e-WOM & Purchase Intention towards Mobile Data Packages among Facebook users: The Mediating Effect of Brand Image

Facebook is undoubtedly the leading social networking service in Sri Lanka, which comprises approximately 7.9 million users by creating a massive platform to advertise and brand engagement. Therefore, it has become an essential tool for eWOM, which is crucial for Marketers to understand to leverage on social media. The Mobile Telecommunication industry is a competitive and technologically advanced sector in Sri Lanka, sized at 30.41Mn mobile connections rapidly ignite Social Networking Sites based interactions; hence, eWOM behaviour is pivotal to examine as a digital communicational tool and a reality. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of eWOM on Purchase Intention as millions of consumers are now exposed to digital platforms and how impactful amidst the brand image among the Facebook users of Sri Lanka. Even though many scholars studied this issue in different contexts and very little research was done in Sri Lanka. The significance of this research instrumentalized to fill this gap and open a scholarly discussion. A survey conducted for data collection was instrumentalized via a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire among 267 respondents. The findings revealed a positive relationship between eWOM and Purchase Intention for Mobile data packages in the context of Sri Lankan Facebook users & it was positively strengthened by Brand Image. Furthermore, this outcome could be used as base research to study eWOM on other platforms and give new knowledge to the academic & business world.