Scrolling on a Shopping Journey : A study of relationships between motivations to use social media, the customer journey and purchase intention

Abstract: We are currently in the middle of the digital marketing era where technological developments have made it possible for customers and businesses to communicate around the clock. Social media is a tool that makes it possible for companies and brands to create and maintain relationships. To understand social media usage and the motivations behind it, Uses & Gratifications theory is commonly used. Motivations are important when exploring consumer behaviour and understanding the customer journey. A customer journey can be explained as the different touch-points a customer has with a firm during a purchase cycle. Marketing on social media often has different objectives where purchase intention is one important, since it indicates the real value of advertising on social media. Earlier research has not combined these three concepts: motivations to social media usage, the customer journey and purchase intention and this gap got us interested in examining the relationships between these. To do this we developed two research questions: RQ1: Do motivations to use social media affect stages in the customer journey?  RQ2: Do the different stages of the customer journey affect purchase intention?  The purpose of this study is to investigate motivations that lead to social media usage and if these affect the stages in the customer journey, and further how the customer journey affects purchase intention. We also wanted to investigate if usage of social media has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. To answer our research questions and fulfill the purpose of this study, we conducted a quantitative research targeting students in Sweden.  Based on existing literature regarding social media, motivations, Uses & Gratification theory, the customer journey, customer decision process and purchase intention we created a theoretical framework and a conceptual model whose aim was to explain relationships between motivations to use social media, the stages of the customer journey and purchase intention. We also developed 12 hypotheses that we tested and included in the model. We collected data by using an online questionnaire and then analysed it and ran tests in SPSS. Our results showed that 4 out of 12 hypotheses could be supported: There is a positive relationship between cognitive motivation and the pre-purchase stage of the customer journey; There is a positive relationship between cognitive motivation and the purchase stage of the customer journey; There is a positive relationship between hedonic motivation and the pre-purchase stage and lastly; There is a positive relationship between the pre-purchase stage and purchase intention. The conclusion is that changes in purchase intention mostly rely on the impact of the pre-purchase stage. The pre-purchase stage is in turn affected by cognitive and hedonic motivations to use social media.