The impact of social media marketing on brand awareness, brand engagement and purchase intention in emerging economies

PurposePurpose. Based on the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), theory of consumer brand engagement (CBE), and empirical findings, we examine the impact of social media marketing (SMM) on brand awareness (BA), consumer brand engagement (CBE), and purchase intention in emerging economies.Design/methodology/approachData were collected in North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Romania, and Ukraine from 1808 social media users, through a self-administered online survey. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to assess the theoretical model, and a multi-group analysis to explore the differences between countries.FindingsSocial media marketing has a positive impact on brand awareness, brand engagement, and purchase intention, while country moderates the relationship between brand engagement and purchase intention. We reveal differences among countries regarding SMM's impact on brand engagement and purchase intention.Practical implicationsThe study promotes SM's impact on brand communications, providing consumer insights that help companies design effective SMM strategies, using similarities and differences in emerging economies. The different levels of CBE and their different influences on purchase intention require a focus on the motivations for brand engagement in social media and the type of content preferred by consumers in each country. The originality of our research lies in our examination of the impact of social media marketing on consumer behavior in five emerging countries. Additionally, we are investigating how the country of origin influences the relationship between social media marketing, brand awareness, consumer behavior, and purchase intention in different countries.Originality/valueThe originality of our research lies in our examination of the impact of social media marketing on consumer behavior in five emerging countries. Additionally, we are investigating how the country of origin influences the relationship between social media marketing, brand awareness, consumer behavior, and purchase intention in different countries.