Abstract
Social media has changed the marketing phenomenon, as firms use social media to inform, impress, and retain the existing consumers. Social media marketing empowers business firms to generate perceived brand equity activities and build the notion among consumers to continue using the firms’ products and services. The current exploratory study aimed to examine the effects of social media marketing activities on brand equity (brand awareness and brand image) and repurchase intention of high-tech products among Chinese consumers. The study used a cross-sectional design, and the final analysis was performed on 477 valid responses that were collected through an online survey. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis were performed. The obtained results revealed positive and significant effects of trendiness, interaction, and word of mouth on brand awareness. Customisation, trendiness, interaction, and word of mouth were found to positively affect brand image. Brand awareness and brand image were found to affect repurchase intention. The results of multilayer ANN analysis suggested trendiness as the most notable factor in developing brand awareness and brand image. Brand awareness was found to be an influential factor that nurtures repurchase intention. The study’s results confirmed the relevance of social media marketing activities in predicting brand equity and brand loyalty by repurchase intention. Marketing professionals need to concentrate on entertainment and customisation aspects of social media marketing that can help to achieve brand awareness and image. The limitations of study and future research opportunities are presented at the end of this article.
Highlights
By definition, social media encompass online applications, platforms, and media promoting interaction, collaboration, and content sharing among users [1]
Previous research efforts have detailed the role played by social media marketing activities (SMMA) to aid in creating value, enhancing brand awareness, and building customer relationships [23–25]
The obtained results of the analysis further revealed that brand image (β = -0.004, CI min = -0.022, CI max = 0.016, p > 0.05) insignificantly mediated the relationship between entertainment and repurchase intention
Summary
Social media encompass online applications, platforms, and media promoting interaction, collaboration, and content sharing among users [1]. Social media offer consumers a new platform for understanding a product and interacting with people anywhere globally to share product-related experiences [8, 9] This population is typically embedded with different awareness orientations before making a purchase decision, which can be divided into brand awareness and value awareness [10]. To compare: consumers having the brand awareness orientation perceive the brand as a symbol of credibility and prestige, whereas those with value awareness usually check and compare the prices and quality of different brands through social media to ensure a best-value purchase [11] To this end, many companies employ social media in carrying out low-cost and high-efficiency marketing activities for consumers [7, 12]. The research goal denotes filling the gaps identified in previous efforts, which include: (1) evaluating the effect of the components of SMMA (i.e., entertainment, customisation, trends, interaction, and word of mouth) on brand awareness and image; and (2) exploring the impact of SMMA on Chinese consumer repurchase intention through brand awareness and brand image of high-tech products
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