The Impact of Digital Advertising on Sports Product Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Brand Awareness

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of digital advertising on the purchase intention of sports products, with brand awareness as a mediating factor. The statistical population comprised all consumers of sports products in Zanjan city who had been exposed to online advertisements for these products at least once during the six months prior to data collection. The research method was correlational and falls under the category of applied research. The G-power software was utilized to estimate the statistical sample. The study sample consisted of 180 participants, selected through convenience sampling and surveyed using questionnaires. Three standardized questionnaires were employed: the Digital Advertising questionnaire by Logan et al. (2012), the Brand Awareness questionnaire by Yoo and Donthu (2001), and the Purchase Intention questionnaire by Dodds et al. (1991). The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by experts, and their reliability was established using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Structural equation modeling was applied at an alpha level of 0.05. Results indicate that digital advertising has a direct and significant effect on the purchase intention of sports products, with a path coefficient of 0.373. Furthermore, digital advertising demonstrates a strong and significant impact on brand awareness, with a path coefficient of 0.688. Brand awareness, as a mediating variable, exerts a positive and significant influence on the purchase intention of sports products, with a path coefficient of 0.380. These findings suggest that brand awareness plays an effective mediating role in the relationship between digital advertising and purchase intention. Based on the research outcomes, it can be concluded that digital advertising can influence the purchase intention of sports products both directly and indirectly through enhanced brand awareness.