The Aspects of Peer to Peer Communication

Introduction

Internet and social media play a big and important role in our lives today. We spend most of our free time surfing on the internet. Any information is just a click away we can talk to anyone at any corner of the world at much fast speed. Social media the most talked about thing these days is accessed by all people but is more popular among the youth as they are the most active people.

With this they try to build relations with their peers by following them sharing pictures, videos and by this they try to buy the products and brands that their peers have and avoid to buy the products that their peer dislike. With this they indirectly become a part of marketing process known as social media marketing

The product and this can affect the consumers buying decision as consumer can generate, share and edit online information about products, services. This technical revolution during the last decade has drastically revolutionized the marketing process. Social media puts the consumer to the center of business and provide marketers with a new set of tools to interact with the customer through innovative way.

Consumer and Consumer Decision Process

In today’s world where the internet and social media are the biggest trend and the information being easily accessible and transparent has influenced the decision making process

Steps between evaluation of alternative and decision making

Kotler and keller (2009) suggested that during the evaluation process consumer makes preferences among the brands but there are two factors which interfere between the purchase intention and decision

• Attitude of other – Negative attitude of peer towards the chosen alternative may change the consumer’s purchase decision
• Unanticipated social factors – Consumers are also influenced by the infomediaries for example the consumer reviews on various purchasing sites

Social Media

It is a technology that helps to create share information ideas. It is an interactive web 2.0 internet based application.

Dann and Dann in 2011 demonstrated social media is formed based upon its interconnected elements which are –

• Social interaction
• Communication media
• Content

Traditional media, newspaper, books, lecture

Social media component

Social media is a two way communication as compared to traditional media because it is open to feedback and participation.

Types of social media

1 .Social networking sites – like Facebook, Instagram

Here the consumers follow their peers they share a connection with and also the consumer can establish a close relationship with the brand via following fan page and groups.

2. Social news sites – like Scoop it, Reddit

It is basically a website that features user posted stories. It includes many types of information like news and discussions user can comment online on the news post. If a company is genuinely paying attention a strong relationship can be built upon by investing time in responding to feedback and concerns

3. Media sharing – like YouTube

4. Blogs

It is an online journal it allows everyone to publish and to join the conversation online and some blogger do not have editorial restrictions and also has full access to the web thus there post can affect personal, brand reputation and products

Peer Communication and Its Impact on Purchasing

Social media provides a platform for the consumer to communicate with other consumer thus companies are not the sole source of communication and branding thus perception of brands are not only influenced by what the company communicate but by what other consumers have to say about the brand.

It has become easy for the brand to communicate with the customer by promoting and advertising on social media this is not a one sided communication as consumer can communicate with other and also to the brand and vice versa and thus it is a two way communication rather than the traditional media.

Peer ownership of certain product or services constitute a modelling process it exert influence in written messages such as positive and negative comments, reviews, discussion, experience, suggestion. This can motivate the consumer to buy the product or the brand or to avoid and switch to other.

According to ZOLLO (1990) Teenagers are more involved with trends as compared to any other age group. They are not only trendsetters for each other but also for others. For example a brand being the “cool brand” among the teens can be because of two reasons firstly it’s quality and secondly it being used by their friends or peers or by some celebrity. Thus it appears that peer, celebrities/role model have the potential to contribute for the brand choice among teens.

The Nature of Reference Group Influence

Reference group influence can take 3 forms

1. Informational Influence – It occurs when an individual uses the opinion and behavior of reference group members as useful bits of information Ex- A person wants to buy a nutrition bar and he sees that runner on the track team uses a specific brand he/she may then decide to buy that brand
2. Normative influence –It is also known as utilitarian influence ,it occurs when an individual fulfill groups expectations to gain a direct reward or to avoid a sanction Ex-You may purchase a particular brand to win approval from your colleague
3. Identification influence – also called as value-expressive influence, occurs when individuals have internalized the group’s values and norms

Degree of Reference Group Influence.

• Peer influence is strongest when the product is visible to the group
• The more committed an individual is to a group , the more the individual will conform to the group norms
• The final factor that affects the degree of group influence is the individual’s confidence in the purchase situation

Word-of-mouth Communication (WOM)

We know about new products/brands from our peers in two basic ways. First by observing them as they use the product or services and secondly by receiving or seeking advice and information in the form of WOM communication. It includes sharing information with others in a verbal form or face to face or through internet and phone.

Consumers generally trust the opinion of their friends, family and acquaintances more than the marketing communication because family and friends express their true feelings and opinions and so WOM has a huge impact on consumer decisions. Consumer can share both positive and negative experience but negative experience are powerful motivator as dissatisfied consumer tell twice as many people than do satisfied consumer and it has also been seen that satisfied consumer may not always motivate WOM.

Thus companies must bring strategies that not only delight consumers but also create a positive emotional experience that could be passed on in the form of positive WOM.

All personal sources of consumer are not of equal value some people in the group are known as the ‘go-to-person’ for specific type of information. These people filter, interpret and actively provide product/brand information to their peers an individual who does this is known as the opinion leader.

The process of one person’s receiving information from mass media and transferring it to others is called as two-step flow of communication but what usually happens is multistep flow of communication wherein the opinion leaders gather the necessary information for a particular product from the social media and from other sources (from their followers and from other opinion leaders) as well these leader than process the information and transmit their interpretation to other members of the group.

Conclusion

The accessibility and transparency of information available on social media has changed consumer behavior in today’s market. Consumer can access product information at a faster speed. Social media provides a two way flow of communication because of which consumer can access other consumer experience and experience of opinion leader which could be both positive and negative experience that can affect the final decision of the consumer.

Consumers go to their peers for seeking the idea and information of a product and then consult social media resources and peer for further advice. A good and organized social media communication has a high brand equity which in turn affects the WOM and thus consumers tend to choose such brand over other  .