Branding with social media: investigating linkages between social media content, brand awareness, brand image, brand attitude and purchase intention

In light of marketing communication brand related interactions are increasingly taking place in social media. This emerging marketing communication has set up new challenges and opportunities for organizations as brand purchase behavior is significantly influenced by social media interactions. Data were collected from 600 respondents from three cities of Punjab namely Amritsar, Jalandhar and Chandigarh through surveys and analyzed through Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings revealed that social media has a significant and positive impact on brand awareness. It also exerts a significant influence on the purchase intention by providing the adequate information concerning the brand under question. The results of mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between social media and brand attitude was significantly mediated by brand awareness and brand image. Thus, it can be posited that social media has a great influence in creating brand awareness among the users of social media. It also facilitates the brand evaluations thereby generating a positive brand image in the minds of the users of the brands, which further leads to the formation of brand attitude. This reinforces that the brand attitude is formed based on the evaluations done by brand awareness and image generated through social media. The paper concludes with managerial implications and issues for future research.