1. Introduction

Within a time period characterized by digital connectivity, consumer behavior has experienced a significant transformation. The web's vastness and the ubiquitous impact of social media platforms have completely changed how people interact with brands and make decisions about what to buy. This research sets out to explore the complex relationships that exist between social media, the internet, and consumer decisions in an effort to identify the fundamental processes that underlie these relationships.

The realization of how crucial it is to comprehend how digital media affect consumer behavior is at the core of this investigation. Understanding the subtleties of this interaction becomes not just important but essential as society grows more and more dependent on online platforms for information, sociability, and commerce. This study project aims to shed light on strategies that can help companies adapt to and prosper in the digital era. It is not only an academic activity, but also an in-depth exploration of consumer psychology.

The study's importance must be understood in the context of the real-world applications of the research challenge, which must be closely examined. The history of consumer behavior from the early days of the internet to the present, when social media influencers and targeted advertising rule, is a reflection of the dynamic interaction between human psychology and technology advancements. Following this path from the beginning of digital connectivity to its modern incarnations, or macro to micro, provides researchers with important new understandings of how consumer decision-making is evolving.

As a result, this research is a multifaceted investigation that spans the domains of academia and real-world application rather than just being a historical account or a theoretical investigation. This opening story lays the groundwork for a thorough analysis of how social media and the internet affect consumer purchase decisions by outlining the history, importance, and thematic focus of the research. This study aims to deepen the understanding of this complicated phenomenon and its ramifications for businesses and customers alike through a methodical approach and well-defined objectives.

2. Introduction to the Object of Study

First, social media is defined as a tool and platform that people use to share thoughts, insights, experiences, and viewpoints with one another. It is also a platform for creating and trading material based on user relationships on the Internet. Based on Web 2.0 technology, social media include social networking sites, forums, podcasts, short video platforms, and more. It also allows users to build personal profiles, produce and share customised content, and spread information. The advent of social media has profoundly altered how people communicate and obtain information, and it has also played a role in the ongoing evolution of this period due to its combination of media and social characteristics.

In response to the topic, these social media have seen the emergence of live bandwagons as well as online shopping, which then creates a correlation with consumers' willingness to buy. Willingness to buy refers to a consumer's willingness to purchase a product at the product's market equilibrium price given the consumer's monetary income. This concept is of great significance in economic terminology, as it relates to the propensity of consumers to buy a particular product and is an indicative signal of their actual shopping behaviour. Willingness to buy is usually measured on the basis of the speed, direction and magnitude of the shift in consumers' likelihood of purchasing a given good over a period of time, reflecting the degree of acceptance and propensity to purchase the product.

There is a close relationship between purchase intention and purchase behaviour and most scholars believe that purchase intention can be used to predict consumer purchase behaviour. In addition, purchase intention is the consumer's willingness to buy a product according to the order of priority in which consumers chooses the brands in their portfolio during the evaluation stage. Usually the consumers make a decision based on their intention to buy, but this can be influenced by other factors as well. So in fact, willingness to buy is the idea that consumers are willing to buy a certain amount of products under specific conditions, which reflects the degree of acceptance of the product and the tendency to buy, and it is an important indicator for predicting consumer purchasing behaviour.

3. Impact of Social Media and the Internet

Social media and the Internet provide consumers with a rich source of information, and consumers can search for relevant products through social media and make purchase decisions based on the reviews and opinions of other users. At the same time, the wide range of product displays, discount promotions and other information on social media platforms have attracted more and more consumers to make accelerated consumer decisions. Of course, advertising on social media has also become an important way to influence consumers' purchasing decisions. Compared with traditional media, social network advertising is more precise and personalised. Targeted placement can convey ads to the target audience according to the user's interest, age, gender and other characteristics, increasing the click rate and conversion rate of ads. Commodities need advertisements to promote hot spots, to go through different forms of advertising and creativity to show the characteristics of the product as well as the selling point, only in this way can the productions lead the same product to obtain greater profits.

