Using rich media to motivate fair-trade purchase

Purpose The purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of using social media to increase knowledge about and motivate purchase behaviors of fair-trade products, focusing specifically on the influence of information format (media richness) and characteristics (information quality and quantity). Design/methodology/approach One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to test whether consumer responses differ based on the information format. Additionally, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to examine the relationship among constructs of the hierarchy of effects model. Findings Participants exposed to the video format (rich media) had higher scores on information quality, subjective knowledge and emotion than those exposed to the text only format (lean media). SEM results showed that both objective and subjective knowledge had significant influences on emotion and emotion, in turn, had a significant influence on purchase intentions. In addition, information quantity and quality had direct and significant effects on emotion. Originality/value This study focused on the crucial role of knowledge related to fair-trade products by distinguishing two different types: objective and subjective knowledge. Despite the growing body of literature concerning socially responsible consumer behavior (SRCB), there are very few studies that specifically examine the differential impact of objective and subjective knowledge on consumer behaviors. Furthermore, the original hierarchy of effects model does not include antecedents of the cognitive dimension. Because developing knowledge plays a key role in motivating SRCB, this study added characteristics of information to the model to examine their influence on knowledge level.