International Journal of Management Research and Emerging Sciences

Vol 13, No 3, September 2023, PP. 95-103

Unpacking the Mediating Role of Brand Community Character on the

Relationship Between Social Media Marketing Activities and Intention to
Purchase Online
Muhammad Umair Abbasi
Faculty of Management Sciences, Riphah International University, Lahore, Pakistan
Umair666@gmail.com
Fahad Hamid
Faculty of Management Sciences, Riphah International University, Lahore, Pakistan
Muhammad Salman Abbasi
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
m.salman@uet.edu.pk

Corresponding: mfahadhameed@gmail.com

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article History:
Received: 02 July, 2023
Revised: 09 Aug, 2023
Accepted: 18 Aug, 2023
Available Online: 07 Sep, 2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56536/ijmres.v13i3.496
Keywords:
Social media marketing
practices, Customer-based brand
equity, E-commerce quality,
Online Purchase intention,
Perceived brand community
character
JEL Classification:
M31, M37
Whether it's the latest news or details on a specific product, social media is
being used as the go-to source for information in today's digital age.
Companies utilize social media marketing to spread the word about their
products and spark online discussions. Brands with active online
communities are more likely to see a rise in consumer interest and
spending’s when consumers get familiar with such brands. Nowadays,
people are more inclined towards doing business online than before. This
study focuses on the impact of Pakistan's automobile sector marketing
efforts on the social media and intention to purchase online. The use of
customer- based brand equity and perceived brand community character as
mediators. Furthermore, due to increase in online sales E-commerce quality
is utilized as a moderator to comprehend the impact on the association
between the company’s marketing efforts on the digital platforms and
intention to purchase online. The Google form questionnaire yielded 398
replies by using a convenience sampling strategy. SPSS and Hayes Process
Macro are utilized for data analysis. All hypothesis was accepted. The
findings will aid automobile brand managers in understanding what to
showcase in their online communities to achieve a positive brand outcome.
© 2023 The authors, under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0.

INTRODUCTION
Social networking is becoming essential for businesses around the world. It has driven
many companies to use this as an internal medium to contact staff, external promotions, and
customer management. Weber (2009) described Social media (SM) as an online environment
where people of common interest share suggestions and views. The company's SM activities
are categorized as communication, supplying information, advertising, selling, and daily
support. According to Lee (2017), social networking sites deliver the most recent news and
information, making them a useful resource for locating the most valued things. Marketers have
taken notice of social media as a platform since SM advertising recall rates are almost 55%
greater than those of traditional advertising. Several billion individuals are connected in real-
time across the globe today. Facebook's active users illustrated the social media value in
December 2016, 1.86 billion (Park, 2017). Around 39% of people use SM for information on
specific goods and services. One of the most potent tools for SM firms in diverse sectors is to

