Sosyal medya aracılığıyla gerçkeleşen Elektronik Ağızdan Ağıza iletişimin (eWOM) tüketici satın alma niyeti üzerindeki etkisi

This dissertation aims to illustrate the connection between social media platforms, electronic word-of-mouth communication, and consumer purchase intentions. The variables affecting consumers' purchasing intentions were investigated over three EWOM factors; source credibility, convenience, and information availability, and for four social media types; YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. The theoretical part of the study reviews the literature regarding social media concepts, types, and electronic word-of-mouth communication. The empirical part of the dissertation is based on an online survey, which was conducted with 301 respondents, to test the hypotheses of the study. The findings reveal that electronic word-of-mouth communication has a varying impact on customers' purchasing intentions depending on the social media platform. For all social media types studied, source credibility was found to influence purchasing decisions significantly. On the other hand, all three EWOM factors were found to have a substantial impact on purchase intention only on Instagram. The findings of the study also put forth certain discrepancies between demographical groups. Female participants stated that source credibility on all social media platforms affects their purchase intention, whereas male participants were not affected. In addition, EWOM communication was found to be more affective on Gen Z's purchase intention.