EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA AdS ON CONSUMER BUYING

BEHAVIOUR OF FASHION PRODUCTS IN BAMBILI

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 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

In less than a generation, social media has evolved from direct electronic information
exchange, to virtual gathering place, to retail platform, to a vital 21st-century marketing tool.
The evolution of social media has been fueled by the human impulse to communicate and by
advances in digital technology, its relatively rapid growth as a sociological and commercial
force, and the change it has brought to the marketing world about establishing and nurturing
personal and business connections to massive extents. Social media has advanced from the
direct electronic information exchange into virtual reality in just a matter of time, from
creating social bonding into a trading platform it has become the number one choice for
marketers, small business owners, artists and other professionals (Abdulraheem &
Imouokhome) 2021.

According to Davis (2018), Social media can be broadly defined as the set of interactive
Internet applications that facilitate (collaborative or individual) creation, curation, and
sharing of user-generated content. Examples of social media platforms are numerous and
varied. They include Facebook, Friendster, Wikipedia, whatsApp, dating sites, Craigslist,
recipe sharing sites (e.g. allrecipes.com), YouTube, and Instagram. Social media platforms
all share the abovementioned characteristics, but are unique from one another in many
respects. In particular, platforms often vary in their architectures, structures, norms, and user
bases. In working to differentiate between different kinds of social media platforms, scholars
distinguish and label several subsets of social media, with a particular emphasis on social
network sites.

Boyd and Ellison (2007) explicitly differentiate social network sites from social networking
sites. They argue that social networking implies meeting new people and making new
connections, which contrasts with actual user practices. Specifically, social network site users
tend to interact with existing—rather than new—social contacts. Examples of social network
sites include Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Live Journal. A second subcategory of
social media consists of microblogging sites. These allow users to distribute short messages
to a broad audience, often through links and images. Such sites have explicit limits on the
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number of characters or amount of content allowed per message. Twitter, the predominant
microblogging site in the United States, and Weibo, China’s suite of microblogging sites,
limit each message to 140 characters. Vine, Twitter’s video application, limits clips to 6
seconds. In addition to the label of social media, the contemporary Internet—characterized
by interactivity and user-generated content—is also known as “Web 2.0.” Some argue that
the newest era of digital technologies, characterized by user collaboration and cooperation,
can be labeled “Web 3.0.” Others, however, contend that Web 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 are better
understood as variations in user practice rather than technological capability of particular
relevance, social media users, who can engage in participatory and collaborative activities
online, also utilize social media platforms to send e-mail type messages, or engage in
asynchronous discussions, both of which the characterize the Web 1.0 era (Barassi & Treré,
2012).

Researchers at the Pew Internet and American Life Project show that 69% of all US Internet
users participate in some form of social media (Brenner, 2012), with Facebook, the most
popular brand, utilized by 66% of Internet users. Women are significantly more likely than
men to participate in social media, with 75% versus 63% participation, respectively. Those
who are younger (under 30) are significantly more likely to use social media than those who
are older (50 and above), and those with either very high or very low incomes have
significantly higher social media participation rates than those with middle-range incomes.
There are no significant racial differences in social media usage (Brenner, 2012).
Internationally, social media use among adults is above 50% in Britain, Spain, and the Czech
Republic. Usage rates approach these levels in Brazil, France, and Italy.

In contrast, Pakistan and India have very low social media use, with less than 10% of the
adult population engaging social media platforms. As in the United States, there are strong
global variations in social media use by age, with the young (18–29) far more likely to use
social media than their older counterparts (50+). For instance, 71% of 18–29-year-olds in
Japan use social media, as compared with 8% of those 50 and older (Pew Research Center,
2012). Because of their pervasiveness and availability through numerous devices—including
home computers, work computers, tablets, and mobile phones— social media have important
implications for private and public practices and processes in everyday life. In particular,

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social media pervade processes of identity, interpersonal relationships, and the political
economy

Consumer behaviour is a multidisciplinary social science that includes psychological,

sociological, social and anthropological, ethnographical, marketing, technological and
behavioral facets of the economy in particular. It examines the effects of feelings, attitudes
and wishes on actions. The aims of official consumer behaviour research are to understand
the needs and consumption of individuals by studying consumer or customer attributes,
demographics, lifestyles and behavioral factors such as commitment, brand support and
referral skills (Abhishek, 2019). Customer behavior studies also examine the impact of
groups like families, friends, sports, groups of reference and culture in general on the
consumer.

Consumer behavior can be said to be an act of trying to learn further how products, services,
experiences and ideas are selected, protected, used and discarded by individuals, groups or
organisations (Raorane & Kulkarni, 2011). It is important to forecast consumer behaviour
because understanding customer loyalty will improve Customer Relations Management
(CRM). The customer’s model building process is been helped by consumer behaviour and it
helps in the evaluation of the investments associated with CRM. Furthermore, it will aid in
increasing customer acquisition success rates, increasing profits, and establishing
competitiveness (Qiu, Lin, & Li 2014).

Consumer loyalty is a mixture of attitude and behavior that results in repeat patronage.
Behavioral loyalty is described as brand retention and repeat patronage in industrial and
service marketing (Abhishek, 2019). Consumers are now engaged in a variety of electronic
activities such as blogging, chatting, gaming, and texting, as a result of the growth of social
media. Consumers can access social networks over the Internet, collect information and
advice and marketing firms have a new medium to communicate with consumers through the
rapidly expanding social media, particularly in developed countries (Ola and Reem, 2018).

Social media today is about letting people exchange thoughts, emotions and beliefs with
other people. It is also about inspiring people to interact with each other just as it has always
been in the past. But the important thing about social media is that (a) location and time
limitations inherent in traditional communication 3 methods have been eliminated; (b) online

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channels have been created that allow multimedia content to be shared one-by-on-one; and
(c) easy interfaces that even non-experts can share and communicate. Consumers can shop
through the Internet using a variety of social media networks and websites thanks to
information and modern communication technologies (Ekwueme & Akagwu, 2017).

Many organizations around the world have joined social media networks like Facebook,
Twitter, Likedin, Youtube, Google+, and others to connect and establish relationships with
their customers. However, only Facebook and Twitter have been linked to their customers by
joining the fastest growing networks (Trattner & Kappe 2012). The social media network is a
perfect means for companies to use social media connections to draw traffic or to disclose
their websites. It functions as well in mass marketing as traditional word of mouth. Corporate
messages on the media are rapidly spreading and would probably resound for the benefit of
the company (Deis & Hensel, 2010).

Social media networks have become the new paradigmatic medium of the 21st century for
businesses to exploit and further impact on their consumers purchasing behaviour. Almost
half of 400 million active Facebook users log on every day and spend more than 500 billion
minutes a month on the Internet and virtually every company now uses social media to
extend their corporate marketing strategy, particularly in retail marketing (Chukwu &
Uzoma, 2014). As a result, social media allows consumers to reclaim their place at the core
of the business world, while companies gain access to a new range of resources for
interacting with customers and incorporating them into products in novel ways. As a result,
companies must comprehend how social media has affected consumer purchasing behavior
(Ola and Reem, 2018).

This has led to the use of these platforms by a growing number of companies in Cameroon.
Via these rapidly growing social media networks in Cameroon, the present research aims to
examine the influence of social media on the buying behaviour of consumers in Cameroon,
in particular from businesses that use the media for marketing purposes.

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1.2 Statement of the Problem
Many firms or businesses have formulated plans to welcome millions of engaged social
media customers to their product collection, typically on their own pages, as a result of the
exponential growth of the social networks in the world today. Cameroon is not immune to
this rising outbreak.
In Cameroon, similar online retailers have emerged, with more on the way like whatsApp,
Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and also make Snapchat stories of their experiences and others.
They also supply consumers with several lifestyle goods brands, including fashion,
electronics, computers, telephones, books, home appliances, toys, etc. However, prospective
buyers are prompted to pay immediately so that the products can be shipped shortly
afterwards. Because of internet fraud, this has always been a problem and it has affected
many Cameroonians perception that they are careful when using the internet, especially when
personal information is given. Meanwhile, various Cameroonian online retailers have given
prospective buyers enough room to be well assured of their purchases via social media of
being authentic, by enabling them to pay for any item they want on delivery.
Therefore, there are a variety of other problems, which hinders the patronage tendencies of
Cameroonians. The theory of planned behaviour suggest the retailer will face a service
quality difference, so there is no direct interaction between the vendor and the customer on
this growing social media site, which will help the retailer understand what prospective
customers want and can do and how to reach them. Due to disappointment with the product
specifics and attributes which they have uploaded or because the information about the goods
available is not frequently updated, retailers do not know what prospects specifically want or
prefer. So it is essential in order to preserve consumer loyalty and loyalty to consumers, and
to reduce the danger of losing loyal customers, to investigate the influence of Social Media
on consumer buying behavior of fashion products in Bambili.

