How trust leads to online purchase intention founded in perceived usefulness and peer communication

Abstract This study seeks to understand the specific factors on social media that help drive the intention to purchase fashion‐related products, focusing on the central role of trust. The unique contribution of this research lies in its exploration of the interplay between perceived usefulness of the fashion brand's social media and peer communication on the fashion brand's social media in driving trust in the fashion brand's social media and, ultimately, purchase intention. Theoretically, we combine the technology acceptance model and consumer socialisation theory to explore the mediating role of trust in a rapidly expanding and growing industry sector. In surveying 150 Europeans to test our hypotheses around the aforementioned concepts, findings show that the perceived usefulness of a brand's social media is impacted by a set of atmospheric cues, and it influences the level of trust in both the fashion brand and its social media channels. Peer communication also influences perceived usefulness and level of trust in both the fashion brand and its social media channels. Trust in the brand but not its social media channels impacts purchase intention. The role of privacy concerns is limited in our model. We draw implications for theory around combining consumer socialisation theory and the technology acceptance model and for managers around parallel strategies to build different sets of trust on social media.