What drives users impulse buying behavior in social media advertising? The roles of empathy expression and privacy concerns

Social media has revolutionized advertising, providing marketers with an engaging platform. Our study explores the impact of social media ad attributes such as, emotional appeal (EA), social influence (SI), perceived relevance (PR), and usefulness (PU) on users’ attitude toward empathy expression (AEE), subsequently intention to express empathy (IEE) and impulse buying behavior (IBB). Data from 214 participants confirm that these attributes significantly shape attitude toward empathy expression, intention to express empathy, and impulse buying behavior, with attitude toward empathy expression mediating the relationships and privacy concerns (PCs) moderating it. This underscores the importance of understanding consumer perceptions to optimize marketing strategies.