The effect of electronic word of mouth and brand image towards purchase intention in smartphone industry among students in Kota Samarahan / Irwan Shahrinaz Mohd Nahar

The purpose of this study is to investigate the purchase intention of students in Kota Samarahan and its association with electronic word of mouth and brand image, Also, this research aims to identify which of the independent variables (electronic word of mouth and brand image) provide more impact toward purchase intention.The data set is collected through selfLadministered questionnaire and convenient nonprobability random sampling method. A sample of 380 was collected from Kota Samarahan, Sarawak Malaysia. The findings revealed ghat there is a significant relationship between brand image and purchase intention but an opposite for electronic word of mouth. Based on the results, it can be said that brand image provide more impact toward purchase intention compared to electronic word of mouth.The findings of this study are limited by the number of respondents, area and location, and the absence of other methods to obtain the results other that secondary research and questionnaire. This study is more important for marketers to understand the consumer's smartphone purchase intention to be more competitive.