Understanding the Effect of Information Shared by Other Customers on Social Media on the Performance of Merchant Advertising: Why and How to Do

Many merchants are keen to boast of their products in advertisements. With the emergence of social media platforms, many consumers seek information shared by other users on those platforms to inform their purchasing decisions. However, existing research predominantly dwells on the influence of socia...

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Main Authors: Lili Su, Dong Hong Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-07-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251356076
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author Lili Su
Dong Hong Zhu
author_facet Lili Su
Dong Hong Zhu
author_sort Lili Su
collection DOAJ
description Many merchants are keen to boast of their products in advertisements. With the emergence of social media platforms, many consumers seek information shared by other users on those platforms to inform their purchasing decisions. However, existing research predominantly dwells on the influence of social media on consumer decision-making, and few studies have examined how advertising performance is influenced by information shared by other consumers on social media. Using restaurant advertisements as an example, this research investigates how the information shared by other consumers on social media affects merchants’ advertising performance with two studies, drawing upon the expectation confirmation theory. In Study 1, the proposed research model is tested with 220 effective data by using partial least squares technique. The results show that the confirmation level of expectation aroused by advertisement affects the perceived quality and satisfaction of consumers, which in turn affects their purchase behavior. In Study 2, an experiment of one-factor (advertising expression: very good vs. good vs. control condition) design with 120 participants is conducted. The results show that the expression of “good” enhances the desire to buy more than “very good.” The findings enrich the research on advertising performance by integrating the effect of social media information, expand the scope of the expectation confirmation theory, contribute novel knowledge to advertising language research, and hold implications for enterprise advertising strategies in the era of social media.
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spelling doaj-art-fabfa5e203c845148aa23a3a443eea982025-08-20T02:48:13ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402025-07-011510.1177/21582440251356076Understanding the Effect of Information Shared by Other Customers on Social Media on the Performance of Merchant Advertising: Why and How to DoLili Su0Dong Hong Zhu1Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Henan, ChinaHuazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, ChinaMany merchants are keen to boast of their products in advertisements. With the emergence of social media platforms, many consumers seek information shared by other users on those platforms to inform their purchasing decisions. However, existing research predominantly dwells on the influence of social media on consumer decision-making, and few studies have examined how advertising performance is influenced by information shared by other consumers on social media. Using restaurant advertisements as an example, this research investigates how the information shared by other consumers on social media affects merchants’ advertising performance with two studies, drawing upon the expectation confirmation theory. In Study 1, the proposed research model is tested with 220 effective data by using partial least squares technique. The results show that the confirmation level of expectation aroused by advertisement affects the perceived quality and satisfaction of consumers, which in turn affects their purchase behavior. In Study 2, an experiment of one-factor (advertising expression: very good vs. good vs. control condition) design with 120 participants is conducted. The results show that the expression of “good” enhances the desire to buy more than “very good.” The findings enrich the research on advertising performance by integrating the effect of social media information, expand the scope of the expectation confirmation theory, contribute novel knowledge to advertising language research, and hold implications for enterprise advertising strategies in the era of social media.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251356076
spellingShingle Lili Su
Dong Hong Zhu
Understanding the Effect of Information Shared by Other Customers on Social Media on the Performance of Merchant Advertising: Why and How to Do
SAGE Open
title Understanding the Effect of Information Shared by Other Customers on Social Media on the Performance of Merchant Advertising: Why and How to Do
title_full Understanding the Effect of Information Shared by Other Customers on Social Media on the Performance of Merchant Advertising: Why and How to Do
title_fullStr Understanding the Effect of Information Shared by Other Customers on Social Media on the Performance of Merchant Advertising: Why and How to Do
title_full_unstemmed Understanding the Effect of Information Shared by Other Customers on Social Media on the Performance of Merchant Advertising: Why and How to Do
title_short Understanding the Effect of Information Shared by Other Customers on Social Media on the Performance of Merchant Advertising: Why and How to Do
title_sort understanding the effect of information shared by other customers on social media on the performance of merchant advertising why and how to do
url https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251356076
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