Motives to engage electronic word of mouth: A case of fashion products marketed in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Drastic growth of social media users in the last few years has made electronic word of mouth (eWOM) communication more significant and has created a beneficial as well as detrimental platform for marketers. Therefore, recognizing the value of eWOM in social media networks can bring more benefits to firms since the content shared on social media platforms will be influential on the customers’ purchase decisions. This study was designed to identify the implications of consumer motives on eWOM involvement when they purchase fashion products through social media platforms. The study population represents active and frequent social media users in Sri Lanka. Data for the research study was collected through a structured questionnaire, and expertness, high fashion involvement, informational influence, altruism, self-enhancement, and attitude toward products were investigated as motives for eWOM involvement. The proposed study relationships were investigated using the structured equation modelling statistical technique, and multigroup analysis was performed to understand the moderating effect of social media usage intensity. Test results identified positive implications on eWOM involvement from two study variables: high fashion involvement and attitude toward the product. Meanwhile, a negative implication was noted with self-enhancement. The results showed that eWOM involvement has a strong positive impact on customer purchasing intentions. Further, the results of the moderating analysis confirmed the moderating behaviour of social media usage intensity. People with low social media usage intensity strengthen the relationship, which implies their information-searching tendency before making intentions to purchase a fashion product through social media. The study findings will assist fashion product marketers in figuring out how individuals participate in eWOM communication more effectively and the importance of customer feedback in encouraging the buying of fashion products.