For this reason, businesses everywhere are always searching for fresh approaches to connect with customers. This is due to the fact that print and television advertising have long been essential components of marketing plans. These conventional marketing channels are just a small portion of the many strategies used to market and brand things nowadays, as they have changed over time. Modern advertising techniques and the ways in which businesses engage with their target audiences have been influenced by the increasing emphasis placed on social media. Because of this, establishing and preserving a competitive advantage now heavily depends on social media usage. Furthermore, commodities emphasize how social media and networking may be utilized to influence consumers' purchasing intentions and mold their perceptions of brands. Businesses will have an advantage over those that don't if they use social media with strategy. These tactical methods can take the kind of offering a range of social media marketing services, coming up with original ideas that have a high rate of return and inspire people to spread the word, and offering one-stop execution planning services that can handle conversions. Examining the body of research on social media use and brand perceptions can be useful in determining new and effective methods for boosting customer interaction on social media when assessing the influence of social media on branding and marketing initiatives [1].

Public reputation marketing on social media plays an important role in consumer purchasing decisions. Consumers are often more willing to trust the reviews of other consumers than just the advantages of products advertised by merchants. There exists a large amount of user-authored evaluations, comments and ratings on social media, and consumers can search and compare to obtain a huge amount of relevant information to help them make accurate purchase decisions.

Under the influence of social media and networks, consumers generate and spread Internet Word of Mouth Marketing (IWOM) through communication and interaction in social media and networks. The word of mouth stated in social media as well as the Internet can influence consumers' purchase decisions. The amount and proportion of IWOM, the sharpness of the message, the professionalism of the sender, the strength of the relationship, the strength of the relationship with the website, and the shopping experience of the receiver have a significant influence on consumers' purchase intention. Consumers' word-of-mouth in social media and the Internet can cause them to make appropriate judgements about the goods they need to buy and whether to buy and consume them based on the advice and comments of their online friends and other buyers [2].

The popularity and development of social media have made the online shopping experience a social behaviour. Consumers share their shopping experiences, orders, reviews, etc. on social networks, and these shares not only help other consumers to make purchasing decisions, but also promote word-of-mouth communication and brand image building for the products.

In order to understand the role that social media plays in consumers' intricate decision-making processes for purchases, this paper will conduct an empirical investigation. The consumers in the EBM (Explainable Boosting Machine) model are known for their high levels of brand differentiation, consumer engagement, risk-taking, expense, and rarity. The degree to which social media use alters the consumer experience was investigated in a quantitative survey conducted among willing consumers in Southeast Asia. The findings demonstrated that the use of social media has an impact on customer satisfaction during the phases of information search and alternative appraisal, and that satisfaction rises as customers proceed with the final purchase choice and post-purchase assessment [3].

Another point of mentioning social media and the web is the sale of goods through live streaming, so that consumers have the willingness to buy. Then webcasting on social media can firstly provide a more intuitive and vivid display of goods, such as the sale of clothing, consumers can see the details of the clothing, the texture of the fabric, the wearing effect and so on through the live video, so as to better understand the appearance and quality of the clothing. Furthermore, webcasting usually provides real-time interactive features, and consumers can interact with the anchor during the live broadcast, asking questions, commenting, sharing opinions, and so on. This interactive experience can increase the consumer's sense of participation and confidence in the purchase decision. Moreover, the anchors in the live broadcast are usually professional fashionistas or apparel experts, or bigwigs in related commodity fields. They can professionally explain and recommend the products they are about to sell, provide matching suggestions, style evaluation, etc. , to help consumers better understand the characteristics of the goods and applicable scenarios.

It is important to understand that webcasts usually set up limited-time promotions, such as limited-time discounts, limited special offers, etc. These promotions can stimulate the consumer's desire to buy and increase the decision-making speed of the purchase. Not only that, the anchor in the webcast and other viewers form a social circle, consumers can participate in the live broadcast and interact with other viewers to share buying tips, fashion collocation, etc. , and this social influence can increase the consumer's willingness to buy.