1.3 Research Questions

The research questions are divided into two, the main research question and the specific
research questions.

1.3.1 Main Research Question

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The main research question is:

 What are the effects of social media platforms on consumer buying behaviour of
fashion products in Bambili?

1.3.2 Specific Research Questions

There will be three specific research questions they include:

 What are the effects of Facebook ads on consumer buying behaviour of fashion
products in Bambili?
 What are the effects of TikTok videos on consumer buying behaviour of fashion
products in Bambili?
 What are the effects of Whatsapp ads on consumer buying behaviour of fashion
products in Bambili?

1.4 Research Objectives

The research objectives are divided into two, the main research objective and the specific
research objectives.

1.4.1 Main Research Objective

The main research objective is:

 To investigate the effects of social media platforms on consumers buying

behaviour of fashion products in Bambili.

1.4.2 Specific Research Objectives

There are four research specific objectives, they include;

 To assess the effects of Facebook ads on consumer buying behaviour of fashion

products in Bambili.
 To evaluate the effects of TikTok videos on consumer buying behaviour of
fashion products in Bambili.

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  To examine the effect of Whatsapp ads on consumer buying behaviour of fashion
products in Bambili.
1.5 HYPOTHESES

There will be three research hypotheses, and all are stated in a null (H0) form. They include:

H02: Facebook ads have no statistical significant effect on consumer buying behaviour of
fashion products in Bambili.
H03: TikTok videos have no statistical effect on consumer buying behaviour of fashion
products in Bambili.
H04: Whatsapp ads have no statistical effect on consumer buying behaviour of fashion
products in Bambili.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study is hoped to be of significant help to the researcher, for academic significance, and
to entrepreneurs.

1.6.1 To industries or Businesses

In order to obtain new strains in the global trading climate and put new focus on the
importance of the process of moving Cameroon economy into the global market, industries
will come to terms as it will provide Cameroon industries with means for significant
expansion in world trade. In order to improve national economic growth and place Cameroon
companies in the world market, this will go a long way. As a result, corporate bodies or
businesses will be helped to find themselves in a situation where they have to restructure and
reposition themselves in order to use global capital effectively and optimize the benefits
accrued from the distribution of specialized goods and professional services through the
social media-called global marketplace.

1.6.2 To the Society:

The study will provide organizations and society with knowledge of the mechanism by which
social media can be used to implement growth and educate on the notion of social media as a
tool that can be used to transform market constraints into positive business opportunities. The
study will also provide the researcher with value in the field of consumer buying behaviour

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and social media. Scholars would find it relevant, as it would increase the body of knowledge
in this area. This serves as the basis for those in the region/Bambili who want to learn. This
will also serve as a reference point for university researchers as well as worldwide dispersed
research centers.
1.6.3 To The Researcher
It acts as a requirement for the fulfillment for the award of a Bachelor of Business
Administration in Marketing. This research will provide new knowledge to the researcher,
this is due to the fact that she will continue to build new knowledge from the research she is
carrying out because consumers needs and taste changes everyday so we will need to look for
new and improved ways to satisfy those needs and also new ways with which can be used to
better understand their behavior

1.7 Organisation of the Study

This work has five chapters, chapter one consist of the introduction, background of the
study, problem statement, research questions, research objectives, hypothesis, significance of
the study and organisation of the study. Chapter two consists of theoretical literature,
conceptual framework, empirical literature and the research gap. Chapter three will present
the methodology used in carrying out the research, this contains the scope area of study,
research design, sample and sampling technique, source and method of data collection,
model specification, estimations and validation techniques, ethical considerations and
limitations. Chapter 4 will deal with presentation of results, discussion of results. Chapter
five will summarize major findings, conclusions and make recommendations.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Conceptual Literature

The concept of consumer behaviour has been well-defined by several researchers. Some Western
researchers have defined consumer behaviour as the exactly how and the why individuals
consume some given products or services (Bergadaa & Faure, 1995; Esso & Dibb, 2004). Engel,
Blackwell & Miniard (1990: G 4), defined consumer’s behaviour as those actions directly
involved in obtaining, consuming, and disposing of products and services, including the decision
processes that precede and follow these actions. Consumer behaviour is the study of how
individual customers, groups or organisations select, buy, use, and dispose ideas, goods, and

services to satisfy their needs and wants. Diop (2012) shows that consumer behaviour includes
some values that significantly influence consumers’ shopping and consumption choices, and these
values include knowledge, manners, beliefs, and customs.

For Agarwala, Mishra, and Singh (2018) consumer behaviour is portrayed as attitudes, values,
and actions exposed in a consumption perspective by consumers. This perception of consumer
behavior fails to bring out the psychological aspect related to consumer behavior. In the
Burkinabe context, Nassè et al., (2016), Nassè (2018), Nassè et al. (2019) have defined the
concept of consumer behaviour as the how consumers examine, evaluate, decide, which products,
and/or services they need, and then they make purchases with some specific motives related to

choice, consumption, quality, taste, advertising, or price. For Nassè (2021) consumer behaviour is
a decision mode, examination mode, and an evaluation mode of on products and some services
before making their purchases or repurchases with some specific choice, consumption, quality,
taste, advertising or price requirements and expectations. In a word the conceptions of consumer
behaviour can be classified into two themes. First, there is the conception of consumer behaviour
as an attitude; second, there is the conception of consumer behaviour as a choice (Nassè, 2021)

The needs of consumers are taken care of and products created which satisfy the consumer.
Consumer behaviour is the reaction or response towards different products or companies. While
taking a buying decision he goes through a proper survey to get all information regarding the

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product like the options available, benefits provided, company manufacturing it, benefits he gets
and many more. The objective of the marketer is to present the product in a way that it can attract
the consumer and convert him to a loyal customer (Kumar et al., 2022). Marketer can anticipate
the consumer reaction to their marketing strategies only if they are able to understand the motive
of consumers which influence their behaviour (McKenzie, 1992). Consumer behaviour is formed
by the personal experience, impact of social groups he has interaction with, services provided by
the company, company background and companies goodwill. Consumer buying behaviour can be
divided into four types on the basis of products they go for buying (Kumar et al, 2022).

1. Customer Support and Engagement: Use WhatsApp as a customer support channel.

Encourage your customers to reach out to you with queries, feedback, or assistance through
WhatsApp. This can help build stronger relationships with your customers and provide
personalized assistance.

2. Order Updates and Notifications: Send order updates, shipping information, and delivery
notifications to your customers through WhatsApp. This can enhance the customer experience,
provide transparency, and keep customers informed about their purchases.

3. Personalized Recommendations: Leverage WhatsApp to provide personalized fashion

recommendations or styling tips to your customers. You can engage with them individually or
create broadcast lists for specific customer segments to share relevant content, new arrivals, or
exclusive offers.

4. Exclusive Offers and Promotions: Send exclusive offers, discounts, or promotions to your
WhatsApp contacts. You can create a sense of exclusivity by offering special deals to customers
who have subscribed to your WhatsApp updates.

5. WhatsApp Groups: Create WhatsApp groups for fashion enthusiasts or loyal customers.
These groups can be used to foster a community, share fashion-related content, conduct polls or
surveys, and provide early access to new collections or limited edition items.

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6. Collaborate with Influencers: Partner with relevant fashion influencers who have a strong
presence on WhatsApp. They can share your brand's updates, promotions, or fashion tips with
their followers through their WhatsApp status or one-to-one messaging.

Remember to always obtain proper consent from customers before sending them marketing or
promotional messages on WhatsApp. Comply with WhatsApp's policies and guidelines regarding
business usage and ensure that your communication adds value to the customer experience.

It's important to note that WhatsApp's features and capabilities may evolve over time, so staying
updated with official WhatsApp resources and announcements is recommended for the most
current information on utilizing WhatsApp for business purposes.

-Complex buying behaviour: Which is visible when a consumer needs to buy an expensive
product? In this type involvement of buyer is very high as risk is high because of big amount
involved. Buyer goes for proper scrutiny of information and does lot of research work.

-Dissonance-reducing buying behaviour: Here also buyer shows high involvement but has to
choose from limited choices because of scarcity of the product and not much alternatives
available.

-Habitual buying behaviour: This is seen when consumer goes for buying products of routine
nature. He does not go for high involvement and chooses the best from those available. He goes
for convenience as products here are of low value.

