Influence of Social Media Marketing on Consumer Behaviour: A Case of Consumers of Kibos Sugar in Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of social media marketing on consumer buying behaviours in the case of Kibos sugar company Kisumu consumers. Three specific objectives guided the study. These were:

• To establish the influence of social marketing tools on consumer buying behaviour,


• How social media marketing targets consumers in online marketing in Kibos Sugar Company, and


• To investigate business practices that can increase brand value through social media marketing

The study applied a descriptive approach through survey design. The study applied a stratified sampling technique for the investigation with 3000 customers as a target audience. The study calculated a sample size of 171 responses with a 95% confidence level. Correlation analysis was used to determine whether the two variables were related. Social media marketing, business strategies, and social media targeting account for 24.2% of the variation in consumer behaviour. In addition, it was found that social media targeting had a significant positive effect on consumer behaviour (β = .821, p<0.05), and Social media marketing had a positive and significant effect on consumer behaviour (β = .453, p<0.05), and finally, business practices had a negative and significant effect on consumer behaviour ((β = -.691, p<0.05). The study found that social media targeting, marketing, and business practices significantly predicted consumer behaviours among Kibos Sugar Company's social media users. The researcher recommends that Kibos sugar company and other companies establish sound social media departments and pages through which they can profile their customers and present targeted product advertisements to reach specified market niches. Additionally, participation in marketing research with a primary focus on learning about prevalent social media behaviours should be included.