Viral Marketing and Impulse Buying: The Role of Online Trust in a Pandemic

The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is an impact from viral marketing on impulse buying with the mediating effect of online trust during the Covid-19 pandemic. A questionnaire with a five-point likert scale was circulated among online customers to collect primary data for the research objective, and the research sample consists of 155 respondents. The data were subsequently analyzed with the help of SPSS and SmartPLS software. Overall, the findings indicated that viral marketing has a positive impact on online trust, that online trust has a positive impact on impulse buying, that viral marketing has a positive impact on impulse buying, and that there is a partial mediation of online trust in the relationship between viral marketing and impulse buying. Theoretically, the study contributes by looking at the relationship between viral marketing and impulse buying, as well as the mediating influence of trust on viral marketing and impulse buying. Marketers can utilize the findings of this research to learn more about their customers and design more effective marketing tactics.