-Variety seeking behaviour: This is noticed in low priced products purchase where large variety
is available with very less difference. Here consumer makes small comparison among the
products available and buys the one which is more economical. Loyalty for a particular brand
does not exist and consumer keeps changing his preference depending on the offers available.
Consumer decision making process involves 5 major steps (Cunningham, Gerlach, Harper &
Young, 2005: Kumar et al, 2022):

-Need recognition: It is the first step where the consumer recognizes that there is an
unsatisfied need and he goes for exploring means to satisfy it and get satisfaction. The need
recognition occurs due to internal and external stimuli.

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-Information search: On the basis of the existence of need consumer starts searching for the
products which can fulfil his requirement. He collects the information from different sources
friends, relatives, groups, advertisements, internet and any source he can access. social
- Evaluation of alternatives: After collecting the information the consumer evaluates the
products on the basis of their attributes and benefits and ranks them on a priority list of their need
satisfying capacity. The attributes evaluated consist of price, guarantee, services provided,
goodwill of the company manufacturing it, credit facility provided, additional benefits, and many
more.

- Purchase decision: After evaluating the products on all parameters, consumer formulates an
opinion to buy the product and takes decisions like the quantity to be bought, choice of dealer,
mode of payment and when to make the purchase.

- Post purchase decision: This is the most crucial phase which molds the consumer behaviour for
future buying decisions. After buying the product consumer starts feeling unsatisfied because of
new information which he comes across. Here the duty of the marketer is to keep in touch with
him and clarify all doubts so as to give him satisfaction and assurance that his decision was the
right one. Post purchase interactions and services help in building a consumer loyalty and
consumer behaviour pattern for future. Factors affecting consumer behaviour Consumer
behaviour is a combination of conscious buying and external incentives which can change the
behaviour of consumer from the one he previously had developed (Lawan & Zanna, 2013).
Consumer behaviour is influenced by both internal and external factors. Internal factors comprise
of his economic condition and psychological factors while external comprise of social and
cultural factors. (Ramya & Ali, 2016).

Categorically these factors can be divided ad as;

-Personal factors consisting of age, income, personality, lifestyle and the occupation the
person is in.

- Psychological factors include learning, attitude, perception, motive, reliance and lifestyle.

-Social factors comprise of influence coming from family, social groups, reference groups
and status the consumer has in society.

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-Cultural factors play a dominant role as these are the beliefs and value system of an
individual which he had inculcated in him over the years. There are many customs which the
person has been following over the years and they have an impact on his thinking.

-Economic factors like personal income, family income, expected income, government
policies and liquid assets Though everyone knows that these are the parameters which impact a
consumer behaviour but still it is difficult to predict consumer behaviour as consumer as a human
being and his behaviour changes with changed environmental conditions. He is impacted the most
by the external stimuli which can be; Marketing stimuli consisting of the type of product or
service being offered, its features, price quoted for the product or service, convenience of channel
of distribution or promotional efforts initiated by the marketer. Environmental factors like natural,
demographic, economical, technological, political or cultural. All these factors help in developing
the perception and attitude which motivates the consumer to proceed to buying process through
the medium of knowledge acquired. The results are seen in the form choice of a product over
other options available. In other words, we can say it is not essential that a consumer behaviour is
always due to his need for a product but sometimes external stimuli convert the desire into need
and the consumer takes buying decision and moves in that direction. Family plays a very
important role on the buying behaviour of a consumer.

It is very essential for the marketer to be always interactive with consumers and keep an eye on
what influences them because the behavior of consumer is affected by the changing market
environment, economy of the country, financial condition, availability of available range of
products and many more. To be successful, it is essential to satisfy consumer and gain his loyalty
which is possible only if one can understand behaviour pattern of consumers (Kumar et al, 2022).

TikTok is a popular social media platform that allows users to create and share short videos.
Advertising on TikTok can be an effective way to reach a large and engaged audience. Here are
some indicators of TikTok advertising:

1. In-feed Ads: TikTok offers in-feed ads that appear in the "For You" feed, which is the main
feed where users discover content. These ads are typically full-screen videos that blend in with the
organic content. They can be identified by the "Sponsored" label on the top left corner.

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2. Brand Takeovers: Brand takeovers are ads that appear when a user opens the TikTok app.
These ads typically include images, GIFs, or short videos and can be linked to a hashtag challenge
or a landing page.

3. Hashtag Challenges: Hashtag challenges are a popular advertising format on TikTok. Brands
create a challenge and encourage users to participate by creating videos using a specific hashtag.
These challenges can help generate user-generated content and increase brand visibility.

4. Branded Effects: TikTok offers branded effects, which are customized filters, stickers, or
special effects that users can apply to their videos. Brands can create their own branded effects,
which can be used by users to create engaging content related to the brand.

5. Influencer Partnerships: Many brands collaborate with popular TikTok influencers to

promote their products or services. Influencers create videos showcasing the brand or its products,
and their followers engage with the content. These partnerships can help brands reach a specific
target audience and leverage the influencer's existing fan base.

6. Performance Metrics: TikTok provides advertisers with performance metrics to measure the
effectiveness of their campaigns. These metrics include views, likes, shares, comments, click-
through rates, and conversions. Advertisers can use these metrics to evaluate the success and ROI
of their TikTok advertising campaigns.

It's important to note that TikTok's advertising options may evolve over time, so it's always a
good idea to refer to TikTok's official advertising resources for the most up-to-date information.

2.2.1.1 Technology Acceptance Model 1 (TAM1)

TAM (Figure 2.3) was specifically designed to exhibiting users’ acceptance of

information technologies. In 1989 Davis used TAM to explain factors that

influence computer acceptance goal as well as to explain computer usage

behaviour. TAM) is the most influential model when investigating the

adoption of new technology from an individual perspective that why it was

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adopted in this study. This model is commonly employed for describing an
individual’s acceptance of information systems (Davis et al., 1989). This

study used TAM to assist the researcher identify reasons why a certain

technology or system might be acceptable or unacceptable. Using TAM, the

factors that influence farm’s decisions to accept new agricultural

technologies were estimated. For small-scale farmers, their decision to adopt and make
use of new technologies is informed by several factors. The concern here is the need to make
farmers aware of the existing methods and technologies, and how to successfully employ them in
meeting production needs and more importantly improving their livelihoods in the short and long
runs (Annan 2018; Feder and O’ Mara 1981)

In TAM, the two major factors influencing user’s perception on adoption of

new technology are; Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use
(PEOU) (He et al., 2018). PU
and PEOU influence the perceptions determining the adoption of technology
and are suggestive of user intentions to develop new skills. The extent of the
acquisition of new skills can be affected significantly by both extrinsic and
intrinsic motivations (Dipboye, 2018). “Extrinsic motivation refers to the
performance of an activity because it is perceived to be helpful in achieving
special outcomes that are different from the activity itself.” (Davis,

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1989:320). In contrast, intrinsic motivation refers to the performance of a
task for no apparent reinforcement other than the procedure of performing
the activity per se.

Figure 2.3. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

Source: (Davis, Bogozzi and Warshaw, 1989)

- Perceived Usefulness

Perceived Usefulness (PU) is defined as; the extent to which the user truly
believes that adoption of the technology will enhance his performance in the
industry context (Yen, Wu, Cheng and Huang et al, 2013). If a farmer
believes adopting new agricultural technology will help him or her grows the
business, produce more products and earn high profits he or she is most
likely to adopt the technology. PU is concerned with end results, for example,
the farmer might want to know if adopting technology will allow him or her to
have a high return on investments. It looks at how the adoption of a
particular agricultural technology helps the user in carrying out tasks. PU is
also believed to have a direct effect on the users’ intention to use the
technology (Davis, 1989 as cited by Teo, 2011). It is a fundamental factor for
technology adoption that why it was viewed in this study as one of the
factors influencing adoption.

- Perceived Ease of Use

“Perceived Ease of Use signifies the degree to which an individual accepts

that using certain technology would be effortless and hassle free” Zhu, Linb
and Hsu (2012: 968). Perceived Ease-Of-Use (PEOU) – is the degree to which
a person believes that using a particular system would be free from effort
(He et al, 2018). It is a degree to which a farmer expects the new technology
to be uncomplicated and have no disturbances in carrying out tasks.
Simplicity makes the technology more acceptable to farmers. No-one farmer

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wants to spend days or weeks teaching workers how to operate a machine,
that would be a waste of time and time is money. Bagozzi (2007) argued that
TAM has gained popularity due to it being so easy to use yet, simplicity
might be its biggest weakness. If something is simple and easy to use others
can copy it easily and the farmer will have no competitive advantage of
adopting the new technology. Nonetheless, Venkatesh and Davis in 2000
developed TAM2 as an extension of the TAM due to the limitations of the TAM
in terms of explanatory power.

