by 389 3.553

family and friends normally

changes the attitude of a

consumer towards a product

Ratings and likes by friends 389 3.767

on a product will have a

positive contribution on the

consumers attitude towards

the product

Social Media Site Influence on Consumer Perception of a Product

The researcher felt that it was important to determine the consumers perception of products

based on the information that they derived from the social media sites. The results of this

question was that 56% of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement that the

information that they got from the social media sites acted as a determinant to their

purchasing decision. 23% agreed with the statement, 18% were uncertain, 15% disagreed
with the statement while only 8% strongly disagreed with the statement. The results of the

study were illustrated in figure 4.6 below:

Figure 4.6 Social media Site Influence on the Consumer Perception of a Product

Chart Title
60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly
Disagree

Impact of the Social Media on the Post-Purchase Stage

In this section it assesses how the social media sites influence the feedback of a consumer,

their rate of satisfaction, and dissatisfaction.

Feedback

The researcher also sought to determine how feedbacks via the social media sites influenced

the consumer behavior. Using questions that had likert scales, a majority of the respondents

stated that they always made comments (3.96) about their experience with a product and ‘tag’

their family and friends. They also stated that they read the comments that they are ‘tagged’

by their family and friends and this has an impact on their future purchase decision (3.82)

depending on whether it is a positive or negative one. They also stated that through the social

media sites, consumers are able to communicate with the different companies that they
purchase their products directly (3.72), and provide them with a feedback about their

experiences with the product. Figure 4.7 is an illustration of these results:

Figure 4.7: Impact of Feedback on Post-Purchase Decisions

Chart Title
4

3.95

3.9

3.85

3.8

3.75

3.7

3.65

3.6
Share experience Read comments of friends Directly communicates with
co

Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction

Consumers experience with a product can be determined through their satisfaction and

dissatisfaction projections. These tendencies affect the future purchasing behavior of the

customers. In this study, it was demonstrated that 75% of the consumers were influenced by

the rate of satisfaction or dissatisfaction that was shared by their family and friends. The

results have been demonstrated in the figure below.

Figure 4.8: Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction Rate of the Consumers Influenced by Social

Media Sites
 Chart Title
80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

In addition to that, the researcher investigated on the possibility of re-purchase based on the

satisfaction and dissatisfaction report from the different social media sites. Figure 4.9

represents the results that were determined from this research.

Figure 4.9: Re-Purchase Based on the Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction Report on the Different

Social Media Sites

Chart Title
60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Chapter Summary
In this chapter, it contained a detailed explanation of the results and findings of the study that

was gathered by the researcher in order to fulfill the aims of the study. The demographic

information that was analyzed by the researcher were: age, gender, and the frequency of

using social media. In addition to that, the researcher determined the most preferred social

media tool for the respondents. The findings of this study prove that different factors such as

problem recognition, information search and evaluation, consumer motivation, attitude,

perception, feedback loop, satisfaction and dissatifaction positively influence the purchasing

decision, and therefore increased consumption of unhealthy food products by teenagers. In

the next chapter, it provides a detailed summary of the findings, conclusion, and

recommendations of the study.

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction

In this chapter, it will provide a description of the summary of the study, conclusion, and

recommendations in relation to the implications of this study findings. The summary of the

study will assess whether this research was in line with the problem statement, and objectives

of the study. It will then determine the findings, and their implications in line with the

objectives deduced in this study. The second section will be the conclusion, and the third part

will be the recommendations of the research, and future areas of study.

Summary

The general objective of this study was to establish the influence of social media marketing

on the purchasing intention of teenagers towards unhealthy products. The specific objectives

were to determine the influence of social media in the pre-purchase stage during the buyer’s

decision process. The researcher also wanted to assess how the social media influences the
purchase decision in relation to the buyer’s decision process, and also its impact, or influence

on the post-purchase decision.

The total population study for this research was 8,550,405, which the researcher adopted as

the sampling frame in order to identify the teenagers who are influenced by the different

social media marketing strategies that have been employed by different brands in order to

purchase unhealthy products. It is also important to point out that in this study, it used a

random sampling method, and adopted the Yamane sampling formula to determine the ideal

sample size, which was found to be 400.

The results of this study established that a majority of the respondents (89%) of the

respondents preferred to use Whatsapp, and 63% preferred using Facebook. The least popular

social media sites were Twitter (38%), and Google + (23%). The research findings indicated

that social media marketing has had a considerable impact on the purchasing intentions of

teenagers towards unhealthy products. In relation to the influence of social media on the

pre-purchase stage, a majority of the respondents felt that social media influenced their need

to purchase unhealthy products. The reason for this is that it created a new need, or desire that

previously did not exist, and since it was triggered by a consumer watching a certain video, or

imagery of a brand, he or she feels that this product will be ideal in relation to fulfilling the

new, or identified need. The advertisements provide the teenagers with adequate information

in terms of what they need to buy, where they can make the purchase ( online, or a

brick-and-mortar shop), and why they are purchasing that product. Social media is also an

ideal area where these consumers can get information of new, and also existing products

before making the final decision on what to purchase.

Social media also influenced the purchasing stage of the respondents. A majority of them

stated that one of the reasons that they had purchased unhealthy food products was because of
the comments, ‘tagging’ or ‘likes’ that a certain brand, or commodity received from their

friends or relatives. It was as if they were endorsing the product. It increased the reputation of

the brand, and also a positive perception from the consumer’s perspective.

The post-purchase stage determined whether the respondents would be repeat customers of a

certain product. It also influenced new customers who had not yet experienced the product to

have what they considered a honest opinion of the product, and this also determined whether

or not they were going to purchase a product. Most of the consumers stated that when they

were dealing with a new product, they sourced information from the comments that have

previously been made by their friends and relatives. In addition they were also able to provide

their experience of the products stating whether they were satisfied with the products or not.

Discussion

The Influence of Social Media Marketing on the Pre-Purchase Intention of Consumers

towards Unhealthy Products

A buyer’s decision is normally affected by various stimuli in his or her environment. Social

media marketing affects a majority of the teenager’s pre-purchase decisions. As it was

pointed out before, a majority of the teenagers spend most of their time in the social media

developing and maintaining social connections with their friends, for entertainment purposes,

and also to look for information. Marketing departments of different brands have realized that

teenagers spend most of their time on different social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram, and You Tube. Therefore, they have developed content in order to create

awareness, and interest towards a certain brand, or product.

A majority of these unhealthy products such as soft drinks, and fast foods have been critiqued

as being contributors to different health conditions especially in the later years of life.
Therefore, the marketers make them trendy and appealing to the targeted consumers ( in this

case the teenagers) in order to make them choose these over the healthy products.