No abstract

Digital marketing communication has affected consumer behaviour across product categories like books, music, fashion accessories, clothing, banking, online gaming, and so on. However, the automobile industry, despite being one of the largest digital spenders in India for past many years, has faced a dearth of academic studies. The objective of the research is to investigate the Indian car buyers’ decision to use digital marketing communication while buying a car using Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour model (DTPB). Data was collected from 801 actual and potential car buyers from Delhi. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the overall fit and explanatory power of the model. The DTPB model successfully explained 63 per cent of the variation in usage intentions. Attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control were found to be the significant determinants affecting usage intentions and actual usage of digital marketing communication.

No abstract

PurposeRole of digital channels in car buying has increased manifold and consumers are making significant use of various digital channels throughout the decision-making process. However, there are very less number of studies available if one wishes to understand the specific reason(s) for the use of a particular digital channel of communication. This study deals with the identifications of the reason(s) leading towards the usage of particular digital channel of communication while buying a car.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative methodology was adopted for the study. A total of 10 digital channels namely the websites, social networking sites, YouTube, Smartphones, Online communities, Digital TV, Digital Outdoors, e-mails and others were considered in the study. Data was collected from 603 car buyers from Delhi using digital channels of communication.FindingsThe results of the study revealed that Website and YouTube were used for being compatible. Social networking sites, smartphones, digital outdoors and e-mails were used for being informative. Online communities were used for offering customers and experts' reviews. Digital TV was used for being easy to use.Research limitations/implicationsThe study considers the respondents from Delhi only. A more representative sample covering various parts of the country would offer more relevant results for the marketers as digital divide existing between rural and urban India cannot be simply ignored.Practical implicationsThe study reveals that car buyers are making ample usage of digital channels wherein website is the most used digital channel and smartphones are the most used digital devices used by the car buyers.Social implicationsStudy also reveals that car buyers might use search engines to reach the marketer's website, so effective search engine optimization (SEO) strategies should be adopted. Important keywords used in the search engines should be used in the website as well as in the links.Originality/valueMajority of the available studies use digital as an umbrella term for myriad digital channels. So understanding about the usage of specific channel of communication remains an under-researched area. Such understanding strengths and broadens the existing knowledge about technology mediated consumer behaviour especially in extended problem-solving product category.

No abstract