impact of social media reviews Case Study Sample

Impact of Social Media Reviews on Consumer Decision-Making by Rapid Assignment Help

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Introduction to Analyzing the impact of social media reviews: Case Study

1.1 Background and definition

Within the current digital era, social media reviews have become a major influence on consumer decision-making. Consumers increasingly rely on market feedback and online reviews shared on platforms such as Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, often seeking Online Assignment Help UK to better understand digital consumer behaviour. The widespread use of digital platforms has shifted communication towards electronic word of mouth (eWOM) from traditional word-of-mouth practices. This transformation has significantly influenced buying behaviours, as social media reviews— including brand interactions, influencer endorsements, and consumer feedback—have become powerful tools for shaping brand perception and building long-term consumer loyalty.

impact of social media reviews Case Study Sample
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Zara is a well-known fashion retailer and recognised for the fast fashion model of business (ZARA, 2024). In this, the trends are effectively integrated and indentified within the collections which can fulfil the demand of consumers. In the highly competitive fashion industry, the social media is important which highly influences the choices of consumers and brand image of Zara. The social media reviews have an instant nature which permits the brand to improve the marketing strategies, resolves the consumer concerns and monitors the trends.

The aim of research is to analyse the extent to which social media reviews have impact on the buying decision of Zara’s customers. Through effectively evaluating how reviews can boost the buying preferences, the research looking to offer the insight how the organisation can use the feedback to boost sales performance and consumer engagement.

1.2 Rationale of study

The development of social media and digital marketing has changed the overall traditional consumer behaviour. Currently, feedback and online reviews become critical in relation to developing the purchase intentions. The research showcases that more than 90% customers read the others feedback and online reviews while making decision about the purchase (Local Consumer Review Survey2022, 2024). Due to the social media influence within the fashion industry, this is important to assess how Zara navigates the emerging and evolving landscape.

This is considered as research issue now because organisation is operating within highly competitive industry in which the consumer preferences are shifted quickly. Earlier, income, reference group etc placed significant on the customer decision making. However, in the digital age customers give more preference to the brand which has positive reviews. Through thematic analysis this research could shed light on the relationship between social media reviews and customer decision making. Moreover, the existing studies assessed the influence of social media on the consumer engagement and brand perception, there are limited study is emphasising on the approach of Zara to use the feedbacks and online reviews. The research would bridge the gap via evaluating the influence of social media on the brand perception and consumer purchasing within Zara.

2 Literature Review

Theme 1: Understand the significant of media reviews and market feedback

In accordance with the da Costa (2023) within the digital age, the market feedback and social media have been important in the context of customer decision making about purchase. The effective platforms such as Tik Tok, Facebook and instagram offer rating of products and share experience and thereby influence the perceptions of others. The reviews of Autio (2019) indicate important for the consumers focus on the online reviews and feedback before buying the products. The positive reviews might boost the sales, brand creditability and consumer base within the organization. The positive reviews boost the decision making procedure by rapidly reassuring customers of the quality of products and influencing the consumers to make the purchase.

On the contrary hand, Ahani et al, (2019) states that the negative reviews can damage the reputation of organization and divergent the loyal buyers. Mixed and negative review can cause consumers to delay or abandon their purchase. The repeated negative feedback might damage reputation of brand and credibility. The customers can share the negative experiences with the others, further affecting the brand. Negative reviews might have lasting impact on the business. According to the survey by the Bright local, consumers 82% read the online reviews for the local business and 52% users said that they would not choose business with the negative comments and less than 4 star rating (Local Consumer Review Survey2022, 2024). This can put impact on the businesses if they have good reviews and high rating whether they are offering good products with the high quality.

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Theme 2: Analyze the social media review and market feedback strategies within the Zara

In the view of Ba et al, (2020) understanding the consumer demand and consumer behavior is vital for developing the strategies and driving sales. For instance, Zara is well known global fashion retailer, this has effectively harnesses the overall social media to collect the market feedback and engage the audience. The brand mainly employs the visual content with the high quality within the platforms such as Tik tok and instagram to highlight the fashion trends and latest collection. This makes the inspirational image which can boost the consumer base. Wang et al, (2020) articulates that companies operating in fashion industry are emphasizing on making the visually appealing content which encourages the organic reach. Moreover, the organization collaborates with the bloggers as well as fashion influencers to increase the products promotions and thereby develops the credibility & reach to appeal the consumer perception.

