scholarly journals The Moderating Effect of ‘Generation’ on the Relations between Source Credibility of Social Media Contents, Hotel Brand Image, and Purchase Intention

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9471
Author(s):  
Hye-Ryeong Shin ◽  
Jeong-Gil Choi

This is a timely study that simultaneously considers the issues of source credibility of social media contents and generational differences. The study aims to explore the influence of ‘generation’ on perceived source credibility, and its effect on the relation between source credibility, hotel brand image, and purchase intention in cases where the content providers are general users (UGCs) and hotel marketers (MGCs), respectively. Using an independent samples t-test (278 people sampled), the differences in source credibility between generations were tested and multi-group analysis was conducted to verify the moderating effect of generation. Significant differences appeared in trustworthiness between the generations. Millennials are sharper in observation than the generations born earlier in recognizing the source credibility of social media contents. The moderating effect of generation is noticeable only in the impact of the UGCs’ expertise on hotel brand image, indicating Millennials are affected by the expertise of UGCs more strongly than the earlier generations are. The findings offer insight into better strategizing of social media communication for hotel marketers, utilizing social media and targeting Millennials. A further contribution of the study is that it reveals the relations between variables and effects according to different content providers (UGCs and MGCs).

Author(s):  
EVA MOEHLECKE DE BASEGGIO ◽  
OLIVIA SCHNEIDER ◽  
TIBOR SZVIRCSEV TRESCH

The Swiss Armed Forces (SAF), as part of a democratic system, depends on legitimacy. Democracy, legitimacy and the public are closely connected. In the public sphere the SAF need to be visible; it is where they are controlled and legitimated by the citizens, as part of a deliberative discussion in which political decisions are communicatively negotiated. Considering this, the meaning of political communication, including the SAF’s communication, becomes obvious as it forms the most important basis for political legitimation processes. Social media provide a new way for the SAF to communicate and interact directly with the population. The SAF’s social media communication potentially brings it closer to the people and engages them in a dialogue. The SAF can become more transparent and social media communication may increase its reputation and legitimacy. To measure the effects of social media communication, a survey of the Swiss internet population was conducted. Based on this data, a structural equation model was defined, the effects of which substantiate the assumption that the SAF benefits from being on social media in terms of broadening its reach and increasing legitimacy values.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mazzini Muda ◽  
Muhammad Iskandar Hamzah

PurposeIn spite of the increasing organic and interactive marketing activities over social media, a general understanding of the source credibility of voluntary user-generated content (UGC) is still limited. In line with the social identity theory, this paper examines the effects of consumers' perceived source credibility of UGC in YouTube videos on their attitudes and behavioral intentions. Additionally, source homophily theory is included to predict the antecedent of source credibility.Design/methodology/approachThree hundred and seventy two Generation Y respondents were interviewed using snowball sampling. Data were analyzed with component-based structural equation modeling technique of partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsFindings confirmed that perceived source credibility indirectly affects purchase intention (PI) and electronic word-of-mouth via attitude toward UGC. Besides, perceived source credibility mediates the effect of perceived source homophily on attitude toward UGC.Practical implicationsSince today's consumers have begun to trust and rely more on UGC than company-generated content on social media when making purchase decisions, companies may reconsider democratizing certain aspects of their branding strategies. Firms may fine-tune their marketing communication budgets – not only just by sponsoring public figures and celebrities but also by nurturing coproductive engagements with independent content creators who are ordinary consumers. Endowed with their imposing credibility, these micro-influencers and prosumers have high potentials to be uplifted to brand ambassadors.Originality/valueWhile consumers' purchase outcome can be measured easily using metrics and analytics, the roles of source homophily in stages leading up to the purchase is still elusive. Drawing on the rich theoretical basis of source homophily may help researchers to understand not only how credibility and attitude are related to PI but also how this nexus generates positive word of mouth among UGC followers within the social media circles.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1445-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bidyanand Jha

