Role of social media marketing in shaping consumer buying behavior towards clothing products

Author

G. Sai Nikhitha, V. Narendra


Abstract

 Owing to the popularity of wearing fashionable clothing, clothing is one of the most promoted products on social media (SM). However, the specific types of clothing products are not explicitly documented. This study aims to investigate the effect of influencer marketing, social proof, user reviews, trend-driven FOMO, personalization and credibility on consumer purchase of clothing. A cross-sectional quantitative research study was employed, with empirical data collected through a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of demographic questions and twenty-five Likert scale questions assessing use of social media. Data collection was done by convenience sampling on 4 October 2026. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha reliability analysis, one-sample t-test, chi-square test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and multiple regression were used to analyze the data. There was overall social media influence above the neutral level (M = 3.32). Respondents agreed that reviews and social proof (M=3.50), personalisation (M=3.48), and credibility and trust (M=3.41) are important, but judged influencer impact (M=3.08), trend and FOMO (M=3.14), and purchase behaviour (M=3.18) as neutral. All five factors had a significant positive relationship with purchase behaviour (r=.37 to.87, highest for trend and FOMO and influencer impact), with the two most important factors, trend and FOMO (=.64) and influencer impact (=.36), accounting for most of the variance (adjusted R =.77) in a multiple regression model. There was no effect of age, gender, occupation, daily social media use or frequency of online clothing purchases on purchase behaviour. The results do not have a policy function but they do show that it is not, for instance, reviews that are rated most important by consumers that are most associated with purchase and that for instance influencer-led and trend-led marketing can be most important to those consumers for whom social-media-led purchase is high. They may be useful to clothing brands but they are small, non -random and young and non-random and so are only indicative and can offer no generalisation.



Keywords

Social media marketing, related clothing product, consumer buying behaviour, image demand, social media influencer, online reviews, personalized, fear of missing out (FOMO).



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References



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