However, Alsayat (2023) social media strategy of the fashion companies has various limitations as well. The organization adopts the approach of passive engagement, mainly responding the complaints and consumer inquiries on the social media. The lack of direct interaction can lead to frustration among the workers, particularly when issues related the consumer services and product quality are increasing. Alabi (2024) stated that fast fashion model of the companies’ appeal the criticism via the review on the social media related to the overconsumption, unethical labor practices and sustainability concerns. The different negative feedbacks affect the brand reputation and consumer who are environmental conscious. Moreover, marketing approach is the influencer driven and cannot be always appropriate & authentic.

Theme 3: Identify the influence of social media review and market feedback on the purchasing behavior within Zara

In accordance with the Hayes and Kelliher (2022) the market feedback and social media reviews mainly affect the purchasing behavior of the consumer related to the products offered by the companies operating in UK fashion sector. The exposure of the positive social media boosts the brand loyalty, impulsive purchases and brand desirability. The content which is user generated, such as outfit posts and hauls videos, boosts the reach of concerned organizations and thereby encourages the sales and influences the customers preferences. Gurne et al (2019) argued that recommendations, ratings, reviews, market feedback can influence the buying decisions of consumers. With the large number of information available online, the customers are looking for the social proof to learn about the products which help in guiding the purchasing choices.

While, Song and Tian (2020) said that the social media’s negative feedback might affect the buyers. The major and common complaints related to the organization include the declining product quality, poor consumer services and inconsistent sizing. For instance: The customers express the issues with the return policies of Zara which mainly showcases within the negative reviews. Moreover, the viral posts on the social media showcasing the unethical practices and exposing concerns related to the sustainability that might lead to boycotts and consumer backlash. According to Sevim and Yalçın (2022) the reviews volume can make the decision fatigue among the consumers. This is making more difficult to focus on the genuine reviews from the biased ones and misleading ones. The comments on the social can be effective but the risks can affect the consumer trust and brand image of Zara.

2.2 Problem statement and research justification

The impacts of the market feedback and social media reviews on the behaviors of consumers are mainly effectively documented. The research showcases the more than 90% of the consumer seek online reviews and more than 88% trust them. Moreover, the stastista research showcases that international consumers more than 56% state that the reviews influences the major purchasing decision of them (Statistics & Facts, 2023). On the other hand, apart from developing digital reviews reliance, there is gap within effectively understanding the how the consumers can influence in the merging brands such as Zara.

The existing studies emphasize on the brand perception and (eWOM) word of mouth, also showcases that how Zara responds and integrates to the feedback of social media to boost the consumer behavior (Wang, 2021). The digital strategies of Zara are effectively recognized for the efficiency, the direct engagement lack with the concerns of consumers on the platforms of social media. This is developing the questions related to the reputation management approach of Zara. The study aims to reduce the research gaps via evaluating the response of Zara to reviews of social media and the online feedback can affect the purchasing behaviors of consumers.

2.3 Research question

  • Q.1 What is the significant of media reviews within UK fashion industry?
  • Q.2 Which factors impact the decision making of Zara’s customers?
  • Q.3 How the of social media review and market feedback influence purchasing behavior within Zara?

Aim:

To assess the impact of social media reviews and market feedback on the buying behavior of consumer within Zara

Objectives:

  • To evaluate the significance of social media reviews in the recent times.
  • To ascertain factors that impact customer buying decision within UK fashion sector.
  • To identify relationship between social media review and customer decision making with reference to Zara.
  • To recommend the competent strategies to Zara that boost consumer buying behavior.

3 Methodology

3.1 Research design

The research types refers to the ways in which the research needs to be conducted, are qualitative and quantitative. These are two types of options available to the research. Qualitative research aims to analyze and gather non numerical data in order to gain the understanding individual’s social reality (Croucher et al, 2023). On the contrary hand, this provide rich insight, this can be face difficulty in focusing on the broader conclusions and limited via subjectivity. On the other hand, quantitative research is strategy which focuses on analysing and qualifying the collection of data. The study will focus on Qualitative research method. The approach is appropriate for the research because this permits for effective comprehensive analysis related to the influence of marker feedback and social media reviews on the consumer purchasing behavior of the Zara.

