Creative Commons

This dissertation was written as part of the MSc in Strategic Product Design at the International Hellenic University. Our modern society and human communication have been revolutionised by the existence of social media and online communities. Those media and platforms help people connect, communicate, share ideas and moments, review products and experiences and express themselves. Therefore, they have grown into a prime channel that marketers and brands all over the world use to get close to their customers and influence their consuming behaviour. The online digital world is increasingly changing the way consumers behave, impacting the way they think and decide to buy. People share opinions with people they know and people they don’t know and they get influenced by them. Peer recommendations are viewed as the new form of WOM (word of mouth), eWOM and people trust them more than traditional advertisements and other marketer-generated information. The aim of this research is to study the impact of social media and online influences on consumer behaviour on a Greek market sample and end up in some conclusions about the relation that Greek people have with the media, whether they influence their purchases and how marketers and businesses in Greece could take advantage of those outcomes. In the first section, a brief introduction to the chosen subject is stated, followed by relevant information on literature review and other studies. In the second part, research methodology and the outcomes are described and analysed. Finally, the conclusions are presented, along with research limitations and recommendations for further investigation. I would like to thank my professor Ms Maria Tsourela for the valuable help and directions she gave me and all the friendly staff and professors of the IHU University. Finally, I want to thank my family and my friends for their support in the data collection process.