Abstract
Numerous studies have investigated the impact social media has had on business performance. However, until recently, there has been limited research regarding social media in the U.S. wood products industry. In 2013, a mail survey was conducted of wood products suppliers to investigate the use of social media as a marketing tool and to examine the factors affecting the use of social media in the industry. Although this research yielded valuable information, the consumer side of social media use was not studied. Thus, a follow-up study was conducted in 2017 through an online survey to determine how social media marketing impacts the decision-making process of wood products consumers. The survey also examined how respondents use social media to gather information about natural resources and related activities. Of 928 respondents, 58 percent indicated using social media to gather information before purchasing any wood products. The top three social media outlets used for gathering data were Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Respondents also listed having information available on the internet and having prior knowledge or awareness of the brand as important factors that influenced their decision to purchase a wood product.
Highlights
The introduction of social media has changed society in numerous ways (Tardanico 2012, Olsen & Christensen 2015, Baskaran et al 2017, Phoon 2017)
As opposed to the earlier study, the main goal of this study is to provide an overview of consumer use of social media when making wood product purchasing decisions
When asked to indicate their race, 47.5% identified themselves as Caucasian/White, 18.3% identified as Black/African American, 15.6% identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, 1.1% identified as Native American/American Indian and 4.2% identified as“Other”
Summary
The introduction of social media has changed society in numerous ways (Tardanico 2012, Olsen & Christensen 2015, Baskaran et al 2017, Phoon 2017). This is a very important because consumer involvement through social media is a key element in marketing (Hajli 2014). The ability to communicate freely about products, brands and companies has fostered the sense of belonging among consumers through interpersonal interactions and dialogue (Baird & Parasnis 2011, Kim & Drumwright 2016). These activities produce word-of-mouth (WOM) and aid in the consumer purchasing decision process
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