LAUSR

Abstract Social media provides a virtual workplace/network where people can enjoy expressing their opinions, exchange opinions, disseminate and control messages anywhere and anytime. Marketers are now able to reach consumers and interact with them using social media. The present study investigates the relations between communications on the social network platforms and its effect on the purchase intentions of young consumers towards financial products. Different statistical techniques were used to assess and validate the constructs selected for the study. Subjective content validity (based on structured interviews), reliability tests (using Cronbach’s alpha [α]), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for evaluating the factor structure and initial validity were used for the investigation. The findings suggest that user-generated social media communication (UGSMC) such as customer reviews plays an important role in creating positive perception towards online purchase of financial products, thereby impacting the brand attitude (BA) and brand equity. The perception of consumers is built on what they see and hear on social media platforms. There is a positive influence of social media on the online purchase of financial products. Social media influences information at different stages of customer decision-making.