Social Media has changed the way consumers behave in their consumption. When before consumers were waiting for companies to push messages toward them, they are now directly seeking for information on Social Media. Consumers can recognize new needs on Social Media when ‘surfing’ on some social networks such as Facebook where they can see friends displaying pictures of products they bought or using the ‘like’ button to mention brands that they like for example. The Need Recognition stage seems thus to be influence by Social Media.
Today, online communities have more and more influence on consumers’ purchasing decision-making. Parker (2011, p263) stated that ‘when people are in the research or “education” phase of the buying cycle, they have access to a wider audience of current past, or prospective customers worldwide that they can consult before making their decision’. With Social Media, digitally empowered shoppers have access to a wide range of new tools to find and research products and they now consult with peers and experts (Wheat and Dodd, 2009, p4). These possibilities offered by Social Media seem to be influential at the Information Search stage of the consumer decision-making process.