Class, we are examining consumer behavior this week. One discussion question has you considering your own personal consumption behavior. How, if at all, has any social media marketing influenced your purchase decision making process? If you do not use any social media, how might you think that it would or could influence this process? Remember there are numerous sites and applications at play now. Be specific (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Yelp, YouTube, Etc) as this is our chance to get feedback from each other on benefits and drawbacks to these. I am researching Pinterest and am curious as to the potential impact it might have on small business efforts. Meanwhile, good links for this discussion. The first on directly, while the second and third indirectly but still relevant to class. The last two are new in an effort to update, feedback on these are appreciated also. From the second link below: “Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen social media play a crucial role in this area. In fact, in 2014, total US sales that could be tracked to social media reached $3.3 billion. More recently, research found social influences more shoppers’ buying decisions than retail websites.”