The mediation role of consumer based brand equity and consumer-brand engagement in effect of perceived social media marketing activities on purchase intention: A comparative study

The human being, who has been "social" for centuries, has also been socializing the media for the last few decades. Individuals who are passive and only spectators in the traditional media are becoming a part of the media day by day and taking a more active position in the media. Social media, around which we even begin to shape our routines, also plays a role in decision-making processes. Thus, it is aimed to determine the effect of social media on consumer behavior, in this study. Social media marketing activities are treated as "perceived social media marketing activities" as a five-dimensional structure: entertainment, interaction, customisation, trendiness and word-of-mouth. And the effect of firm generated social media content on consumers' purchase intention is being investigated. Within the scope of the study, the effect of perceived social media marketing activities on purchase intention and the mediating roles of consumer-based brand equity and consumer-brand engagement in this possible effect are examined. Data gathered through a survey from the followers of Netflix's official social media accounts in both Turkey and Germany are analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method and the SmartPLS. Finally, it is established that while the entertainment has a negative effect on the purchase intention, the interaction, trendiness and word-of-mouth does not have any significant effect on the purchase intention in both samples. On the other hand, five of the ten hypotheses regarding the mediating role of consumer-based brand equity are supported. The ten hypotheses proposed regarding the mediating role of the consumer-brand engagement are not supported.