Investigating the Effectiveness of Social Media and Traditional Media Marketing on the Purchase Intention of Fashion Brands in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Today, the marketing communication methods are evolving rapidly due to the rise of social media. Some companies totally depend on social media sites on their marketing communications and while most of the matured business organisations utilize both. Since there are mixed arguments the marketing practitioners are keen to understand the impact of the consumer purchase intention through both marketing communication modes. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of both social media and traditional media marketing on the purchase intention of the fashion brands in Sri Lanka. It aims to investigate whether people rely on one channel or whether they consider both media when making a purchase. The study further aims to identify how both marketing modes motivates people to make the final decision of purchase. A self-administered questionnaire is distributed among 123 Facebook users, the sample consists of both male and female and employed and unemployed who are in-between 20-50 years of age category and residing in Colombo and suburb Among 118 responses received 100 completed questionnaires were finally employed for statistical analysis. Sample was selected based on non-random sampling method. Among the existing literature on purchase intention the Theory of Reasoned Actions (TRA) is utilized to serve the purpose. According to the theory the independent variables are Attitude, Subjective Norms and External Variables and this study use the same variables as independent variables. The researcher selected quantitative research methodology adopting to the deductive research approach. The results of the empirical study show that both traditional communications and social media communications have a significant impact on consumer purchase intention and also the consumers suggest that those two mediums should be integrated/synergised to serve them better. The results provide evidence to say that the traditional media has a stronger impact on creating awareness while social media communications strongly influence brand image. Firm-created social media communication is shown to have an important impact on creating attitudes and making them engaged with it.