Product involvement, WOM and eWOM in the fast food industry: A young adult perspective in an emerging African economy

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between product involvement, WOM, and eWOM in the fast food industry between two sub-groups of young adult consumers in South Africa. A quantitative design was followed, with primary data (n = 201) gathered from respondents using a self-administered questionnaire. The results suggest that product involvement exerts a positive and significant influence on WOM and eWOM in the case of both young adult sub-groups. There is also no difference in the perceptions of the two sub-groups of young adults concerning product involvement, WOM, and eWOM. Product involvement is found to play an important role in spreading WOM and eWOM in the fast food industry, and is proposed as an important focus area for managers.

Factors influencing food consumption satisfaction and purchase decisions of restaurant consumers

“…Wei and Huang (2017) investigated food traceability systems potential as elevators of best practice in corporate social responsibility for quickservice food restaurants in Japan. Ledikwe et al (2020) assessed the effect of word of mouth and electronic word of mouth in the fast food industry from a South African context. Wu et al (2019) conducted a study in Taiwan that looked at the connections between restaurant attachment, experiential relationship efficiency, and experiential relationship intentions.…”

Influence of servicescape on behavioural intentions through mediation and moderation effects: A study on Malaysia’s full-service restaurants

“…Moreover, confirmed that product involvement can also positively influence eWOM intention. Similarly, environmental factors have also been confirmed to generate purchase intentions (Ledikwe et al, 2020;Sherman et al, 1997). Durna et al (2015) confirmed that physical servicescape elements can positively affect eWOM intentions.…”

Hopes and reality: consumers’ purchase intention towards whitening cream

“…To examine the impact of perceived quality on consumer purchase intention, items were extracted from [ 63 ] and [ 69 ]. Items for measuring price fairness were adapted from [ 39 ]. All the independent and dependent variables were measured on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree .…”

“…Consumer involvement is defined as a person’s perceived relevance of the specific products based upon inherent interest, values, and needs [ 72 ]. Product involvement is determined by how far the consumer considers the product to be important to their life [ 28 ] and their subjective evaluation of its perceived value [ 39 ]. Involvement has been described as the amount of arousal or interest that is generated by a situation, object, or stimulus; it represents an individual-level variable [ 45 ].…”