Impact of Electronic Word of Mouth on Customers’ Buying Intention Considering Trust as a Mediator: A SEM Approach

For customers’ purchasing decisions, word of mouth (WOM) has been considered as one of the major influential factors. With the rise of Internet-based technology and usage of online-based devices, customers are now considering online reviews and other users’ e-opinions as one of the significant sources of information gathering for taking final purchasing decisions. Organizations also emphasize electronic word of mouth (eWOM) as a major promotional tool for their business. This study aims to examine the impact of eWOM on customers’ buying intention and tries to determine the mediating relationship of trust between eWOM and customers’ buying intention. For this, an exploratory study has been designed using the purposive and convenience sampling technique. With the assistance of a self-administrated structured questionnaire, a total of 218 respondents’ data were finally selected for the structural equation model (SEM) analysis. The result of the study reveals that eWOM has a direct influence on customers’ intention to buy without the presence of the mediator trust. Nevertheless, with the presence of trust as a mediator, the direct relationship gets weakened, resulting in full mediation. The study results can contribute both theoretically and practically in many ways.