Empirical Insights: Assessing Social Media Marketing Influence on Brand Image

Abstract

Need of the Study: Social media has become the method of working in the 21st century. Building on the foundation of Web 2.0, social media applications have facilitated unparalleled growth in human interaction in modern times. It is being regarded as one of the most important channels to convey information about brands to consumers. Social Media is a fundamental part of daily life of most people. It acts as a Communication Channel, an Engagement Tool and also as a Collaborative Platform (Kumar & Vasimalairaja, 2018). Despite the expanding significance of social media marketing, minimal research has investigated the impact of social media marketing on consumers’ brand image (Schulze et al., 2015). This study aims to fill this knowledge vacuum by putting out a theoretical framework for analysing how social media marketing factors affect brand image globally. It further aims to study the impact of social media marketing and brand image. Design/Methodology/Approach: The respondents were taken as sample that were above 17 years of age who had purchased products recommended by social media influencers for the past six months with reference to eye gear industry. Trendiness and Advertisement were chosen to measure the effectiveness of the construct social media marketing and behaviour and attitude were selected to measure the dependent variable brand image. Attitude scale was used to measure the brand image. Cross sectional research design and convenience sampling technique was used in the study. Questionnaire as an instrument was used to collect primary data from the sample. Correlation and regression techniques were implemented to test the hypothesis. Findings: The outcome of the study reveals the various benefits of social media marketing as well as the various factors that influence the consumer purchase intention. This study demonstrates a positive relationship among the constructs of our study i.e. social media marketing has a positive impact on brand image. Originality: The proposed framework stresses the positive relationships among constructs and offers research basis for expansion in other settings. Research Limitations/Implications: Other unexamined constructs may add to the explanation of building brands using social media platforms. The study only reveals the impact of social media marketing with reference to eye gear industry whereas the study can be conducted for various industries as well. Practical Implications: Practitioners might encounter ways to influence favourable perceptions and brand commitment when consumers use social media sites. Social Implications: This study reveals the functions of conventional marketing communications, such as social media advertising and promotional information, in strengthening brand preference and improving brand performance, providing brand managers and marketers with insights on how to utilise social media contents to improve consumer’s purchase intention.

Keywords: Social Media Marketing, Brand Image, Attitude, Behaviour

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