The Impact of Social Media Usage on Branding: The Perspective of Thai Social Media Users

Abstract

Aim/Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the influence of social media usage on fundamental branding impacts, i.e., Consumer Engagement, Brand Awareness, Brand Image, and Brand Loyalty. Its objectives included both direct and indirect effects of social media usage on the above variables.Ultimately, this study aimed to produce empirically based information on how organizations can strategically use social media sites to increase brand capital in the digital age. Introduction/Background: As the world has become increasingly digitalized, social media websites have emerged as important tools for organizational strategy, allowing consumer interaction, facilitating brand recognition, and building consumer loyalty. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) offer brands immense opportunities for interacting with target markets and constructing brand communities. But whereas there is broad recognition of the strategic importance of social media in modern marketing theory, the specific causal mechanisms by which social media usage affects important metrics like brand awareness and loyalty are not well understood. This study addresses this gap in the literature by rigorously examining the effect of social media usage on fundamental branding constructs and consequent consumer attitudes and behaviors. Methodology: A quantitative research design was employed in this study, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to rigorously test hypothesized relations among Social Media Usage (SMU) and specified brand-related outcomes. Data were collected from a sample of 300 Thai social media users recruited through a non-probability convenience sampling technique. A carefully crafted web based questionnaire survey was employed to determine respondents' attitudes regarding SMU, consumer engagement, brand reputation, brand awareness, and brand loyalty factors. Data thus gathered were subsequently readied for SEM to analyze the estimated direct and indirect effects hypothesized in the theory framework and thereby evaluate how social media usage translated to the brand's performance indicators. Findings: Statistical analysis revealed strong empirical evidence regarding the effects of social media usage. Findings indicate that SMU positively and significantly affected consumer engagement, brand reputation, and brand image. These, in turn, were revealed to positively affect brand loyalty. Specifically, path analysis indicated that social media behavior strongly predicted increases in brand awareness (β = .70, p < .01) and improvements in a brand image (β = .33, p