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be constantly in touch with their customers (Casey, 2017). In addition, SM is widely used in
marketing e-commerce activities (Yadav & Rahman, 2017). As of September 2020, the world's
Internet users are 4.9 billion, and out of this, 51.8 percent of the internet users are from Asia
("Internet World Stats," 2020). In 2019, a record 1.92 billion individuals bought products and
services online. E-commerce retail sales are anticipated to have reached USD 6.54 trillion by
2022, compared to the worldwide retail sales total of USD 3.53 trillion in 2019.
Brand community exists online when a group of individuals who have self-selected themselves
on the basis of their shared interests and who communicate with each other around the topic of
brand through the use of computer-based communication (Baldus et al., 2015). Using online
forums, weblogs, and social networks is becoming common place in most people lives. These
communities have evolved as a cost effective alternative contact channel that promotes current
partnerships between peer groups, clients, and advertisers (Pandey et al., 2018). Uses and
Gratification (U & G) researchers demonstrate that the people who follows the brand on SM
are value conscious and for influencing the individual engagement in the community perceived
advantages play a very important role (Tang et al., 2019).
The Internet and SM users are continuously increasing in Pakistan. As per reports, from 2020
to 2021, internet users increased by 11% and reached 61.34 million in 2021 and Similarly, SM
users reached 46 million in 2021("Digital Pakistan," 2021). The pandemic and lockdowns
would have a 33.6 percent effect on Pakistani vehicle sales in 2020. The leader Suzuki lost 10.4
percent market share, falling 47.1 percent, with a total of 127.939 sales for the year and Toyota
14.1 % of the market share. In the months that followed, the market stabilized and began to
expand again, with revenue increasing by 36.2 percent in August., the rest of the year saw
double-digit growth, with November (+45.5 percent) registering the highest increase
("focus2move," 2021).
Any nation's economic development can be significantly attributed to the contributions made
by its automotive sector. The automotive industry in Pakistan is seeing constant expansion as
a result of new entrants in the market, which is leading to an increase in the level of rivalry
between various brands on a daily basis. This study examines how SM marketing practices and
online communities improve the automobile industry's customer-based brand equity. CBBE is
crucial for automotive firms because it helps them stand out from the crowd, maintain their
individuality, and evoke the urge to buy their products.
Due to the increased use of social media, marketers continuously shape their communities to
get positive brand outcomes. In general, brand communities lead to increases in affective
loyalty to the brand (Casaló et al., 2008), but it depends upon the traits of a specific brand
community (Relling et al., 2016). Understanding the role of characteristics of a particular brand
community (i.e., PBCC) and the brand outcome has not been investigated a lot. Previous
research has not evaluated the potentially significant role of perceived brand community
character on the particular link between SMM activities, brand equity (Zollo et al., 2020), and
purchase (Relling et al., 2016).Therefore, it is necessary to investigate whether traits of a
specific brand community influence the positive link between SM marketing
activities/practices, customer based- brand equity and purchase outcome or not, and the effect
of E-commerce Quality on their relationship. This will ultimately provide an opportunity for

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marketers to shape their community members effectively to achieve a better and positive brand
outcome. We are discussing and evaluating the role of Perceived brand community character
on consumer behavior. Much research has already been done on the impact of SM marketing
activities/practices and Brand equity (Angella J Kim & Ko, 2012) and purchases Intention (Chu
et al., 2019; Angella Jiyoung Kim & Ko, 2010). Our study is not necessary to look at the
influence of SMM activities on brand equity, which leads to purchase Intention. We argue that
SMM activities effectively create brand equity if a member of the brand community has a
positive perception of other community members (i.e., a high level PBCC). This PBCC
construct scale was developed and empirically examined first time by Relling et al. (2016). Our
study contributes to understanding PBCC role in the link between SMM activities, brand
equity, and purchase intention, which has never been discussed before. During the COVID-19,
the pandemic period allowed people to fulfill their wishes by staying at home, for which they
preferred online shopping. Up to 80% of increased digital activities in the worldwide was
observed during these months. The online market was pushed more during this period, from
which it was observed that over 60% of people have borrowed online and preferred buying
from online stores. There was a ratio that people avoided shopping in this period, but it was
shallow than those who approached online stores for shopping (Kashif & Aziz-Ur-Rehman,
2020).

LITERATURE REVIEW
Uses and gratification theory

Katz et al. (1973) are the pioneer of the U & G theory. This theory was first originated
in 1940 when researchers began to study why people listen to popular radio shows and why
newspapers are read regularly. The U & G and technology acceptance model is used by
Hausman and Siekpe (2009) to demonstrate the positive link between perceived information,
usefulness, and entertainment with the website's flow and attitude predict Purchase Intention
and plan to revisit. The behavior towards and the use of SM depend upon the user gratification,
so it is essential to understand the gratification of a user to provide the right content and
strengthen brand equity (Zollo et al., 2020). U & G scholars define different benefits related to
SMM marketing activities. These benefits strongly affect the individual to stay as an active
community member (Verhagen et al., 2015). The interaction between the community members
provides more comprehensive social services to its members in information about the brand
(Muniz & O'guinn, 2001). The U&G theory has been commonly used to explain the benefits
and functions of numerous channels, including websites (Hausman & Siekpe, 2009). Six
primary psychological and social reasons for consumer participation in online brand
communities on SNSs are interpersonal utilities, recompense, entertainment searching, content
acquisition, convenience, and brand likeability according to Sung et al. (2010). So we
summarize the gratification in getting information by social interaction, interpersonal links,
entertainment, love for brand, attractiveness, and credibility. The following values were
suggested by Dholakia et al. (2004), which members may derive from online community
participation, including intentional benefits, self-discovery, the sustainability of interpersonal
interconnections, improved social experiences, and entertainment benefits.

