Assessing the Influence of Social Media on Buying and Selling Behaviour During the Covid 19 Era

Abstract

This exploratory study tried to discover how the Covid-19 pandemic influenced the use of social media in consumer purchases during the lockdown period in Ghana. The main purpose of this study was to assess the influence of social media on the consumer behaviour using GIJ students as a case. The study employed the quantitative research approach using self-developed survey questionnaire administered to 119 respondents to assess the frequency with which consumers made purchases using social media during the lockdown period, the difference between making purchases using social media and traditional media, and evaluating the changes that social media has made to various stages of consumer buying process. The data was analysed and presented using frequency distribution table, coupled with basic descriptive analysis. The results of the study show that there was an increased use of social media among consumers during the lockdown.The findings also show that there was a high preference for social media as a medium or source of information in making purchasing decisions during the lockdown period in Ghana. Social media also affected the various stages of the consumer decision-making process. The study recommended that businesses should tailor most of their marketing and advertising strategies to suit the new age of social media.