• A web-based surveys to better analyze how social media influencers affect the purchasing process and consumer behavior of the public in the United Arab Emirates.

• Target audience: Canadian University Dubai (CUD) undergraduate students.

• 120 CUD students of both genders took the survey.

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EXPECTATIONS

 

We expect that students will be affected on a higher range than other age groups due to the high consuming level and intake they have within social media. Indeed, we think that the influence of these popular people is related with the number of hours spent using social media.

We also believe that the percentage of female students affected by these popular figures’ influence is higher than males. During the research, we have discovered that the most influential industries within social media in UAE are beauty, fashion and food. Therefore, we think that women are more likely to be affected.

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This study analyzes how social media influencers shapes the consumers behavior of students in Canadian University Dubai (CUD). The research reveals that, before buying a product or a service, young adults usually relies on their peers’ reviews and recommendations more than in advertising; indeed, thanks to social media, influencers are able to affect massive followers through simple videos mainly posted on Instagram, the social network platform more popular used by influencers.

This research shows to which extent individuals are getting affected during their making-decision process and what Canadian University Dubai students think about influencers.

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INTRODUCTION

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Social media platforms are becoming incredibly indispensable for business and media consumers in today’s converged communication landscape.
According to Leila Khalid, Sheila Yvonne Jayasainan and Nurzihan Hassim, information retrieval via social media platforms is specifically linked to the needs of youth consumers for inclusion in the emergent trends of cultural and consumption culture, where technology plays the role of agency to emotions, cognition and social patterns for the new generations.

Previous research along with the one that we conducted in the campus show that the most popular social network used by influencers is Instagram.
Instagram is a photo and video-sharing platform that allows users to upload content, as stories or posts, on their daily routine to show their “followers” what they are doing, eating, to promote and/or share reviews about products and services and pictures of their trips.

The difference between a story and a post is that stories are usually removed after 24 hours and archived in the “archive” section where only the user that uploaded the picture can have access to.

Researches show that young adults prefer Instagram due to its visual content, which allows them to convey and receive content in a faster and easier way. Visual content is catchier, easy to perceive and more amusing.

Individuals can give feedbacks by liking pictures/videos, re-sharing them on their profiles or stories or commenting. Another important characteristic of Instagram is the use of hashtag, keywords which make it easier for individuals to search for the content they are looking for.

Recently, Instagram can be used to gain popularity on the web by creating new content. Posting on Instagram have become a practice of educating and creating awareness about food products and services to followers, especially for users that have a high number of followers. Moreover, using these hashtags are a fast and convenient way in seeking new eateries or dining experiences, thus mobilizing social trends. 

According to Malaysian Digital Association (2016), food and beverages has increased number of revenues as many start-ups and online entrepreneurs have realized that social networks create opportunities to expand their business.
The same concept is applied in other industries, from our researches, we found out that the main field where influencers affect the consumer behavior are: food, fashion and beauty.

Therefore, more and more brands ask influencers to advertise products on Instagram; this lead to develop a new trend in the marketing field, which is the influencer marketing.

In this study, we will better understand to what extent the consumer behavior in Canadian University Dubai is affected by influencer, in particular, we will focus on the three major fields previously mentioned (N. L. Khalid, S. Y. Jayasainan, N. Hassim, 2018).

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METHODOLOGY

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As a new method of marketing and as a new trend in the communication field, there are many researches conducted to analyze the important role that influencers have in today’s world.

Therefore, in order to conduct this project, we did not only want to rely on the information found on the Internet from the previous researches conducted on the topic, but we decided to distribute an online survey in the campus among CUD students to understand the behavior of students.

The research is divided into three parts: the first one is made up by questions related to the demographic of participants; the second part includes questions related to the attitudes of students regarding social media. Lastly, the third part is constituted by two questions where individuals could answer freely according to their opinion.

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FINDINGS

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The survey was conducted in October 2019. 120 CUD students of both genders (64.77% female and 35.23% male) took the online survey. The majority of the participants (89.95%) are between 18 and 24 years old, 12.50% between 25 and 34; 3.41% under 18 and 1.14 above 45.

 

When participants were asked about the social media platform that they use the most, Instagram appeared first with 86.36%, followed by YouTube (60.23%), Snapchat (51.14%), Facebook (18.18%), Twitter (13.64%) and lastly, blogs.

Instagram (77.01%) appeared first also when students were asked on which social network, they mostly follow influencers. After it, YouTube (28.74%), Snapchat (21.84%), and other minorities Facebook and Twitter.

 

In opposition to our expectation, when individuals were asked whether they have ever made a purchase based on influencers’ recommendations, 46.59% responded “Yes” and 53.41% responded “No”.

We also asked them in which fields influencers affect their decision-making process, the participants had only one choice between “fashion”, “food”, “beauty” and “others”; surprisingly, only 14.77% of individuals voted for beauty, 36.36% for fashion, 31.82% for food and 17.05% for other (without specifying the field).

 

Moreover, students were asked whether to agree or not to the following statements:

• I find out about new trends on social media (6.90% strongly disagreed, 2.30% disagreed, 6.90% neutral, 45.98% agreed and 42.53% strongly agreed)

• I actively seek out online review before making a purchasing decision (5.75% strongly disagreed, 3.45% disagreed, 21.84% neutral, 26.44% agreed and 45.98% strongly agreed)

• If my favorite blogger/online personality recommends a brand, I am more likely to try it (10.34% strongly disagreed, 20.69% disagreed, 34.48% neutral, 25.29% agreed and 9.20% strongly agreed)

• Peer reviews are more reliable than company-controlled reviews (5.68% strongly disagreed, 6.82% disagreed, 30.68% neutral, 1.14% I am not sure, 30.69% agreed and 25% strongly agreed)

• Influencers will not purposefully recommend a brand what will harm me (13.64% strongly disagreed, 30.68% disagreed, 29.55% neutral, 1.14% I am not sure, 20.46% agreed and 4.55% strongly agreed)

• If I were to find out that my favorite online influencer/blogger hand been paid for their recommendation, it would not negatively impact my opinion of their credibility (11.36% strongly disagreed, 17.05% disagreed, 34.09% neutral, 0% I am not sure, 23.87% agreed and 13.64% strongly agreed)

• Influencers have my best interest at heart (15.91% strongly disagreed, 25% disagreed, 35.23% neutral, 0% I am not sure, 18.19% agreed and 5.69% strongly agreed)

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DISCUSSION

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In conclusion, through our research, we determined that the main social media platform used for influencer marketing by influencers and by individuals to seek for reviews is Instagram.

However, more than half (53.41%) does not get affected by influencers’ recommendation before purchasing a product, this is probably a consequence of the fact that individuals are not completely convinced that peer reviews are more reliable than controlled ads promoted by the companies and that they promote only products and services that can benefit us. Indeed, the majority of the participants disagreed or were neutral when they were asked if they believe that social media influencers would never advertise something that does harm the public. Yet, participants agreed that, before buying a product, they check reviews posted by influencers. Through this research, we found out that CUD students are influenced by social media influencers’ opinions only to a certain extent; they do seek for their reviews, but do not completely rely on them.