Impact of Social Media Marketing on Consumer Buying Behavior

Abstract

This study investigates how social media marketing (SMM) shapes consumers’ purchase intention (PI) in Pakistan by incorporating brand image (BI) and brand awareness (BA) as mediating variables within the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework. The research seeks to clarify whether SMM exerts a direct influence on PI or operates mainly through consumers’ brand‐related perceptions. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey was administered using convenience sampling to active social media users in Pakistan. Out of 400 distributed questionnaires, 312 valid responses were obtained. Established scales were adapted from prior studies to measure SMM, BI, BA, and PI. Data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4, following a two-stage procedure to assess the measurement and structural models and to test mediation effects via bootstrapping. The results show that SMM has no significant direct effect on PI or BA. However, SMM has a strong positive effect on BI, and both BI and BA positively influence PI, with BI emerging as the stronger predictor. The pattern of relationships indicates that BI acts as a key pathway through which SMM affects PI, while the mediating role of BA is weaker and statistically unsupported. Thus, SMM in the Pakistani context functions primarily as a brand-building mechanism rather than a direct driver of purchase intention. This study is one of the few to apply the SOR model to SMM in an emerging market by simultaneously examining BI and BA as mediators. It offers nuanced evidence that in Pakistan, SMM affects purchase intention indirectly via brand image, thereby refining theoretical understanding and offering context-specific guidance for digital marketing