Does Affinity Country Really Matter? Re-examining The Effect Of Consumer Affinity On Consumer Purchase Intention

Abstract

Extant research shows that regularly consumer affinity has an important role and a positive effect on purchase intentions of products made in affinity countries. This study aims to re-examine the effect of consumer affinity on purchase intention by involving product trust as a mediating variable. By involving 311 respondents, the data collected was then processed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method to evaluate the effect of consumer affinity and product trust on purchase intention. The results of this study reveal that consumer affinity has a negative effect on purchase intention but has a positive effect on product trust. Meanwhile, product trust has a direct and positive effect on purchase intention. This study also examines the indirect effect of consumer affinity on purchase intention through product trust and the results show that product trust is proven to mediate the effect of consumer affinity on purchase intention.