2.2.1.2. Technology Acceptance Model 2 (TAM2)

TAM2’s objective was to preserve the original TAM ideas. Venkatesh and
Davis (2000) developed TAM2, an extension of the TAM1 due to the
limitations of the TAM1 in terms of explanatory power. Venkatesh and Davis
(2000) proposed the TAM2 (Figure 2.4) with an aim to provide additional
elucidations why users found a certain system useful at three points in one
period: pre-execution, a month post-execution and three-month post-
execution. TAM2 hypothesises that users’ perceptions regarding the
usefulness of the system are formed based on the users’ mental evaluation
of equivalents between vital goals at work and the significances of
performing job tasks using the system (Lai, 2017). TAM was adopted in this
study to understand how farmers’ perceptions regarding the usefulness of
the new agricultural technology might influence his or her decision to adopt
or reject the new technology.

The TAM has been generally criticised by a number of researchers for various
reasons. According to Priyanka and Kumar (2013: 147), “theory includes
questionable heuristic value, limited explanatory and predictive power,
triviality, and lack of any practical value”. While Benbasat and Barki (2007)
as cited by Venkatesh, Thong, and Xu et al., (2012) argued that TAM was
failing to accommodate and adapt to the recurrently changing IT settings and
this has led to theoretical chaos and confusion. Examining the adoption of

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technology from an individual perspective is inadequate because
environment, exposure society and economic status in the vicinity where technology is
shown to individual can collectively affect the adoption and use (Bagozzi, 2007).

Figure 2.4. Technology acceptance model (TAM 2)

Source: (Venkatesh and Davis, 2003)

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However, TAM had received much support from (Yang, 2005; Lai and Zainal, 2015), based on
perceptions of the technology's usefulness and convenience on adoption intentions. Lee and Jun
(2007) as cited by Lai (2018), argued that TAM must be able to analyse factors influencing
adoption intentions past perceptions of convenience and usefulness. TAM3 which will be
discussed in detail below presented a complete nomological network of the determinants of
users’ Information Technology System adoption (Venkatesh and Bala, 2008).

2.2.1.3. Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3)

As TAM2 solitary focused on the key factors of TAM1’s PU and usage

intention concepts, Venkatesh and Bala (2008) as cited by Lai (2017)
propose TAM3 (Figure 2.5), which added the determinants of TAM’s PEOU,
and usage intention constructs for heftiness. Using TAM3, Venkatesh and
Bala (2008), depicted a thorough nomological network of the factors that
influence users to adopt the information of technology system. Venkatesh
and Bala (2008) developed TAM3 as an integrated model of technology
acceptance by combining TAM2 and determinants of perceived ease of use
model. Venkatesh and Bala in TAM3 development argued that adopter characteristics,
innovation characteristics, firm characteristics, and environment characteristics are four
determinants of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use.

-Adopter Characteristics: Individual characteristics are individual uniqueness or

trait-based characteristics that influence a person to adopt or reject change.
Wood and Swait (2002) suggests that, there may be personality traits that
predispose individuals to adopt innovations and or adopt them more quickly
than others. Adopter characteristics that affect the purchase of new
technology include adopter class, risk disposition, geodemographic, the
economic value needed and Word-of-Mouth (WOM) (Sharma, Kumar and
Cosguner, et al, 2019). Adopters differ in their risk disposition; some are
more risk oriented whereas some are conservative. Farmers who are risk
oriented may adopt new technology first than conservative farmers who

20
might adopt at a later stage or never. Adopters differ greatly concerning
geodemographic variables such as age, gender, income, and education.
Economic value directly affects the decision-making process because if the
farmer believes that technology adoption will positively affect income that
will influence adoption decision (Di Pietro and Pantano, 2012). WOM from
previous adopters influence the purchases of an innovation.

-Innovation Characteristics: Innovation characteristics are distinctive to a

particular innovation, how easy an innovation is to use, how the use of an
innovation is compatible with the lifestyle of an individual (Lantos, 2011).
The innovation characteristics include relative advantage, relative cost price,
perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and network externality (Shane,
2008). According to Moghavvemi, Mohd Salleh, Zhao, and Mattila et al.,
(2012), relative advantage is used to assess the perception of benefits
associated with adopting new technologies and the advantages that it carries
to conquer a competing or preceding idea. In TAM, perceived usefulness and
ease of use are two dominant factors influencing the adoption of
technological innovations (He et al., 2018). Network externality, the assets of
an innovation and it usefulness to an adopter accelerates with the number of
adopters, for example, telephones, and videogames also influences the
innovation’s sales (Shankar and Bayus, 2003).

-Firm Characteristics: The firm characteristics suggests that farmers who own
big farms with good reputation are most likely to adopt innovations faster
than farmers who own relatively small farms (Akudugu, Guo, and Dadzie et
al., 2012). The size and reputation of the firm influence its adoption. Large
firms can induce trial by deploying superior resources. According to Atkin,
Chaudhry, Chaudry, Khandelwal, and Verhoogen et al., (2017) large firms
with large market shares are more likely to adopt new technology because
they have a greater ability to appropriate the profits from the adoption.
Farmers from developed countries have invested in new agricultural

21
technology and found it profitable to adopt new technology. New agricultural
technology is expensive and often requires the agricultural entrepreneur to
spend money upfront to improve facilities. The costs of innovations make it
hard for small farmers to adopt innovations.
-Environment Characteristics: The environment characteristics that drive new

agricultural technology trial and repeat purchases include infrastructure,

availability and demand for agricultural product and market conditions.

Environmental factors contribute toward the purchase of a new product

(Hartmann and Apaolaza-Ibáñez, 2012). Presence of the right technological

and economic infrastructures is important for the adoption of innovation by
farmers. The availability and demand for related products such as

complements and accessories also determine the rate and level of a new

produce (Matsa, 2011). According to Shane (2008), how competitors react to

the introduction of the innovation is likely to influence the innovation

purchase adoption rate. For example, a farmer is more likely to adopt the

new agricultural technology if neighbouring farmers are also adopting the

new technology.

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Figure 2.5. Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3)
Source: (Venkatesh and Bala, 2008)

2.2.1.4. Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

Venkatesh et al (2003) formed Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)
using the previous models. The UTAUT (Figure 2.6) incorporates four key predators of users’
behavioural intention and there are performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social
influence (Tran, Zhao, Diop and Song, et al, 2019). These predicators are facilitation conditions
as well as four key moderators like gender, age, voluntariness and experience. All these
predictors are associated with farmers ‘perception on technology. Based on this theory, this study

23
sought to establish the behavioural intention to adopt new technology from the perspective of
farmers by applying the extended UTAUT.

-Social Influence: Yi, Jackson, Park, and Probst et al., (2006) state that human
and social factors could play a role in the adoption of technology using the
TPB. Venkatesh and Davis (2000) argue that the norm was likely to have a
significant influence on behavioural intention to use in a mandatory
environment, whilst the effect could be insignificant in a voluntary
environment. If a farmer knows other farmers who use technology or he grew
up in a community that used technology, he is more likely to adopt
technology in his or her business
then someone who grew up with limited access to technology. Davis, Bagozzi
and Warshaw (1989) as cited by Lai (2017) argued that social norms scales
had a very poor psychometric standpoint, and might not exert any influence
on consumers’ behaviour intention, especially when the information system
application is a single platform.

- Perception of External Control: Nanthida (2011) argues that external control is

a function of available knowledge, ease of use of relevant resources,
dexterity in the use of new skills and modern technology, and proficiency
that is required in carrying out a particular task. Moreau, Lehmann, and
Markman et al., (2001) analyse prior product knowledge and its influence on
consumers’ perceptions of both continuous and discontinuous innovations.
For example, if farmer has the right resources and has been taught or is
knowledgeable on how to operate a machine that will influence his or her
judgments on adoption intentions because of their level of control in carrying
out certain tasks.

24
Figure 2.6 Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology
Source: (Venkatesh et al., 2003)

2.2.1.5. The Innovation-diffusion model

The Innovation-diffusion model was developed in 1962 by Rogers.

Innovation-diffusion pays attention to understanding how, why and how
frequently new thoughts and innovations are spread in a community (Rogers
1962 cited in Wani & Ali, 2015:103). This model suggests that exposure to

25
evidence related to a specific technology is the chief factor affecting
acceptance decisions or spreading innovation in a social system. Access to
information sources speed up the acceptance procedure due to the fact that
people become aware of the possible profits related to the new technology
(Hooks, Napier & Carter, 1983:309).

