Title: Consumers' electronic word of mouth-seeking intentions on social media sites concerning Saudi bloggers' YouTube fashion channels: an eclectic approach

Authors: Majdah ALNefaie; Shahadat Khan; Siva Muthaly

Addresses: Graduate School of Business and Law, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Australia ' Business IT and Logistics, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Australia ' Faculty of Business and Management, Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU), Malaysia

Abstract: This study seeks to investigate the appropriateness of an eclectic model based on factors that influence Saudi consumers' electronic word of mouth (eWOM)-seeking intentions on bloggers' YouTube channels. There is a lack of understanding about eWOM-seekers' motivations for engaging in this behaviour. This study focuses on utilitarian and hedonic motivations and explores the factors related to the social and cultural elements that influence eWOM-seeking intentions. The study implements a two-phase mixed-method approach, including a qualitative and observational netnographic method. An online questionnaire is used to test the relationships among the variables in the study's conceptual framework. A total of 210 usable responses to the questionnaire were received. The data was analysed using the partial least squares (PLS) technique. The findings indicate that the availability of information and purchasing intentions developed through utilitarian motivations have the most significant influence on eWOM-seeking intentions. The managerial implications and limitations of this study and recommendations for future study are given in the conclusion hereto.

Keywords: social media sites; SMSs; utilitarian and hedonic motivations; seeking intention; fashion industry; Saudi Arabia; electronic word of mouth; eWOM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBFMI.2019.099000

International Journal of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence, 2019 Vol.5 No.1, pp.1 - 22

Received: 19 Dec 2017
Accepted: 03 Mar 2018
Published online: 12 Apr 2019 *

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