Purpose The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on the value co-creation (VCC) and purchase intentions of consumers in Facebook fan pages of smartphone brands in India. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected using a structured questionnaire from a sample of 762 members from India present in the selected fan pages of smartphone brands in Facebook, and the data were analyzed through structural equation modeling. Findings This empirical study revealed a positive relationship among the three variables and provided new insights after analyzing the collected data. There was clear evidence of VCC being partially mediated by eWOM and purchase intention. Research limitations/implications The perspective of the study was to validate the proposed conceptual model by considering members’ perception of the product, as put forth on Facebook fan pages. The methods used in this study could be adapted to conduct further studies on other social networking sites like Instagram and Twitter. Originality/value The study contributes to the existing literature of eWOM, VCC and consumer behavior in social networking sites, and our findings will help marketers to develop a new method of disseminating product information to and within India through social networking sites.

No abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to adopt stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory to reveal the impact of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on buying intentions of young consumers in the presence of hedonic brand attitude (HBA) and utilitarian brand attitude (UBA) as mediators, among smartphone customers in the context of brand fan pages in Facebook. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a single cross-sectional design to survey a sample of 326 young online customers present in leading smartphone brand fan pages on Facebook in India. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data and replies were recorded on a Likert scale (five-point). The data was subjected to structural equation modelling for model and hypotheses testing. Findings eWOM has a significantly positive influence on the buying intentions of the young. Both HBA and UBA partially mediate the influence of eWOM on buying intentions. Research limitations/implications The study examines only the personal-oriented functions of attitude and does not investigate the role of social dimensions of attitudes. Its scope is confined to smartphones in the consumer electronics segment and only Facebook among social networking sites. Practical implications A theoretical contribution to eWOM literature is made by studying it under the lens of S-O-R theory and functional theory of attitudes. Measurement of two different dimensions of attitude, i.e. hedonic and utilitarian, may facilitate managers to comprehend the source of variance in consumers’ decision-making behaviour in the online context. Originality/value The only study to explore brand attitude as a mediator in its multi-dimensional form, in the context of social eWOM.

No abstract

No abstract