Influences of media richness on instagram towards consumer purchase intention: The mediating effect of brand equity

Abstract

Social media has become a widely-adopted technology since it was introduced to the world, affecting businesses in myriad ways. In the present time, the majority of companies have started to invest in social media marketing regarding the ability to initiate new contacts leading to better profitability. However, only a few studies have looked at the empirical link between media richness originating from social media e.g. Instagram and purchase intention among consumers. This paper discusses the influence of media richness on Instagram towards consumers' intention to purchase, mediated by brand equity. This study was conducted utilising a survey research method, aiming to create a better understanding of consumer intention to purchase as influenced by social media richness. A total of 217 undergraduate students in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia age 19 to 24 years took part in this study. The respondents were exposed to Instagram postings on similar products for sale. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied to fit data in the hypothesised model. The outcome of this study is useful to both researchers and business practitioners in order to understand the importance of social media richness specifically utilising Instagram as a business platform. Future studies should consider discovering different perspectives of media richness involving other types of social media.