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SM marketing activities/practices and purchase intention

SM refers to digital tools, channels, and media that make it easier to form connections,
partnerships, and share content (Richter & Koch, 2007). According to Angella J Kim and Ko
(2012), SMMA/Practices significantly impact a brand's image. When a business wants to reach
out to its target audience on a more personal level, social media marketing can help facilitate
that connection and ultimately lead to sales (Kelly et al., 2010). SM Entertainment is an
important aspect that creates optimistic thoughts, enhances participatory actions, and
influences the person to use it constantly (Kang, 2005). The ability to entertain will make ads
more enjoyable. According to Ducoffe (1995), there is a connection between entertainment and
advertisement value. Huang et al. (2013) found a positive link between advertising value and
Purchase Intention. fun and enjoyment. According to Pine and Gilmore (1999), providing
pleasurable, enjoyable, meaningful, and valuable experiences can remain in the memory and
affect the user's attitudes and potential purchasing intentions (Pine et al., 1999).

H1: SMMA/Practices have a positive effect on the Purchase Intention (PI)

SM marketing activities/practices and perceived brand community character
A consumer tends to create a special association with the brands (O’Malley & Tynan, 2000).
According to Escalas (2004), Consumer–brand links are better represented through self-brand
connections. If the link becomes more profound, the customer will see a connection between
the brand and themselves and open out the positive memories and emotions about the brand.
As a direct consequence of this, they will engage in a greater level of interaction with the brand
community (Verhagen et al., 2015). The perceived level of personalization has strongly
impacted the subsequent brand loyalty and customer commitment to the brand. Kumar and
Nayak (2018) highlighted the importance of engagement and loyalty in converting a brand-
community link to a brand link. Consumers demonstrate a desire to engage with brands'
psychological characteristics, and this level of interaction can result in significant behavioral
and emotional benefits. As a result, the extent to which SM marketing practices will strongly
influence the subsequent bond established with customers will be determined by the strength
of the brand-consumer link (Panigyrakis et al., 2020).

H2: SM marketing activities/practices are positively related to Perceived Brand Community

Character.
SM marketing activities/practices and customer based- brand equity
According to Keller (1993), most important tool for improving marketing, effectiveness is
brand awareness generated in consumers' minds. Brand awareness significantly influences the
long-term achievement of a brand's marketing campaign that the organization's marketing
efforts have created (Keller, 1993). Angella J Kim and Ko (2012) find that SMMA/Practices
effectively enhances link equity, brand equity, and value equity. According to Godey et al.
(2016), SM marketing activities/practices strongly and significantly affect brand equity. SM
marketing enables businesses to interact quickly and rapidly with customers. From a business
point of view, their mere presence in SM creates positive consequences in the same way as a
conventional advertisement. Interactions with potential customers and current ones enable

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businesses to share positive brand images (E.-J. Seo & Park, 2018). SM marketing allows
customers to generate word of mouth, allowing the inflow of new customers (Bae, 2002).
Significant effect of brand equity due to word of mouth marketing describes by W.-S. Seo and
Kim (2003). SM allows businesses to interact with their customers, enabling them to share
content and collaborate (Richter & Koch, 2007).
H3: SM marketing activities/practices are positively related to CBBE
Perceived brand community character (PBCC) and customer based-brand equity
According to the study of Relling et al. (2016), there is a positive relation between PBCC and
Brand equity. Many academics and practitioners consider brand communities as vast market
opportunities to influence consumers' buying behavior effectively and better understand
customers by monitoring their thoughts and views (Adjei et al., 2010). According to Esch et
al. (2006), E-word of mouth influences purchases strongly and indicates that customers
similarly attach with brands as they form personal links among individuals. This link forms
due to Brand communities’ participation (Muniz & O'guinn, 2001).Brand communities are the
admirers of the brand (Muniz & O'guinn, 2001). It has been debated that customers' attitudes
toward brands are affected mainly by their expectations of brands and that perceptions are a
predictor of customers' behavior toward brands (Shimp, 2010). The interaction among
customers in a brand group generates brand loyalty and brand awareness (Godey et al., 2016).
H4: Perceived brand community character positively related to Customer based- brand equity
Perceived brand community character (PBCC) and purchase intention
Online brand communities have become an essential source of consumers' interaction, getting
information, and entertainment (Y. Wang et al., 2002). A member's trust, satisfaction, and
dedication to online community members have a substantial influence on their continued
engagement with the community, resulting in a long-term connection with the commitment
which promotes purchase intention (C.-Y. Wang et al., 2017). Furthermore, Hajli (2014)
concludes that SM promotes customers' social engagement, contributing to higher confidence
and Purchase Intention. These findings suggest that, in addition to information quality, link
quality can also influence purchasing intent. It is more likely that members of a group that is
actively involved in activities will aid other members of the group and participate in activities
together, to achieve personal goals (Nambisan & Baron, 2009). Shang et al. (2006) examines
the impact of customer posting activity on brand loyalty in online communities and finds that
the group stickiness of a participant effect its intent to purchase.
H5: Perceived brand community character positively related to Online Purchase Intention
Customer based-brand equity and purchase intention
Brand loyalty has a substantial and beneficial impact on the purchasing Intention of consumers
(Koçoğlu et al., 2015). According to Aaker and Keller (1990), brand loyalty depends upon
brand image and awareness, and higher purchase intention is an antecedent of brand awareness
and trust. Perceived quality and loyalty are correlated with each other, leading to purchase
Intention (Washburn & Plank, 2002). Consumers tend to have a higher purchasing intention to
familiar brands than unknown brands (Kamins & Marks, 1991). Increased brand loyalty will

