Marketing deception and its impact on the consumer's purchase decision through the Instagram application

A case study on students of Zakho University in the Kurdistan Region

Abstract

     This paper investigates the effect of marketing deception on the consumer behavior. Specifically, it investigates deceptive practices related to the product, price, place and promotion on the consumer purchase process. Since Instagarm has become one of an important social media platform that is widely used in marketing in Kurdistan Region , this study explores consumer perception of deceptive practices on that social networking site. The data was collected through an online questionnaire that was posted on several groups on Instagram in that university. The researchers were able to collect 385 complete questionnaires. The findings indicated the marketing deceptive practices has a negative impact on consumer buying purchasing process. This article contributes to the academic knowledge by highlighting the damaging effects of marketing deception on consumer behavior. Moreover, it contributes to practice by providing some guidelines to companies to follow when using Instagram in marketing in Kurdistan . By getting away from marketing deceptive practices, companies will be able to yield the best outcomes from marketing on Instagram. The study is limited by the sample size and the sample nature which consisted of Zakho University students. Future research can focus on different social networking sites and different age groups.