Determining the effect of social media usage on e-wom and purchase intention

In recent years, the developments in communication technologies and the conveniences of internet usage have made social media an important and attractive communication platform for consumers. The ability of users to communicate effectively through social media enabled the concept of word of mouth communication to take place in a virtual environment. Users in social media and their content sharing have an impact on their purchasing decisions of other consumers. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of social media usage of consumers and electronic word of mouth communication on purchase intention. In this study, the use of social media shaped by hedonic and utilitarian motivation factors is discussed. The population of the research consist of social media users in Kırşehir. 400 social media users purchasing from the internet selected by convenience sampling method. The data used in the study was collected by face-to-face survey method. These data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 22.0 for windows package program. The research has revealed that social media usage with hedonic and utilitarian motivation factors have relative effects on e-word of mouth and purchase intention. Besides, e-word of mouth has a significant effect on purchase intention. The result of the research has revealed that the information source that the consumers are most affected by in the purchasing decision is the social media shares. Keywords: E-WOM, Purchase Intention, Social Media, Utilitarian and Hedonic Motivation.