Influence of social media on consumer behaviour : a focus on Savanna Dry cider customers in the Durban Central Business District in KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

The popularity of online tools and the advent of social media are critical to modern day business as they assist with the advertising and marketing of products and services. Through social media, consumer behaviour and attitudes towards certain products, companies and organisations are changed based on what other consumers say about those products, services or organisations; hence, social media remains a powerful advertising mechanism (Scholz and Smith, 2019). Organisations that market what they offer through contemporary means and methods like social media increase their competitive advantage over those that use traditional advertising and marketing methods such as billboards, newspapers and magazines. This quantitative research investigated the influence of social media on consumer behaviour focusing on Savanna Dry Cider customers in the Durban Central Business District CBD KwaZulu-Natal. The study used the simple random sampling method to select 120 participants (60 each) from two different liquor shops, Liberty Liquors and Tops North Beach in the Durban CBD. The study gathered its primary data through self-administered questionnaires. The data was processed and coded using Microsoft Excel spread sheets. Thereafter, it was entered into SPSS 27 software and analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The findings of the study include that Facebook was the most popular online platform used by consumers of SDC, especially ones within the age range of 18 to 25 years. The SDC consumers’ purchasing behaviour was influenced by reviews and information that other consumers presented online pertaining to product, thus this is an important marketing tool. The SDC’s social online platform presence influences the buying decisions of most of its consumers. Evidently, SDC is successfully taking advantage of its social media platform to influence, mostly consumers between 18 to 40 years, to purchase the product. The study concludes that social media influences the behaviour of Savanna Dry Cider consumers in the Durban CBD, KwaZulu-Natal Province. The study further concluded that most people, especially young people between the ages of 18 and 25 years, are swayed to buy or consume Savanna Dry Ciders based on the reviews and comments of other consumers about the product. The findings also concluded that negative reviews of the product deter people from buying it while positive reviews make them want to purchase it more often. The study recommended that Savanna Dry Cider should launch an aggressive social media campaign to market its brand, as this will ensure that many people know about it and change their perceptions.