fluenciaThe impact of social media on IT purchase decisions –
A European Perspective

The impact of social media on IT purchase decisions – A European perspective

Table of contents
Review .......................................................................................................................2 Foreword ...................................................................................................................3 Who uses social media? ...........................................................................................4 The importance of using social media ....................................................................7 Is social media a bigger influencer than the …ver más…

The analysis aims to shed light on whether social media converts brand awareness of IT decision makers (ITDMs) into procurement action. Of course, this is also corroborated with their business strategic needs.

Selling complex IT products and solutions requires that more comprehensive information is put at the customers’ disposal and marks the transition of the IT pro as a simple consumer towards an era where they have to procure more custom-built IT products and solutions. As social communication and collaboration platforms penetrate further into the entire business ecosystem, the IT pro’s experience becomes based more on connected market behaviours than oligopolistic ones.

The research is based on interviews with IT pros about whether social media tools create further opportunities for both marketers and themselves – as these two categories are the main “actors” of social media use for business purposes. Understanding both the consumer and the vendor through social media use allows for a better understanding of the synchronisation of their market behaviour in terms of IT market demand and supply. We delineate different user categories and social media models in order to refine a profile of IT professionals’ purchasing behaviours. A questionnaire survey1was conducted in parallel to “quantify” our research.