PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of consumers’ motivations (i.e. remuneration, social, and empowerment) on online purchase intentions mediated through trust towards retailers present on social media.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from consumers residing in the three metropolitan cities of Pakistan, and the research model was tested using the covariance-based structural equation modelling in Amos.FindingsThe results showed that remuneration and social motivations positively influenced consumers’ online purchase intentions directly, as well as indirectly mediated through trust. However, trust fully mediated the relationship between empowerment motivation and consumers’ online purchase intentions.Originality/valueThe existing literature reveals that only a handful of studies have endeavoured to understand consumers’ trust in the context of social media marketing, and the literature in this field is not matured yet. The novelty of this research lies in its contribution to understanding the impacts of consumers’ motives (i.e. remuneration, social, and empowerment) on trust towards retailers present on social media, which have not been explored before. In addition, it examines trust towards retailers present on social media as an underlying mechanism that affects the relationships between consumers’ motives and online purchase intentions.

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Social media marketing is a trending topic in marketing research. However the research on its effectiveness is still at embryonic stage. Marketers are faced with challenging issues of identifying consumers' motivations that affect subsequent trust on social media retailers and attitudes of consumers with respect to social media marketing. The aim of the present research is to address these gaps and identify the impact of consumers' socialization motivation on consumers' attitude towards social media marketing and trust on social media retailers. In addition to this, the study identifies the moderating role of gender in affecting the relationship between socialization motivation, trust and attitude towards social media marketing. Data were collected from three cities of Pakistan. Structural equation modelling through AMOS was used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that socialization motivation has a positive impact on consumer' trust on social media retailers. Moreover, socialization motivation has a positive impact on consumers' attitude towards social media marketing. Trust on social media retailers has a significant positive impact on consumers' attitude towards social media marketing. Gender was found as an important moderating variable in affecting the path estimates among different variables of the research model. The study has important theoretical and managerial implications and concludes with few limitations and future research directions.

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