A SEM-NCA Approach towards Social Networks Marketing: Evaluating Consumers’ Sustainable Purchase Behavior with the Moderating Role of Eco-Friendly Attitude

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate how social network marketing affects consumers’ sustainable purchase behavior (CSPB) while considering the role of Eco-friendly attitude. The statistical population of the study included Iranian users of online social networks with at least one online purchasing experience. An online questionnaire was distributed on Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp platforms as the most popular networks in the country. By use of convenience sampling, commonly used in quantitative studies to overcome bias, 450 out of 475 returned questionnaires were acceptable, showing a response rate of 94.7%. The results indicated that an increase in Eco-friendly attitude positively increases the effect of word of mouth on consumers’ sustainable purchase behavior. Meanwhile, Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) revealed that to reach a 50% level of consumers’ sustainable purchase behavior, six essential necessary conditions are required: an eco-friendly consumers’ attitude at no less than 50%, the trend at no less than 57.1%, word of mouth at no less than 45.5%, interaction at no less than 42.9%, customization at no less than 35.3% and entertainment at no less than 26.7%. Furthermore, the Importance-Performance Matrix Analysis (IPMA) was investigated as a strategic tool. The results of IPMA showed that “buy products that use biodegradable material in packaging”, “buy those products that are picked up and recycled”, and “buy biodegradable products even if they belong to a less well-known company” show desirable performance and high importance and there is a great opportunity for expansion in this area.

Influence of diverse kinds of persuasive messages on intention to stay home during COVID-19 pandemic: Moderating role of media type

“…This research uses the convenience sampling approach in gathering the data. While this approach is commonly used in quantitative studies to overcome bias [ 3 , 15 ]. (The Harman's single-factor has been carried out with five variables.…”

Social Networks Marketing and Consumer Purchase Behavior: The Combination of SEM and Unsupervised Machine Learning Approaches

“…Other researches also mention the positive effect of the number of likes [35], expressing subjectivity within online reviews [36], online recommendations [1], other consumers ratings [37] and influencer endorsements [38] on consumers' intention to make purchases on social networks. Previous studies indicate that there are several important aspects, such as the quality of information about products or services [14], emotional experiences, emotional engagement, [7], brand trust, brand community, and brand awareness [39], which can influence consumer purchase behavior.…”

“…Although Facebook remains the leading social network platforms all around the world, the users have differences in information processing with regard to messages [46], which is able to change consumer purchase behavior. The conceptual framework of this study is adapted from different types of social media marketing activities, such as entertainment, interaction, trend, customization, and word of mouth [14]. This study aims to investigate the possible influence of entertainment, customization, interaction, word of mouth and trends on customer purchase behavior on Facebook Marketplace.…”

“…Consumer attitudes are positively influenced by entertainment, which results in increased engagement between brands and consumers [48]. A recent study by Ebrahimi et al [14] found that entertainment has a positive impact on consumer sustainable consumption behavior. Thus, we propose the following: H1.…”

“…Previously, only a few studies focused on the role of social network marketing in consumer purchasing behavior in developing and developed countries. For example, a study on SNM was carried out on consumer purchase decisions in Marketplace in the context of Pakistan [11], Italy [12]), Thailand [13], and Iran [14]. Some studies focused on location-based SNM [15], value co-creation of SNM [16], the effects of social networking sites, and marketing campaigns [17].…”