| Social media has evolved from not only being a mechanism for connecting with other individuals, but also to being a powerful marketing tool for organizations. While social media has been demographically analyzed by age, gender, and race, examinations of marketing in social media from an ethnic viewpoint have yet to be fully explored. Professional African American women, specifically, are becoming a dominant, influential force for marketers because they are increasingly becoming the primary decisions makers for consumer goods and increasingly becoming the primary wage earners within their cultural group. Due to their growing impact on purchasing decisions and the increasing use of social media for marketing, research was conducted to explore this dimension. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to describe the experience of professional African American women while they used social media to make purchasing decisions about products. Sixteen professional African American women, who resided in Dayton, Ohio, were interviewed using semi-structured questions. The data was explicated using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The women in this study expected social media to provide information not attainable from other sources, including product and company information, innovative ideas, and trends. They also expected social media to help them save time and money. These women used social media to discover the true essence of the company or person and preferred Face book as their medium. They preferred to work with small businesses and individuals whom they deemed to have high levels of integrity, were genuine, and used "real people" in promotional efforts. Study participants conducted their own research on potential business associations, remaining guarded until they felt confident of the authenticity of a business entity. Individuals and sole proprietors seeking to do business with this group should employ Facebook to provide unique, timely, and innovative information, as well as time and money saving opportunities. Testimonials and commentary from "real people" resonated more than paid advertisements. Future research should focus on professional African American women in other geographic regions as well as other subgroups within other ethnic groups to further explore ethnic viewpoints of social media's use. |
