Abstract

Social networking sites are becoming an essential part of consumer daily activities, with profound changes in purchasing behavior compared to traditional buying formats. This study investigates the possible impact of social networking sites on the purchasing decision process concerning luxury vehicles in one of the most important markets for such products, the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The study also investigates the possible impact of relative demographics on the direct relationship between social networking sites (independent variable) and the purchase decision process (dependent variable) of luxury vehicles. In order to achieve this aim, a descriptive analytical methodology is utilized with quantitative survey strategy, with a five-point Likert-type questionnaire. Of 1,500 personally submitted questionnaires distributed over a non-probability quota sample to the main showrooms and dealerships in the GCC, 1,257 were retrieved (a response rate of 83.8%); after the filtration and screening process, 1,224 valid questionnaire forms were statistically analyzed. The results indicate that social networking sites have a significant positive direct impact on the purchasing decision process of luxury vehicles in the examined population, with the highest impact being for the first two stages of the process (need recognition and information search). As for the moderation effect of relative demographics, only income and time daily time spent on social media had positive significant moderating effects on the direct relationship between social networking sites and purchasing decision process, while education had a negative significant effect. The results also indicated particular roles of certain social networking sites, like YouTube, and the fact that females prefer Snapchat over other digital platforms. Discussion, implications, and future research recommendation are provided based on the results of the analyses.

摘要

社交网站正在成为消费者日常活动的重要组成部分，与传统购买形式相比，社交网站的购买行为发生了深刻变化。本研究调查了社交网站对此类产品最重要的市场之一海湾合作委员会 (GCC) 国家中豪华车购买决策过程的可能影响。该研究还调查了相对人口统计数据对社交网站（自变量）和豪华车购买决策过程（因变量）之间的直接关系可能产生的影响。为了实现这一目标，描述性分析方法与定量调查策略相结合，采用李克特五点式问卷。1, 向海湾合作委员会的主要展厅和经销商分发了非概率配额样本的 500 份个人问卷，收回了 1,257 份（回复率为 83.8%）；经过过滤筛选，对1224份有效问卷进行了统计分析。结果表明，社交网站对被调查人群的豪华车购买决策过程有显着的积极直接影响，影响最大的是过程的前两个阶段（需求识别和信息搜索）。至于相对人口统计的调节效应，只有收入和每天在社交媒体上花费的时间对社交网站和购买决策过程之间的直接关系有显着的正向调节作用，而教育则产生了显着的负面影响。结果还表明了某些社交网站（如 YouTube）的特殊作用，以及女性更喜欢 Snapchat 而不是其他数字平台的事实。根据分析结果提供讨论、影响和未来研究建议。