The Impact of User – Generated Content (UGC) on Product Reviews towards Online Purchasing – A Conceptual Framework

Social media is a virtual community that links people around the globe through many websites such as Friendster, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. In 2010, Instagram was introduced as a new addition to this social media family. Since then, many online retailers have started to conduct their businesses on Instagram as they see this new social media as a friendlier channel and easier to monitor compared to Facebook and Blogs. Many buyers would also prefer to purchase from Instagram as well due to less cluttered page, straightforward interface and easier to read feedbacks from other buyers. Feedbacks or also known as User – Generated Content (UGC) happens when previous buyers share their experiences online, which allows others including the potential buyers to read. Based on an extensive literature review, this paper proposes a framework to investigate the influence of UGC on consumer's online product purchase intention. Findings from this study are expected to extend the literature on UGC and give benefits to marketers and online business operators.