Role of Social Media in Customer Buying Behavior
Shaik Abdul Mazeed1, Mahesh Chandra2, G. Murali Mohan3, Vunnam Hari Babu4

1Shaik Abdul Mazeed, Research Scholar (Part-Time), Yogi Vemana University, YSR Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh
2Dr. Mahesh Chandra, Associate Professor, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Institute of Management and Technology, Baghlngampally Hyderabad, Telanagana.
3G. Murali Mohan, Associate Professor, Dr. K.V. Subba Reddy School of Business Management, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh
4Vunnam Hari Babu, Research Scholar (Part-Time), Yogi Vemana University, YSR Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh
4Noraini Che Pa, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia.Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
5Amru Yusrin Amruddin, MIMOS Berhad Jalan Inovasi 3, Technology Park Malaysia,  Kuala Lumpur.
Manuscript received on September 22, 2019. | Revised Manuscript received on October 20, 2019. | Manuscript published on October 30, 2019. | PP: 2411-2413 | Volume-9 Issue-1, October 2019 | Retrieval Number: A1348109119/2019©BEIESP | DOI: 10.35940/ijeat.A1348.109119
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: Social media has become an inseparable part of human life. It allows customers and prospects to communicate directly about various products/services with their friends. This is just a replacement of word of mouth, which place a vital role and cheapest way of promoting product in traditional marketing. The other important and unique feature of social media is immediacy, which allows the customers to approach directly with the business people. Indeed it is helpful to both business people and customers as they can get the solutions with in no time unless it is a big damage. With the process, business people can maintain a sound relationship with the customers very easily as they are responding to their queries instantly. It is nothing but customer relationship management. It is another pivotal element in marketing. All these features will influence the customers a lot in making their purchase or buying decisions. Consumer behavior is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy product. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. The customer buying or purchasing behavior is an evergreen marketing concept despite ample research has been done on the topic over last few decades. It would be an exaggeration, if we say without covering this concept no marketing text book will complete, that’s the significance of this particular concept. One cannot imagine a marketing book without finding a concept of customer buying behavior. Usually a customer buying behavior will be influenced by a set of internal and external factors like social, economical or financial, cultural, demographic, psychological and of course personal factors. In this day and age, online marketing, social media marketing, digital marketing are buzz words and strongly influencing the customer behavior and in making purchase decisions subsequently.
Keywords: Social Media, Customer buying behavior, Purchase decisions, Word of mouth