Impact of User Generated Content (UGC) on Personal Care Product Purchase Intention in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Advertising landscape has changed drastically with the increased usage of internet and digital technologies in marketing. User Generated Content (UGC) in social media has become a very useful and a popular mode of digital marketing. UGC refers to online comments/opinions/reviews that can impact the purchasing decisions of other users. Customers prefer using user-generated content (UGC) to make purchasing decisions. Hence, the main objective of this study is to determine the impact of UGC on Personal Care Product Purchase Intention in Sri Lanka. Attitude, brand trust, information usefulness, and credibility were identified as main independent variables of the study and four hypotheses were developed. The survey research method was used in this study, and quantitative data was acquired using a structured questionnaire. The researcher employed descriptive analysis and regression techniques to test hypothesis using SPSS. A sample of 120 responses were collected via an online questionnaire. Findings of the study reveal that the attitude toward UGC has a positive significant relationship with purchase intention. However, the other three hypotheses, namely brand trust, information usefulness, and credibility, have a weak relationship with personal care product purchase intention.