Title: Influence of word of mouth communication on consumer purchase decision: testing the mediating-moderating effects

Authors: Mukesh; Mahabir Narwal

Addresses: Department of Commerce, Kurukshetra University (Kurukshetra), India ' Department of Commerce, Kurukshetra University (Kurukshetra), India

Abstract: Word of mouth (WOM) provides information in various ways, i.e., sharing experiences, through stories, conversation. There is a great importance of WOM communication for a consumer as it helps them in their decision making process. The present study was conducted to analyse the mediation effect of brand image between WOM and purchase decision, also the moderation effect of demographic variables (gender, marital status and education qualification) between brand image and purchase decision. The research focuses on brands of smartphone. By using the questionnaire method, a sample of 552 was collected from Haryana. PLS-SEM was used to analyse the data. The findings reveal that the brand image of smartphones significantly plays a mediating role between online WOM, offline WOM, and purchase decisions. With the exception of education qualification, gender and marital status serve as moderating factors between brand image and purchase decision.

Keywords: E-WOM quality; word of mouth communication; purchase decision; brand image; mediation impact; moderation impact.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2026.153096

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2026 Vol.37 No.4, pp.430 - 448

Received: 19 May 2021
Accepted: 08 May 2022
Published online: 22 Apr 2026 *

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