Influence of Visual Electronic Word of Mouth on Purchase Intention in Social Commerce

Abstract

newlineSocial Commerce newlineAbstract newlineVisual Word of mouth is defined as a marketing communication tool for increasing newlinethe purchase intention with pictures and videos for the previous, existing and potential newlinecustomers. For them it s a source of information which is informal or casual communication newlinebetween customers to customer about a product. It is considered as a process where newlineinterpersonal communication between sender and receiver influences behavior, perception or newlineattitude of receiver. In this study visual electronic word of mouth is treated as communication newlinemode that takes place through various social commerce such as social media and electronic newlinecommerce websites for the customers and by the customers. newlineVery few researches have been done for studying the effect of VeWOM on purchase newlineintention. Based on theoretical framework, ten hypotheses were proposed addressing the newlinedifferential effect of the content characteristics (informational and entertaining content) and newlineperceived benefits (usefulness and enjoyment) with social trust of VeWOM influence newlinepurchase intention of hedonic and utilitarian goods in social commerce out of which five newlinehypotheses got rejected. To test these hypotheses a study was conducted, among students of newlinedifferent managements colleges. Pilot testing has been done along with the manipulation newlinecheck to ensure viability of the variables with both the product category. Experimental newlineresearches with the help of eight different scenarios were conducted, with 200 newlinesubjects/respondents for each scenario i.e., total 3200 subjects for each study. Quantitative newlinemethodology was applied to collect data and statistical tool (SPSS) was used for data newlineanalysis. The data analysis showed that for utilitarian products, informative content of newlineVeWOM has a greater influence on purchase intention than entertaining content. It is also newlineseen that for hedonic products, entertaining content of VeWOM does not have a greater newlineinfluence on purchase intention than informational content, for making the analysis more newlinerobust supplementary analysis for demographic variables also has been done. For utilitarianSocial Commerce newlineproducts, perceived usefulness of VeWOM does not have a greater influence on purchase newlineintention than perceived enjoyment. For hedonic products, perceived enjoyment of VeWOM newlinedoes not have a greater influence on purchase intention than perceived usefulness However, newlinein utilitarian product category VeWOM with informative content characteristics have a newlinegreater influence on purchase intention but perceived benefit of usefulness does not have a newlinegreater influence on purchase intention, in hedonic products category entertaining content newlinecharacteristics and perceived enjoyment is not having an influence on purchase intention. In newlinehedonic product category, social trust interacts with VeWOM content characteristics in newlineinfluencing purchase intention, such that social trust have a greater effect on purchase newlineintention in case of entertaining content than informative content. newlineThe findings of the study highlight the implications of VeWOM in the world of newlinemarketing, and hence effective utilization of this tool can help manufacturers promote their newlineproducts more effectively, which in turn will lead to greater recognition of their brand. newlineIndustries can also refer to existing VeWOM circulating on social media and e-commerce newlinesites to improve upon their products by rectifying the complaints posed by the consumers.