Page 407 - MARSIUM'21 COMP OF PAPER

supposed to directly enhance brand equity, including brand image, brand awareness, and brand loyalty (Bilgin, 2018). Consumer experiences
are stimulated by social media marketing efforts, which impact brand equity, purchase intentions, and behaviors (Chen & Lin, 2019).
Consumer responses towards various social media activities are influenced by trust, which is critical for bringing the effect of online actions
and converting the efforts of marketers into brand equity and brand loyalty (Tatar & Erdogmus, 2016; Warner-Søderholm et al., 2018). As
Keller (2016) highlighted, one of the most influential areas for further research on brands is digital advancements. On the other hand, most
brand-related concepts were generally developed and handled by a company's marketing department. However, consumers on social media
are increasingly recognized as a primary component of brand equity development (Black & Veloutsou, 2017).

Brand equity in marketing literature was explored as an important topic (Davcik et al., 2015). In the past ten years, researchers have
compared the content created by the company and consumers' content to examine their influence on brand equity (Schivinski & Dabrowski,
2015; 2016). Perera et al. (2019) and Dissabandara (2020) previously showed that brand equity impacts purchase intention. Adam and Akber
(2016) found that when a client chooses one brand rather than another brand during the brand selection process, it is simply due to brand
equity despite the availability of additional features from alternate brands. In general, brand equity based on the customer may predict
whether they prefer a branded product over a product without a brand but with the same attributes (Chahal & Rani, 2017; Pappu & Quester,
2017). As a result, business firms and marketers should prioritize brand equity for increasing the market share and profit. Therefore, this
study aims to investigate the influence of brand equity on consumers' intentions to purchase telecommunication services.
2.5 HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
2.5.1 Social Media Marketing Efforts and Consumers’ Engagement with Brand-related Social Media Content

Firms can help users to engage in social media by facilitating their participation. Brand engagement is expected to be influenced by a
company’s commitment to developing rich social media strategies and techniques (Cawsey & Rowley, 2016). However, the social media
literature has given insufficient attention to this relationship (Barger et al., 2016). The entertaining, educational, and exciting contents
determine the users’ engagement with the content on social media (Barger et al., 2016). Besides, Mishra (2019) has identified five factors
under social media marketing activities as motivators for consumers’ engagement with a brand’s content on social media. These factors are
customization, entertainment, interaction, trendiness, and word-of-mouth. According to Koch and Benlian (2015), content customization can
affect the engagement of social media users with social media content. Therefore, the following hypothesis is developed:
H1: Social media marketing efforts will have a positive and significant effect on consumers’ engagement with brand-related social media
content.
2.5.2 Consumers’ Engagement with Brand-related Social Media Content and Overall Brand Equity
Consumer participation on social media can enhance the possibility of future brand purchases. This resulted in important relationships
between consumers and the brand, which led to increased consumer belief and commitment between consumers and the company. As a
result, both consumers and marketers can benefit from creating value (Wong & Merrilees, 2015). According to Chahal and Rani (2017),
young consumers are becoming more engaged with the content related to the brand on social media, which helps build brand identification
and brand equity. Previous research has also shown that consumer participation in brand-related material can positively affect consumers'
perception of brand equity (Machado et al., 2019). Besides, the interaction between consumers and the brand can enhance brand knowledge
and brand equity, which results in higher brand preferences (Mishra, 2019). Schivinski and Dabrowski (2016) and Schivinski et al. (2016)
have demonstrated a significant and positive impact of brand communication on social media (both consumer-generated and firm-generated)
on brand equity. Thus, the hypothesis is proposed:

H2: Consumers’ engagement with brand-related social media content will have a positive and significant effect on overall brand equity.
2.5.3 Consumers’ Engagement with Brand-related Social Media Content and Purchase Intention
According to Binwani and Ho (2019), purchase intention is influenced by social media cues. Customers are more willing to repurchase
a product or embrace new items if a brand has successfully built brand equity. The value of the product and recommendations posted by
other customers on social media platforms also play a significant role in a customer’s decision to buy a product (Dehghani & Tumer,
2015). Customers may interact directly with one another and share their buying experiences directly through social media so that they can
be more secure when making purchase decisions (Aji et al., 2020). Besides, the consumers who communicate with the company on social
media are more likely to buy their products and services. Furthermore, the consumer will buy the products advertised on social media and
have a strong desire to become a company’s client (Aji et al., 2020). Purchase intention is the consumer’s behavioural response. The desirable
objective of any social media marketing activity for any company is to positively impact the consumer’s buying intention of the company
(Mishra, 2019). Thus, based on the above discussion, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H3: Consumers’ engagement with brand-related social media content will have a positive and significant effect on purchase intention of
telecommunication services.

386