The Role of Social Media in Searching for Information About Productsand Making Purchasing Decisions by Customers 4.0

The aim of this paper is to find how social media affect making purchasing decisions by contemporary consumers, referred to as Customers 4.0. To start, we assumed that the development of digital technologies, the growing popularity of social media platforms, and changes in consumer information behavior are leading to a redefinition of the classic purchasing process model. The theoretical part discusses the mechanisms of social media, their role in consumer decision-making, and the characteristics of Customer 4.0 as an active, critical, and conscious participant in the digital market. The paper also discusses the potential benefits and threats of using social media as a source of product information. The empirical study was conducted using an online questionnaire (CAWI). The analysis covered 193 respondents classified as Customers 4.0. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis. The results of the study show that experience in using social media and the perceived usefulness of the information available on them have a significant impact on the level of consumer knowledge about products. Furthermore, this knowledge positively affects the tendency to share information and the intention to purchase.