Communication Consistency Across Digital Touchpoints And Its Impact On Purchase Intention

Abstract

Expanding the digital platforms has altered the nature of the interaction between the brand and the consumer and made consistency in communication across the various digital touch points very significant. This study has analysed how communication consistency influences brand trust and consequently the purchase intention. Based on the Integrated Marketing communications theory, signalling theory and commitment-trust theory, the study formulated a parsimonious model whereby communication consistency increases the brand trust that then leads to the purchase intention increase. Here, a cross-sectional survey was carried out, although quantitative, in a sample of 198 consumers who had addressed a brand using at least two digital channels before making a purchase decision. The analyses were performed on data with descriptive statistics, analysis of reliability, correlation analysis, and simple linear regression. The results obtained showed that there was high consistency in communication in terms of effects, and that the brand trust was consistently predicted by the purchase intention. The findings emphasise the strategic importance of congruent messaging in the digital platforms in its effort to build consumer trust and purchase behaviour. The study makes a contribution to the digital marketing and omnichannel literature by elucidating the psychological process of connecting the communication strategy to the behavioural intention with the help of trust. Managerially, it can be implied that the initial step of organizations should be the alignment of the messages in the digital channels to boost consumer confidence and enhance marketing effectiveness.