REPUTATIONAL THREATS IN PAKISTAN FASHION: NWOM, CRISIS, SOCIAL MEDIA; MEDIATING SATISFACTION, MODERATING TRUST

Abstract

The fashion industry of Pakistan is under rising reputational pressures that are magnified by digital platforms, but the processes by which reputational pressures are converted into a purchase behavior are under-researched. This research will look at the effect of Negative Word of Mouth (NWOM), Crisis Management (CM) and Social Media Engagement (SME) on Customer Purchase Intentions (CPI) both directly and indirectly through Customer Satisfaction (CS), with Consumer Trust (CT) as a moderating factor. A survey of 350 interviewees and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) indicate that CS completely mediates all three predictor-outcome relationships, and CT significantly moderates the CS-CPI relationship. The model attributes 63.6% of thevariance in CPI, which highlights the centrality of satisfaction and trust in forming purchase resilience in the changing fashion environment in Pakistan.