The perceived trustworthiness of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on attitude towards dietary supplements, purchase intention and behaviour for dietary supplements amongst female adolescents in Saudi Arabia

Social networking sites (SNS) such as MySpace, Twitter and Facebook provide effective communication platforms that influence the purchase behaviour of brands for many age groups particularly adolescents. These platforms offer boards of online engagement by user-generated content to share, like and exchange their experience and opinions through electronic word of mouth (eWOM). The aim of this study is to investigate perceived trustworthiness of eWOM dimensions; volume, valence and perceived source expertise of eWOM influence on attitude, purchase intention and purchase behaviour towards dietary supplements amongst Saudi female adolescents. Due to rapid socio-economic changes in Saudi Arabia (SA), healthy food intake was replaced by high-calorie diet and sedentary behaviour. The proposed model for this study investigates purchase behaviour in social media by using the three dimensions of perceived trustworthiness of eWOM.
The sample size was 1,027, and a non-probability sampling technique was adopted. The targeted population ranged from 11-19 years old. The covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) were performed by using AMOS software.
The findings reveal that the perceived trustworthiness of eWOM dimensions show a significant influence on attitude, purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour towards dietary supplements. Interestingly, the perceived body image and time spent on social media do not moderate the relationship between the perceived trustworthiness of eWOM and attitude towards dietary supplements.
This study contributes to marketers’ strategy implementation through cooperation with social influencers. In food marketing, labelling should be provided including nutritional facts and re-branding healthy food. Moreover, Policy makers should seriously consider banning fast food from schools and initiating social marketing campaigns. In order to control use of dietary supplements, it should be by prescription only and risk assessments should be introduced as well.