Social media advertising and online buying intentions: a multidimensional investigation with shopping enjoyment as mediator

Abstract

In the current era, traditional marketing streams are just a small segment of the varied approaches used to market products. The increasing focus on social media shaped state-of- the-art advertising and shifted the way companies interact with their target groups. Companies, therefore, need to create effective online advertising strategies to capitalize on the current market segment by incorporating effective features in online advertising, especially in social media. This research will discuss the relationship between social media advertising and its associated dimensions including credibility, informativeness, hedonic, and materialism towards purchase intention. Moreover, the mediating effect of shopping enjoyment will also be assessed on the relationship between social media advertising and online buying intention. The research employed a quantitative research method and a total of 371 valid respondents participated in the survey. Based on the results obtained, it was found that social media advertising and its dimensions have a significant relationship with online buying intention while a partial mediating effect of shopping enjoyment exists on this relationship. These research findings have added to the existing body of knowledge in marketing literature and will be useful to marketers in understanding social media advertising's influence on purchase intention. The research also discussed theoretical and managerial implications and concluded with suggestions for future research.