Understanding consumers’ trust in social media marketing environment

Purpose
The 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/approach
Data 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.

Findings
The 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/value
The 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.