Brand Familiarity, Social Presence And Their Impacts On Purchase Intentions Towards Online Stores

This study investigates two indepdent variables (brand familiatity and social presence) in relation to online store emotional image and consumers'online purchase intention.The research consists of a 2×2 between-subjects factorial design. Two levels of both brand familiarity and social presence (low and high) were manipulated as independent variables, generating four experimental conditions. A total of 160 college student questionnaires were analyzend. The findings provide a better understanding of consumer's behavior toward online stores. Some conclusions are as follows:1. In this study, online store emotional image was divided into three dimensions: usefulness, entertainment, trustworthness. The results showed that when an online store with higher brand familiarity, consumers would perceive a more useful and trustworthy store image, while the influence of brand familiarity was not significant on entertainment; and when an online store with higher social presence, consumers would perceive a more useful, entertaining and trustworthy store image.2. The results also indicated that when an online store with higher social presence, consumers would have higher purchase intentions; while the influence of brand familiarity was no significant effect on consumers'online purchase intentions.3. There was a mediating effect of online store image between independent variables (brand familiarity and social presence) and consumers'purchase intention in online srore.