The Role of Social Media Marketing on the Purchasing Intensions of Tertiary Students in Northern Cyprus during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Social media as a tool for marketing has captivated the interests of businesses as the number of social media users has risen over time. Moreover, social media marketing has been shown to influence the purchasing intentions of customers. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major issue crippling economies all around the world. Therefore, more businesses have capitalized on this increased number of online usage and have become more active on social media, pushing their brands and offering more online services. The objective of this thesis was to examine the role of social media marketing, on the purchasing intentions of tertiary students in Northern Cyprus during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research for this study was done in Northern Cyprus, with a case study done mainly on clothing brands pages on social media. This thesis focused on two major social media platforms, which were Facebook and Instagram. The methodology that was employed in this research was the quantitative research methodology, with an online survey questionnaire which consisted of 32 questions and a sample size of 356 participants. The data was obtained from three tertiary institutions in Northern Cyprus. These institutions were Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU), Girne American University (GAU) and Near East University (NEU). The study was guided through the theoretical framework of theory of planned behaviour (TPB), uses and gratifications theory (UGT) and media dependency theory (MDT). The factors that were taken into consideration in this study included convenient pricing, demographics, SNS usage during the COVID-19 pandemic, social media influencers’ recommendations, social presence and information seeking, and promotional campaigns. The results showed that all factors, had a positive significant influence on the purchasing intentions of tertiary students. Therefore, it can be said that social media marketing is an important and effective strategy used by clothing brands to bring in customers and inciting purchasing intentions. Furthermore, findings show that the COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted the purchasing intentions of tertiary students, as there were behavioural changes, leading to the use of social media as a diversion means as most students stayed home during the lockdown