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individual proclivity of the consumer to engage, and the influence on his or her involvement with brand material on social media (Mishra,
2019). Consumer perceptions under peers or social media users regarding the product or service will influence purchase intention (Binwani
& Ho, 2019). People search for relevant information based on their personal experiences and the external surroundings while purchasing
products. For instance, after consumers collect a certain amount of information, they will begin to examine, consider, and compare, eventually
leading to purchasing behaviour (Chen & Lin, 2019). Besides, consumers may directly communicate and share their purchasing experiences
with other consumers through social media. It can help them feel more secure in their purchase decisions (Aji et al., 2020).
Furthermore, consumers’ perceptions of brand equity are influenced by online reviews, which, in turn, influence their purchase intention
(Hayes & Carr, 2015). Purchase intention is a psychological factor which considered to be caused by high levels of brand equity. Besides,
consumers are more inclined to buy with a known brand and a high level of brand equity, which indicates purchase intention. The intent of
buying is linked to the actual act of deciding (Park & Kim, 2016; Shin, 2015). According to Binwani and Ho (2019), consumers are more
willing to repurchase or embrace new items if they successfully build their brand equity. The role of brand equity in customers’ buying
decisions has been examined over a long time. These studies concluded that customers who purchase a product would depend on the
functional values or the quality of the products, the value of the brand, and the product’s symbolic significance (Aji et al., 2020).

Purchase intention is the primary goal for marketing relationships, and it has a direct impact on purchasing decisions and company
performance. Because the commercial buying decision is linked with social interactions, some studies have shown that the salesperson’s
social capital, such as personal relationships or social connections, may have a social impact on buying intention (Kuei & Thao, 2019; Lee
et al., 2018). According to Jonsson et al. (2019), purchase intention drives the consumers’ purchase decisions. Purchase intention significantly
impacts purchase decisions (Takhire & Joorshari, 2015). For example, a case study of Lazada e-commerce was conducted. The findings
show that online purchase intention has a substantial and significant influence on the actual decision to make an online purchase (Puspitasari
et al., 2018).

Positive brand engagement will encourage consumers to buy items or services if they have a positive purchase intention (Martins et al.,
2018). Farah (2017) has indicated that intention refers to the possibility of performing a given action. Like Kahraman and Kazançoğlu (2019),
consumers’ purchase intentions represent the likelihood that the consumers will carry out the purchasing action. Meanwhile, Hajli et al.
(2017) have demonstrated that consumer buying intentions represent as a predictable action, which implies that buying intentions may be
used to estimate what products customers should buy for the next time they go shopping (Hajli et al., 2017). Therefore, this study aims to
examine the impact of social media marketing efforts, consumers’ engagement with brand-related social media content, and brand equity on
consumers’ purchase intention of telecommunication services.

2.2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING EFFORTS

Social media refers to apps, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Twitter, and it is recognized as one of the most
effective communication platforms for brand information. These apps significantly influence consumer buying and selling behaviours
(Kapoor et al., 2018). This is because its interactive features enable participatory, collaborative, and knowledge-sharing activities (Knoll,
2016; Kusumasondjaja, 2018; Valos et al., 2017). Moreover, social media have a more remarkable ability to reach the community compared
to traditional platforms such as print, television, and radio (Bowen, 2015). Given the potential of social media marketing, developing
consumer-brand connections in a social-media context has become a significant issue for businesses (Ismail, 2017; Liu et al., 2019; Prasad
et al., 2017).

“An interdisciplinary and cross-functional idea of leveraging social media (typically combined with other channels of communication)
to reach organizational objectives through producing profit for stakeholders” is described as social media marketing (Felix et al., 2017). In
recent research, social media has been demonstrated to impact a brand’s reputation. Therefore, current businesses and brands must emphasize
social media marketing activities more to interact with customers. The previous marketing literature has identified five components of social
media marketing efforts that must be considered, which are entertainment, interaction, trendiness, customization, and word-of-mouth (Godey
et al., 2016; Tuten & Solomon, 2017; Seo & Park, 2018).

In fact, Algharabat (2017) has claimed that entertainment is the most important aspect of social media marketing activities. This is
because consumers can enjoy their experience on social media by participating in entertainment such as gaming, sharing videos, and contests,
which encourages them to participate in brand communities on social media (Ashley & Tuten, 2015). Consumer intimacy with a brand can
be developed through entertainment, which results in enhanced purchase intention (Dessart et al., 2015). Next, social media interaction can
be described as sharing and exchanging ideas among social media users (Godey et al., 2016). Apart from that, consumers usually look at
social media platforms that provide with most up-to-date information about their brands. This is because they believe that this information
is more trustworthy than firm-sponsored marketing communications (Seo & Park, 2018).

According to Godey et al. (2016), trendiness is defined as the transmission of the most up-to-date and relevant information on a
specific product or company. Consumers are more likely to seek information from different social media platforms to acquire the info. It is
because they believe this info is a more reliable source than the information of corporate-sponsored through traditional promotional efforts
(Manthiou et al., 2016). Next, the extent to which social media platforms deliver customized service and personalized information search is
known as social media customization (Godey et al., 2016). It means that a company can often target a specific audience through personalized
social media communications. The extent to which social media users share information and post content on social media is referred to as
electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in the context of social media (Godey et al., 2016).
Besides, social media networks enrich customers’ daily lives by expanding social circles and adjusting the interaction’s frequency and
duration (Luo & Zhong, 2015). The widespread use of social media has altered the way people share experiences and connect with companies
(Lamberton & Stephen, 2016), allowing people to co-create value (Kao et al., 2016), such as through electronic word-of-mouth.

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