The effect of participation motivates in electronic word of mouth on desire to purchase: mediating role of message characteristics

Despite the emphasis of the theoretical foundations of marketing on the role of electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) because of its low costs and high impact as well as individual motivation to engage in e-WOM, on desire to purchase, no model has been presented to evaluate the impact of motivations for participation on the desire to purchase. The current study was conducted to identify what motivates people to participate in e-WOM and to assess the impact of these incentives on purchase intention of the users through messaging features. The research was descriptive and aimed to establish a correlation between the research variables. According to the purpose of study which was to present a model and test the impact of variables, structural equation modeling was used. The population consisted of individuals who sought the opinions and experiences of others who had already experienced online shopping in websites to purchase digital produces. The main tool for data gathering was questionnaire. The results show that social motivates of participation in e-WOM have not effect on the desire to purchase but informational motivates to participate in e-WOM was effect on the desire to purchase goods online. The findings indicate that people’s motivation to purchase goods online is not due their desire to improve their social image or take advantage of social benefits and opportunities. These motivates on people’s desire to purchase online are reasons such as people's willingness to take advice from others, collecting information, reducing search time and reducing the risk of purchase.