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make the customer purchase the product or brand and encourage them to repurchase the product
and generate positive word of mouth (Foroudi et al., 2018). Customers who are extremely loyal
are more likely to make a purchase than customers who are just somewhat loyal or consumers
who are new (Yoo et al., 2000).
H6: Customer based- brand equity is positively related to Purchase Intention (PI)
Mediating role of perceived brand community character (PBCC)
Many companies are focused on developing brand communities to meet marketing goals. A lot
of companies are struggling in particular when members' individual and social necessities
cannot be recognized or fulfilled (Fournier & Lee, 2009). Marketing activities have a
significant role in community rituals and traditions as community members have to promote
the brand with the help of ads to the outside of the community and themselves through
exchanging ideas and knowledge among people through brand-based SM activities (Muniz &
O'guinn, 2001). Most people use SM for entertainment and community interaction (Agichtein
et al., 2008).Creating a brand community is very important in marketing. The user and
gratification approach used by Sicilia and Palazón (2008) is to investigate community
engagement in an online environment and found that function, social, and entertainment
benefits are the main reasons for community engagement. People want to be connected with
SM for different reasons due to varying motivations like Entertainment, earning money
searching for information (Zhou et al., 2012).
H7: PBCC mediates the positive link between SMMA/practices, and Purchase Intention (PI)
Mediating role of customer-based brand equity (CBBE)
Brand equity is a brand's name, symbol, assets, and liabilities that increase or decrease a
product or service's value to a corporation and its customers (Aaker,1991). Strong brands play
a key role in acquiring a competitive advantage, brand equity is regarded as a critical concept
for modern businesses and in academic study (Lassar et al., 1995). Constructing brand equity
is an integral part of branding (Keller, 1998).Marketers have an extraordinary opportunity for
brand-based SM activities to reduce confusion and harm to brands and enhance brand value
through exchanging ideas and knowledge among people (Angella J Kim & Ko, 2012). CBBE
model's fundamental concept is that brand power lies in customers' minds and depends on what
the consumer has experienced, sensed, saw, and heard over time (Keller, 2001).In building
substantial brand equity, SM marketing activities/practices are significant, and high brand
equity is correlated with brand customer preferences and purchasing intentions (Angella J Kim
& Ko, 2012)
H8: CBBE mediate the positive link between SMM activities and Purchase Intention
H9: PBCC and CBBE mediate the positive link between SMMA/Practices and Purchase
Intention

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Moderating role of E-commerce quality (ECQ)

