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The Role of Social Media Marketing and Brand Consciousness in Building Brand
Loyalty

Article · August 2018

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The Role of Social Media Marketing and Brand Consciousness in Building Brand Loyalty

Qazi Mohammed Ahmed1, Muhammad Mustafa Raziq2 and Shahid Ahmed3

Abstract
The upcoming expansions in the field of information technologies (IT) have infused an influential
impact on the basic marketing practices of businesses and the consumer engagement methodologies. The
evolution of social media has provided massive opportunities for the dynamic businesses of today to
collaborate and develop strong networks with their target customers. The research talks about the role of
social media marketing and brand consciousness in building consumers’ brand loyalty. It is an empirical
investigation in which a structured questionnaire was distributed among 320 respondents through
convenience sampling. Data was analyzed using the SPSS version 23 examining the reliability, correlation
and regression results of the study. The findings showed that a) There is a positive relationship between
social media marketing and brand loyalty; b) brand consciousness has a positive impact on brand loyalty.
The study provided valuable recommendations for the marketers and policy makers in developing engaging
social media contents over brand communities that is different and more innovative from traditional
advertising channels. Although the research study faced limited resources and time constraints, the
quantitative model proposed additional moderating variables to be tested and focused on the need for a
longitudinal study for greater precision and attaining pragmatic consumer insights. Overall, the proposed
research portrays that active presence of brands on social media not only helps in establishing strong
relationships with consumers but also in building brand loyalty.

Keywords: Social Media Marketing, Brand Consciousness, Brand Loyalty, Advertising

1. Introduction
Social media has become a way of life and is considered as a mainstream communication podium
which connects and facilitates one third of the world’s population (Nelson-Field & Taylor, 2012). It is defined
as a “group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of
Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content” (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010,
p. 61). Social media builds new foundations of information that is effectively created, originated,
disseminated and applied by a typical consumer’s intent on informing each other about the upcoming
products, services, brands & personalities (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). The communication budgets are
being readapted as the modern marketers move from traditional to digital mediums where social media
marketing (SMM) is paving it way.

Facebook is by far the most popular medium reaching more than 1 billion consumers while
connecting more than 15 million brands globally (Koetsier, 2013; Rageh, 2017) . The number of total active
Pakistani users on Facebook, have crossed the landmark of 25 Million with its two third majority under the
age of 24 and below (SoicialBakers, 2016). Social media has turned into an approach, an attitude for the
Pakistani netizens4 especially the youth. More than 80% spend an hour online daily with an average
session crossing five minutes. After the official unblocking of YouTube in February 2015, it has become the
most popular content community site (video portal) followed by dailymotion.com and tune.pk. Instagram
and Twitter record one of the highest hits per day by the highly emotional yet energetic youth of Pakistan
(InternetWorldStats, 2016; SocialBakers, 2016).

The key word in social media marketing (SMM), social media advertising (SMA) or social
networking is ‘social’. As long as a set of target audience is responding and contributing to a company’s
social media activities, there are greater chances of positive consumer attitudes and purchase intentions.

1 PhD Scholar, Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Islamabad. [email protected]

2 Assistant Professor, Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Islamabad. [email protected]
3 MBA student, Department of Management Sciences, Bahria University, Islamabad. [email protected]

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The power of social media also provides opportunities for digital advertisers to track consumer information
based on his or her following of brand pages (brand loyalty) and his personal interaction with others,
through likes, comments & reviews. Consumers on the other hand turn can turn out to be brand conscious
considering them as symbols of status and prestige when exposed to digital adverts. Businesses now are
joining social media to target the highly brand conscious and loyal consumers by executing low cost
integrated marketing activities (Rageh, 2017).

Social media is now being used as a marketing tool to attain strategic objectives including
marketing research, publicity and branding (Thoring, 2011). The dynamic companies of today have made
the best use of social media to augment their reach, the two questions that remain unanswered are: How
social media marketing (SMM) activities can develop brand loyalty and what is the impact of brand
consciousness on the brand loyalty of the consumers using the social media. The current study attempts
to fulfill this gap by constituting a conceptual model that empirically tests the associations between brand
consciousness & social media marketing (predictor variables) on brand loyalty (predicted variable). The
next section provides the conceptual development and hypotheses. Furthermore, the methodology
accompanied by the empirical results would be presented. Finally, discussion, implications, limitations and
conclusions from the study are presented.

