E-2: AMPLIFYING PURCHASE INTENTION OF FASHION ITEMS:

UNRAVELING THE INFLUENCE OF WORD-OF-MOUTH ON BRAND ATTITUDE AND KNOWLEDGE IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR

Abstract

In the higher education sector, technology plays an increasingly important role in determining what students intend to purchase in the future. After obtaining information from different sources of the environment and their colleagues, students decide whether or not to purchase a product or service based on their brand attitude. An investigation was conducted on the effect of brand attitude on word-of-mouth/electronic word-of-mouth and purchase intention. Furthermore, further research is being conducted to find out whether brand knowledge can moderate the relationship between brand attitude and purchase intention. A cross-sectional research design with minimal interference from the researcher is employed in this study. To collect a sample of three hundred students from universities in the public and private sectors of the higher education sector, a self-administrative questionnaire is used as the primary method. The results of the study show that word-of-mouth and electronic word-of-mouth have a smaller direct impact on purchase intentions than brand attitudes do. The intention to make a purchase is partially mediated by word of mouth/electronic word of mouth as well as by the impact of word of mouth. Students in Pakistan develop a brand attitude by researching products and services they are interested in before purchasing them, which may prove beneficial to big brands in the Pakistani industry as it indicates that students develop a brand attitude. This study is significant in unlocking the black box of eWOM/WOM and purchase intention, specifically regarding brand attitude and knowledge, since these aspects have not been extensively studied in Pakistan's fashion industry or higher education, which makes it an important contribution to unlocking the picture of eWOM /WOM and purchase intention in the country.