3.2 Data collection

The data collection explicated as the process of gather information; primary and secondary are two methods via which information can be gathered (Black and Morrison, 2020). The primary data gathering is related to first-hand information and secondary is mainly based on the reviewing books and journals and according information can be gathered from the secondary sources Wu & Chi (2023). In order to address the concerned research problem primary and secondary methods will be utilized. In the primary method survey will be conducted on Zara’s customers through the means of questionnaire. Further, for secondary data gathering, databases involve the books, journals and report; these would be utilized for gaining the relevant information. The key words of the research will involve the digital marketing in fashion retail, impact of the online reviews and feedback on the buying decisions and Marketing strategies of Zara.

3.3 Participant recruitment and research procedure

The study would focus on the volunteer sampling method which permitting participates to effectively select self via responding to the offered questionnaire. The effective method is appropriate because these permits for the effective direct access to the consumers of Zara who are mainly engage with the market feedback and social media reviews. This makes sure about the participants can have the related experience so which they can share, creating the meaningful data as well (Mahavidyalaya and Izhar, 2023). On the other hand, the volunteer sampling limitation is effective for the bias selection, as the consumers who select to participate can have effective opinion related to the brand. The study aims to effectively recruit the 50 consumers, making a reprehensive and diverse sample of the consumers of Zara. An effective sample of the size would offer the effective qualitative insights. This is also permitting for the effective pattern recognition within the responses of consumers.

Inclusion criteria: The participants must be of 18 years old, this need to have at least one time purchase from Zara in six months and active on the social media

Exclusion criteria: The consumers who never have a single purchase from the brand and don’t engage with the social media feedback and online reviews would be excluded.

Participates would be recruited via the platforms of social media, digital fashion communities and online fashion forums. The consumers would be needed to have informed consent just before the completion of questionnaire.

3.4 Data analysis

Data analysis is about the ways under which the data has been analyzed such as thematic and statistical, these two types of methods are available for the researcher. Thematic is mainly suitable for the analyzing the qualitative data. On the other hand, statistical is appropriate for analyzing the qualitative information (Hughes et al, 2019). As per the suitability of the current study, thematic has been applied by the scholar; the major motive is to utilize graphs, tables and themes. The analysis would aim to understand the major patterns and themes related to how the reviews of social media influence the consumer buying behavior of Zara.

3.5 Ethical consideration

The researcher will focus on adhering to all ethics concept of consent will be performed and awareness related to research context will be developed and afterwards, responses from the candidates will be taken. Moreover, confidentiality of the participants will be maintained and no disclosure of their personal informational will be done. All the participants would be offered with the sheet of information which outlining the research purpose. They will also have the effective opportunity to raise any question before consent form. The data protection and confidentiality (GDPR compliance) would be effective managed. The personal data would be unnamed and the major responses would be effectively stored with the PPD (password protected device). The researchers only have the data access, the major findings would be offered within the aggregated format, this makes sure about the unidentifiable responses of individual.

Evaluation

The study would offer major contribution to the policy, knowledge and practice via providing the insights within how the market feedback and social media reviews influence the behaviour of consumer buying within the fashion industry, particularly within the Zara. Via effectively understanding how the online reviews and digital feedback can develop the decisions and consumer perception, the fashion brands might boost the brand credibility, consumer engagement and consumer perception (Zhang et al 2020). The research would be mainly effective for the business strategists, brand managers and digital marketers looking to optimise reputation online management. In context to the practical perspective, the research would offer help the businesses to boost the efficient strategies of consumer engagement on the social media. The fashion retailers and Zara can use the findings to boost the consumer feedback responsiveness. Moreover, via understanding the gaps within current approach of Zara, this includes the consumer complaints with the limited direct engagement; the brands might apply the efficient CRM strategies to boost the trust among consumers.

In the context to the knowledge contribution, the effective study would fill the major gaps within the current literature via offering the insights in the brand specific. The previous studies effective explored the online reviews impact, the research limitation has been analysed mainly on the consumer engagement and marketing strategies. The overall findings would focus on the discussions based on the academic on the trust of consumers within the digital marketing and (eWOW) electronic world of mouth. This is offering the effective references for the upcoming future studies. From the standpoint of policy, the research might provide the effective recommendation for developing the protection policies of consumers related to the digital reviews (Oiso et al 2024). The different challenges such as misleading advertisement, influencer transparency and fake reviews are increasing the concern within the online marketing. The findings of study can inform the policy makers and regulatory bodies on the requirement for the online consumer feedback guideline. This making sure that the reviews remain trustworthy and authentic as well.

