Social media and consumer choice
Fred Bronner
University of Amsterdam
Robert de Hoog
University of Twente
Introduction
Social media are becoming very important for consumer decisions; as Casalo et al. (2011, p. 622) say, ‘this phenomenon is motivating deep changes in consumer behavior’, and as Yang et al.(2012, p. 371) indicate, ‘The development of online communities has reshaped consumers’ information-seeking and sharing behaviour.’ Information provided by suppliers of consumer goods is no longer the major factor influencing these decisions and is now quickly being equalled by widely available opinions and experiences from other consumers, labelled by Sigala (2011) as ‘prosumerism’....