The impact of digital marketing on consumer buying behaviour in the residential real estate industry: A case study of Sydney

The impact of digital marketing on consumer buying behaviour in the residential real estate industry: A case study of Sydney

The expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) and digital technologies has profoundly affected the daily routines of consumers worldwide. The development of digital marketing (DM) to advertise and sell products online has also changed the marketing industry significantly. It is now possible for consumers to research products and make purchases around the clock, regardless of location or time zone. Although many marketing professionals acknowledge the significance of including digital marketing in their marketing mixes, there are a few studies assessing the critical factors that contribute to a consumer's decision when buying products via digital marketing. The overall goal of this study is to fill gaps in existing scholarly literature and expand our understanding of what makes digital marketing succeed or fail. Specifically, the study examines the impact of digital marketing on consumers' purchasing decisions in the residential real estate market and identifies the most influential digital marketing factors that affect consumers' buying behaviour (BB). To achieve this, the researcher developed a novel method for understanding people’s intentions to engage in a particular behaviour; in this case, residential real estate consumer purchase intentions, based on the well-established Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This research’s extended TPB (ETPB) evaluated psychological and behavioural constructs, trust (TR) and satisfaction (SAT), and how they influence buyer interactions with digital marketing in the real estate industry. This research was carried out in two phases. Phase one involved a review of existing literature and phase two was a survey of 404 consumers. The findings of the research suggested that internal psychological and external social factors substantially impact consumer buying intention in the residential real estate industry. The findings of this thesis suggest that the Theory of Planned Behaviour, digital marketing, trust, and customers' satisfaction can combine to generate the Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (ETPB), which in turn can explain how consumers' attitudes towards purchasing decisions are developed. The results of this thesis suggest that digital marketing is a mechanism that, if used well, can increase customer satisfaction and trust in real estate advertised online leading to an increase in buyer intention and buyer behaviour. This would also boost consumer-driven sharing and advertising of the digital marketing content, further boosting sales in a positive feedback cycle. By clarifying the ties between marketing theory and intent to buy, this study sheds light on the impact of the widespread adoption of digital marketing on the dynamics between information processing, underlying marketing philosophy and consumer behaviour.

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