HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT SHAPES CONSUMER BUYING DECISION

Abstract

The rapid expansion of social media has fundamentally transformed the way consumers access information and make purchasing decisions, particularly through electronic word of mouth (e-WOM). This study investigates the influence of social media content on consumer buying decisions, with specific emphasis on firm-created content and user-generated content within the context of domestic brands. Adopting a deductive and quantitative research design, primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire using an online survey method. A total of 302 valid responses were obtained through snowball sampling from social media users in District Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Reliability and validity of the constructs were confirmed through exploratory factor analysis, Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) measures, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Correlation analysis revealed a strong and significant positive association between social media content and consumer buying decisions. Regression results further demonstrated that firm-created content and user-generated content jointly explain 67.4% of the variance in consumer buying decisions. Both predictors exerted a statistically significant and positive influence, with user-generated content showing a comparatively stronger effect, highlighting the importance of perceived credibility and authenticity in online consumer interactions.The findings confirm that social media content serves as a powerful mechanism shaping consumer decision-making through e-WOM. The study contributes to the social media marketing literature by integrating firm-created and user-generated content within a unified explanatory framework. Practically, the results suggest that marketers should strategically leverage authentic, engaging content and actively encourage consumer participation to strengthen brand influence and purchasing outcomes, particularly in emerging market contexts.