Title: Investigating shopper motivations for purchasing on Instagram

Authors: Courtney Chrimes; Rosy Boardman

Addresses: Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester Fashion Institute, Manchester, UK ' The University of Manchester, School of Materials, Manchester, UK

Abstract: This article investigates shopper motivations and subsequent electronic word-of-mouth (eWoM) intentions when purchasing fashion garments via Instagram. A quantitative survey was distributed via social media channels and collected 205 valid respondents from females aged 18-43. Numerous preliminary analyses were conducted before undertaking structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the hypothesised model. The study found that both hedonic (i.e., latest trends) and utilitarian (convenience and information availability) motivations positively affected consumers' intention to search for garments on Instagram. However, cost (utilitarian) and authority (hedonic) were found to have no effect on consumers search intentions. The findings further suggest that there is a significant link between searching for garments on Instagram and purchase intentions and that users who search for fashion items on Instagram are also prone to undertaking eWoM by sharing garments with their friends and commenting on product posts.

Keywords: shopper motivations; social media; social commerce; s-commerce; Instagram; fashion; word-of-mouth; eWoM; user-generated content; purchase intention; hedonic; utilitarian; consumer behaviour; social shopping; structural equation modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTTC.2023.129703

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 2023 Vol.20 No.1, pp.6 - 31

Received: 06 Apr 2020
Accepted: 18 May 2021
Published online: 21 Mar 2023 *