Personal level antecedents of eWOM and purchase intention, on social networking sites Abdullah Alhidari, University of North Texas, USA* 1 Pramod Iyer, University of North Texas, USA Audhesh Paswan, University of North Texas, USA 1 Since writing this paper Abdullah Alhidari has moved to King Saud University, Saudi Arabia JOURNAL OF CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR, 2015, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp.107-125 http://dx.doi.org/10.1362/147539215X14373846805707 ISSN1475-3928 print /ISSN1477-6421 online © Westburn Publishers Ltd. *Correspondence details and biographies for the authors are located at the end of the article. JOURNAL OF CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR Abstract Social networking sites (SNS) have experienced a boom in the past few years in terms of usage, especially by the younger generation, and as an advertising medium. Firms are investing substantial resources to engage consumers through electronic word of mouth (eWOM), hoping to stimulate purchase intentions. This study seeks to identify key personal level antecedents (i.e., involvement, self-reliance, and risk-taking) to eWOM, and the relationship between eWOM and purchase intention on or influenced by SNS. Data was collected using a self-administered survey, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. Results of this study indicate that eWOM is positively associated with both involvement and risk-taking, but not with self- reliance. Self-reliance was also not associated with purchase intention. Further, eWOM mediates the relationship between involvement and purchase intentions on SNS. These findings have important implications for managers in the areas of social and content media strategy. Managers should identify risk-takers and get them engaged to spread eWOM to enhance purchase intentions. Keywords Social networking sites (SNS), eWOM, Facebook, Risk, SEM, Purchase intention Delivered by Publishing Technology to: Deakin University Library IP: 207.55.77.118 On: Sun, 27 Dec 2015 00:13:39