Cultural echoes in e-WOM: the role of self-presentation in brand agility perception

Abstract

This study seeks to expand the current understanding of perceived social media agility (PSMA) within the dynamic capabilities perspective by exploring its influence on positive electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) across culturally diverse settings. Specifically, it examines how cultural orientation (collectivist versus individualistic) and self-presentation behaviors moderate the relationship between PSMA and positive e-WOM. Three experimental studies were conducted using online adult samples to test the research hypotheses. Studies 1 and 2 utilized a cross-national design with participants drawn from Türkiye (representing a collectivist culture) and the United Kingdom (representing an individualistic culture). In these studies, standard linear regression was used to evaluate the primary baseline relationship, while the PROCESS macro in SPSS (Models 1 and 3) was employed to test moderation and moderated moderation structures, exploring the conditional effects and interaction patterns among PSMA, self-presentation, and cultural context. Additionally, a post hoc analysis was performed to validate the use of nationality as a proxy for cultural orientation. Finally, Study 3 was conducted within a single-country framework (the United Kingdom) to rigorously evaluate and replicate the model at the individual psychographic level, utilizing a refined experimental design, an alternative operationalization of PSMA, and an individual-level measure of collectivism. The findings across all three studies demonstrate that PSMA consistently and significantly enhances consumers' intentions to engage in positive e-WOM. In the cross-national framework (Studies 1 and 2), this main effect is heavily conditioned by cultural context and self-presentation tendencies. Specifically, the positive impact of PSMA on e-WOM is greater for Turkish participants than for UK participants, and a significant three-way interaction reveals that self-presentation behaviors play a more pronounced moderating role for UK consumers. Crucially, the single-country framework of Study 3 successfully replicates this cultural boundary condition at the micro-psychological level within an individualistic market, revealing a statistically significant interaction between brand agility and individual-level collectivism. Johnson-Neyman threshold analysis further demonstrates that even within an individualistic society, the positive returns of brand agility are significantly unlocked and amplified once a consumer's individual collectivism score crosses a critical activation baseline. This research advances the literature on social media agility by positioning PSMA within the dynamic capabilities perspective, incorporating a psychological perspective through the lens of self-presentation, and addressing the scarcity of cross-cultural comparative studies through an explicit integration of cultural analysis. It offers a multilayered, cross-level framework that highlights culture not merely as contextual background, but as a central interpretive lens through which consumers understand and evaluate agile brand behavior on social media. In this way, the study provides robust multi-method validation demonstrating how both macro-level national culture and micro-level individual cultural traits systematically shape consumers' engagement with agile brands.