THE INFLUENCE OF ELECTRONIC WORD-OF-MOUTH (e-WOM) ON THE PURCHASE INTENTION OF YOUNG WOMEN TOWARDS MALAYSIAN BRANDS COSMETICS

The rising popularity of social media has made the Internet a prevalent platform for communication, and this has gained electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) a new dimension. This research attempts to answer the question on the factors that influence ,. consumers' acceptance of the e-WOM, which brings to their purchase intention towards Malaysian cosmetics. A number of 200 sets of questionnaire have been distributed and the data obtained are analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Pearson's Correlation Analysis revealed that there is a significant correlation between argument quality and information usefulness, source credibility and information usefulness, information usefulness and information adoption, and between information adoption with purchase intention. In addition, Multiple Linear Regression showed a strong and significant relationship between argument quality and information usefulness, and source credibility with information usefulness. The same manner of results is also shown by the subsequent Simple Linear Regression analysis, which proved that information usefulness has a strong and significant relationship with information adoption, as is information adoption with purchase intention. Overall findings have proven that all the hypotheses are accepted. The results of this study shou Id be able to contribute to both researchers and business practitioners