2. Conceptual Development and Hypotheses

2.1 Social Media Marketing and Brand Loyalty
Social media marketing (SMM) involves methods pertaining to direct and indirect marketing to
generate consumer awareness, recognition and recall for a product, person or a brand being executed
through web tools of social networking, content dissemination and microblogging (Gunelius, 2011). In
simpler terms, it is referred to as a practice of advertising done online, that makes use of the ethnic
characteristics of a society, in the form of social networks (Facebook & YouTube), virtual networks (Second
Life) and opinion oriented sites (Eopinions) to accomplish strategic marketing objectives (Tuten, 2008, p.
19). It has the ability to convert consumers into marketers and advertisers who have the tendency to
formulate, edit and disseminate online information pertaining to products, services and brands.

Brand loyalty is a positive feeling shown by the customers towards a brand and a strong dedication
to make efforts in purchasing the products/services of the same brand over the time repeatedly, despite of
the competitors’ offers or any change in the overall business environment (Liu, 2007). Pettinger (2012)
defines brand loyalty as a process where consumers show strong preference for a particular brand and its
products against other brands. There are different approaches presented by the researchers relating to
brand loyalty, confirming the evolution of loyalty over the period of time. This evolution involves different
interpretations regarding brand loyalty and its dimensions. Behavioral loyalty theories were the earliest in
the field and dominated until 1970s. Behavioral theories presented loyalty as a share of total purchases,
purchase frequency or purchase probability. These researches saw brand loyalty in term of results or
repeated purchase behaviors rather than reasons behind it (TaghiPourian & Bakhsh, 2015).

Social media marketing (SMM) is based on a two-way communication where consumers participate
actively as compared to the traditional marketing methods where consumers are passive. In simpler terms,
it is more about relationships marketing where firms opt for ‘making connections’ rather than ‘trying to sell’
(Gordhamer, 2009). Marketers need to be sincerer with their customers in communications through social
media and try to show the true image of the brand rather than exploiting and manipulating, as consumers
on social media now possess greater knowledge and power. They may be money rich but time poor,
therefore brands should be within the reach and available on every possible social media platform such as
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogs and Virtual Forums/Communities (Gordhamer, 2009).

Initially it seemed to be quite difficult for the marketers to engage with every single consumer online
and respond to their expectations and hence brand communities were introduced to make this job easier
for the marketers. A brand community in its true sense, depicts a structured set of social relationships
exhibited by brand loyalists through their liking and following for specific brands(Muniz & O'guinn, 2001). It
is created by establishing a profile on a social network or by producing a self-generated brand community.
These communities bridge communications not only between consumers and brands but also amidst
consumers themselves as they get the opportunity to view, like and comment on each other’s messages

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(Phan, Thomas, & Heine, 2011). Hence these brand pages promoted through Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Snap Chat & YouTube play a vital role in developing a one-to-one relationship with the
customers and strengthening their brand loyalty.

Consumers have their own motivations, psychological and social needs for joining brand
communities (Elliott & Wattanasuwan, 1998). Consumers join such brand communities because they want
to be identified with the image and reputation of those particular brands to fulfill their social needs.
Consumers search for signs and symbols in brand communities over the social media and join them to
interpret who they really want to be and how they want others to identify them (Grayson & Martinec, 2004).
Schembri, Merrilees, and Kristiansen (2010) assert that consumers find it aspirational to be identified with
brand signs and symbols. Signs and logos of brands such as Ferrari and BMW have symbolic meaning for
the consumers and they consider them as part of their personality.