It is well acknowledged that the quality of online business services is a crucial factor in
determining the success of business-to-consumer (B2C) online retailing (Parasuraman et al.,
2005) .E-commerce defined as “the extent to which a website facilitates efficient and effective
shopping, purchasing, and delivery of products and services” (Zeithaml et al., 2002, p. 363).
Website design, browser performance (including search and information accessibility), safety
concerns, online purchasing (including transaction security), and timely product delivery are
all relevant factors to consider when determining what features and capabilities an online store
must offer. The website quality is calculated in three categories according to Barnes and Vidgen
(2003) defined as follows: (1) Information quality entails correct information, accurate
data, latest information depending on the topic of conversation, information comprehension,
information specificity, and the appropriate information design. (2) Interactive quality refers to
the ability to build trust while transacting, to become well-known, to promote communication,
to elicit more personal emotions, to share personal information, to form a specific community,
and to keep promises (3) Usability is described as the ease with which a website can be learned,
understood, and used, as well as the website's beauty, a fun layout, professionalism, and the
ability to provide a nice new experience. Numerous researchers have examined into a
theoretical context in which website quality influences perceived confidence, which influences
purchase intent (Chang & Chen, 2008).

H10: E-commerce quality moderates the positive link between SMM activities and Purchase
Intention.

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DATA AND METHODOLOGY.

Sampling and procedure
Our sample selection eligibility criteria are the people who follow different Car Brands
on social media (SM) and should be 21 years old and above. As our dependent variable is
Purchase intention, we limit the income level to a minimum of 50,000 RS for the sample
selection. Our research is about the people who are following the Selected Car brand on social
media. So we have asked the respondents first are they following any mentioned favorite brand
on SM before moving forward. In the shape of a Google form, 650 questionnaires were
distributed to employees, owners of various businesses.
Measurement of variables
SM marketing activities/Practices measures were adopted from Angella J Kim and Ko (2012),
with five dimensions, Entertainment, Interaction, Trendiness, Customization, and Word of
mouth (Godey et al., 2016), including 11 items (Zollo et al., 2020). We adopted the Perceived

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Brand Community Character (PBCC) measure from Relling et al. (2016). They have developed
the scale of PBCC. It consists of three dimensions: Consciousness of kind, shared ritual and
traditions, and Sense of moral responsibility, including 14 items. We have adopted the measure
of customer based- brand equity from Yoo and Donthu (2001b), developer of the scale. It is
consisting of three-dimension: Brand Loyalty, Perceived Quality, Brand awareness/association
comprising of 10 items (Zollo et al., 2020). E-commerce quality measure was adopted from
Yoo and Donthu (2001a), also the developer of the scale known as the SITEQUAL model. It
consists of four dimensions: Ease of use, Aesthetic design, Processing Speed, and Security,
comprising nine items scales. We adopted the Purchase intention (PI) measure from Schivinski
and Dabrowski (2016), who adopted these items from Shukla (2011) and Yoo et al. (2000).
Items are also taken for the measurement from the study of Pavlou (2003) . Later it was used
by Peña-García et al. (2020). To measure all those items, a 5-point Likert scale was employed
in Order from SD (1) to SA (5).
Table- 1: Measurement of variables

S.NO VARIABLE DIMENSION TOTAL SOURCE

ITEMS

Entertainment (ENT) 11 (Angella J Kim & Ko, 2012;

Interaction (IN) Zollo et al., 2020)
1 Trendiness (TS)
SMMA/Practices Customization (CUS)
Word of mouth (WOM)

The consciousness of kind 14 (Relling et al., 2016)

2 PBCC (COK)
shared ritual and traditions
(SRT)
Sense of moral
responsibility (SMR)

3 CBBE Brand Loyalty (BL) 10 (Yoo & Donthu, 2001b)

Perceived Quality (CPQ)

Brand
awareness/association
(AW)

Ease of use (EOU) 09 (Yoo & Donthu, 2001a)

4 ECQ/Website Aesthetic design (AD)
quality Processing speed (PS)
Security (SE)

5 PI Brand Purchase intention 06 (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2016;

(BPI) Shukla, 2011; Yoo et al., 2000)
Online Purchase Intention (Pavlou, 2003; Peña-García et
(OPI) al., 2020)

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**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

RESULT AND DISCUSSION
We have picked nine famous car brands based on their social media followers. We have
asked the respondents to select their famous Car brand, which they follow on social media.
Out of which 552 people responded vigorously, and 154 people were not following any Car
Brand on social media. They were excluded from our final results. In the end, 398 respondent’s
results are taken into consideration for our data analysis.
Table- 2: Brand followed by Respondents

