Affiliate Marketing and Buying Behaviour of Products Online Among Students of Faculty of Management Sciences, Akwa Ibom State University, Nigeria

This study examine the effect of affiliate marketing on buying behaviour of products online among students of Faculty of Management Sciences, Akwa Ibom State University, Nigeria. The cross-sectional survey research design was used to obtain the primary data for the study. The target population of this study comprised all the undergraduate students in the Faculty of Management Sciences, Akwa Ibom State University, who were familiar with affiliate marketing and actively purchased product online. The sample size of 500 undergraduate students in the Faculty of Management Sciences, Akwa Ibom State University, was selected using a stratified and purposive sampling techniques based on the academic faculties. Hypotheses were tested using simple linear regression model at 0.05 level of significance with p<0.05 indicating statistical significance. Data analyses were enhanced using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. The simple linear regression results revealed that there is a positive significant effect of affiliate marketing-trust, media exposure, and social influence on buying behaviour of products online among students of Faculty of Management Sciences, Akwa Ibom State University. It was concluded that affiliate marketing plays a crucial role in shaping and influencing consumer buying behaviour. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that the business operators should build trust through consistent communication of up to date relevant information online about their products to enhance engagement of actual and potential customers.

Keywords: Affiliate marketing, Trust, Media exposure, Social influence, Consumer buying Behaviour.