Impact of Electronic Word of Mouth on Customer Purchase Intention: Moderating Role of Social Risk and Mediating Role of In-person Word of Mouth. A study of the Gaming Industry of Pakistan

Authors

  • Kashif Abrar
  • Dr Asif Khurshid Mian
  • Sobia Zaman

Keywords:

Customer purchase intention, Electronic word of mouth (eWOM), online media use, Self-brand connection, Social risk, In-person word of mouth, gaming industry.

Abstract

Customer’s mostly prefer to make purchases on buzz marketing technique popularly known as word of mouth. The word of mouth can include electronic medium or face to face interactions. The present study has focused on the independent role of electronic word of mouth, usage of electronic mediums and self-brand connection with the mediating role of in-person word of mouth along with the moderating role of social risk on consumer purchase intention. The current research was causal and cross-sectional in nature. Data was collected through convenience sampling technique from 400 respondents out of which 359 questionnaires were fully attempted with a response rate of 89.75%. The study analyzed the responses through correlation, regression and mediation analysis. The findings of the study illustrate positively significant relationships of electronic word of mouth, online media use and self-brand connection with in-person word of mouth which highly encourages customer purchase intention. The study has also demonstrated the moderating effect of social risk between electronic word of mouth, online media use and self-brand connection with in-person word of mouth which was also found positively significant among all the four variables. Limited studies have been carried out to address purchase intention of gaming consumers in Pakistani context.

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Published

2021-09-30