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5.1.3 RO3: To investigate the effectiveness of the social media communication strategies to increase the brand passion and
purchase intention of bakery ingredients and tools provided by Pro Bakers Enterprise
From the intervention, following the suggestion from Petruca (2016), audiences are found to be reactive and potential consumers
would have the intention to purchase the baking products when Pro Bakers Enterprise updated regularly on the Facebook page to
promote products or simply share baking tips and recipe. Based on the Facebook Insights, the engagement with the contents of Pro
Bakers Enterprise was increased during the intervention. In addition, the relevant hashtags for every post were able to let Pro Bakers
Enterprise to reach wider audiences and potential consumers. The hashtag makes the posts searchable. For instance, when Facebook
users typed certain keywords in the search bar, the posts of Pro Bakers Enterprise using the keywords were recommendable to
them. Particularly, the variety of contents on the company’s Facebook page such as recipe sharing was able to reach more audiences.
Therefore, it can be seen that regularly post on social media, sharing related valuable information, and using relevant hashtags for
every post are the most effective ways to increase the brand passion and purchase intention of bakery ingredients and tools provided
by Pro Bakers Enterprise.
Meanwhile, asking thought-provoking questions was less effective to increase the engagement towards the posts. Most
audiences were passive and just relied on firm-created contents by Pro Bakers Enterprise. In addition, video as the type of post was
less engaging for the audience. In overall, the two months marketing intervention had recorded a significant increase in terms of
reach, engagement, and followers on the Facebook page of Pro Bakers Enterprise if compared to pre-intervention. The increased
engagement is essential for brand passion which in turn leads to purchase intention of baking supplies and ingredients provided by
Pro Bakers Enterprise. More followers means that more people have the sense of passion for Pro Bakers Enterprise as they are
willing to follow closely the company so that they do not miss any promotion or content to make purchase decision. Further, the
engaged users are more willing to recommend others to buy from Pro Bakers Enterprise as well by sharing the contents., it can be
concluded that publishing post or story on Facebook page daily, using relevant hashtags for every post, and sharing of variety of
contents are the best social media marketing strategies to increase the brand passion and purchase intention of bakery ingredients
and tools provided by Pro Bakers Enterprise.
5.2 Research Implications
The research findings includes theoretical and practical implications. In terms of theoretical perspective, this study
investigated the relationships between firm-created and user-generated social media communication, brand passion, and purchase
intention of bakery ingredients and tools. The findings indicate that firm-created social media communication has a positive and
significant influence on user-generated social media communication and brand passion. Besides, the finding also reveals that brand
passion has a positive and significant influence on purchase intention. However, the finding shows that the user-generated social
media communication has no significant and positive influence on brand passion of bakery ingredients and tools. Hence, this study
extends the existing literature in the context of purchase intention for bakery ingredients and tools.
In terms of practical perspective, the research findings are important and useful to marketers of baking suppliers especially
suppliers who own small business in taking advantage on social media communication using positive impact of emotional level of
audiences as well as purchase intention. Firm-created social media communication is the most important and basic element that
should be used by the marketers of Pro Bakers Enterprise and other bakery supply stores as it is a vital factor to increase brand
passion. Pro Bakers Enterprise and other bakery supply stores can increase their brand passion by sharing a variety of contents on
social media page besides promoting the products regularly. For example, contents that can be shared by bakery supply stores to
their audiences to enhance the brand passion include recipe, baking tips, baking ideas, and product functions. When marketers post
these educational contents, they can gain trust and brand passion from the audience as they will be treated as a source of reliable
and informative knowledge. Other contents include holiday greeting and store tour. Content marketing should be updated regularly
to encourage brand loyalty, and eventually brand passion. Furthermore, the results illustrate that firm-created social media
communication is the key factor to affect user-generated social media communication. Pro Bakers Enterprise and other bakery
supply stores can share interactive posts to encourage engagement of social media users. For example, bakery supply stores can
create posts that are valuable to the audiences such as baking tips, which encourage the audiences to engage with the post by liking,
commenting, sharing, and clicking on the post. Finally, the results also shows that brand passion could drive purchase intention.
Bakery supply stores can increase the purchase intention of social media users by building brand passion with various attractive
and quality contents. This is because consumers’ passion for a brand can improve consumer engagement and increase the intention to
purchase from the brand repeatedly. Essentially, organizing appropriate social media marketing campaigns is important to create an
attachment of consumers’ heart towards the brand.
5.3 Limitation And Recommendation For Future Researchers
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