Discuss About The Consumer Information Behavior And Internet?
Technically, consumers are often affected by many different factors during their purchasing decision-making process. These effects may make the consumers to either purchase the product or not to purchase it. According to some researchers, the effects are grouped into two main categories, which are: external and internal factors. The external factors are basically the environmental aspects challenging the consumer’s choice (Mazaheri et al, 2014). They may include things like cultural beliefs, technology changes, product marketing, demographics, public policies and laws among others. The internal effects often originate from the consumers’ mind which can be referred to as psychological process changes. They may include aspects like, personal attitude, tastes and preferences, self-image, personal perceptions to name a few. However, nowadays, it has become a norm for a large number of business organizations to use the internet to make sales (online sales) and marketing operations (Pieters et al, 2010). On the other hand, a good number of consumers have also become used to making purchasing through the internet, i.e. doing online purchases. Therefore, recently, some major influences have been caused by the use of the internet (by either consumers or business organizations) to affect consumer behavior. The effects can be either positive effects or negative effects. In this assignment, I am going to discuss four main effects of using the internet that influence consumer behavior.
Journal of Business Research, 58, 79-88. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0148-2963 (02)00476-9
Internet development is based entirely on the level of technological development. This means that the higher the levels of technology development, the better the internet development as well. In the last number of years, technology has been improving with very high margins hence making the internet much better for businesses. Therefore, with the development of technology, many businesses have realized that new technology can greatly influence internet shopping. With that in mind, the organizations have come up with better technological devices that offer aspects such as virtual reality and 3D techniques. These new technological devices have enabled the businesses to have a competitive advantage over its competitors (Anjum and Tiwari, 2011). In addition to that, better technology has enabled improved information technology operations which provide better quality product and product information that is able to attract customers. This information is used especially by customers who prefer online shopping or those who prefer doing research on a product before they purchase it. Better technology has also offered better services for consumers who prefer online shopping, e.g.: there are better mobile phones to access the internet; there are applications or software systems that offer online shopping opportunities among other things. Furthermore, technology development has enabled businesses to create marketing websites and online selling sites where customers can shop from. The availability and reliability of these sites have certainly made it easier for the consumers to purchase the products or services. For instance, a customer who may not be willing to go to purchase a product in person from a company has the chance to purchase it from their home and have it delivered at their doorstep (Anjum and Tiwari, 2011). All these aspects have come to influence a consumer’s decision-making process whenever they make the sales. Better technology has offered better opportunities for businesses to advertise their product’s or service’s information to the consumers. A product’s information that is effectively and efficiently presented can be said to be reliable and can attract more consumers into buying the product or service.
Journal of Marketing Communications. 2007; 13(1):1-17. 6
With the development and advancement in technology which influences internet upgrade, many businesses have become used to the aspect of doing online sales. On the other hand, a large number of customers have become used to buying products and services through the internet or online. Internet upgrade has offered these businesses great opportunities to increase their sales methods as well as their sales volumes (Shaver, 2007). Just as mentioned earlier, a good number of businesses have already created company websites where they conduct their online sales. Also, better internet features have increased the use of social media platforms where businesses are able to advertise market and sell their products and services. In this social media platforms and company websites, the current customer gets the opportunity to leave product reviews after they have used a certain product (Blakeney et al, 2010). These reviews are able to impact the buying decision of another customer whenever they read the reviews. Research has shown that such customer reviews on the internet (e.g. in YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc.) have a great effect on consumer purchasing behavior or even consumer’s view of the product. Researchers have proved that the internet is twice as influential as the television or print media product reviews. Basically, this means that a consumer is likely to trust and rely on product/service reviews on the internet rather than those on the television or print media (Peterson and Merino, 2013). This is simply because they get the chance to access the internet, view product ratings and getting information from other customers rather than advertising messages and information that sometimes misleads the consumers by praising the product. This fact makes the internet more reliable to the consumers especially when they need to get correct information about a product. In addition to that, the consumers seem to believe other consumer’s views and opinions of a certain product than the producer’s or the organization’s views and praise ideas. In other words, the internet can negatively or positively influence the consumers’ behavior especially when it comes to customer product or service reviews. When the reviews are placed in a negative way or rather they do not favor the product benefits and advantages, then the consumers are most likely not going to purchase that product or services and vice versa.
Journal of Academy of Marketing, 12(4): 221-235.