This kind of network electronic live broadcast on social media brings a new shopping experience for consumers. Enhancing the quality of live streaming services and encouraging the robust growth of the e-commerce live streaming business ecosystem require a thorough understanding of the mechanisms that influence consumers' buy intentions when e-commerce live streams with goods. Using in-depth interviews with 57 respondents, this study builds a model of the mechanism by which live streaming e-commerce influences consumers' intentions to make purchases. The findings indicate that consumers' participation in e-commerce live streaming is influenced by commodity factors, live streamer factors, and live streaming context factors. The goods and services provided or used during the live event are referred to as the commodity factor. The popularity and desirability of these goods can greatly affect the success of a live streaming event. Live streaming factors refer to the individual or group hosting the live stream. Live streaming factors refer to the specifics surrounding the live streaming event. This includes factors such as the timing of the event, the hosting platform, the level of publicity and marketing surrounding the event. Based on this, through influencing consumers’ cognitive attitudes and affective attitudes ultimately these factors affect consumers’ purchasing intentions. At the same time, consumers’ personal intrinsic factors modulate the influence of commodity factors, live streamer factors and live streaming context factors on consumers' participation in live streaming. The consumer's personal intrinsic factors play a moderating role on the influence of commodity factors, live streamer factors and live streaming context factors on consumer participation in live streaming [4]. Previous studies also explored the influences on follower consumption in a live streaming environment [5,6]. There are also studies that discuss how impulse consumption is influenced by live streaming [7,8].

Through the above literature analysis, it can be learned that the popularity of social media and the Internet has had a comprehensive and profound impact on the traditional shopping behaviour patterns. Consumers are increasingly relying on the information, evaluations and recommendations provided by social media and networks in their purchasing decision-making process. The influence of social media and networks on consumers' purchasing decisions will be further enhanced over the years as technology continues to develop and social media continues to innovate. For commodities, the development of effective social media marketing strategies, the use of social network advertisements for accurate placement, and the active management of word-of-mouth marketing are important means to become more competitive in the marketplace. From the consumer's point of view, how companies and enterprises can show the value of goods through this platform in exchange for the consumer's desire to buy is the first priority.

4. Conclusion

This study's main goal is to investigate how social media and networks affect customers' decisions to buy. With the rapid development of digital technology, social media and networks have become important platforms for consumers to obtain information, share experiences, communicate and make decisions. Therefore, understanding how these platforms shape and influence consumers' purchasing decision-making process is of paramount importance to companies and market researchers.

For the information access and screening, social media and the Internet provide consumers with a huge amount of product information, including user reviews, product comparisons, and expert recommendations. This information greatly enriches consumers' choice space, and also increases the difficulty of information screening. Consumers are more inclined to trust real evaluations from other consumers rather than promotions from merchants.

Social Influence: Interactions and communications on social media have a significant impact on consumers' purchasing decisions. Consumers refer to the opinions and advice of friends, family or community members, and these social influences are often more persuasive than advertising.

Brand image and perception: social media is an important channel for branding and communication. Consumers learn about the brand's values, social responsibility and other information through social media, and form their perceptions and attitudes towards the brand. These perceptions and attitudes will directly affect consumers' purchasing decisions.

Changes in shopping behaviour: social media and the web have changed consumer shopping behaviour. Instead of relying solely on traditional advertising and promotions, consumers rely more on information and recommendations on social media. In addition, promotions and coupons on social media have stimulated consumers' desire to buy.

The significance of this study lies in the following areas:

This study enriches the theoretical system of consumer behaviour and marketing, and provides new perspectives and evidence for understanding the impact of social media and the Internet on consumer purchase decisions.

For companies, this study provides an important reference for developing marketing strategies and consumer communication strategies. Enterprises can use social media and networks to better understand consumer needs and preferences and develop more accurate marketing strategies. With the popularity of social media and the Internet, the purchasing decision-making process of consumers has become increasingly transparent and open. This helps to enhance the fairness and transparency of the market and protect the rights and interests of consumers.

To put it briefly, the Internet and social media have a significant influence on what people decide to buy. Customers can readily obtain information about goods and services, user reviews, price comparisons, and other details via social media and the Internet, giving them a greater understanding of the market and the products and enabling them to make more informed decisions about what to buy. Consumers can be directed toward particular brands or items by information like adverts, recommender systems, and user reviews, which can impact the competitive environment. Through new channels like social media marketing and e-commerce platforms, social media and the Internet allow companies and merchants to directly approach and engage consumers, cutting out middlemen and increasing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. Future research in this area will continue to deepen, and additional issues and phenomena deserving of study and discussion will arise as consumer behavior changes and technology advances.