Brand communities are not just communication channels but also provide valuable information to
the companies. Von Hippel (2005) insists that customers within online brand communities can provide
brands with innovative ideas and what changes they want in products and services. This builds, strengthens
and nourishes brand loyalty and allows consumers to become the co-creators of the firm’s
products/services. Following similar trends, companies like Dell and Cisco have gone further by
transforming their customers and suppliers into members of corporate communities (Chaffey & Smith,
2008). The branding literature also reflects that companies are able to reinforce brand loyalty by
strengthening their consumer-brand relationship (Aaker, 1996; Kotler & Keller, 2009). These valuable
relationships provide added benefits to the consumers in the form of better prices and improved
product/service quality. This in turn raises customer satisfaction and builds brand loyalty through brand
communities (M. R. Lee, Yen, & Hsiao, 2014; Rageh, 2017).

There is no doubt in saying that social media has now become a nucleus for the marketers in
promoting their brands. This social media based communication has facilitated the consumers by providing
relevant and updated information with a minimum effort (Laroche, Habibi, & Richard, 2013). Moreover, it
has provided opportunities for them to voice their pleasure/displeasure with a greater reach. If a consumer
is able to respond positively towards a branded content promoted through social media, a relationship is
gradually established with the company and a strong customer-brand relationship ultimately leads to a
healthier brand loyalty (Fournier, 1998). As the communication from the brand is strengthened, the level of
brand loyalty gets stronger (Merisavo & Raulas, 2004; Rageh, 2017) . So, based on the above arguments
provided, we hypothesize that:

H1: Social media marketing activities exert a significant positive effect on brand loyalty.

2.2 Brand Consciousness & Brand Loyalty

According to Sprotles and Kendall (1986), brand consciousness is the mental orientation of the
consumers to go for the products of a brand that is well known and highly advertised. Consumers having a
high brand consciousness for a brand believe that the strong brand name and brand image stand for good
quality. Due to this high brand consciousness, the consumers are willing to pay premium prices for this
particular brand and its products (Shim & Kotsiopulos, 1992). They even express personal characteristics
and preferences by choosing a particular brand (Manrai, Lascu, Manrai, & Babb, 2001).

Lachance, Beaudoin, and Robitaille (2003) presented that the level of brand consciousness varies
among different consumers. Furthermore, brand consciousness is related to the consumers’ socialization
processes in consumption behaviors and different cultural settings. Consumers with high level of brand
consciousness are more likely to buy well known and expensive brands’ products which signals their brand
loyalty (Liao & Wang, 2009). Their brand loyalty reaffirms their complete belief in the quality of the product
and its ability to exceed their expectations.

Consumers possessing higher brand consciousness consider brands as mere symbols of higher
status (Escalas & Bettman, 2005). Phau and Teah (2009) went further and propagated that consumers gain
self confidence in building their own self-identity through brands and feel pride in portraying such identity
to others. Such consumers are willing to pay higher prices for well-known brands due to its cult following.

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Hofstede (2003) supported the work of Escalas and Bettman (2005) and stated that the level of brand
consciousness will be higher in those consumers who consider social status and prestige as important and
relate them with the well-known brands. Keeping it simpler, brand consciousness is not just about having
brand knowledge and brand awareness or choosing one brand over another. Rather, brand consciousness
is a belief that a particular brand has unique image and value in the eyes of consumers (Rageh, 2017).
Consumers pay higher prices for the brands that match their self-identity. They want others to identify them
by looking at the brands they use. All these actions give a clear signal that consumers of today value the
brands around them and believe in the core identify of the product/service they utilize.

Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) has been considered a useful model in understanding the
consciousness of consumers about brands. Sprotles and Kendall (1986) introduced the approach which
probes into consumers’ cognitive and affective orientations when they are involved in decision making
process in a shopping context. The CSI focuses on different cognitive dimensions of consumer decision
making. The consumer style inventory (CSI) identified eight mental characteristics of consumer decision
making which comprised of High Quality Consciousness, Brand Consciousness, Novelty-Fashion
Conscious, Recreational & Shopping Conscious, Price Conscious, Impulsiveness, Confused by Over
Choice & Habitual Orientation.

Lysonski, Durvasula, and Zotos (1996) asserted that three consumer buying orientations of CSI
approach i.e. ‘brand consciousness’, ‘novelty fashion consciousness’ and ‘habitual orientation’ were most
common and brand consciousness toped amidst them. Walsh, Mitchell, and Hennig‐Thurau (2001) found
out that six consumer buying orientations were common which included brand consciousness,
perfectionism, recreation & hedonism consciousness, confused by over choice, impulsiveness and novelty-
fashion consciousness. These studies clearly showed that brand consciousness is one of the commonly
found consumer orientation when they make any purchase decision.

