Title: Influence of social media and online reviews on university students' purchasing decisions

Authors: Mostafa Torabi; Charles H. Bélanger

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Brandon University, 270 18th St, Brandon, Manitoba, R7A 6A9, Canada ' Department of Marketing and Management, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Rd, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada

Abstract: The main purpose of this study is to investigate and gauge the influence of rating websites and social media on consumers' purchasing behaviour and their choices. The present research considers a comparison between choosing a university and a restaurant by consumers based on using social media and online reviews. The study develops a multidimensional model to recognise the influence of online rating websites and social medial on consumer purchasing decisions. Results reveal that information adoption and risk-taking are important factors towards consumer purchasing decisions. However, there is no significant relationship between demographic traits and consumer purchasing decisions based on the proposed model and findings. Moreover, the study confirms that long-term benefits outweigh the expediency of a decision when respondents were reviewing websites.

Keywords: social media; electronic word-of-mouth; e-WOM; online reviews; information adoption; risk; consumer purchasing decisions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMA.2022.120968

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 2022 Vol.16 No.1/2, pp.98 - 119

Received: 06 Nov 2019
Accepted: 01 May 2020
Published online: 21 Feb 2022 *

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