Acquisition of information about an innovation enables farmers to familiarise

themselves with it as well as with the actual use of innovation. According to
Rogers (2003), diffusion is the process whereby new idea is transmitted
through certain networks over time among the members of a community.
This description identifies the following features: (1) an innovation that
symbolizes the new idea, preparation or object are being communicated; (2)
communication channels which indicate the way information about an
innovation moves from the change agents (technology suppliers) to end
operators (e.g. farmer); (3) the time period over which a social system
adopts a technology; and (4) the social system. ‘Social system’ denotes to a
set of unified elements that share mutual problems and are involved in joint
problem solving to accomplish a common goal (Rogers, 1983). A social
system comprises individuals, an organisation or agency and their adopting
plans (Ismail, 2006). Belonging to a social group enhances social capital,
allowing trust to develop, ideas and information exchange (Robinson, 2009).
Access to information may result in non-adoption of the technology.
Innovation diffusion model asserts that it is imperative to certify that
information on technology given to potential adopters is dependable,
constant and truthful. Adopters first need to recognise the beneficial
attributes of the technology and its usefulness, for them to adopt it. The
notion of dissemination of information about innovations usually refers to the
spread of ideas from one place to another (Rogers, 1962).

The merit of the innovation-diffusion concept is that it respects diffusion as a

process that includes collecting information about new technology. This
process helps potential users to form positive or negative perceptions
26
towards the innovation in question. It however, ignores individual
perceptions on the characteristics of an innovation as well as an individual’s
economic resources. The Innovation-diffusion model just considers access to
information of an innovation as the main factor affecting adoption decisions.
Although this factor is important in adoption decisions, the model fails to
take into consideration the adopter’s subjective assessment of the
characteristics of the new technology. Again, the model fails to consider
economic resources (capital and land). It is believed that capital and land are
prerequisite resources for farming, which is not possible without these
resources. This model therefore can be biased when it comes to factors
affecting a farmer’s decision to adopt new technology.

Furthermore, during the innovation-diffusion process, a farmer goes through

a series of choices
and actions evaluating a new idea over a period of time and making an
informed decision of
whether to accept or not. The process a farmer goes through from learning
about a new agricultural technology to decision making may be described as
an innovation-diffusion process in which the final stage is confirmed potential
adopters. During each phase of the decision-making process, the individual
tries to obtain information from various sources that may reduce the risk and
uncertainty associated with the agricultural technology to help them in
making an informed decision. For the purpose of this discussion, the
innovation-diffusion process is defined as “an information seeking and
information-processing activity, where an individual is motivated to reduce
uncertainty about the advantages and disadvantages of an innovation”
(Rogers, 2003:172). The procedure contains a certain amount of uncertainty
because the individual has to modify his/her behaviour while deciding to
adopt the new alternative to replace the idea that is already in existence and
therefore, the innovationdiffusion process was described by Rogers
(2003:232) as “an uncertainty reduction process”.

27
Rogers (1995 cited in Lia. 2017) explains that according to the innovation-
diffusion model, the
adoption of the innovation occurs after going through several stages. Rogers
(1995) called this the S-shaped adoption curve (see Figure 2.9). He labeled
individuals and organisations according to different adopter categories:
innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and Rogers (2003)
categorised individuals based on their innovativeness or the extent to which they demonstrate an
attraction for a particular new technology in contrast to other members of the community (Figure
2.9). An individual’s innovativeness depends on both the individual’s involvement with their
community and the community in which the individual is an affiliate.

Innovations spread when they evolve to meet the needs of successive segments”. For
example, some farmers may adopt new agricultural technology earlier while others will wait and
see the empirical benefits before adopting it. Thereafter, the adoptions of innovations spread
when they change to meet the requirements of successive sectors. The different clusters are
described as follows:

-Innovators: According to Ali and Wani (2015:105), innovators have a tendency to take risk,
they are eager to devote their time and the energy required to learn new idea. Moreover, they
often spend more time, energy and imagination on developing new technologies and apparatuses
and love to talk about their new idea. They are ready to persist with non-paying and
unproductive innovations and a certain level of doubt about the innovation (Ismail, 2006:19).
Likewise, Rogers (2003) supplemented this concept stating that modernisers are the gatekeepers
bringing the new technology in from outside of the community. Unfortunately their one-eyed
fixation on a new performance can make them seem dangerous to the practical majority. Yet no
change or innovation programme can thrive without their energy and commitment (Robinson,
2009).

-Early Adopter: these are the people who adopt or use new technology first within the social
system. Once the benefits are identified, these adopters jump in. They are on the vantage point
for a strategy to improve their lives or productions and are quick to recognise the connection
between ingenious innovations and their personal desires (Robinson, 2009). Rogers (2003)

28
contended that since initial adopters are more likely to embrace management roles in the
community, other members come to them to get advice or information about the new technology.
Early adopters (also known as first adopters) are inclined to be more economically fruitful, well
associated and well knowledgeable and henceforth more socially respected. Indeed, leaders play
an essential role at almost every step of the innovation-diffusion process, from commencement to
enactment; predominantly in organising the funds that carry innovation forward (Light 1998
cited in Ismail 2006:19). Consequently, as protagonist, initial adopters’ perceptions toward the
new technologies are the most imperative. Their personal assessments about the new technology
influence other members of the community through their interpersonal networks. First adopters’
acceptance of the innovation decreases doubt about the innovation in the diffusion process.
Lastly, “early adopters put their stamp of approval on a new idea by adopting it” (Rogers, 2003:
283).

-Early Majority: According to Robinson (2009:5), “assuming a new product or behaviour

leaps the chasm, it may eventually reach majority audiences”. Initial majorities are practical
people, happy with reasonably open-minded ideas, but won’t act without concrete evidence of
profits (Robinson 2009:5). This group has the ability to relate to technology but is ultimately
motivated by a logic of realism. This means that the early majority are content to delay and see
how early adopters benefit. They are watching for simple, unquestionable, improved methods of
doing what they already do. They need guaranteed off-the-shelf performance; minimum
disruption, commitment of time and learning and either cost neutrality or rapid payback periods.

-Late Majority: These are traditional practical people who dislike risk and are not happy with
new ideas. Basically their only driver is the fear of not fitting in; therefore, they will follow
conventional methods and established social morals. They are frequently motivated by the fears
and views of laggards (Robinson 2009). Though they are doubtful about the new technology and
its consequences, economic stipulation and peer pressure may lead them to the acceptance of the
new technology. To lessen the ambiguity of the innovation, interpersonal networks of close peers
should persuade the late majority to adopt it, [then] “the late majority feel that it is safe to adopt”
(Rogers, 2003:284).

29
-Laggards: According to Rogers (2003), laggards are very old-fashioned and they are even
more cynical about new technology and change agents than the late majority. Laggards are the
indigenous cluster of the community and their interactive links mainly comprise from the same
group in the social system they belong to. According to Kaasinen (2005) cited in Ali and Wani
(2015:106), the last to embrace innovations are the laggards, who base their decisions on the past
rather than the future. Roger regrets the selection of the term ‘laggard’ and emphasises that it
would be a mistake to imply that laggards would be somehow at fault for being late to adopt.
They may resist change because of inadequate resources and the lack of awareness-knowledge of
innovations. They are people who see a high risk in adopting a particular new practice.
Therefore, laggards have a tendency to wait and see whether the innovation has been
productively adopted by other members of the social system and whether it is successful (Ali &
Wani 2015). Due to all these features, laggards’ innovation-diffusion stage is quite long.

30
Figure 2.7: Adopters categorization
Source: Ali and Wani (2015)

31
2.2 Theoretical Review

2.2.1 Technology Acceptance Model

Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw (1989) have developed the TAM, a model used to research
fundamental factors that drive users to adopt the new information system and accept it as well.
The primary purpose of the TAM is to clarify the factors affecting the acceptance of computer
applications in general. This model also allows researchers and practitioners to determine the
inadequacy of a process (Davis, 1989). The behavioral intent of the use of an information system
is, according to Davis, directly driven by users' attitudes to the system and the perceived utility
of the system, which are impacted by users' attitudes to the system and perceived use. The
assumed simplicity of application influences actions and usefulness. In this model, companies
use social media and internet sales to meet their goals. The technology acceptance model is an
ideology of information management to model how people use and implement information
technology. It is an improvement in the theory of technological determinism.

