Instaworthy: A Study on the Effects of Photo Editing towards Electronic Commerce in Metro Manila

Abstract

Photo-editing has been emerging since businesses shifted into e-commerce. This is one of the strategies used by businesses and companies to enhance the appearance of their products. A well-known platform in this generation for e-commerce that can utilize photo-enhancing tools is Instagram. A review of the related literature says that people’s perceptions and behaviors change whenever visual aids are present. Photographs and videos emit specific reactions from people because of their Cognitive and Perceptual biases. This is also why consumers behave in a particular way during the start of their purchasing decision phase in the e-commerce platform. Furthermore, Instagram marketing is one of the most affected platforms since this application’s contents revolve around its photo-sharing feature, which many feared can be deceiving. This study proves that photographs have an impact that can be related to the purchasing behavior of the consumers, much more if the marketing collateral is very likeable. It increases the interest of the consumers and helps business owners to develop photographic collateral and have a better sales performance for the businesses. Although two biases were present, the most recurring is the Perceptual influence of the consumers. The exposure to external intakes made people capable of handling their expectations, which is why it debunks the perceptions of other people’s views about how deceiving Instagram marketing can be as a photo-sharing e-commerce platform.