Impact of brands' Facebook page characteristics and followers' comments on trust building and purchase intention: Alternative attractiveness as moderator

Abstract Drawing on signaling theory, this research aims to examine the impact of brands' Facebook page characteristics (information variety, information currency, and responsiveness) and followers' comments on building trust and its consequent effect on purchase intention by considering attractiveness of alternatives as a moderator. Data were obtained from 396 brands' Facebook page followers in Malaysia using an online survey and analyzed using the partial least squares technique. The results indicated that a brand's Facebook page information variety and information currency significantly affect trust in that brand. Additionally, responsiveness and followers' positive comments on the Facebook page were found to have a significant influence on both trust in brand and trust in product. Furthermore, both trust in brand and trust in product were significantly related to intention to purchase. Our results revealed that alternative attractiveness negatively moderates the influence of trust on purchase intention. The findings extend the literature by illustrating that (i) the influence of customer‐generated information on trust is higher than the influence of company‐generated information; (ii) the determinants and impacts of trust in brand and trust in product are different; and (iii) existence of attractive alternatives may offset the impact of trust in brand on purchase intention. The findings are useful for brand managers and enable them to influence customers' trust through successful management of brands' Facebook fan pages.