Frequency(f) Percentage % Valid Percentage% Cumulative Percentage%

Corolla 103 25.9 25.9 25.9

Yaris 10 2.5 2.5 28.4
Fortuner 27 6.8 6.8 35.2
Civic 101 25.4 25.4 60.6
City 32 8.0 8.0 68.6
Vezel 11 2.8 2.8 71.4
Cultus 39 9.8 9.8 81.2
Sportage 46 11.6 11.6 92.7
Tucson 29 7.3 7.3 100.0

Total 398 100.0 100.0

A discussion on, data reliability, and correlation among different variables has been done in
detail. The robust results of regression analysis, moderation, and serial mediation analysis has
been presented.
Reliability and correlation analysis
Cronbach's Alpha was calculated, and it was found to be 0.7, which is a good enough number
to support data reliability according to Nunally and Bernstein (1978).
Table- 3: Mean- Standard Deviation & Correlation

VARIABLES MEAN SD 1 2 3 4 5

SMMA/Practices 3.8673 .38529 (0.743)

ECQ 3.9369 .44778 .506** (0.839)
**
PBCC 3.8548 .49413 .465 .476** (0.886)
CBBE 3.8508 .47458 .568** .549** .509** (0.791)
** ** **
PI 3.9678 .50259 .478 .562 .443 .566** (0.833)

Here, CBBE= Customer-based Brand Equity SMMA/practices = SM marketing activities/practices, ECQ = E-

commerce Quality, PI=Purchase Intention and PBCC= Perceived Brand Community Character.

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Regression analysis
Direct Link:
Regression analysis has been carried out so that the nature of the connection between the
dependent, independent, mediator, and moderator variables may be investigated.
Table- 4: Unstandardized Direct Path Coefficients
Direct Paths B- S.E BETA- value T-value P-value
value
SMMA/practices→ PI .624 .058 .478 10.831 .000
SMMA/Practices→ PBCC .596 .057 .465 10.446 .000
SMMA/practices→ CBBE .700 .051 .568 13.749 .000
PBCC → CBBE .489 .042 .509 11.757 .000
PBCC → PI .457 .046 .449 10.013 .000
CBBE → PI .599 .044 .566 13.652 .000

Mediation analysis
In this study, the SPSS, with the help of Process Macro, was used to performed Serial
Mediation analysis. Using Preacher and Hayes (2008) PROCESS macro bootstrapping method
to test serial mediation with 5000 resamples and 95% confidence intervals. When there is no
zero in the confidence interval and the indirect effect is significant, there is a mediation between
the factors. The bootstrapping method is more effective because it doesn't limit how much data
can be used.

Table -5: The total effect of SMMA/Practices on PI

EFFECT SE T-Value P-value LLCI ULCI

.6236 .0579 10.8313 .0000 .5104 .7368

Table - 5.1: A direct effect of SMMA/Practices on PI

EFFECT SE T-Value P-value LLCI ULCI

.2427 .0651 3.7296 .0000 .1147 .3706

An indirect effect of SMMA/Practices on PI mediating Role of PBCC and CBBE

Ind1= SMMA/Practices → PBCC → PI
Ind2= SMMA/Practices → CBBE → PI
Ind3= SMMA/Practices → PBCC → CBBE → PI

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Table- 5.2
Effect BootSE BootLLCI BootULCI

Ind1 .1056 .0364 .0341 .1762

Ind2 .2052 .0417 .1303 .2926
Ind3 .0702 .0185 .0383 .1105

The Perceived brand community character has a strong indirect effect on the association
between marketing activities on social media and purchase intention is also significant within
the lower and upper confidence 95% interval limits (b= .1056, LLCI = .0341, ULCI = .1762).
Therefore, the mediation result indicates that Brand Community Character is mediating
between SM marketing Activity and Purchase Intention. Similarly, the indirect effect of SM
marketing Activity and Purchase Intention through Customer-based Brand Equity is also
Significant (b=0.2052, LLCI=0.1303, ULCI=.2926). Furthermore, Brand Community
Character as well as Customer based-brand equity mediating between SM marketing practices
and online purchase Intention (b=.0702, LLCI=.0383, ULCI=.1105)
Moderation analysis
Moderating analysis was performed using SPSS and with the help of PROCESS macro. This
table shows moderating effect of E-commerce Quality on the association between SMM
activity and online purchase Intention. E-commerce Quality moderating role was measured
using the bootstrapping method with a 95% confidence interval.

