Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics

15

Authors: Nicolas HAMELIN, Kabir MANDREKAR, Talha HARCAR

In an unprecedented event, the current ruling party of India – the BJP - won the UP election in 2017 after 15 years of domination by the Congress. In 2016, when all the pollsters and pundits statistically analyzed the ongoing election for US Presidency and predicted a Hillary Clinton victory, they all got it wrong. While the results seem miraculous in the eyes of the experts, the careful strategy executed by the political campaigners of all these parties involved a unique process of market segmentation, but more importantly, an effective manipulation of social media that was strong enough to change voting behavior. In this research we conducted a study that mimicked a social media political campaign of three Indian political parties and measured the effect of positive and negative fake news on the voting intention of the Indian millennial. We submitted the participants to a series or positive or negative news – all fabricated – about 3 main Indian political figures, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Narendra Modi, while monitoring their subconscious emotional state. The results were stunning. We found that a mere 60 seconds was enough to heighten the participant emotional state and significantly alter participant perception and ratings about these politicians.

17

Authors: Sakshi SHARMA, Maninder SINGH

The aim of present study endeavors to uncover the dimensions of brand selection in buying of personal care products. The results confirmed four dimensions of brand selection for each studied product i.e. shampoo (Variety and Value Seeking, Functionality-Hair Care, Brand Adherence and Habitual Selection), toilet soap (Value & Variety Seeking, Functionality, Significance of Image and Time and Friend’s Influence) and toothpaste (Functionality-Oral Care, Value Seeking, Outer Directed Brand Adherence and Parental Influence). Another important finding of this study is that dimensions of brand selections have significant gender differences. Interestingly, this study shows that males are found to be more variety, value and functionality seekers in buying of personal care products as compared to their counterparts. Females are found to be more brands adhered and influenced by friend and parents. The paper offers insights that the variety and value seeking brand selection dimensions are highly strong brand selection dimensions for all studied products. As personal care products buyers have shown great interest in variety and value seeking, the study suggests that promotional efforts like sales promotions and advertising can play a vital role in marketeering of these products for a new entrant as well as for established marketers.

27

Authors: Mersid POTURAK, Sumeja SOFTIĆ

Social media is forming an increasingly central part of how companies communicate their marketing strategies to their customers. This study aims to provide an empirical analysis of the impact social media communication has on brand equity and purchase intention using linear regression. Before conducting the analysis, a systematic literature review has been carried out in order to understand how the dimensions of social media create word of mouth i.e. electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on social media platforms and how this e-WOM further influences brand equity and customers’ purchase intention of domestic brands in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 300 data sets were collected through a standardized online survey and analyzed in SPSS with the conclusion that all the constructs identified in this research have a significantly high correlation and impact on a customer’s decision to buy a domestic product The results of the empirical study showed that both firmcreated and user-generated social media communication influence brand equity which creates of a fully mediated effect between e-WOM and the purchase intention.