Development within the future research Methodology: In the current research, due to the money and time constraint researcher will use the qualitative method. For the future development focus can be placed on large sample size for providing the wider view of the problem being investigated. Along with this, researcher can also formulate and test hypothesis to ascertain the impact of social media reviews on customer decision making.

References

Books and journals

  • Ahani, A., Nilashi, M., Ibrahim, O., Sanzogni, L., & Weaven, S. (2019). Market segmentation and travel choice prediction in Spa hotels through TripAdvisor’s online reviews. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 80, 52-77.
  • Alabi, M. (2024). Data-Driven Product Strategy: Leveraging AI to Forecast Market Trends and Identify Emerging Opportunities.
  • Alsayat, A. (2023). Customer decision-making analysis based on big social data using machine learning: a case study of hotels in Mecca. Neural Computing and Applications, 35(6), 4701-4722.
  • Autio, H. (2019). Literature review-Twitter as A Tool of Market Intelligence for Businesses: Sentiment analysis approach.
  • Ba, S., Jin, Y., Li, X., & Lu, X. (2020). One size fits all? The differential impact of online reviews and coupons. Production and Operations Management, 29(10), 2403-2424.
  • da Costa, R. M. R. R. (2023). Fashion Spectacle the Impact of Runway Shows on Fashion Branding (Master's thesis, Universidade da Beira Interior (Portugal)).
  • Gurney, L., Eveland, J. J., & Guzman, I. R. (2019, June). " What you say, I buy!" Information Diagnosticity and the Impact of Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) Consumer Reviews on Purchase Intention. In Proceedings of the 2019 on Computers and People Research Conference (pp. 183-189).
  • Hayes, Ó., & Kelliher, F. (2022). The emergence of B2B omni-channel marketing in the digital era: a systematic literature review. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 37(11), 2156-2168.
  • Mahavidyalaya, L. M. V., & Izhar, F., 2023 ISSUES RELATED TO FAKE REVIEWS AND DECEPTIVE MARKETING PRACTICES-AN ANALYTICAL STUDY.
  • Melo, A. J., Hernández-Maestro, R. M., & Muñoz-Gallego, P. A, 2024 Rural Tourism Positioning Strategies Based on Customer Perceptions.
  • Oiso, H., Sakaguchi, H., Ida, T., & Kuroda, T. (2024). The Welfare Loss of Information Manipulation on Consumers in Online Retail: Evidence from Incentive-Compatible Experiments.
  • Sevim, Y., & Yalçın, T. (2022). Changes in the food preferences and purchase behaviors in the new normal: a cross-sectional study: Changes in food preferences during the new normal. Revista española de nutrición humana y dietética, 26(3), 167-177.
  • Song, Y., & Tian, X. (2020). Managerial responses and customer engagement in crowdfunding. Sustainability, 12(8), 3389.
  • Wang, X. S., Ryoo, J. H. J., Bendle, N., & Kopalle, P. K. (2021). The role of machine learning analytics and metrics in retailing research. Journal of Retailing, 97(4), 658-675.
  • Wang, X., Wang, W., Chai, Y., Wang, Y., & Zhang, N. (2020). E-book adoption behaviors through an online sharing platform: a multi-relational network perspective. Information Technology & People, 33(3), 1011-1035.
  • Wu, K., & Chi, K. (2023). Enhanced e-commerce customer engagement: A comprehensive three-tiered recommendation system. Journal of Knowledge Learning and Science Technology ISSN: 2959-6386 (online), 2(3), 348-359.
  • Zhang, C., Tian, Y. X., Fan, L. W., & Li, Y. H. (2020). Customized ranking for products through online reviews: a method incorporating prospect theory with an improved VIKOR. Applied Intelligence, 50, 1725-1744.

Online

  • Local Consumer Review Survey2022, 2024. Online. Available through https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey-2022/
  • ZARA, 2024. Online. Available through https://www.zara.com/
  • Statistics & Facts, 2023. Online. Available through <https://www.statista.com/topics/4381/online-reviews/#editorsPicks>

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