Table- 6: Moderation Analysis of E-commerce Quality

R2-CHANGE F P-value
Moderation .0097 6.1210 .0138
Model

Interaction term Coefficient SE T-Value P-value

SMMA/Practices .3564 .0606 5.8815 .0000
ECQ .4882 .0518 9.4166 .0000
SMMA/Practices .1896 .0767 2.4741 .0138
ECQ

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The findings indicate that the quality of the e-commerce platform greatly moderate the
association between social media marketing practices and the intention to purchase. (b=.1896,
t=2.4741, P=.0138). The empirical results are beneficial for the Automobile brand's marketing
managers because they will provide theoretical and practical insight.
We derived the results by testing the link of different variables hypothetically. We focused on
the role of brand communities of different Car Brands in the social network sites. We
hypothesize that their contribution is very significant in creating brand loyalty—similarly, the
role of E-commerce Quality in influencing the people to purchase online. Building on User &
Gratification theory and technology acceptance model, our results show the following results.
SM marketing activities/practices are positively related to purchase intention (PI). Increased
SM marketing practices would result in increased buying intent. This study also strengthens
the result from previous studies on social marketing activities and purchase intention
(Balakrishnan et al., 2014; POTURAK & SOFTIC, 2019). Despite digital and electronic
marketing terminologies and phenomena, social media marketing has gained more popularity
than its predecessors. Acceptance of this hypothesis validates the previous research on social
media marketing practices and purchase intent (PI) (Ceyhan, 2019). This result shows that the
automobile brands that are successful in social media marketing practices have a greater
influence on the customers' purchase intent(PI).SM marketing activities/practices are positively
related to perceived brand community character (PBCC). Increased SM marketing practices
would result in a high level of perceived brand community character. This shows that SM
marketing activities/practices significantly impact the customer to become members of the
brand. Furthermore, it helps the brand members develop such characteristics that can create
long-term loyalty to the brand. The brand's loyalty through community members was discussed
by Casaló et al. (2008), and customer loyalty depends upon the specific traits of community
members (Relling et al., 2016).

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CBBE is positively related to with SM marketing practices. This means that as the use of social
media marketing strategies grows, so too will consumer perceptions of the value of brands.
This finding furthers validates the previous study on the association between SM marketing
practices and CBBE. (Angella J Kim & Ko, 2012; Zollo et al., 2020). Customer-based brand
equity (CBBE) is correlated with a perceived brand community character (PBCC). CBBE rises
when there is a strong sense of community surrounding the brand. Perceived brand community
character has a large and beneficial impact on customer based-brand equity. This research
validates and strengthen the findings of a prior study on customer based-brand equity and
perceived brand community character. (Relling et al., 2016). Brand communities can offer
consumer loyalty, better customer care, and brand genuineness brands, but only if they are
established to serve their members. Perceived brand community character (PBCC) is positively
related to purchase intention (PI). It means that a high level of Perceived brand community
character will increase Purchase intention.
Furthermore, customer based-brand equity positively related to purchase intention. This study
strengthens the result of a previous study of customer-based brand equity and purchase
intention (Liu & Wang, 2019; Wright et al., 2017). The acceptance of this hypothesis validates
the existing literature on Customer-based brand equity and purchase intention. Brand equity
creates value to the customer and businesses. Hero Honda Splendor's customer-based brand
equity is largely influenced by the perceived quality and brand awareness, according to a study
by Jayakumar et al. (2012).Perceived brand community character (PBCC) mediating the link
between SMMA/practices and Purchase intention (PI).The perceived brand community
character impact on the positive link between SMMA/practices and purchasing intention (PI)
is significant and positive. The result from the hypothesis proves that with the increase in social
marketing activities, there is an increase in Purchase intention if there is a high level of
perceived brand community character. The mediating role of perceived brand community
character in the link between SMMA/practices has never been discussed before. Strong brand
communities perform critical functions for the company and are more valuable to the marketer
in general than weakly-communicated brands (Muniz & O'guinn, 2001).
There are various avenues that social media marketing activities can be used to inform
consumers about a product's qualities and cost, including blogs, Facebook, and YouTube.
According to Mangold and Faulds (2009), Customers think better of brands with more
marketing. This supports the idea that brand-communication efforts boost consumer
satisfaction and perceived quality (Cheung et al., 2020). Perceived brand community character
mediates the association between SMM practices and Purchase intention, customer based-
brand equity has the similar mediation effect on the direct relationship. The result from the
hypothesis proves that increase in social marketing activities, results increase in willingness of
customers to purchase online if there is a high level of brand community character and CBBE.
From the results it has been seen that E-commerce quality moderates the link between
SMMA/practices and Purchase intention positively. As a result, High E-commerce quality
improves SMM practices and the customer online purchasing willingness. This study
strengthens the results from previous studies on the effect of E-commerce on purchase
intention. 2200 American people were questioned, and 37% claimed they would consider
switching to online shopping in COVID-19 (Consult, 2020). According to the study by

