With the rapid development of social media in the last decade, consumers are able to share their purchase and use experiences online with other users (Henning-Thurau, Gwinner, Walsh, & Gremler, 2004). Research about the significance of user-generated content (UGC) increased; however, analysis about UGC on YouTube and how it influenced consumers future purchase intention were scarce. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between attitudes toward UGC on YouTube, the perceived credibility of UGC, and the factors that influence purchase intention of products being reviewed. This study aimed to answer the question whether differences existed between active and passive YouTube users' attitudes toward UGC and their purchase intentions. One hundred and seventy YouTube users completed the online survey, but the final sample size was decreased to 131, because the lie item test removed the respondents who did not read the questions carefully. The results showed that positive correlations between each variable were significant at alpha = .05 level. Active users and passive users not only held different attitudes toward UGC and different purchase intentions for the products being reviewed, but also the predictive power was varied. For active users, parasocial interaction explained the most variance of purchase intentions; however, user activity had the most predictive power for passive users' on their future buying behavior. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2015. / March 18, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references. / Brian Parker, Professor Directing Thesis; Juliann Cortese, Committee Member; Felecia Jordan, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253059 |
| Contributors | Wang, Cen (authoraut), Parker, Brian Thomas (professor directing thesis), Cortese, Juliann (committee member), Jordan Jackson, Felecia F. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), School of Communication (degree granting college), School of Communication (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (56 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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