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telecommunications technology (e.g., Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Long Term Evolution (LTE)) with high speed of data
transmission and bandwidth has led to the new income streams such as Value Added Services (VAS) (Hajar et al., 2020).
According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) (2020), the market capitalization of the
communications and multimedia (C&M) industry was RM137.74 billion in June 2020, which contributed 8.7% of the market capitalization
of Bursa Malaysia, RM1.58 trillion. Based on the monthly announcement published on the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia
Commission (MCMC) website in June 2020, the telecoms industry contributed RM130.25 billion, the broadcasting industry contributed
RM4.75 billion, and the postal and courier segment contributed RM2.74 billion to the RM137.74 billion market capitalization of C&M
industry. Maxis Sdn. Bhd. and Digi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd. lead the telecommunication sector with 2.66% and 2.12% of the
RM137.74 billion market capitalization of the communications and multimedia industry, respectively (Malaysian Communications and
Multimedia Commission, 2020).

In Malaysia, the largest telecommunications company, Digi, has gained a vast number of social media followers by producing content
that can be relevant to Malaysians (Nadira, 2020). Digi’s social media strategies are worth exploring because they achieved their popularity
on social media, with 103,000 Instagram followers and 2,397,202 likes on their Facebook page. Besides, Maxis Sdn. Bhd., a Malaysian
telecommunications operator, has gained 54,100 Instagram followers and 1,288,796 likes on their Facebook page. Now, Maxis Sdn Bhd is
also one of the most well-known Malaysian telecommunication companies on social media. The utilization of social media marketing and
consumer-generated content in building their brand equity are two reasons that explain the company’s social media presence is high (Nadira,
2020). Therefore, it is proven that social media marketing is significant to increase online social interaction, brand equity, and customer
purchase intention.
Communication methods must be adjusted to benefit from new technology and tools to engage customers in both commercial and
consumer sectors. Using content generated by companies or consumers, social media has developed into a new practical tool for interacting
with customers online (Schivinski et al., 2016). Consumers’ lives and interactions with companies are increasingly dependent on social
media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Many e-commerce businesses utilize Facebook and Instagram to sell
effectively and provide extensive information to potential customers. Social networking is beneficial throughout the whole sales process.
This is due to the importance of innovation in social media marketing activities. It favours customers’ participation in the service creation
process and fosters a more profound interaction among its customers (Valentina et al., 2015). Another factor to influence purchase intention
is brand equity. From the consumer’s perspective, brand equity is established via connections with the brand (Khamitov et al., 2019). Perera
et al. (2019) and Dissabandara (2020) previously showed that purchase intention is highly impacted by brand equity.

There are many telecommunication retailers under Digi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd., Maxis Sdn. Bhd., Celcom Axiata Berhad, and
other service providers. For instance, Red Future Network Enterprise is one of the telecommunication companies and a representative of
redONE that provides bill payments for redONE network services. The company was established by Lim Yew Two on 15th June 2019 and
is the premier shop concept store of redONE, located in busy market centers and offers full services, including recruiting and training sales
advisors of redONE. As a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), Red Future Network Enterprise provides redONE mobile postpaid
and prepaid plans such as redONE Simcard and redONE data plan by leveraging Celcom’s fast and reliable 5-star network equipment Axiata
at an affordable price and good services. Besides, the company is also selling smartphones and phone accessories to customers. However,
due to the COVID-19 pandemic and business sustainability, Red Future Network Enterprise faces problems such as low sales volume.
Therefore, to boost sales, one of the methods is to enhance their consumers’ purchase intention and brand equity via social media marketing
and brand-related content.

1.1 DESCRIPTION OF CASE AND PROBLEM STATEMENT

The COVID-19 wave has shattered every industry. Since the telecommunications industry is the foundation of communications
infrastructure that enables medical, government, and private-sector enterprises to work smoothly, the telecommunications industry has
been dramatically affected (Weissberger, 2020). Malaysian telecommunications firms were also not exempted from this circumstance
(Kanapathipillai & Azam, 2020). During the period of Movement Control Order (MCO) in 2020, the demand for telecommunication services
was increased (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), 2020). Due to the high demand for telecommunication
services, Putrajaya had launched a program that provided 1GB of free internet data per day for telecommunications customers over a certain
period (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), 2020).

However, this had caused the Malaysia’s mobile data revenue to drop to 11.7% in both the customer and corporate sectors in 2020 due
to the continued promotion and free 1GB daily internet (Rahuman & Teng, 2020). This is because the free 1GB daily internet data promotion
program had caused consumers to decrease their purchase for telecommunication services. Besides, since MCO, people must stay at home
rather than went out. Also, the recovery MCO had constrained the people’s movement (Rahuman & Teng, 2020). As a result, most customers
preferred to use their home WiFi and did not use their postpaid internet data plan. The reason is that they wanted to reduce their mobile
internet connection demand and cut costs during the economic downturn. Thus, this constraint had impacted the telecommunication
companies’ future income over a long time and caused a low purchase intention for telecommunication services (Rahuman & Teng, 2020).
In addition, during the MCO, the revenue of redONE was declining since they were not allowed to operate the business. At the same
time, they also needed to provide 1GB of internet-free data every day for their customers during the Covid-19 pandemic (Yunus, 2020). As
a result, the sales of Red Future Network Enterprise, the premier shop concept store of redONE, dropped in March 2020. Therefore, to
survive during the Covid-19 pandemic, Red Future Network Enterprise started to use social media to increase sales, such as creating a
Facebook page for online business purposes since the social media platform has steadily grown in prominence during the crisis.

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