Media channels and consumer purchasing decisions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors determining which communication mediums influence a given consumer deciding to purchase a specific product. Design/methodology/approach – Using a consumer survey and a multivariate probit (MVP) model, the authors explore consumer information searches related to purchases in nine categories: milk, instant noodles, shampoo, mobile phones, televisions, cars, mobile communication services, credit card services, and life insurance. Findings – The media channels that motivate a given consumer to make a given purchase vary depending on both socio-demographic variables and product categories. Practical implications – As consumers can now obtain product information through different and multiple media channels according to their personal characteristics and the category of the product they seek to purchase, these findings will help com…