DO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ACTIVITIES PROMOTE CUSTOMER LOYALTY? THE MEDIATING ROLE OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT AND BRAND TRUST: A STUDY OF THE E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Abstract

This study investigates how Social Media Marketing Activities (SMMAs) influence Customer Loyalty in the e-commerce sector of Karachi, Pakistan. Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, the research examines five dimensions of SMMAs Entertainment, Interaction, Trendiness, Customization, and Word-of-Mouth and explores the sequential mediation of Customer Engagement (CE) and Brand Trust (BT) in the pathway from SMMAs to Customer Loyalty (CL). Data were collected from 52 active social media users who also engage in e-commerce purchasing in Karachi, using a structured questionnaire with validated scales. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed via Smarts 4 for data analysis. The results reveal that SMMAs significantly and strongly predict Customer Engagement (b = 0.707, p < .001), Customer Engagement significantly predicts Brand Trust (b = 0.353, p < .05), and Brand Trust significantly predicts Customer Loyalty (b = 0.706, p < .001). The sequential mediation pathway SMMA -> CE -> BT -> CL was supported (indirect effect = 0.176, p < .05). The moderating role of Customer Satisfaction in the CE-BT relationship was not statistically significant. The study contributes to the SMMA literature by providing empirical evidence from an emerging South Asian market context and underscores the critical role of engagement and trust as mechanisms through which social media activities build loyal customer bases in e-commerce.