Satisfaction on the Driving Seat: Exploring the Influence of Social Media Marketing Activities on Followers’ Purchase Intention in the Restaurant Industry Context

Abstract

Recently, social media marketing has become an effective tool for restaurants to gain visibility, increase customer engagement, and boost sales. Through social media marketing activities (SMMAs) including customization (CUST), entertainment (ENTR), trendiness (TRND), and interaction (INTR), restaurants can connect with their customers in a dynamic way that may affect their satisfaction and purchasing behavioral intention. Hence, this study primarily aims to empirically explore the individual influence of SMMAs namely CUST, ENTR, TRND, and INTR on social media followers’ satisfaction and purchase intention in a sample of casual-dining restaurants in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model, we also seek to investigate the influence of customer satisfaction as a mediating variable in the relationship between CUST-PI, ENTR-PI, TRND-PI, and INTR-PI. Furthermore, to examine the direct influence of CS on PI. In order to meet these objectives, an online survey was created to collect data from a convenience sample of restaurant social media followers. Data from 415 followers were analyzed using the PLS-SEM with a bootstrapping technique to confirm the research hypotheses. The findings of the study illustrated the significant positive effect of CUST, ENTR, and INTR on followers’ purchase intention, respectively. Trendy social media marketing activities did not significantly affect purchase intention. Additionally, CS partially mediated the relationships between CUST, ENTR, INTR, and PI but fully mediated the trendiness-purchase intention relationship. The results from this research can assist restaurant operators to leverage the benefits of social media more effectively by understanding how SMMAs influence customers’ purchase intentions and enhancing their understanding of how customer satisfaction can be used to capitalize on the benefits of social media.