ABSTRACT
This study examined the impact of social media on consumer online buying behaviour among undergraduate students in University of Benin, Benin City. The focus of the study was to examine the impact of social media on the online buying behaviour of consumers and also to examine the factors (privacy, return policy, easy access to information, cost, good customer care) that motivate consumers to shop through social media platforms.
The study used the survey method by administering copies of structured questionnaire to 400 undergraduate students of University of Benin, Benin City. The data for the study were analyzed using both descriptive statistics such as simple percentages and mean, while inferential statistics (linear regression) was used with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.
The study revealed that social media channels such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram has a significant impact on consumers online buying behaviour. Also, return policy, access to information and customer care are significant factors that motivate consumers to shop through social media channels while privacy and cost are not significant factors that motivates consumers to shop through social media channels.
As a recommendation, marketers and business brands should not take light of social media and hence should ensure to employ social media marketing as part of their marketing strategies, as social media is a form of cheap and effective marketing strategy when effectively managed. Business brands can effectively influence consumers most especially students and youths as they are the major subscribers of social media platforms to patronize their products or services.
