The Effect of Social Media Based Electronic Word of Mouth on Propensity to Buy Wearable Devices

Modelling the significance of social media marketing activities, brand equity and loyalty to predict consumers’ willingness to pay premium price for portable tech gadgets

“…Therefore, marketers should be more cautiously utilising SMMAs to obtain market feedback to enhance consumers' brand interaction and product quality and encourage consumers to engage in two-way communication. As a whole, earlier research found that SMMAs seem more like an information source than a motivator of consumer behavior toward acquiring smart gadgets and other digital devices ( Guan et al., 2022 ; Ntumba and Budree, 2021 ). In contrast, the current study revealed that the Malaysian portable tech-gadget industry has been heavily reliant on social media even during and after the COVID-19 disruption.…”

“…Because trendiness has been found to have a greater influence on generating brand awareness and brand image in comparison to other smart products industries in other country contexts such as Macau (Guan et al, 2022), marketers in Malaysia should provide personalised search features and the most up-to-date information highlighting their products and services on social media platforms, with the goal of establishing a strong brand image and attracting new consumers by providing a trendy feel. Furthermore, prior studies of similar smart devices demonstrated that SMMA was utilised as a platform for word of mouth, which was the most important driver of generating awareness (Ntumba & Budree, 2021).Given the study's similar findings, Malaysian portable tech-gadget and other smart digital device brands should focus on building social media view exchanges, chat rooms, or instant messaging to strengthen customers' perceptions in order to J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f induce positive EWOM. Moreover, publicly discussing complaints about the products and services and the best-provided solutions on social media potentially increases EWOM.…”