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1. Introduction
Marketers use multiple online media to cultivate brand value and build brand assets (Nadeem et al., 2015). Shifting from multiple media, marketers take advantage of online media to optimize reach and exposure frequency to affect consumers, interact and dialog with them, and direct consumers’ attention toward the synergistic effect of online media (Assael, 2011). Studies on integrated marketing communications have generated extensive discussions about how the synergistic effect of multiple media induces consumers’ decision to purchase (Lim et al., 2015; Lin et al., 2013; Vandeberg et al., 2015). Given that online media exerts a significant effect on consumers, marketers should increasingly cater for consumers who are online multimedia users (Pantano and Viassone, 2015).
Online media include online banner advertising, search advertising, company/brand websites, company/brand blogs, posts in online communities or social networks, and online ratings and reviews (Stephen and Galak, 2012). There are two types of online marketing communications available to consumers (Srivastava, 2013; Zhang et al., 2015). The first is traditional online media, mainly in the form of banner advertisement and online video, often referred to as “online broadcast media” (OBM). The second type is in the form of social media, such as blogs, micro blogs and social network services (SNS), together referred to as “online interactive media” (OIM). OBM have characteristics that include the following: I speak and you listen; one to many; online paid media; and online owned media (company/brand website) (Stephen and Galak, 2012). On the other hand, OIM have the following characteristics: we speak, we listen and we respond; one to one; online earned media; and online owned media (posts in online communities or social networks) (Stephen and Galak, 2012).
Despite the growth of OIM (e.g. SNS and online communities), most online media synergy studies have focused on OBM (online banner advertising, online video and corporate websites) (Lim et al., 2015; Vandeberg et al., 2015; Voorveld, 2011; Wakolbinger et al., 2009). Few studies have addressed OIM, nor has much scholarly attention been devoted to the influence mechanism of online media synergy on consumers’ purchasing behavior (Assael, 2011). Researchers and marketers are interested in the relationship between online media synergy and consumers’ purchasing decision but do not fully understand why and...