Social Media: The New Generation Marketing Phenomenon

We started this research with an observation on the way in which consumers were researching and buying products have been changing dramatically. The key elements that were driving these changes were new technologies, media and the internet being the most important factor. Due to these on going transformation in information technology and rapid growth in web during the last decade; there was also an increase in consumer empowerment as online economy shifted from web 1.0 to web 2.0 giving birth to social media networks. Nowadays rather than consumers sitting passively and having advertisement come at them; they would reach out to their families, friends, internet and blogs to grasp better understanding of their purchase options. Based on this we started an exploratory research to re-evaluate how consumers were going through their decision process and what firms need to focus on in order to make their marketing communication efforts more productive for their brands. The findings in this research concluded a 6 step model that circulates consumers decision making process due to the impact of social media. This will ideally help future managers make effective communication strategies.