Success of Social Media Marketing Efforts in Retaining Sustainable Online Consumers: An Empirical Analysis on the Online Fashion Retail Market
Open Access
- 29 June 2019
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Sustainability
- Vol. 11 (13), 3596
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133596
Abstract
This research examines the overall performance achievement of social media marketing (SMM) in Bangladesh by determining whether social media is successful in creating brand consciousness (i.e., brand preference, brand attachment, brand association, and brand loyalty) toward online consumers, which in turn may lead to buying commitment. In total, 564 Bangladeshi consumers were surveyed to monitor their responsiveness toward social media-aided motivations. We selected the online buying environment in Bangladesh, which is an emerging market established less than one decade ago. We specifically choose the entire local fashion industry as our target market, excluding the websites of international fashion brands operated overseas. We used the holistic concept of the five aspects of SMM, namely, interaction, entertainment, customization, electronic word of mouth (eWOM), and trendiness. Moreover, we statistically calculated the performance of social media through the consequences of five measures, namely, brand loyalty, brand preference, brand attachment, brand association, and buying commitment. We used regular linear multiple regression, correlation, and descriptive statistics to obtain statistical results. The study found strong evidence that SMM efforts (SMMEs) of the local Bangladeshi fashion industry are successful in establishing consumer attachment and preference. However, they fail to secure committed buyers when the measurement scale is below 50%. In line with the results of previous studies on consumer loyalty, our results demonstrate that SMMEs fail to create committed buyers. Lack of loyalty and association drive consumers to become uncommitted buyers.Funding Information
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (71871035, 71871034, 71471024)
This publication has 89 references indexed in Scilit:
- Sustainable Corporate Social Media Marketing Based on Message Structural Features: Firm Size Plays a Significant Role as a ModeratorSustainability, 2018
- A Thematic Exploration of Digital, Social Media, and Mobile Marketing: Research Evolution from 2000 to 2015 and an Agenda for Future InquiryJournal of Marketing, 2016
- Effects of Brand on Consumer Preferences: A study in TurkmenistanEurasian Journal of Business and Economics, 2015
- Introducing COBRAsInternational Journal of Advertising, 2011
- Impacts of Luxury Fashion Brand’s Social Media Marketing on Customer Relationship and Purchase IntentionJournal of Global Fashion Marketing, 2010
- How Will Digital Platforms be Harnessed in 2010, and How Will They Change the Way People Interact with Brands?Journal of Interactive Advertising, 2010
- New learning network paradigms: Communities of objectives, crowdsourcing, wikis and open sourceInternational Journal of Information Management, 2008
- Developing and validating measures of facets of customer-based brand equityJournal of Business Research, 2004
- A comparison of attitudinal loyalty measurement approachesJournal of Brand Management, 2002
- The Chain of Effects from Brand Trust and Brand Affect to Brand Performance: The Role of Brand LoyaltyJournal of Marketing, 2001