The Mediating Role of Consumer-Brand Interaction and Brand Ethics on the Impact of Social Media Activities on Purchase Intention

Abstract

Purpose – Study aims to determine the mediating role of brand ethics and consumer brand engagement in the effect of social media activities on purchase intention. The relationship between social media activities, perceived brand ethics and consumer brand engagement has not been investigated in previous studies. This shows the originality of the research. Design/methodology/approach – Survey method, one of the quantitative research methods, was used as the research model. The population of the research consisted of people over the age of 18 who follow a brand on social media. Simple random sampling method was selected as the sample.The research data were collected through participants over the age of 18 who follow a brand on social media by creating a questionnaire in Google form. In total, 313 out of 439 participants stated that they follow a brand on social media and the analysis was conducted on 313 participants. Binary and multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the data. Findings – According to the results of the analysis, it was determined that perceived brand ethics has a full mediating role in the effect of social media activities on purchase intention, but consumer brand interaction does not have a mediating role. Discussion – According to these results, the importance of the brand's compliance with ethical rules is seen in the purchase intention of consumers who follow the social media of brands. In addition, it has been determined that consumers who already follow the social media of brands do not need consumer brand interaction. Previous studies have shown that consumer brand interaction and perceived brand ethics have an effect on purchase intention, whereas in this study, perceived brand ethics has a mediating effect, but consumer brand interaction does not have a mediating effect.