INTERACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA AND PURCHASE DECISION MAKING AMONG K-POP COMMUNITY MEMBERS ON PLATFORM X

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of interactive social media on purchase decision making among members of the Sell Buy Trade (SBT) K-Pop community on Platform X (formerly Twitter). In the digital era, purchasing decisions are increasingly shaped by online engagement, trust, and community participation rather than traditional advertising. Using a quantitative causal research design, data were collected from 123 active SBT members selected through purposive sampling. The variables measured include engagement, trust, and community participation for interactive social media, and product, brand, time, and place choice for purchase decision making. Data were analyzed using simple linear regression with SPSS 26.0. The results show a strong positive correlation between interactive social media and purchase decision making (R = 0.772) and a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.596, indicating that 59.6% of purchase decision variance is explained by interactivity. The regression coefficient (B = 0.631, p < 0.05) confirms a significant positive influence of interactive social media on purchasing behavior. These findings highlight that community-based interaction, peer recommendations, and emotional engagement play essential roles in shaping purchasing intentions among K-Pop fans. The study extends the Theory of Planned Behavior by integrating interactivity and social identity dimensions, providing both theoretical and practical insights for digital marketers and community managers in enhancing engagement and purchase conversion within fandom-based social environments.