A good number of business organizations have started focusing on internet marketing and advertising. Organizations have conducted campaigns through the internet to be able to advertise and market their products and services. However, these campaigns seem to affect the consumers’ behavior in different ways. The product campaigns and advertisements that are more convincing are likely going to influence the consumer into buying the product (Vinerean et al, 2013). However, those that are less convincing, factual and true are going to discourage the consumers from purchasing the product or service. Furthermore, the more the internet marketing or advertising the more convincing it can be towards the customer. In that case, it is clear that product marketing campaigns can impact the customers’ behavior.
Consumer Research 8, 1982:419-430
Technology development has affected internet upgrade and use in a very positive manner. The more the technology improves, the more the internet gets better. The internet has now become a place for product and service advertisements, marketing, selling and buying. This can be done through the social media platforms that have become very popular and famous among the young generation. In this case, the product’s information is reviewed and updated with time to ensure that the data is up to date and that the customers are able to get information on real time. Therefore, I can say that the internet has become very convenient for a good number of customers nowadays. The convenience is derived from the fact that, the internet app can now be found on almost all phones. This means that the customer can be able to Google and get any information about any product at whatever time they may need it and at whatever place they need it. The internet has proved to be convenient for customers because, the product details (the critics, advantages and disadvantages, benefits and problems associated with the product as well as the effects of the product) (Bickart and Schindler, 2010). In that case, the fact that it is convenient for the consumer’s access, then the consumers are likely going to trust and rely on it more. The fact that the internet is convenient for consumers, may lead to consumer believing the information placed on the internet which then leads to influence the consumer’s behavior (Joshi, 2012). However, if the product/service information is placed in a displeasing manner or in a non-influential manner, then the consumer’s behavior will be negatively influenced.
Conclusion
From the research, it is clear that the internet has always affected a consumer’s behavior. This has become a norm nowadays because of the internet development and upgrade. The internet is currently being used by organizations for various reasons such as advertisements, reviews, marketing, selling and also for gaining competitive advantage. The internet which is a worldwide web can be used by international companies to conduct many of the operations listed above. Therefore, this makes it one of the most reliable, trustworthy and convenient feature for consumers whenever they need to research on a certain product, they want to review a product or whenever they need to purchase a product. The internet has become one of the main things that affect consumer behaviors on a product or service. Good and convincing information on the internet can influence a consumer into buying a product while bad and unrealistic information will discourage the consumer from buying the product. The impacts listed and discussed in this assignment are some of the main common ones.
References
Anjum, B. and Tiwari, R., 2011. Economic and social impacts of e-commerce. International Journal of Computing and Corporate Research, 1(3), pp.1-13.
Bickart, B. and Schindler, R.M., 2010. Internet forums as influential sources of consumer information. Journal of interactive marketing, 15(3), pp.31-40.
Blakeney, A., Findley, C., Self, D.R., Ingram, R. and Garrett, T., 2010. Media habits of sensation seekers. Journal of Global Academy of Marketing Science, 20(2), pp.179-187.
Joshi, S., 2012. Impact of E-Advertising on Customer Purchase Decision. International Journal of Management Prudence, 4(2), p.7.
Mazaheri, E., Richard, M.O., Laroche, M. and Ueltschy, L.C., 2014. The influence of culture, emotions, intangibility, and atmospheric cues on online behavior. Journal of Business Research, 67(3), pp.253-259.
Mittal, A., 2013. E-commerce: It’s Impact on consumer Behavior. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, 3(2), pp.131-138.
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Peterson, R.A. and Merino, M.C., 2013. Consumer information search behavior and the Internet. Psychology & Marketing, 20(2), pp.99-121.
Pieters, R., Wedel, M., and Batra, R. 2010.” The stopping power of advertising: measures and effects of visual complexity”. Journal of Marketing, 74(5), 48-59
Rao, K.R.M., Patro, C.S., Nkechi, E.E., Ewomaoghene, E.E., Egenti, N., Saha, P., Mukherjee, S., Das, T., Shaw, D., Saikia, A. and Balogun, O.E., 2016. A study on Consumer Perception towards E-Shopping. RAY: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 1(2), pp.26-35.
Shaver, D., 2007. Impact of the internet on consumer information search behavior in the United States. Journal of Media Business Studies, 4(2), pp.27-39.
Vinerean, S., Cetina, I., Dumitrescu, L. and Tichindelean, M., 2013. The effects of social media marketing on online consumer behavior. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), p.66.
Vinerean, S., Cetina, I., Dumitrescu, L. and Tichindelean, M., 2013. The effects of social media marketing on online consumer behavior. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), p.66.
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