Mediating role of customer experience in social media marketing and purchase intention: A case study

Abstract

In today's dynamic business environment, the idea of customer experience gained significant importance among practitioners as well as academics. Many managers and service researchers are interested in customer experience. However, research on customer experience about social media marketing role on building purchase intention appears to be scarce. This work investigates the mediating role of customer experience in social media marketing and customer purchase intention in lifestyle products. Data for the study were collected from 279 Indian consumers using a survey by personal visiting and contacting prospective respondents located at different places in Lucknow city, India. The study found that customer experience mediate social media marketing activities and purchase intention relationship. Customer experience and social media marketing are correlated, and both of them together affect purchase intention of customer. The current study model confirms that social media build up customer experience, which in turn affects purchase intention. It is surprising that the effect of social media on purchase intention was insignificant. This study recommends that marketers should use social media marketing to enhance customer engagement and relationships, provide valuable information, reinforce their brand choice, and subsequently strengthen customer experience.