Wicklund and Gollwitzer (1981) developed the ‘Symbolic self-completion theory’ which proposes
that people use material possessions as symbols of social recognitions; communicating their identities. The
researchers defined symbol as any feature of a person that signals to others, his true identify (Braun &
Wicklund, 1989, p. 164). The aforementioned theory proposes that individuals make use of use brands to
safeguard their self-identity. As an example, consumers with high brand consciousness may think of
purchasing valuable brands and develop strong loyalty for them. However this brand loyalty is not
necessary because of the quality perceptions they have about the brand but due to the fact that others
consider them as socially integrated due to better prices (Bao & Mandrik, 2004; Rageh, 2017). Hence based
on the above literature provided, we hypothesize that:

H2: Brand consciousness exerts a significant a positive effect on brand loyalty.

2.3 Theoretical Framework

After reviewing the literature, the study presents the research model in Figure 1. The theoretical
framework demonstrates the independent and dependent variables of the research in a graphical form.
There are two independent variables and one dependent variable of the study. The two independent
variables include social media marketing and brand consciousness. The only dependent variable of the
proposed research study is brand loyalty.

Social Media
Marketing
Brand Loyalty

Brand Consciousness

Figure 1: Research Model

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3. Methodology
3.1 Context
Pakistan resides under the category of ‘Next Generation Markets’ (Atkearney, 2013) and is amidst
the emerging economies of Asia-Pacific which is experiencing ever increasing internet penetration rates
(SoicialBakers, 2016). Since January 2014 there has been a dynamic 47% growth in the number of active
internet users, 72% growth in the number of active social media users and an alarming 113% growth in the
number of active mobile social users (Internetlivestats, 2015; Simon & WeAreSocial, 2015). Pakistan
comprises of a unique geo-demographic composition, with two-third of its population, possessing an age
bracket of 30 and less. It is not surprising to know that by 2030, the majority of the age bracket would be
24 years and below, with urban population climbing to more than fifty percent by 2020 (Unicef, 2016). More
than 60% of young Pakistani netizens interact with brands through social media advertising, from Facebook
being the most popular medium (SoicialBakers, 2016).

3.2 Data Collection & Sample

A structured set of survey questionnaires were emailed in the major universities of the twin cities,
namely Comsats University, Islamic University, Riphah International University and Arid Agriculture
University. Using Google Docs, 320 questionnaires were floated, and 250 usable responses were employed
for data analysis. A convenience sampling technique was deployed for this self-administered survey. This
technique has earlier been applied in the context of social media marketing by J. Lee and Hong (2016),
Zhang and Mao (2016) and Rageh (2017) when targeting college/university students.

The sample for the study represented college and university students. This segment is techno-
literate, well-educated, self-confident and receptive towards customized offerings and services on the social
media. Moreover, they have easy access to internet (Wi-Fi-facilities) and greater exposer to social media
advertising (Wang & Sun, 2010). Under graduate and graduate students have earlier been considered as
ideal sampling frame while evaluating consumer behavior over the social media. (Jung, Shim, Jin, & Khang,
2016; Nevarez & Torres, 2015).

3.3 Measures
A 5-point Likert Scale was applied for the variables of the theoretical model, oscillating from the
range of “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”. The scales for measuring the constructs were adopted
from academic literature. The scale for the construct, social media marketing was adopted from (Kim & Ko,
2012; Rageh, 2017). Brand consciousness utilized the scale developed by Sprotles and Kendall (1986) and
brand loyalty scale was adopted from the works of (Ailawadi, Neslin, & Gedenk, 2001; Rageh, 2017).

3.4 Data Analysis

Statistical Package for the Social Science v. 20.0 (SPSS) was incorporated to perform a concrete
Reliability test for the items representing the study’s latent constructs. Furthermore, to evaluate the
hypothesized relationships amidst the constructs, Pearson correlation analysis and multi-collinearity tests
have been carried out to analyze the hypothesized relationships. Finally, for confirming the extent of effects
of social media marketing & brand consciousness on the independent variable of the study i.e. brand loyalty;
a Regression analysis has also been undertaken.