Social media provides a virtual workplace/network where people can enjoy expressing their opinions, exchange opinions, disseminate and control messages anywhere and anytime. Marketers are now able to reach consumers and interact with them using social media. The present study investigates the relations between communications on the social network platforms and its effect on the purchase intentions of young consumers towards financial products. Different statistical techniques were used to assess and validate the constructs selected for the study. Subjective content validity (based on structured interviews), reliability tests (using Cronbach’s alpha [α]), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for evaluating the factor structure and initial validity were used for the investigation. The findings suggest that user-generated social media communication (UGSMC) such as customer reviews plays an important role in creating positive perception towards online purchase of financial products, thereby impacting the brand attitude (BA) and brand equity. The perception of consumers is built on what they see and hear on social media platforms. There is a positive influence of social media on the online purchase of financial products. Social media influences information at different stages of customer decision-making.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 108-124
Author(s):  
Mohammad Shadah

This study seeks to identify the source credibility of social media influencers that impact customer's purchase intention under the moderating effect of gender. It adopts the Ohanian model of sources credibility and Kamins, Michael A.'s "match-up" hypothesis. The conceptual model includes (purchase intention” source credibility” trustworthiness” attractiveness” expertise “gender and product match-up). The researchers employed online surveys to collect responses on the criteria in the current study, which took a quantitative approach, using convenience sampling techniques. A total of 231 responses were received after data cleaning, 209 responses were accepted. SmartPLS 3, were used for data analysis. The research findings show that expertise, attractiveness, and match-up are the key factors that influence customers' purchase intention and describe the customer's perception of influencers, except for trustworthiness, which suggests that Malaysian customers are aware of the authenticity issues of social media influencers. This study also revealed that there is no moderating effect across gender regarding social media influencers except for trustworthiness. The study has implications for general management as social media influencer has a powerful impact on effective communication and marketing strategies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-130
Author(s):  
Yi Liu

Online merchants often use social media to communicate deal messages to directed consumers, but they face the fundamental challenge of how to effectively communicate deal messages to these consumers using that medium. This research seeks to address this challenge by building on the construal level theory to theorize that consumers' purchase intentions in response to the products promoted via social media communication are affected by the concreteness of promotion messages and its interaction with message promotional time and deal expiration time. A between-subject experiment was conducted, and the findings suggest that concrete messages lead to higher purchase intentions. Through interacting message concreteness, message promotional time and deal expiration time, we show that the congruency of a concrete message with either, but not both, temporal cue lead to higher purchase intention. This study thus provides theoretically grounded insights on how to better communicate deal information on microblogging sites.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heejin Lim ◽  
Michelle Childs

Purpose The new focus of brand communication in social media has driven firms to develop the effective visual content strategy. In light of narrative transportation theory, this study aims to investigate the impact of a photo’s narrative elements on self-brand connection through viewers’ transportation and emotional responses. Additionally, this study tests the role of telepresence on Instagram in this psychological mechanism. Design/methodology/approach Using between-subjects experimental design, two experimental studies test the effect of implied movement (Study 1) and diverse narrative elements such as a character, implied motion for chronology and the relevant background (Study 2). Findings Results demonstrate that a single narrative element, i.e. implied motion, does not induce a viewer’s transportation to the presented image. Rather, the viewer’s transportation occurs as a function of complex and diverse narrative elements, such as implied motion and the background as a context. Practical implications Findings suggest that the concept of photo narrative should be taken into consideration in a visually-oriented social media environment. To increase self-brand connection, social media communication should be designed with diverse elements to promote viewers’ active simulation and create meaning to the branded photo story. Originality/value This study expands the theory of narrative transportation by applying it to a visual form. Additionally, this research investigates the effect of social media communication on self-brand connection; the findings of this study demonstrate that a major goal of social media communication is not to sell products but to strengthen consumer-brand relationships through branded storytelling.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-171
Author(s):  
Feby Eka Vivi Setio Putri ◽  
Monika Tiarawati

The Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the whole world has caused economic problems. Household consumption or the purchasing power of the Indonesian people fell very deeply. Whereas consumption or people's purchasing power supports 60% of the Indonesian economy. Therefore, the pattern of marketing is changed by doing marketing online. Companies use  social media influencer to advertise their products. This study was conducted to analyze the impact of social media influencers and brand image on online consumer purchase intentions. The criteria for respondents in this study were women aged 18 years and over who followed Tasya Farasya's Instagram and knew about Maybelline products. Partial Least Square (PLS) is used to analyze the respondent's data that has been collected. The results of this study indicate that social media influencers have no positive and significant effect on online purchase intentions. Meanwhile, brand image has a positive and significant effect on online purchase intentions.


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