THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS (SMIs) ON YOUNGSTERS’ BUYING BEHAVIOUR: A CASE STUDY IN MAURITIUS

Authors: Narsoo Jeetendre, Tse Kai Wai Dudley, Dommun Sanjana & Chittoo Hemant Birandranath

ABSTRACT

The objectives of the study are to analyse the effect of Social Media Influencers (SMIs) on youngsters buying behaviour in Mauritius, especially to generate buzz and attention among individuals to be able to broaden social media coverage for businesses. SMIs seem to bring a positive effect on the sales of products and services when they are part of the endorsement, which eventually leads to a change in consumer buying behaviour, especially among youngsters. It is noteworthy that there are no limitations in the ways through which SMIs influence youngsters. Since the latter spend more of their time on social media than people of other ages, the impact of SMIs on them is greater. Young consumers require information in order to make efficient and trustworthy purchasing decisions and social media have provided this information to them through SMIs. The effect of SMIs on youngsters is now a global issue. The world has moved online and people find ways to earn simply by creating content to influence the world.  In this paper, the impact of SMIs on young consumer attitudes, roles and activeness, and how the SMIs influence the buying behaviour of youngsters in Mauritius have been considered. The primary research method has been used in order to collect data and to achieve these objectives. The findings from the study have helped to give a better view of how and to what extent these SMIs have an impact on consumer buying behaviour among youngsters in Mauritius.

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