4. Results
4.1 Respondent’s Profiling

Table No. 1: Age Wise Distribution of Respondents

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
20-30 210 84.0 84.0 84.0
31-40 33 13.2 13.2 97.2
Valid 41-50 5 2.0 2.0 99.2
51 and above 2 .8 .8 100.0
Total 250 100.0 100.0

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Table No. 2: Gender Wise Distribution of Respondents

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Female 91 36.4 36.4 36.4
Valid Male 159 63.6 63.6 100.0
Total 250 100.0 100.0

The demographic profiling of respondents is developed through frequency tables. Table 1 shows
that out of total 250 respondents, 210 respondents were between the age group of 20-30 years which
makes 84% of the total sample size. The 31-40 age group had the second most number of respondents
with the frequency of 33 and percentage of 13.2%. A total of 5 respondents were among the age group of
41-50 with a 2% representation and only 2 respondents were of 51 and above, making it just 0.8%. of the
total sample size. The youth aged between 20-30 represented the majority of the sample size which now
considers social media as a way of life. On the other hand, Table 2 shows that out of total 250 respondents,
91 respondents were female which represented 36.4% of the study’s total sample. Total number of male
respondents were 159, which makes it 63.6% of the total sampling frame. Males dominated the study’s
sample under empirical examination.

Table No. 3: Educational Characteristics of Respondents

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Postgraduate 151 60.4 60.4 60.4
School/College Level 13 5.2 5.2 65.6
Valid
Undergraduate 86 34.4 34.4 100.0
Total 250 100.0 100.0

Table No. 4: Occupation Wise Distribution of Respondents

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
N/A 16 6.4 6.4 6.4
Salaried Person 53 21.2 21.2 27.6
Valid Self-employed 19 7.6 7.6 35.2
Student 162 64.8 64.8 100.0
Total 250 100.0 100.0

Table 3 reflects the educational qualification of the respondents which is yet another vital indicator
of the study’s demographic data. It shows that 151 (60.4%) out of total 250 respondents were postgraduates
while 86 (34.4%) were identified as undergraduates. Only 13 (5.2%) respondents had school/college level
education. Table 4 shows the occupation wise distribution of the respondents. 162 respondents out of 250
were full time students, making it the largest group of this demographic study. The second largest group
consisted of salaried persons having 53 respondents while 19 respondents were self-employed. Only 16
respondents chose not to disclose their occupation.

4.2 Reliability Analysis

Table No. 5: Cronbach's Reliability Summary

Construct Cronbach’s Alpha No of Items
Social Media Marketing 0.777 6
Brand Consciousness 0.748 6
Brand Loyalty 0.691 5

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The Cronbach's alpha measures the internal reliability and consistency of the items measuring a
construct. The literature shows that, DeVellis (2016) concluded that the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient should
be greater than 0.7 to be duly acceptable. Additionally, Malhotra (2008) suggested that the rejection criteria
of any construct should be 0.6 or lower. Table 5 above shows the reliability results of our constructs. Social
media marketing (0.777), Brand Consciousness (0.748) and Brand Loyalty (0.691) are above the minimum
criteria, defined by the aforementioned literature. Hence, the study concludes that there is a presence of
strong internal consistency between the measurements of our variables.

4.3 Correlation Breakdown

Table No. 6: Pearson’s Correlation Summary
Social Media Brand
Marketing Consciousness Brand Loyalty
Social Media Marketing Pearson Correlation 1 .399** .401**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 250 250 250
Brand Consciousness Pearson Correlation .399** 1 .559**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 250 250 250
Brand Loyalty Pearson Correlation .401** .559** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 250 250 250
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Correlation reflects the degree of relationship between the two variables; having a range of +1 to -
1. A value +1 indicates perfect positive correlation, -1 with perfect negative correlation while 0 shows
existence of no relationship between the variables (Sekaran & Bougie, 2013).

