Proposing a Model for Measuring Consumer Knowledge and Its Impact on Purchase Intention in the Electrical Industries

Abstract

This study presents a model for measuring consumer knowledge and its impact on purchase intention in the electrical industries. In terms of purpose, this research falls into the category of applied studies, and in terms of approach, it has an exploratory and explanatory nature. Given that this study is of a mixed, exploratory, and explanatory type, it was conducted in two qualitative and quantitative phases. In the first phase, using an inductive approach and qualitative methodology, content analysis and grounded theory based on the Strauss and Corbin approach were employed. Through this process, 28 components and 10 dimensions were identified within the framework of causal conditions, central conditions, contextual conditions, intervening conditions, strategies, and outcomes. Subsequently, the second phase was conducted using a quantitative approach, in which the identified dimensions and components were validated, ultimately confirming the conceptual model developed in the qualitative phase. The required data in the qualitative phase were collected through interviews with 12 experts and specialists in the fields of marketing and consumer behavior, selected using a purposive snowball sampling method. Additionally, in the quantitative phase, data were gathered through the distribution of a researcher-designed questionnaire among 114 managers and experts from home electrical appliance manufacturing companies, with the sample size determined using Cochran's formula. To test and explain the designed model, the structural equation modeling technique was applied using PLS software. The research findings indicated that customer knowledge, along with individual characteristics, acts as a causal factor influencing customers' behavioral tendencies. Behavioral tendencies, in turn, affect purchase decision-making. Moreover, marketing factors serve as contextual conditions impacting the examined phenomenon (purchase intention). Additionally, environmental factors and the internal capabilities of the company function as intervening conditions that significantly influence consumers' purchase intentions in the electrical industries, ultimately creating added value for both companies and customers. Overall, the findings of this study demonstrated that customers' behavioral tendencies are strongly influenced by their knowledge of the electrical industries and products.