Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
12th International Conference On Social Sciences, Amsterdam, Hollanda, 19 - 20 Mayıs 2017
In today’s digitalized word, it is inevitable that customers interact with each other and affect each other's
behavior. Therefore e-wom has become an important subject in digital marketing literature. The rise of the social
media has affected consumer behavior in a significant way and e-wom is one of the most captious elements
(Ng. et. al. 2015). Increasing competition, globalization, and digitalization have made e-wom a subject that both
academic literature and practitioners should take into account. As a member of a society, an individual has a
tendency to tell good or bad experiences, feelings and information to other individuals and this tendency is often
a natural necessity. Since individuals shape their purchase decisions according to the information and
experience they gained, word of mouth concept has become one of the most influential factor in forming attitudes
and behavior (Türker, 2014). Fashion has become an industry which is influenced by opinion leaders more than
magazines or designers and therefore it is accepted that those people have strenght to effect the perception of
a brand. Fashion brands take the advantage of visual influencers' network effects and therefore online visual
platforms have become another marketing channel for them. However the important point is to balance the
increased empowerment of customers to speak about the brand while at the same controlling the strategic brand
management purposes. (Wolny & Mueller,2013) As a consequence of having specific features such as having
short lifecycles and being dynamic, the fashion industry has become one of the influential communication
strategies that fashion brands place emphasis on. In this study, e-wom behavior of customers in the fashion
industry is explored from the perspective of personality traits. This study examines the impacts of personality
traits on customers’ e-wom and purchase behavior. Furthermore, the relationship between e-wom and purchase
behavior behavior in fashion industry was also examined. A survey was conducted to collect the data. Results
showed that there is a significant relationship between conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness and
advice seeking, and there is a significant relationship between conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness,
openness to experience and opinion giving and passing. Another result showed that all personality traits included
in the study except conscientiousness have a significant relationship with purchase behavior. Also, opinion
passing, opinion giving and passing have a significant relationship with purchase behavior. It is aimed that ewom
behavior is studied from a large perspective and thus, the study will have both academic and practical
suggestions.