The Role of Brand Image in Mediating the Effect of Electronic Word Of Mouth (Ewom) and Brand Ambassadors on Purchase Intention (Study of E-Commerce Customers in Medan City)

Abstract

The increasing use of the internet has led to the phenomenon of using electronic word of mouth (Ewom), and brand ambassadors as a marketing strategy to increase interest in buying products. This study aims to determine whether there isan effect of electronic word of mouth (Ewom) and brand ambassador on purchaseintention mediated by brand image. This research is a quantitative associative research. The sample in this study was taken using a nonprobability sampling method using incidental sampling. The number of samples used is as many as 100respondents who use e-commerce tokopedia, shopee, Bukalapak, and Lazada. The data obtained were analyzed using the PLS (Partial Least Square) analysis technique through the Smart PLS software with WarpPLS 3.0. The results of this study indicate that there is a positive and significant effect of Ewom' s influence onpurchase intention, but brand image does not play a role in mediating Ewom's influence on purchase intention. Meanwhile, brand ambassadors have nosignificant effect on purchase intention, but brand image plays a significant role inmediating the influence of brand ambassadors on purchase intention..