The Impact of Facebook Engagement on Online Purchase Intention; The Mediating Effect of Consumer Trust in Fashion Retail Industry

Abstract

With the modern changes in retailing through online platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, businesses should understand how such users interact. The present study investigates the impact of Facebook engagement on purchase intention in online fashion retailing in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, whilst focusing on the mediating role of consumer trust. This research fills both empirical and practical variations, as it offers insights into the Sri Lankan context while identifying actionable recommendations for marketers. Thus, enabling them to make better use of Facebook as a medium for engaging customers and building trust. Likes, comments, shares, and friend recommendations were selected as independent variables for Facebook Engagement, with consumer trust as a mediator and online purchase intention as a dependent variable. A quantitative study was conducted by collecting 403 responses using a structured questionnaire and using to analysis 385 Responses. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression tools with IBM SPSS Statistics 30 software. The findings indicated that all independent variables and the mediator were statistically significant to the purchase intention. Beta values indicated a relatively stronger causal effect for Likes and Comment as independent variables. The findings reveal a significant positive relationship between Consumer Trust and Online Purchase Intention. The findings indicate that fashion retailers can effectively connect with their target audience on Facebook Marketplace by increasing awareness, promoting interest in buying, building customer trust, and incorporating trust-building elements into engagement strategies. The researcher found Fashion retailers should make Facebook Marketplace a key hub to effectively connect with their target audience. To do this, they should first increase awareness of Facebook Marketplace. Then, they should try to increase interest in buying from Marketplace. This can be done by using engaging content, attractive posts, and attractive ads in fashion. These findings provide useful insight to fashion retailers to improve their marketing activitiesand broaden the existing literature regarding the mediating role of consumer trust between Facebook engagements and purchase intention. Future research on the dynamics of social media engagement and online purchase behavior could extend this study across different industries and geographies. Therefore, future researchers could look at the role of additional mediators such as perceived value, social influence, or brand loyalty to provide a more comprehensive picture of the variables influencing online purchase intention.