According to this model, the acceptability of a system is determined by two factors: Perceived
Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU). The degree to which a person considers the
use of a system to improve his or her work outcome is referred to as a perceived usefulness (PU)
(Ekwueme & Akagwu, 2017). In contrast, perceived ease of use (PEOU) refers to a person's
impression that using a particular interface is easy. The paradigm for using technology suggests
that the intention to conduct decides the use of an information system but that the intention to
conduct also depends on the approach of the individual to the system and their perception of its
use. As opposed to internet advertising, consumers still weigh other factors. These are factors
like the Internet or a bad Internet connection is not accessible, lack of trust, lack of timing, and a
payment issue (Ekwueme & Akagwu, 2017).

The theory is applicable to this research as social media (TAM-Model for technology adoption)
also helped consumers to take decisions without having to go to the stores. This explains also
that, although it is a comparatively modern networking technology, people use social media or
the internet for their advertising outreach activities. Two factors that lead to recognition and
acceptance by most consumers are the perceived usefulness and ease of use. Other factors, such
as trust, also affect its usefulness. According to Asemah (2011), as they choose, attend to and

32
hold advertisement posts based on their wishes, beliefs and other considerations, the recipient
intentionally manipulates the process of control. However, the theory is notable because,
regardless of the financial gain of advertisement and web commerce, it shakes the light on
whether people accept or oppose social media in comparison to internet retailers. Since social
media (technology through technology acceptance model-TAM) has assisted consumers in
making purchasing decisions without having to go to the shop, the theory is applicable to the
research.

2.2.2 Theory of Planned Behavior

Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (TPB) sets the objective of performing an act, is what
influences behaviour, subjective standards and perceived compartmental strength (Ajzen, 1991,
2002). People's overall feelings regarding the desirability or unwantedness of a certain action are
called Attitude (ATT). A person who wishes to perform a specific action is defined as a
subjective standard by perceived organizational or social norm (SN). Perceived behavioral
control (PBC) is a measure of how simple or difficult an individual can perceive a certain action.
TPB's ability to provide a useful theoretical framework for understanding and predicting new
information system acceptance has been demonstrated (Ajzen, 2002). In a meta-analysis study,
Armitage and Conner (2001) looked at previous research that used the TPB. The theory's main
benefit is that it provides evidence for the TPB's efficacy and suggests that more research on new
variables is needed to improve the model's predictability. This study employs the principle of
planned activity to describe how social media (online sales) is used to meet customer demands.
The theory also sought to explain all acts which are influenced by people through their desires.
Behavioral intent is a key component of this model; behavioral intent is based on one's attention
to the likely outcome of the action, and one's subjective cost-benefit evaluation of that outcome.
The TPB was used to predict and explain a range of health practices, including smoking,
beverage, healthcare, nursing, and substance use. In terms of motivation (intention) and ability,
behavioral performance depends on the TPB (behavioral control). It separates behaviors into the
emotional, social and influential groups. The TPB consists of six systems which represent the
actual regulations of a person's behaviour.

1. Attitudes – The extent to which an individual positively or negatively considers the activities
of interest. The effects of doing the actions include reflection on the possible outcome.

33
2. Behavioral Intention - This shall apply to the driving forces which cause a particular
behaviour, the more likely it is to be committed in order to commit the behaviour.

3. Subjective standards - assuming that the majority of people consent or disapprove of such
behaviour. The question concerns a person's opinion as to whether he or she should be involved
in the acts or not, friends and important people in his or her life.

4. Social standards - In a group of people or in a wider cultural context social norms are
established which forms the standards of behaviour. Social standards are considered customary
or natural in a group of individuals.

5. Perceived Power: The belief that an individual's behavioral regulator is conditioned by

assumed authority is the perception of the presence of stimulus which may aid or prevent the
performance of an intervention.

6. Perceived Behavioral Control: A individual understands perceived behavioral management

how simple or complex the ideal act is to carry out. Perceived improvements in behavior control
depending on situations and behavior leading to individual realizing changes in behavioral
control based on the situation. Planned behavior theory was born from the transformation from
reasoned action theory to planned behavior theory.

Theory is significant because it promotes the efficacy of the TPB and shows that further study is
needed to develop new variables in order to increase the predictability of the model. This study
uses the concept of planned business to understand how social media (online sales) satisfy
industry requirements.

34
2.3 Empirical Literature Review
We will be reviewing the works of different authors;

Ukonu and Agu (2022) investigated the effects of social media on consumer buying behaviour.
The study adopted the survey research design; the sample size was made up of 185 respondents
selected from customers of Jumia in Owerri, Nigeria. Data was collected from 152 respondents
using questionnaire as the instrument. The collected data were analyzed and presented using
tables and simple percentages. The hypotheses were tested using the Multiple Regression with
SPSS version 21 applied. The study revealed among others that social media (Facebook, Twitter
and YouTube) had significant effect on customer patronage, customer loyalty, customer
satisfaction and customer advocacy of Jumia Nigeria, Owerri. It was then recommended among
others, that the government in collaboration with online marketing firms should educate and
inform the citizens and customers on the workability and effectiveness of social media
marketing.

Tawfig (2021) researched on the effect of social media marketing on the buying behaviour of
Libyan applied questionnaire was used to analyse data and questionnaire forms, IBM SPSS 25.0
program. The results of the study concluded that there is a positive, medium and significant
correlation between consumer buying behaviour, pre-purchase behaviour and post-purchase
behaviour. Moreover, the result of the regression analysis revealed that social media marketing
significantly influences consumer purchasing behaviour. The study found that social media has a
significant impact on pre-purchase and post-purchase behaviour to a lesser extent among Libyan
consumers.

Laith Tashtoush (2021) carried out a study on the effect of social media on consumer buying
behaviour in commercial banks. The sample of this study conducted with 200 consumers to
understand how consumers use social media and how it affects their buying behaviour of
different banking products and services. The findings show that social media affect consumer
buying behaviour by 69%. Also, consumers mostly used Facebook and it mostly affecting
consumer buying behaviour by 73% and the most influential factor that affects the relationship
between social media and consumer buying behaviour is interactivity by 63%. The implication of

35
these findings suggests that commercial banks in Jordan should focus on their marketing strategy
and they have the opportunities to seize the power of influence of social media.

Abdulraheem & Omoniyi (2021) researched on the influence of social media sites on consumer
buying behaviour in shoprite Nigeria limited. The examined social media sites included Twitter,
Facebook, Google+, blogs, and YouTube. The research was a descriptive design. The population
was made up of consumers of Shoprite Nigeria Limited in Ibadan and Lagos. The sample size
was 384 using Cochran’s 1977 sample size formula for the infinite population. However, only
321 respondents filled and returned the questionnaires. A structured questionnaire was designed
using a five-point Likert scale of agreement. Then, a hypothesis was tested using multiple
regression analysis. The result shows that the null hypothesis is rejected. It implies that social
media sites influence consumer buying behaviour in Shoprite Nigeria Limited. It concludes that
social media sites are important tools that can influence consumer buying behaviour. It is
recommended that the organization should invest more in social media sites to get in touch with
their targeted audience.

Olatunde Olaitan (2021) researched on the impact of social media (Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram) on consumer behaviour in Nigeria. This research adopted the model of consumer
behaviour for its theoretical analysis and a quantitative-based cross-sectional survey design for
its methodology. Using convenience sampling method, the study selected 128 participants
through an online Google form questionnaires. Data collected were analysed through correlation
coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis. Findings showed that while most of the
participants were all most likely to buy and sell on social media than on any other channel or
physical place, when tested, the first hypothesis that examined the impact of social media
networks (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) on consumer purchase decisions in Nigeria was
rejected because it had no significant association with participants’ consumer purchase decisions
in Nigeria. This study recommends that the owners of social media networks pay more attention
to the security of their platforms if they want to benefit from the gains of ecommerce,
particularly owners if Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp, which are the most used social media
networks for e-commerce by participants. Therefore they should invest more in building the
infrastructure and security of their networks in order to gain the trust and confidence of their
customers.

36
Makudza et al., (2020) studied the effect of social media on consumer purchase behaviour in the
mobile telephony industry in Zimbabwe. Social media was examined using four variables
namely, firm generated communication, user created communication, word of mouth and social
media platform. The study results indicate that social media is a significant driver of consumer
purchase intention. Consumer purchase behaviour is mainly driven by social media word of
mouth, whilst firm generated content was found to be inversely related to purchase intention.
User generated social media communication resulted in a moderately weak association with
purchase behaviour, whilst an insignificant association was obtained between social media
platform and consumer purchase intention. The results imply that social media is an effective
tool but needs to be adapted so as to minimize generating content which distorts desirable
consumer behaviour. The researchers therefore recommend a cautious social media campaign
which generates more desirable viral content.

