The influence of COVID-19 on consumer behaviors in Ghana: A study on social media buying behaviorsIAL MEDIA BUYING BEHAVIORS. Dissertation
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This thesis paper seeks to verify or refute the hypothesis that the Coronavirus caused Ghanaian consumers to increase their adoption of social media when making a purchase decision. Existing literature on pandemics and consumer behavior focuses on preventive health behaviors adopted by individuals. Few studies on epidemics, pandemics, and consumer behavior focus on consumer buying behavior. Furthermore, out of this subset, few studies are conducted on the social media buying behaviors of consumers. To address this research gap, the consumer buying behavior model was used to explore changes in social media buying behaviors of consumers as they journeyed through the five major consumer decision-making processes. The Coronavirus pandemic has been marked unique due to its persistence and magnitude. It draws the attention of various researchers because it provides an avenue for insights to be learned about consumers in a situation of uncertainty. The study adopted a quantitative research method, and data was collected primarily through the administration of online questionnaires. The population of the study included consumers between the ages of 18 and 65. The participants of the study were selected through convenience and snowball sampling techniques. Google Forms were used to collect the data, and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for data analysis. The results showed that during the height of the pandemic, Ghanaian consumers, especially the youth, increased their use of social media while acquiring a product. In detail, the use of social media to discover product needs, obtain product information, evaluate alternatives, buy products, and communicate post-purchase satisfaction or dissatisfaction increased.