The Relationship between Social Media Influence, EWOM, and E-satisfaction of Consumers in India: A Moderated Moderated-mediation Conditional Model

Abstract

The study is aimed to explore the relationship between the social media influence on consumers and E-satisfaction (ESAT). A conceptual model is developed and tested using the data collected from 669 respondents from the southern part of India. After testing the psychometric properties of the survey instrument using the LISREL package of structural equation modeling (SEM), Hayes’s PROCESS macros were used to test the mediation, moderated moderated-mediation hypotheses. The results reveal social media influence is positively associated with ESAT and EWOM. The findings support the positive relationship between EWOM and ESAT. The results also support that EWOM mediates the relationship between social media influence and ESAT. Furthermore, the results support that risk moderates the relationship between EWOM and ESAT. Finally, the results provide strong support for a three-way interaction between EWOM, risk, and trust to influence the ESAT of consumers. The implications for marketing theory and practice are discussed.