Impact of social media on consumer purchase decision in restaurant industry

Abstract

In the history of commerce, the emergence of Web 2.0 is one of the most powerful developments. Social media, other keywords that comes along with, is based on the evolution of Web 2.0; it not only encourages user-generated content, but also allows the users to show the content for sharing on the network. Over the last decade this particular technical revolution has brought marketers into a new era by dramatically revolutionizing the traditional marketing approach. Social media has the potential to liaison marketers with vendors, distribution channels, main customers they have etc in a modernized way. This is the age of information, and consumers are bombarded with large amounts of information each day. There is a sudden need in the restaurant industry to understand the important role that social media plays in the success or failure of a brand. In today’s era Social media can either totally make or break the brand. This study is focuses upon finding the factors that is responsible to get the purchase done by a consumer in restaurant industry. The study consists of four independent variables i.e. Service brand attitude, need to belong, enjoyment in using technology, emotions in service encounter and measured their impact on a dependent variable i.e. Consumer purchase decision. Disproportionate Stratified random sampling is used in order to gather the data from 320 individuals. Several statistical tests are run on the data using SPSS in order to judge the statistical significance of it and the results thereof. The results of this study can be effective in understanding the factor which triggers the impulse in the minds of the customers for the purchase decision in restaurant industry.