Gourab (2020) impact of social media marketing on the consumer buying behaviour towards
apparels: a study in Kolkata. A structured questionnaire was used, primary data was collected
from 175 respondents. Multiples tests have been conducted to test the hypothesis; Chi Square,
Cross-tabulation, 2-independent sample, Mann Whitney U Test, and Kruskal Wallis Test (Non-
Parametric, KIndependent Sample) was used to analyse the responses. It was found that there is a
negative correlation between the frequency of purchase and amount spent per shopping trip,
meaning that when one purchases more frequently via social media, they spent lesser amount per
trip, however, when they purchase rarely or sometimes, the amount increases per trip.

Jonida (2019) studied the effect of social networks on consumer behaviour; complex buying.
The study has been conducted by selecting primary data through questionnaires distributed
normally to a sample of 200 randomly selected customers of complex buying (laptops and cars),
statistical analysis, correlation and regression, with SPSS statistics were used during the
research. Finally, we understand that social networks have affected the behaviour of customers
and now there is a two-way communication, where customers are less tolerant towards bad
service or overpricing; they do not consider themselves future buyers or high-end buyers of a
company; and finally, they like to try new products without seeing them.

Voramontri & Klieb (2018) carried out research on the impact of social media on consumer
behaviour. A quantitative survey investigates up to what degree experiences are altered by the

37
use of social media. Results show that social media usage influences consumer satisfaction in the
stages of information search and alternative evaluation, with satisfaction getting amplified as the
consumer moves along the process towards the final purchase decision and post-purchase
evaluation. The research was done among internet-savvy consumers in South-East Asia, and only
considered purchases that were actually made by consumers, not including searches that were
abandoned.

Patria (2018) studied the impact of social media marketing on purchase intention and brand
loyalty: evidence from Indonesia’s banking industry. This study is an empirical research with
cross-sectional approach, conducted in Jakarta with 286 respondents. It has been found that
social media marketing leads to purchase intention and brand loyalty. Hence, brand loyalty
affected by purchase intention.

Bilal et al., (2014) conducted a study on the role of social media and social networks in
consumer decision making; a case of the garment sector. The method of data collection for this
research involved the survey of students and faculty of University of Gujrat, Pakistan by
distribution of a self-administered questionnaire among them, out of the 390 questionnaires, 371
were properly filled as the remaining contained inadequate information and had therefore gotten
void analysis technique employed is Logistic Regression. The results showed that consumers in
Pakistan are particularly keen on the use of a few Social Media platforms which include Blogs
and YouTube. Similarly consumers mostly prefer the Social Networking sites of Facebook and
Google along with their own personal decisions. The results also highlighted the fact that the use
of these online media has a strong influence on the purchase decisions of the users. This means
that people use the online social networks and Social Media sites as sources for obtaining
information about different companies, their brands, products and services.

Ioanăs & Stoica (2014) researched on social media and its impact on consumers behaviour. It is a
quantitative research. The sample counted 116 respondents and from the statistical perspective,
the conclusions were established in terms of the univariate and bivariate analysis. Following the
analysis of the research variables we can make a consumer profile that uses social networks.
Likewise, after doing the complex statistical analysis using SPSS and the analysis offered by the
online platform the host of questionnaire, it can be seen how much it is influenced and the real
impact of social media reflected in the behaviour changes.

38
Gul et al., (2014) carried out a research on the relationship of social media with fashion
consciousness and consumer buying behaviour. A convenience sampling strategy was adopted
for the collection of data, the proposed study uses standardized questionnaire and 300
questioners were distributed among respondents randomly and got back 262 responses. The
results of the study indicated that there is a weak significant relationship between Social Media
and Fashion Consciousness, so as between Social Media and Consumer Purchase Behaviour.

McCarthy et al., (2013) studied the effects of social media on fashion consumption. Secondary
research was used in the initial stages of the process to gather information prior to primary
research. . Quantitative and Qualitative Research was conducted for the study which included
personal interviews and sample survey of 100 participants. The study highlighted the four major
social media outlets dominating the market namely Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram,
which would benefit the business organizations to focus on creating their sites. These social
media networks allowed significant opportunities for business growth and innovation. The study
provided the fashion retailers with a guideline for mastering social media usage. Results
indicated that nearly all college students are active on social media.

2.4 Summary of Literature Research Gap.

After works of other researchers has been reviewed, we have found that many studies have been
carried out in relation to the impact of social media marketing, or using only a single social
media platform such as TikTOk or Instagram to investigate its effect on buying behaviour of
consumers or their purchase decisions and all of them are international works and very little or
none has been carried out in Cameroon. This gave the researcher the courage to carry out a study
to investigate the effect of social media platforms on consumer buying behaviour of fashion
products in Bambili, using at least four social media platforms in the study to see how ach can
affect the buying behaviour of our consumers of fashion products.

39
 CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY

3.1. Scope and Area of the Study

3.1.1. Scope of the study

The study investigated the relationship between social media ads on consumer buying
behaviour of fashion products in bambili. Specifically, the study examined the effect of social
medial ads, Facebook ads, TikTok videos and Whatsapp ads on consumer buying behavior of
fashion products in Bambili. The study focuses on fashion products in Bambili, which are
located in the North West region of Cameroon. Data was collected from a representative sample
of Fashion shop ownrs operating in the Bambili in Tubah municipality. The study covered a
period of 9 months, from October 2023 to June 2024. The study examined the effect of social
media platforms on consumer buying behaviour of fashion products in Bambili.

3.1.2. Area of the study

The Republic of Cameroon is a country located in the central Africa to the north of the Gulf of
Guinea (Atlantic Ocean). The country is a former German colony mandated after the First World
War (1919) by the League of Nations to British and French rule. In 1946, still under British and
French rule. Cameroon became a trust territory of the United Nation Organisation (UN). The
country is bordered to the west by Nigeria, to the North West by Chad, to the East by Central
Africa Republic, to the South East by Congo (Brazzaville), and to the South by Equatorial
Guinea. Cameroon has a surface area of 475,442km2(land 469,442km2; water 6000km2).
English and French are official languages although French is by far the most understood
language.

The climate of Bambili within its geological area is known with its topography of plains and
hills. The climate variation of Bambili fit into two seasons in the area; the dry and rainy seasons.
The area experiences the tropical highland climate in general. The rainy season stretch from
March to October and is characterised by heavy rain falls brought in by the Southwest Monsoon
winds. Places are generally wet during this period and temperatures are relatively warm. The dry
season begins from November to February and is driven by the Hamattan. It is characterise by
intense sun shine during the day and very cold nights. Cool and misty zones: 1250m-2250m

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Elevation. Rainfall varies from 1780mm to 2290mm per year. Heavy rain fall are usually
experienced in the months July to September. There is high humidity during the months of July
and August, and low in January and February. There occur low clouds and mists during the rainy
season (Hawkins and Brunt, 1965). The mean minimum temperature ranges from 130C–140C
and the mean maximum temperature ranges from 200C–220C. November records lowest mean
minimum temperature and the highest mean maximum are recorded in December. During
January or February, ground may frost due to cold which drains in the narrow valleys in the
night. Climate variations brings about variation in businesses, as some goods are of better value
in the dry season than in the rainy season, and vice versa.

Source: Administrative limits of Cameroon (AIC, 2020)

Figure 1: Location of Bambili in the North West Region of Cameroon

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3.2. Research Design
This study will adopt a quantitative design comprising surveys, which involves quantitative data.
The real motivation behind quantitative research design is to depict the situation at present in the
environment of study. It is a procedure of gathering information with a specific end goal to give
expected results in regard to the research under study, (Mugenda, 2003). The type of the study
used on investigative research was appropriate in gathering information on people’s attitudes,
sentiments and behaviors, (Babbie, 2004). This design was suitable for this study since it sought
to provide insights and understanding of the different social media platforms on consumer
buying behaviour of fashion products in Bambili. This study also adopted a causal research
design to examine the relationship between social media platforms on consumer buying
behaviour of fashion products in Bambili. This study also sought to test specific hypotheses and
examine relationships as captured in the sub-section 1.4 of the research objectives.

3.3. Target population, sample and Sampling Technique

3.3.1. Target population

The targeted population for the study will be fashion retailers in Bambili. Fashion sales have a
great chuck of market Bambili due to student’s population and visitors.

3.3.2. Sample Size

Sampling can be defined as the determination of a sample in a population that is to say, the
representative fraction of a population or a statistical set that will be questioned during a sample
survey in order to obtain a representative result.