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Nursyirwan and Ardaninggar (2020), with the increase in E-commerce quality, there is a
significant increase in Purchase intention. According to one case study by Sarkar (2009) on the
implementation and adoption of E-commerce on the four Automobile companies in Newzeland
was very successful in increasing the sales.

CONCLUSION AND POLICY IMPLICATION

Some theoretical implications can be drawn from our observations. To begin, we
extended the literature of SM marketing activities/Practices link between CBBE, together with
SM marketing practices and purchase intention which was examined by. Angella J Kim and
Ko (2012), and SM marketing and purchase intention (Chu et al., 2019). This research
investigated the micro-level of the connection between SMMA/practices and CBBE by
revealing the mediating influence of PBCC on the relation. A previous study highlighted that
SM marketing activities/practices are not always favored Brand community participation, and
members can abandon brand community (Tang et al., 2019) if they don’t obtain cognitive,
social, and personal benefits (Zollo et al., 2020). Our research highlights the benefits obtained
by the community members if they have a positive perception about other community
members, like helping and supporting each other (Relling et al., 2016). Our research highlights
that SM marketing activities/practices are necessary for becoming a community member. Still,
they can leave the community if the traits of a specific brand community are not up to the mark,
as defined by Muniz and O'guinn (2001). As a result, it will affect the commitment to the brand
(Casaló et al., 2008) and loyalty to the brand and community (Dholakia et al., 2004). The
findings of this study also tie in with previous research on customer brand involvement
motivations, Customers connect with companies to learn about new brands and designs
(Hollebeek et al., 2019). .
This study will help marketers better shape their community members for a better brand
outcome. The companies should invest in SM marketing activities/practices like Entertainment,
interaction, trendiness, word of mouth; their content should be entertaining, interactive,
visualizing, eye-catching, problem-solving experiences. This can help managers build a long-
term link with the brand and consumer (Morgan-Thomas & Veloutsou, 2013).
This research looked at a developing country environment; it offers some insights and ideas for
future research for international business scholars. More precisely, because this study
attempted to tackle some new issues by quantifying quantitative data using existing construct
measures, it lays a solid foundation for many future research routes, and some
recommendations for future research are offered. A research avenue for additional
confirmation in other country contexts is open. It should also be mentioned that, because this
research focuses solely on developing-country views, any similar developing-country setting,
such as India, Bangladesh, or any other (emerging market scenario), cross-country comparative
study could be beneficial in validating the findings.
First, we have investigated the role of brand community Character on an automobile sector of
Pakistan together with the role of E-commerce quality. Future research could investigate their
role in other sectors like Cell phones and Luxury Fashion Brands in Pakistan. Second, the
research can potentially be expanded to analyze a particular dimension of the perceived brand

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community character that had the greatest influence on developing customer-based brand
equity. Future research can be done to validate the moderating influence that the quality of E-
commerce has on days when there is no pandemic. Finally, and more precisely, the study has
created certain construct measures, all of which have been proven to be trustworthy and valid
in the current environment, but they are tentative until they have been tested and refined in a
new research context. Using the perceived brand community character assessment, in
particular, was a new difficulty because all previous studies had never utilized this construct.
Thus, this is a substantial attempt to test and refine this measure. So, these measurements
should be included in any similar study path to test further reliability and validity. It’s apparent
that companies who focus more on social media marketing have better purchase outcomes and
help establish brand community character and increased in brand loyalty. We observed that E-
commerce quality helped automakers to sell more.

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