A Study of the Influence of Social and Digital Marketing on Consumer Behaviour in the Apparel Sector

Abstract

With the widespread usage of digital technologies, there has been a significant shift in the marketing of clothing in India. Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), the influence of social media, content marketing strategies, and the convenience of online shopping are now major factors in shaping customer behaviour. In order to determine how these four factors affect people's clothing purchases, this study used a quantitative research strategy. Data was collected from 384 individuals using a conventional questionnaire. Our analysis, which included tests for reliability, correlation, and regression, was conducted using SPSS 24. According to the findings, content marketing, electronic word of mouth (eWOM), and the ease of online shopping have the next-largest impacts on consumers' purchasing decisions, followed by social media marketing. The findings demonstrate that platforms that prioritise user experience, compelling story telling, and user-generated content tend to perform better for businesses. In keeping with the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) paradigm, well-crafted digital marketing stimuli do double duty: alter people's perceptions and inspire them to make a purchase. Significant insights for garment manufacturers to strengthen their digital strategy are provided by the study, which emphasises that the quality, not the amount, of connections should be used to measure the success of digital marketing.