d
Overall the small businesses do in fact incorporate Social Media into
their business, because it
is a very influential way to
reach and interact with the
audience in order to attract
and retain current clients.
Andzulis, Panagopoulus & Rapp (2009)
indicated that the potential customers
who can be reached through Social Media
is of great importance. That is the reason
why it is important for the businesses
to incorporate Social Media into their
businesses. This way an organization is
able to reach a great share of (potential)
customers with just one click.
In a recent study, Bregita (2015) analyzed to
what extent Social Media has an influence
on the buying behavior of customers who
buy clothes and accessories from small
apparel and jewelry stores.
In this study Bregita (2015) investigated
the perception of customers and business
owners on incorporating Social Media in
the apparel and jewelry business industry.
Bregita (2015) also investigated to what
extent customers make use of social
media before buying a product or service.
Furthermore the customer’s experience
with Social Media and the role that trust
and loyalty play in customer’s satisfaction
were investigated (Bregita, 2015).
A qualitative and quantitative research
approach was used, where unstructured
interviews were held with the small
business owners of the small apparel
and jewelry stores, and also a survey was
conducted with the customers of these
stores. Of the 12 stores 5 businesses were
willing to cooperate.
Overall the small businesses do in fact
incorporate Social Media into their
business, because it is a very influential
way to reach and interact with the
audience in order to attract and retain
current clients. The respondents indicated
that updating a page constantly is
crucial to enhance the social media
experience between customer and the
business owner. Besides this, Social Media
has a neutral influence on the buying
behavior of the customer. Customer
satisfaction also plays an important role
in the eye of the respondents. Variables
that can heavily influence customer
satisfaction are the service quality and the
expectation of a product or service.
A recommendation for business owners
is to keep building up the relationship
between the business and the customer,
which is very important for the business.
Another recommendation is to conduct a
research study on the reasons why social
media is not that influential on the buying
behavior of apparel and jewelry small
business customers in Curaçao. As already
mentioned this may be a challenge
because the main focus of a business is
to make profit and to be successful. And
happy customers are the best ones who
can contribute to this success.
29