NAVIGATING CONSUMER PURCHASE INTENTIONS: ASSESSING THE INFLUENCE OF FACEBOOK FEATURES IN THE POST-COVID-19 ERA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33736/ijbs.14461.2026Keywords:
Online shopping, Social-media platform, Facebook features, Purchase intention, Post COVID-19Abstract
In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak changed consumers’ traditional buying behaviour to online shopping behaviour using social media platforms that provide online shopping features such as Facebook. Due to the shift in purchasing methods, most businesses and companies were forced to change their strategies in approaching customers. Even though several studies have proven that Facebook features positively affect consumers’ purchase intention, existing empirical evidence is largely grounded in the pre-COVID-19 context, leaving uncertainty regarding whether these relationships remain valid in the post-pandemic digital environment. Addressing this gap, the present study offers novel post-COVID empirical evidence by reassessing the effectiveness of key Facebook features and advancing theoretical understanding through the combined application of Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) and Social Influence Theory (SIT). Therefore, the main objectives of this research were to identify the impact of Facebook ads, the number of likes, the
sharing feature, and friends’ recommendations on consumers’ purchase intention in the post-COVID-19 context. The study employed a quantitative approach comprising a survey. Data were collected via a questionnaire involving 400 respondents from the three largest divisions in Sarawak; Kuching, Miri, and Sibu. By integrating UGT and SIT, this study explains how functional media gratifications and social influence mechanisms jointly shape consumer purchase intention in a post-crisis digital marketplace. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze respondents’ characteristics, and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 27.0 was employed to examine relationships among the study variables. The results indicate that Facebook ads, number of likes, and friends’ recommendations have a significant and positive relationship with consumers’ purchase intention, while the sharing feature shows a negative relationship. These findings provide new theoretical insights into changing consumer responses to social media features after COVID-19 and offer practical guidance for businesses and policymakers seeking to optimize post-pandemic digital marketing strategies.
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