Social Media and its Influence on Propensity to Consume

The flow of information in the age of social media is bidirectional and interactive, hence creating wealth of information. This information is leveraged by the consumer when conducting external search for his consumption decisions. However, only few studies have explored the influence of social media content on decision making act during the consumption process, it hence needs further investigation. In this study, we try to fill the gap by using in depth interviews with 21 participants, to investigate how product information on social media influences consumers' propensity to consume. The findings of the research propose the "IDEA" model which explains that Social Media Content can influence the decision making process of other consumers (1) by providing Information about products, (2) by instilling Desire among consumers, (3) by sharing of Experience knowledge and (4) by extinguishing Anxiety around a product purchase decision. Our results give the community managers some elements to understand and manage their brand's appearance in different social media.