The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Purchase Intention of Connected Consumers: A Study Based on Natural Ingredient-Based Personal Care Products

Personal Care has become a daily ritual for most individual’s world-over. With this widespread flair towards personal grooming, the search for natural remedies and natural ingredient-based products for personal care has also grown due to the health-conscious nature of most consumers. Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of social media marketing on the purchase intention of connected consumers towards natural ingredient based personal care products. Furthermore, ‘Perceived Trust’ is positioned as a mediator within the context of this study to enhance the understanding of whether perceived trust contributes to mediate the relationship between ‘Social Media Marketing’ and ‘Purchase Intention’. The 469 responses collected from Colombo and Gampaha districts using a structured questionnaire were analysed using SPSS to conclude that social media marketing directly has a significant positive impact on purchase intention while perceived trust mediates the relationship between ‘Social Media Marketing’ and ‘Purchase Intention’. The researcher was also able to confirm the significant positive impact of social media marketing on perceived trust as well as the significant positive impact of perceived trust on purchase intention and that social media marketing has a greater impact on the purchase intention than it does on the perceived trust.