The sample size for the study was determined by using Yaro formula. This formular was used
because of the large population of the study. It states thus;

N
n=
1+ N ¿ ¿

Where;

n = Corrected sample size

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N = Population size

e = Margin of error,

e = 0.05 based on research conditions.

40
n=
1+100 ¿ ¿

64
n= =¿32
2

The study adopted a census of 40 fashion dealers from Bambili

3.3.3. Sampling technique and justification

Sampling methods consist of building a sample of board members in the city of Bamenda,
Cameroon, of a parent population to estimate characteristics and opinions. There are two
categories of sampling methods: probabilistic methods and non-probabilistic methods (also
known as empirical), we have opted for the non-probability sampling technique. This technique
relies on the personal judgement of the researcher rather than on chance to select sample
elements. The types of non-probability sampling techniques used are the stratified sampling and
judgmental sampling. Judgmental forms of convenience sampling in which the population
elements are selected based on the judgement or expertise, arbitrary or consciously decide what
elements to be included in the sample because the researcher believes that they are
representatives of the population of interest or are otherwise appropriate. This is due to the fact
that most of these board members of the financial institutions are always busy and convenient
time need to be sort out to their responses. Also, non-probability sampling technique was chosen
based on the board members who were deemed appropriate for the study taking into
consideration the accessibility of the fashion shop owners, their willingness to cooperate and
their ability to provide desired information.

3.4. Instrument of Data collection.

3.4.1 Questionnaire Design

The research instrument is a special technical unit that the researcher will, in most cases, have to
develop to meet the specific needs of his research in terms of information whose treatment will

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lead to the objectives he has set himself. The measuring instrument that was used in this
research is the questionnaire that was administered to the board members of micro financial
institutions and likely to provide information on loan default. The questionnaires were
administered physically and online by the researcher. A copy of the questionnaire will be
appended to this document. This questionnaire was developed on the basis of the literature
proposed in the previous chapter; during the elaboration of the regular questionnaire, the
researcher used the supervisor, who regularly guided the way of asking the questions. The
questionnaire for this study is grouped into six mains sections and these sections contain sub-
sections and our survey instrument consists mostly of closed ended questions with 5-point Likert
Scale.
What usually characterizes Likert's scale is that it is symmetrical. The central position or neutral
modality is commonly called "ni-ni" and can be formulated in several ways: Neither agree nor
disagree or No opinion for example. It usually includes 5 to 7 elements, but you can go from 3
steps up to a dozen depending on the desired accuracy. Let's not forget to say that the more steps,
the more complex the question for the respondent. One can also find attitude scales with an even
number of modalities which tend to force the choice of the respondent. Sometimes the scale
includes the option of Do Not Know or Not Concern, with the risk of increasing the no response
rate. When using the responses, we can transform the scale into numerical terms, that is, we
associate a number to each answer.

We chose a five-point LIKERT Scale in order to effect of social media ads on consumer buying
behaviour of fashion products in Bambili with values such as 1= agree, 2= disagree, 3=
indifferent, 4 = strongly agree and 5 = strongly disagree.

3.4.2. Questionnaire Administration

The questionnaires will be administered to 30 fashion retailers physically and also online. A link
will be generated online with the help of google documents and sent to the loan officers of the
selected fashion retailers

3.5. Model Specification

Y= α +β1FBa +β2TTV+β3WSa + e Where,
Y= Consumer behavior
α = constant term

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FBa= Facebook ads

TTV= TikTok videos

WSa= Whatsapp ads

Β1, β2, β3 = Beta coefficients indicating various levels of importance (weight of each factor)

e = Error term

3.6. Variable on which Data is Collected and their Measurement

This research has two main variables, consumer behavior which is the dependent variable and
social medial ads which is the independent variable. Four sub variables were used to explain the
independent variable (social medial ads). These include: Facebook ads, TikTok videos,
Whatsapp ads. Measuring or operationalizing a variable consists in defining the indicators or
measurement items and choosing different modalities of an attribute in the studied reality. The
modalities here correspond to the scales that make it possible to evaluate the indicator. This is to
present in a simple way the use of data collected in the field in our research and its scale of
measurement. There are four main scales which include: nominal, ordinal, range, and ratio. The
level of measurement of qualitative data is a nominal or ordinal scale, the quantitative data, for
their part, have a level of interval or ratio measurement.

This research makes use of the ordinal scale because by definition the Likert Scale is Ordinal.
This scale has two properties: identification and scheduling. It is always possible for this scale to
establish the rank of the modalities. The modalities which compose an ordinal scale are provided
with a structure of order established according to a given criterion. For example, on a 4-point
semantic satisfaction scale, the numbers 1 to 4 have no other meaning than to indicate a rank. For
its descriptive statistical treatment, it makes use of the Frequency and the median gold.

3.7. Techniques of Data Analysis

Both descriptive and inferential analysis was used to analyse the data. Descriptive analysis
involved the use of bar and pie charts, frequencies and percentages tables. This study employed
the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique for the estimation of the parameters of the model
specified above. This is because it possesses the best linear unbiased estimator (BLUE) property

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and has been widely used in literature. Unbiased means that the estimated coefficients are a true
representation of the population parameters and it is also said to have the minimum variance
amongst all other estimators rendering it efficient. The OLS technique of estimation is used
when the dependent variables vary in the range negative infinity to positive infinity. However, it
is not much of a problem if in practice the dependent variable fluctuates in a restricted interval
say from 1 to 20 provided the variable is continuous in nature. Problems arise only when the
dependent variable can take only two values such as binary variables. In this case, the dependent
variable of this study (consumer behavior) is a continuous unlimited dependent variable.

3.8 Validation Techniques

3.8.1 Validation and Reliability of Instruments (Face, content, construct validity etc.)

Kothari (2004) takes note of that validity measures the exactness of the instruments in acquiring
the expected information that can meet the targets of the investigation. Gay, (1992), says it is set
up by specialists to decide. The supervisors’ comments and observations aided in improving the
validity of the questionnaire. Pre-testing of the study instruments was completed by use of five
subjects arbitrarily drawn from the populace before the field gathering of information to decide
the validity.

Mugenda (2008), attest that validity upgrades unwavering quality of an instrument.

Accordingly, a substantial instrument is a solid one. The evaluation of the reliability of the scale
of measurement was done through the use of Cronbach's alpha coefficient. To check if our scale
is sufficiently accurate to be used in a questionnaire, we proceeded to the analysis of the
psychometric qualities of this measuring instrument using:

Cronbach's alpha coefficient: it measures the internal coherence (or reliability) of questions
asked during a test (answers to questions on the same subject in front of to be correlated). Its
value is between 0 and 1, being considered "acceptable" from 0.7. Evrard et al., (2000) consider
that this index is acceptable when it is between 0.5 and 0.8. For a confirmatory study (especially
for a scale that has already been tested), the alpha value must be greater than 0.8

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3.8.2 Validation of Results

The t-statistics or t-value is used to justify whether the coefficients of the estimated parameters
are statistically significant at a certain degree of freedom. Furthermore, the F-statistics is used to
test the overall significance of R square or adjusted R square. It shows the degree of reliability of
the results. R square or R square adjusted of the correlation coefficient is a statistical coefficient
computed from the data of the sample which shows the total variation of the dependent variable
being explained by the joint variation of the explanatory variables specified in the model.
Finally, the standard deviation or standard error of the estimates measures the dispersion of the
sample estimates around the true parameters. The larger the standard error of the parameter
estimated, the less reliable is the result and vice versa. The Variance Inflation Factors (VIF) test
is used to test for multicollinearity while the Breusch Pagan test of Heteroscedasticity is used to
determine if the variance of the error terms are constant (homoscedastic).

3.9 Limitations of data tools

This study made use of primary data collected through survey questionnaires with both close
ended and open-ended questions. The limitations of this form of data are that: it was very
difficult for the researcher to collect due to high cost involved, it was time consuming, complex
and a lot of commitment was required from the researcher.

The use of questionnaire as tool for our survey equally encounter some lapses: some respondents
ignored certain questions owing to fact that they appeared impersonal to them, some questions
were incorrectly completed, some respondents misunderstood questions because of the design
and ambiguous language, the questionnaire was also not suitable for some kinds of respondents
like visually impaired, it was also difficult for the researcher to go back to respondents in case of
questions he forget to ask due to fact that some respondents were anonymous and it was also
difficult obtaining a sufficient number of response from certain respondents. All of these might
affect the quality of our results.

3.10. Ethical Considerations

Informed consent was sought from the respondents before data collection. Those not willing to
take part in the investigation were under no commitment to do as such. Data assembled was

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utilized for the motivations behind this study and the important research authorities were
approached and consent allowed.

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