Abstract
Financial decision-making through social media blogs and opinions is an area not much explored by the researchers. This study intends to understand the perceived usefulness of social media in financial decision-making amongst individuals and groups based on demographic similarities and social parameters. This paper aims to understand the perception of various subgroups in society within the large population sample. The paper applies Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric tests to examine the proposed research questions from a dataset of 201 individuals residing in two most populated states in Northern India. The analysis reveals the differences between different groups categorized based on generation, financially dependent, educational background, occupation, and geographical location. In terms of social media’s perceived utility in financial decision-making, results suggest that segregated groups based on cohort generation and occupation have significant variations relative to others. Based on the educational context, all other segments, number of financially dependent, geographical location, were found insignificant. The novelty of the paper lies in investigating the perceived usefulness of social media in financial decision-making amongst various homogenous groups based on demographics in a developing country. The study outcomes can be useful for the financial service providers and social media platforms in comprehending consumer behavior to devise an innovative marketing strategy for financial products targeting specific segments through enhanced coordination between them. AcknowledgmentThis paper was supported by Internal Grant Agency of FaME TBU No. IGA/FaME/2019/002.
Highlights
Social media is no longer serving the sole purpose of interacting with near and dear ones or prospective employers significantly it has diversified itself into an effective platform for targeting the specific customer segments through an effective communication strategy designed truly upon the observations from the prospective buyers (Ismail et al, 2018), which enables the marketers to develop an innovative marketing strategy for their products
As per the reports of the World Economic Forum, India has improved as a nation in terms of political participation of women, in economic participation, the country stands at 149th place globally that in itself is proof of the prevalent gender gap (World Economic Forum, 2019)
Qualification, marital status, MannWhitney U test was applied for the comparison, Based on educational background, all other segments, number of financially dependent, and living locations were found insignificant concerning the perceived usefulness of social media in financial decision-making
Summary
Social media is no longer serving the sole purpose of interacting with near and dear ones or prospective employers significantly it has diversified itself into an effective platform for targeting the specific customer segments through an effective communication strategy designed truly upon the observations from the prospective buyers (Ismail et al, 2018), which enables the marketers to develop an innovative marketing strategy for their products. Social media is taken as a powerful source for building the goodwill of the organization (Horn et al, 2015), but it is vital for the consumers of the financial services as it helps in reducing the asymmetry in the dissemination of information and makes them aware of the present trend of the stock market (Blankespoor et al, 2014). There remains some gap in the literature regarding evaluating the impact of social media usage on financial decision-making, which can further aid marketers and social media platforms in devising customized marketing plans. As per the reports of the World Economic Forum, India has improved as a nation in terms of political participation of women, in economic participation, the country stands at 149th place globally that in itself is proof of the prevalent gender gap (World Economic Forum, 2019). It would be interesting to study that due to the significant representation of Generation Z in the total population (Social Statistics Division, 2017), this gender gap has been reduced in financial decisions involving social media or not due to their technological advancement
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
