Factors Influencing Consumer Purchase Intention in Social Media

A number of factors influence consumer purchase intention especially in the digital environment. With the advent of social media marketing, brands make effort to attract attention of consumers. The primary goal of this research is to explore the factors that influence brand purchase intention (BPI) of consumers in the context of social media environment. The factors examined included social media communication i.e. user generated (UGSMC) and firm-created communication (FCSMC), brand image (BI) and electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Their respective influence on brand purchase intention was analyzed. Necessary data was gathered via a random sampling technique where surveys were distributed at populated areas like restaurants and malls within Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The data collected were analyzed using the SPSS statistical software to evaluate the relationship between the observed variables. Findings in this study demonstrated that UGSMC and BI have a positive effect on BPI. However, FCSMC and eWOM exhibited a negative association with BPI. This research contributes to existing literature by further affirming the importance of social media communication and building positive brand image in stimulating favorable purchase intention from customers. It also demonstrates how factors like trust and information overload could hinder the positive influence of firm-created communication and electronic word of mouth on consumer purchase intention. iv Keywords: Firm-communication, User-generated communication, Electronic word of mouth, Brand image, Purchase intention, Social media communication.