Referring to Table 6, Social media marketing (r= 0.401) has a significant moderate correlation with
brand loyalty. On the other hand, brand consciousness (r= 0.559) also possesses a significant moderate
correlation with the study’s dependent variable. For addressing the issue of multi-collinearity, the r-values
of the two independent factors should be less than 0.80 (Garson, 2012). The values shown in Table 6 are
not greater than the set criteria. To further validate it, a multi-collinearity test has also been applied shown
by Table 7 below.

The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) reflects the inflation of variances amongst the estimated
coefficients, ultimately leading to multi-collinearity. The value should ideally be less than 3 and the
Tolerance level should be greater than 0.1 (Hair Jr, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham, 2010; Kennedy,
2003; Pan & Jackson, 2008). The results clearly show that multi-collinearity is non-existent between the
independent variables of the research study.

Table No. 7: Collinearity Coefficients

Collinearity Statistics
Model Tolerance VIF
1 Social Media Marketing .841 1.189
Brand Consciousness .752 1.542
a. Dependent Variable: BrandLoyalty

4.4 Regression Analysis

Regression analysis measures the change in the dependent variable which in this case is ‘Brand
Loyalty’, caused by a change in the independent variables; comprising of social media marketing and brand
consciousness.

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Table No. 8: Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
1 .591a .350 .344 .58475
a. Predictors: (Constant), Brand Consciousness, Social MediMarketing

Table No. 9: ANOVA

Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 45.399 2 22.700 66.387 .000b
Residual 84.457 247 .342
Total 129.856 249
a. Dependent Variable: BrandLoyalty,
b. Predictors: (Constant), BrandConsciousness, SocialMediaMarketing

Table 8 shows the values in the form of R, R square and adjusted R square. The R value is 0.591,
showcasing that 59%% of the variation in the dependent variable (brand loyalty) has been caused by the
independent variables (social media marketing & brand consciousness). The value of R square, which is a
more accurate prediction of multiple linear regression; shows that 35% of the variation in the predicted
variable has been due to the study’s two predictor variables. The value of R square is adjusted, in order to
attain how much of the study’s target sample is able to justify the population. The adjusted R square value
shows that 34% of the variation reflected in brand loyalty is due to the existence of social media marketing
and brand consciousness.

Table 9 shows the F statistic, representing the overall significance of the conceptual model and
shows that the regression equation is fitting with the data collected. The F statistic value is 66.387 while the
p value is significant at the 0.05 level, showing statistically significant results (Field, 2013). This dictates
that the regression equation is statistically significant and independent variables of the study have truly
represented its dependent variable.

Table No. 10: Coefficient Application

Unstandardized Standardized
Coefficients Coefficients
Model B Std. Error Beta T Sig.
1 (Constant) 1.042 .222 4.693 .000
SocialMediaMarketing .217 .057 .211 3.779 .000
BrandConsciousness .491 .058 .474 8.476 .000
a. BrandLoyalty: Dependent Variable:

Table 10 shows the coefficient application of the conceptual model. The independent constructs i.e.
Social media marketing (p=0.000, t=3.779, b= 0.217) & brand consciousness (p=0.000, t=8.476, b=0.491)
have a statistically significant influence on brand loyalty as the p values and t values are significant at the
0.05 and 2.00 level respectively i.e. less than 0.05 and greater than 2.00 (Field, 2013). Finally, the beta
values further show, that the relationship of social media marketing and brand consciousness with the
dependent variable (brand loyalty) is positive and significant.

5. Discussion of Results
The social media platforms are not only widely popular but have become a way of life for the young,
empowered and effervescent consumers of this developing region. It has become an area of growing
interest for the academicians, marketers and policy makers of today. From the surveys conducted online
and analyzing the results of the data gathered through reliability test, correlation & regression analysis, it is
evident that marketing done through the social media and their brand consciousness has an impact on their
emerging brand loyalty. Earlier studies conducted by (Bao & Mandrik, 2004; Chaffey & Smith, 2008; Habibi,

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Laroche, & Richard, 2016; Rageh, 2017) also provide similar findings in the context of social media
marketing.

