The Impact of Brand Equity on Purchase Intention toward HERMS C Enterprise

Abstract

The evolution of web 2.0 enables people to interact and generate content in video, photo, audio, text, etc., which change the way companies communicate to their customers. Instagram has made it incredibly easy for the business to market and advertise the products. In recent years, the activewear business is expanding as it is a new trend that attracted the eye of people in Malaysia. Activewear has been a popular trend among teenagers and young adults because it associates them with a more comfortable and relaxed lifestyle and better mobility. Since activewear has become a popular trend in Malaysia, a number of domestic companies start activewear businesses in Malaysia, yet the industries face intense competition in the market due to there has a different brand of activewear in the market. HERMS C Enterprise is one of the activewear brand companies in Malaysia and was founded by Hermione Goh. The business is entirely conducted through the Internet, where HERMS C Enterprise utilizes social media to promote and sell its brand to the public. The purpose of this research examines the effect of e-WOM and brand equity on customers' purchase intention toward HERMS C Enterprise. Literature reviews were conducted before analyzing the research topic in order to have a better understanding of how social media dimensions create word of mouth, which is e-WOM and have future knowledge on e-WOM and brand equity influence customers' purchase intention of activewear brands on Instagram. This research would be used convenience sampling, which involves the targeted population of Instagram customers of HERMS C Enterprise. This study were measured using five-point Likert ratings that ranged from "Strongly disagree" to "Strongly Agree". A set of online questionnaire would be utilized in this research and distribute to 120 respondents via Instagram. This research proposes to use sample-to-item ratio to determine the sample size for this research depending on the number of items. Data would be analyzed by using Smart PLS and SPSS software.