“Divergence, Similarity, or Both”: An Empirical Study on the Influence of eWOM on College Students’ Purchasing Intention

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.211215.041How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Electronic word-of-mouth; Group differences; College students; Purchase intention

Abstract

Consumers’ purchase intention is a hot topic of research by many scholars. However, few scholars have conducted research on the unique group of “college students” in the consumer group. This article analyzes the unique buying habits and psychology of the college student group, then explores the mechanism of influence of electronic Word-of-Mouth on college students’ purchase intention, with a view to discovering the differences and the same in the treatment of electronic Word-of-Mouth among college students compared with other consumer groups. Empirical analysis by establishing structural equation model, this research found that: (1) unlike other consumer groups, college students are not concerned about the timeliness and differences of electronic word-of-mouth; (2) although college students have a high degree of involvement in the Internet, they are less affected by the central path of eWOM(such as the quality, authenticity of eWOM) than the outer path of eWOM(such as publishers of eWOM); (3) college students with different characteristics have quite different attitudes towards electronic Word-of-Mouth. College students with highly sensitive characteristics are more affected by electronic Word-of-Mouth. This research not only enriches the related research on the influence of electronic Word-of-Mouth on consumer purchase intention, but also has strong practical guiding significance, and can provides management reference for the differentiated marketing of merchants.

Copyright

© 2021 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

Open Access

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Chunyuan Fan
AU  - Sitan Li
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/12/15
TI  - “Divergence, Similarity, or Both”: An Empirical Study on the Influence of eWOM on College Students’ Purchasing Intention
BT  - Proceedings of the 7th Annual International Conference on Social Science and Contemporary Humanity Development (SSCHD 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 226
EP  - 232
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211215.041
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.211215.041
ID  - Fan2021
ER  -