The Influence of Information Sharing through Social Network Sites on Customers’ Attitudes during the Epidemic Crisis of COVID-19
This paper explores the influence of crisis-related information on customers’ recommendations and purchase intentions. Various studies have investigated the role of risk-related information in terms of its certainty and immediacy. This research introduces a model that differentiates and investigates...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/0718-1876/16/5/78 |
| _version_ | 1797520765790191616 |
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| author | Abdulaziz Alhubaishy Abdulmajeed Aljuhani |
| author_facet | Abdulaziz Alhubaishy Abdulmajeed Aljuhani |
| author_sort | Abdulaziz Alhubaishy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper explores the influence of crisis-related information on customers’ recommendations and purchase intentions. Various studies have investigated the role of risk-related information in terms of its certainty and immediacy. This research introduces a model that differentiates and investigates different types of information provided by organizations through social network sites (SNSs) that are related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, including situational information and precautionary measures information specifically. The proposed model targeted users of SNSs in Saudi Arabia, where around 72.38% of its population is considered active SNSs users with 3 h of average daily time spent on SNSs. Based on the survey data collected from 356 online shoppers in Saudi Arabia, structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the proposed model. The reliability of instrument was tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), where the results showed acceptable model fit indices (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>X</mi><mn>2</mn></msup><mo>/</mo><mi>d</mi><mi>f</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 2.6, GFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, and RMSEA = 0.067). Based on that, the structural model was built and tested, which also showed acceptable fit indices (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>X</mi><mn>2</mn></msup><mo>/</mo><mi>d</mi><mi>f</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 2.9, GFI = 0.92, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.91, and RMSEA = 0.073). The findings highlight that situational and adopted precautionary measures information had a significant impact on recommendations (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>γ</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>0.73</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) and purchase intentions (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>γ</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>0.39</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>). Further, organizations that hold themselves accountable for broadcasting updated information related to the crisis and disseminating the necessary preventive measures develop a high level of recommendations and purchase intentions among customers. A personal recommendation construct was confirmed as a partial mediator, where an indirect significant influence was found of broadcasting information on purchase intention through personal recommendation (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>γ</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>0.309</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>). Therefore, this paper suggests that organizations should consider offering customers all the necessary types of information related to the COVID-19 crisis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:01:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a8f3392c630e4364aac091a98df79e62 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0718-1876 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:01:15Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-a8f3392c630e4364aac091a98df79e622023-11-22T11:29:06ZengMDPI AGJournal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research0718-18762021-04-011651390140310.3390/jtaer16050078The Influence of Information Sharing through Social Network Sites on Customers’ Attitudes during the Epidemic Crisis of COVID-19Abdulaziz Alhubaishy0Abdulmajeed Aljuhani1College of Computing and Informatics, Saudi Electronic University, Riyadh 11673, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Computer Science and Engineering, Taibah University, Medina 41411, Saudi ArabiaThis paper explores the influence of crisis-related information on customers’ recommendations and purchase intentions. Various studies have investigated the role of risk-related information in terms of its certainty and immediacy. This research introduces a model that differentiates and investigates different types of information provided by organizations through social network sites (SNSs) that are related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, including situational information and precautionary measures information specifically. The proposed model targeted users of SNSs in Saudi Arabia, where around 72.38% of its population is considered active SNSs users with 3 h of average daily time spent on SNSs. Based on the survey data collected from 356 online shoppers in Saudi Arabia, structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the proposed model. The reliability of instrument was tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), where the results showed acceptable model fit indices (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>X</mi><mn>2</mn></msup><mo>/</mo><mi>d</mi><mi>f</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 2.6, GFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, and RMSEA = 0.067). Based on that, the structural model was built and tested, which also showed acceptable fit indices (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>X</mi><mn>2</mn></msup><mo>/</mo><mi>d</mi><mi>f</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 2.9, GFI = 0.92, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.91, and RMSEA = 0.073). The findings highlight that situational and adopted precautionary measures information had a significant impact on recommendations (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>γ</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>0.73</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) and purchase intentions (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>γ</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>0.39</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>). Further, organizations that hold themselves accountable for broadcasting updated information related to the crisis and disseminating the necessary preventive measures develop a high level of recommendations and purchase intentions among customers. A personal recommendation construct was confirmed as a partial mediator, where an indirect significant influence was found of broadcasting information on purchase intention through personal recommendation (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>γ</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>0.309</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>). Therefore, this paper suggests that organizations should consider offering customers all the necessary types of information related to the COVID-19 crisis.https://www.mdpi.com/0718-1876/16/5/78information sharingsituational informationpersonal recommendationpurchase intentionsocial network sites |
| spellingShingle | Abdulaziz Alhubaishy Abdulmajeed Aljuhani The Influence of Information Sharing through Social Network Sites on Customers’ Attitudes during the Epidemic Crisis of COVID-19 Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research information sharing situational information personal recommendation purchase intention social network sites |
| title | The Influence of Information Sharing through Social Network Sites on Customers’ Attitudes during the Epidemic Crisis of COVID-19 |
| title_full | The Influence of Information Sharing through Social Network Sites on Customers’ Attitudes during the Epidemic Crisis of COVID-19 |
| title_fullStr | The Influence of Information Sharing through Social Network Sites on Customers’ Attitudes during the Epidemic Crisis of COVID-19 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Influence of Information Sharing through Social Network Sites on Customers’ Attitudes during the Epidemic Crisis of COVID-19 |
| title_short | The Influence of Information Sharing through Social Network Sites on Customers’ Attitudes during the Epidemic Crisis of COVID-19 |
| title_sort | influence of information sharing through social network sites on customers attitudes during the epidemic crisis of covid 19 |
| topic | information sharing situational information personal recommendation purchase intention social network sites |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/0718-1876/16/5/78 |
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