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SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE BRAND

PASSION AND PURCHASE INTENTION OF PRO BAKERS' ENTERPRISE

Noviani binti Ibrahim, Dr. Grace Thoo Ai Chin

Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru

*Corresponding author: noviani@graduate.utm.my

Abstract

Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the new norm of retailing environment and consumer behavior has increased

the usage of the Internet and social media drastically. Therefore, social media communication is crucial
in the current situation as this is the opportunity for retailers and marketers to increase their brand passion

and simultaneously trigger the purchase intention into consumers’ mind. However, new business such as
Pro Bakers Enterprise could not utilize well social media into their marketing strategy. Hence, this study

aims to investigate the factors to drive purchase intention of baking products. Further, the study also

proposed social media communication strategies in order to increase the brand passion and purchase
intention of the bakery ingredients and tools. Conclusive research design was adopted to examine the

relationships between firm-created and user-generated social media communication, brand passion, and
purchase intention. Judgmental sampling technique was employed by selecting Facebook users who have

intention to buy baking products and the sample size was 150. The data was collected using Google Form

and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The study found that the
effective use of firm-created social media communication can develop the brand passion and consumers’

purchase intention of bakery ingredients and tools. The finding was used for the intervention for Pro
Bakers Enterprise and showed that posting regularly, posting various useful contents, and using relevant

hashtags are the most effective social media communication strategies. Clearly, brands should utilize

social media communication to generate positive impact on the emotional level of audiences to increase
their brand passion and purchase intention. This study can provide bakery supply retailers better insights

in managing their social media and utilizing the social media in this rapid technological advancement era.

Keywords: Brand Passion, Purchase Intention, Firm-Created Content, User-Generated Content

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