To buy or not to buy: how young consumers approach new smart products in the social media context
ISSN: 1747-3616
Article publication date: 16 July 2021
Issue publication date: 23 March 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore factors affecting young consumers’ purchasing of new smart products under the influence of social media.
Design/methodology/approach
Twenty semi-structured, face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted with young consumers who used new media, and five extended interviews were conducted with popular smartwatch retailers in Macau.
Findings
The findings reveal that they tend to garner product information from multiple channels of communication. Social media exert the greatest influence. Reliable information, strong branding and interactions with vendors are also influential, although new product pre-announcements may be boring and difficult to understand.
Originality/value
This study presents new insights into diffusion of innovation theory and provides retailers launching smart products with a better understanding of their target young customers’ purchasing behavior.
Keywords
Citation
Guan, J., Lau, Y.-y., Yang, H. and Ren, L. (2022), "To buy or not to buy: how young consumers approach new smart products in the social media context", Young Consumers, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 90-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-12-2020-1272
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited