Technology-Driven Digital Marketing Strategies and their Impact on E-commerce Purchase Decisions

The rapid growth of internet penetration and digital platforms has transformed marketing practices in Indonesian Vocational Training Centers (LPKs). However, inconsistent outcomes in trainee recruitment highlight a gap in understanding the effectiveness of digital marketing in this context. This study aims to examine the effect of digital marketing on purchase intention, with consumer engagement as a mediator and consumer trust as a moderator. Data were collected from 384 trainees in East and West Java using online surveys and analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS 4.0). The structural model explained 62.1% of the variance in purchase intention (R² = 0.621). Digital marketing significantly influenced purchase intention (β = 0.455, p < 0.001), and consumer engagement partially mediated this relationship (β = 0.217, p < 0.001). In contrast, consumer trust did not moderate the relationship (β = 0.054, p = 0.055). These findings advance digital marketing system development in the education sector by highlighting the role of engagement-driven strategies over trust-building mechanisms during initial recruitment stages. The implications are aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 on industry, innovation, and infrastructure, suggesting that localized and technology-driven approaches are essential for strengthening LPK competitiveness and sustainable labor mobility.