Effect of Social Media Marketing and eWOM on Willingness to Pay in the Etailing: Mediating Role of Brand Equity and Brand Identity

The spread of social media has created a new era for companies and brands and forcing them to explore new interactive ways to achieve and engage their consumers. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the impact of social media marketing and electronic word-of-mouth on consumers' willingness to pay a premium due to the mediating role of brand equity and brand identity. The data were collected through a survey by simple random sampling method. Questionnaires were distributed among people who had experience in buying leather products from social networks. Structural equation modeling technique was applied to test the research hypotheses. The results exposed the process that transforms social media marketing and electronic word-of-mouth to the willingness to pay a premium. Moreover, the findings showed that electronic word-of-mouth can indirectly affect consumer behavioral responses through brand equity and brand identity and also have a direct impact on consumer decisions such as willingness to pay a premium. The study has important implications for both theory and practice. This insight could be utilized by marketers and advertisers in the formulation and implementation of effective and coherent marketing and advertising strategies.