From the reliability results attained of the three major constructs, it was found that the internal
consistency of the items was admirable. This supported the study of Rageh (2017) who studied the role of
social media marketing activities and consumer’s value & brand consciousness on their underlying brand
loyalty. The correlation and regression analysis portrayed that SMM and brand consciousness had a
significant positive impact on brand loyalty and serve as key predictors in its variation. This shows that if
the modern marketers are able to develop proactive social media advertising techniques and raise the
consumers’ brand consciousness, they would ultimately be successful in building their life time brand
loyalty. These relationships developed, support the earlier research works of Bao and Mandrik (2004),
Merisavo and Raulas (2004) and Bagozzi and Dholakia (2006). So, in a nutshell, our hypothesis H1&H2
have both been accepted. The overall findings of the research study are congruent to the works done on
raising consumers’ brand loyalty (McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig, 2002; Rageh, 2017; Schau, Muñiz Jr,
& Arnould, 2009; Zhou, Jin, Vogel, Fang, & Chen, 2011).

6. Conclusion and Recommendations

The main objective of this empirical research was to study the impact of social media marketing
(SMM) and brand consciousness on brand loyalty. After analyzing the survey results through reliability test,
regression and correlation analysis, it was observed that there is a positive role of SMM and brand
consciousness in building Brand Loyalty. The outcomes of the aforementioned tests verify the hypothesis
H1, that Social media marketing has a positive impact on brand loyalty. The empirical investigation also
verifies the hypothesis H2, that Brand consciousness has a positive impact on brand loyalty. So, the
quantitative analysis truly justifies the conceptual development of the proposed model.

The findings clearly portray that marketers need to develop online and social media marketing
strategies that are different from traditional media strategies. Social media now has penetrated the concept
of ‘co-creation of value’ and now the consumers need to be engaged in every aspect of the business
process. Brand consciousness consumers believe that a stronger brand name and brand image stand for
good quality. This quality is now effectively being marketed through an emerging channel known as the
social media. Consumers with higher level of brand consciousness and greater awareness of social media
are willing to pay premium prices for specific brands. They consider brands as symbols of stature and attain
self confidence in relating their own self-identity with that of a brand. Therefore, these consumers are likely
to pay higher prices for a well-known brand and the policy makers need to target such profitable prospects.

Advertisers and the modern marketers are required to identify which social media platforms will be
most beneficial for the organization in promoting the brands. Based on effectiveness and reach of the
platforms, an integrated and well-articulated social media marketing strategy can be formulated. Moreover,
these strategies should be reviewed regularly to find out their effectiveness and make changes if required.
Hence, engaging consumers on different social media platforms accompanied by diverse incentives and
offers can result in an enhanced brand loyalty.

7. Limitations & Future Research

As it happens with all other scholarly works, this study also represents some limitations. The
research examines the consumer behavior of young age segments over the social media. Although more
than sixty percent of the young Pakistani netizens interact with brands through social media advertising
(SoicialBakers, 2016), there is still need of investigating consumer’s brand loyalty behaviors amidst older
demographics. The present research was conducted using a small sample size of 250 respondents.
Therefore, the sample does not represent the majority of the population. The future research can be carried
out by using a fairly large sample size for improved generalization of the population. Moreover, future
studies could be more specific and evaluate online behavioral trends in emerging industries of Pakistan in
which e-commerce, fashion and beauty are leading the way with an online fan base crossing 50 million by
average (SoicialBakers, 2016).

As the study’s sample has been drawn through a convenience method, issues pertaining to
generalizability arise. Moreover, consumer responses over the social media are still passing through an

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embryonic process, a cross-sectional design is often not enough to capture its true evolution. For greater
precision, a longitudinal study would be more appropriate to attain better findings into consumer behavior
and their brand associations on the virtual communities. The study has not evaluated any moderating
variables in its empirical investigation. No doubt, there is also a presence of other significant moderator
variables that exert an impact on social media marketing activities such as a consumer’s age, gender,
income and education. This would provide greater demographic comparisons within the sampling frame.
Finally, future research should add a greater depth by comparing the impact of traditional and social media
marketing on the proposed variables of the study. This would provide better implications for the policy
makers and marketers in institutionalizing and refining their social media marketing strategies.

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