Good morning To All.

This is Sravani chari, Research Scholar at Vignan University, Guntur, under the Guidance of dr.
M. Siva Koti Reddy & working as Associate Professor at Aurora Post Graduate College,
Hyderabad .

Today I am going to present my paper on ​Impact of Digital marketing on Consumer

behaviour​. This is basically a pilot study which I have undertaken.

Today consumers get in touch with brands in various situations - Be it relaxed at home or in a
hurry while travelling. They may live in a big city or in a small town, where the next retailer is
miles away.​

Customers are now smarter, and the path is no more complicated. There are so many touch
points and the path is no longer linear.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is marketing that makes use of electronic devices such as computers, tablets,
smart phones, cell phones, digital bill boards and game consoles to engage with consumers
and other business partners.

It involves the use of digital channels like social media, websites, multimedia advertising, online
search engine advertisement, E-marketing, interactive marketing(polls, game consoles, mobile
marketing) in order to reach the desired target market.

Digital marketing has been considered as the new form of marketing and has provided new
opportunities for the companies to do business. Marketing activities conducted via digital
channels enable advertisers to directly communicate with potential customers in a rapid velocity
regardless of the geographical location.

Digital marketing has been referred to as one of the best means to cut through the mess and
interact directly with the consumers.

When we talk about digital channels what comes to our intellect are Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram,and similar social networks that are used online and virtual platforms like websites,
microblogs and serach engines.

The present paper aims to examine the impact of digital marketing in consumer purchase
decision .

LITERATURE REVIEW:
Many papers have been considered for literature review to gain knowledge about digital
marketing. Few useful studies include:

Elisabeta Laonals (2014) – studied the impact of social media on consumer behaviour with 116
respondents. His findings revealed that social media has impact on behaviour changes of
consumers.

Basheer (2010) – examined the impact of SMS advertising on consumer attitude & purchase
intentions. His findings revealed that there exist a positive relationship between perceived
usefulness of advertisement & purchase intention.

Sadia Afzal - discussed in his paper the impact of online & conventional advertisement on
consumer buying behaviour of branded garments. Results revealed that quality, design, content
of advertisement, loyalty of customer towards brand and previous experience of customers are
significant factorswhich influence consumer buying behaviour.

Fusun Cezmeci (2015) – investigated the impact of digital marketing tools on brand awareness
generation among housing companies.

Israa Al Dhuhli & Elham Mukhaini (2015) – The impact of social media on consumer buying
behaviour.(Oman). Findings showed that Instagram has made significant change in consumers
buying decision.

Andrew T. Stephen – The role of digital & social media marketing in Consumer Behaviour –
Review of published research about digital and social media marketing)

Based on the reviews made, it’s apparent that there is a change in trend of buying behaviour of
consumers because of emergence of digital marketing, hence the study focuses towards
measuring the awareness level of consumers about digital marketing and the impact of digital
channels on their purchase behaviour.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The objectives in specific are:

➢ To study the awareness of digital marketing among Hyderabad consumers.

➢ To analyze, the impact of demographic variables on use of digital marketing in purchase

decision of consumers.

➢ To study the reasons for consumer preference towards use of digital channels in buying
behaviour

➢ To know about the kind of products brought through digital channels

 ➢ To study the impact of Reference groups on use of digital channels

➢ To know the reasons for consumers hesitating to use digital channels.

MAJOR HYPOTHESIS ARE:

➢ Age group does not have any impact on use of digital channels

➢ Gender does not play any role in use of digital channels

➢ Education qualification is not associated with the use and awareness of digital channels

➢ Monthly income is not associated with the kind of products consumers prefer to buy
through digital channels

Hypothesis are tested at 5% significance levels (α =0.005) using chi square test.

RESEARCH DESIGN:

Primary Data: ​Collected through structured questionnaire

Secondary Data: ​Collected from articles, journals , past studies etc.

Research instrument :​ Questionnaire (likert scale for certain questions)

Research tool: ​Chi square test (hypothesis testing)

Analysis & Interpretation: ​Pie Charts, Graphs

Research Approach: ​Survey method

Sampling method: ​Convenience random sampling

Sample Size: ​50

Area of Study: ​Hyderabad

HYPOTHESIS TESTING:

As the sample data is non parametric in nature , therefore analysis is done using chi square

At 5% significance level (α = 0.05).

H1 Age does not have any influence on use of digital channels

Test statistics showed that at 12 degrees of freedom chi square calculated is 22.9907, whereas the
theoretical value is 21.026. i.e, cv>tv. Hence null hypothesis is rejected. And alternate hypothesis
is accepted. i.e.,

There is relation between age of respondent and use of digital channels.

H2: Gender does not play any role in use of digital channels

Chi square calculated at 4 degrees of freedom is 7.63 whereas the theoretical value is 9.49.

CV<TV; hence null hypothesis is accepted.

H3: Education qualification is not associated with use of digital channels.

Chi square calculated at 12 degrees of freedom is 6.5808 whereas theoretical value is 21.026;
CV<TV: hence null hypothesis is accepted.

Education qualification is not associated with use of digital channels.

H4: Monthly income is not associated with the kind of products consumers prefer to buy
through digital channels

Chi square calculated at 6 degrees of freedom is 13.5139 whereas theoretical value is 26.919:
CV<TV: hence null hypothesis is accepted

Monthly income is not associated with the kind of products consumers prefer to buy through
digital channels.

TYPE OF PRODUCTS PREFFERED THROUGH DIGITAL CHANNELS:

According to the data analysed , shopping products are mostly preffered by consumers through
digital channels followed by convenience, speciality and unsought products.
AGE GROUP USING DIGITAL CHANNELS THE MOST;

Data analysis showed that age group of 18 to 40 years use the digital channels the most.

The reason behind this may be that younger people are more technology oriented and also they
may be working in organizations where they need to work upon computer and internet.

INFLUENCE OF REFERENCE GROUPS ON USE OF DIGITAL CHANNELS:

Data analysis showed that consumers are mostly influenced by friends with respect to usage of
digital channels, followed by colleagues, family and others.

REASONS FOR USE OF DIGITAL CHANNELS:

Consumers mostly use digital channels because of convenience, time saving(HIGHLY

PREFFERED) and fair price and quality products (Mixed response).

5 point Likert scale was used for getting consumer response regarding the reasons for use of
dgital channels by consumers. (ranging from Strongly disagree to Strongly Agree)

REASONS FOR RESPONDENTS HESITATING TO USE DIGITAL CHANNELS:

Eventhough people now a days are using digital channels the most, still there are certain
hesitations among them with respect to use of digital channels in the form of security concern,
lack of physical approach, Quality and Genuineness of product, Delay in delivery.

FUTURE RESEARCH:

➢ As the study is a pilot study based on small sample of 50, comprehensive study needed to
be done

➢ Construction of a statistical and empirical model

The study focuses on factors that influence consumer behaviour in general under digital
marketing context. Further research may explore the differences between samples from
population. Further impact of a particular type of digital channel can be studied.
 ➢ External variables such as product related factors which are ignored in the study can be
included.

Combined influence of various factors on impact of digital channels on consumer behaviour can
be studied, like impact of age and gender combined on use of digital channels, income and
occupation on use of digital channels, etc.

Negative impact of digital channels can be studied focusing on consumer privacy issues in the
context of digital marketing. Comprehensive understanding of how consumers think about their
privacy, what they want to do to protect it, how they value or devalue digital channel services
etc.