This study is aimed at ascertaining the factors which inform the buying of fashion, beauty as well as personal care products on or through social media platforms, by consumers domiciled in the United Kingdom and Nigeria. Interviews, guided by a semi-structured interview guide, was used for the collection of data. The purposive sampling technique was employed in identifying prospective participants that have the characteristics and information needed, while the thematic analysis method was adopted for data analysis. The study found that for the UK and Nigeria, the nature of products and the sales medium, influence the decision of consumers to purchase fashion, beauty and personal care products through or on social media. UK consumers showed a preference for buying products through company websites linked through the social media platforms they use, instead of buying directly from social media vendors or retailers, while the Nigerian consumers showed a preference for buying directly from vendors on social media, with Instagram and Whatsapp being the most popular purchasing platforms. It also found that the decision to purchase fashion, beauty as well as personal care products through social media platforms in the UK, is largely driven by convenience, though brand reputation, product price and quality also influence their purchasing behavior. However, product price, quality, brand reputation and even availability of incentives in form of discounts matter more to Nigerian consumers. Factors like social media reviews, influencer promotions and sustainability concerns were found to significantly influence the social media purchasing behavior of consumers in the UK. Amongst other recommendations, this study suggested that companies in the sector under review should commit resources towards carrying out long-term research on how the social media business space in developing countries like Nigeria function, in order to ascertain the best strategy for capturing the markets.
Nwori et al. (Sat,) studied this question.