The influence of social media usage and communication on early gen z's online shopping intention

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the influence of social media usage and communication on Vietnamese early Gen Zs' online purchase intention. In addition, the mediation of perceived behavioral factors and the moderation of subjective norms in these relationships were also investigated. The technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA) were employed to develop the conceptual framework. Seven factors, namely social media usage (SMU), perceived social media influence (PSMI), social media communication (SMC), perceived brand quality (PBQ), brand preference (BP), subjective norms (SN), and online shopping intention (OSI) were tested. A total of 280 valid questionnaires from Vietnamese early Gen Zs were collected. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 3.2.8 software. The analysis results confirmed the positive influence of social media usage and social media communication on Vietnamese early Gen Z's online shopping intention with the mediating roles of perceived behavioral factors and the moderating roles of subjective norms. The managerial implications of this study were also discussed.