The impact of inbound marketing practices on the young consumer’s purchase and word-of-mouth intention

Purpose This study aims to propose a formalized organization of inbound marketing using the theory of planned behavior as a theoretical framework to investigate the simultaneous impact of a company’s key fundamental inbound marketing practices on its marketing performance, specifically shedding light on the young consumer’s market. Design/methodology/approach This study used a 2 (visibility management [VM]: high vs low) × 2 (active listening [AL]: high vs low) × 2 (community building [CB]: high vs low) between-subject design with controls for age, gender, ethnicity and frequency of the use of online search for selecting restaurants. A sample of 239 young consumer undergraduate students from US universities participated in the study. The data were analyzed through structural equation modeling via partial least squares and analysis of variance. Findings The results revealed that AL had the largest effect on both purchase intention (PI) and word-of-mouth (WOM) intention among young consumers, followed by CB and then VM. Consumer WOM intention was found to be a significant and very important mediator of the effect of perceived VM, AL and CB on consumer PI, even fully mediating their effect in some cases. Originality/value This research contributes to the academic literature by developing and empirically testing a theoretical framework that could lead to better comprehension, explanation and prediction of the effectiveness of these new tools on the younger consumer market. It also offers valuable insights for marketers interested in understanding how inbound marketing initiatives and the use of electronic social communication tools affect consumer behavior among the youth.