Examining Influence of Electronic Words of Mouth and Social Media Marketing on Customer Satisfaction and Purchase Intention: Moderating Impact of Effectiveness of Information and Communication Technologies

Abstract

Purchasing intention has been the foremost element that leads the organizations towards success and this aspect demands revisiting this to reiterate its significance. The present study examines the impact of electronic words (E-words) of mouth and social media marketing on the purchase intention of manufacturing sector in China. The study also checks the mediating role of customer satisfaction among E-words of mouth, social media marketing and purchase intention and also checks the moderating role of effectiveness of information and communication technologies (ICT) among customer satisfaction and purchase intention. The primary data was collected from 190 respondents, identified through simple random sampling technique, using surveys. SPSS-AMOS was used to examine the associations among variables. The results exposed that E-words of mouth and social media marketing have a positive nexus with purchase intention. The results also exposed that the customer satisfaction significantly mediates the relationships among the constructs, effectiveness of ICT too significantly moderates this association. The study guides the policymakers in establishing the policies related to achieve the purchase intention using E-words of mouth, effective social media marketing and ICT.