THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS ON

BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Introduction

Social media platforms are becoming more and more common and are being utilized on a daily
basis by a wide range of businesses, from start-ups to large corporations and small to medium-
sized businesses (Lee et al, 2008; Osimo, 2008; Andriole, 2010; Bell and Loane, 2010).In order
to stay up-to-date on trends and current events, it is frequently utilized in business. Even though
social media is widely used, not much is known about the precise effects that these tools and
technologies have the efficienct impact on business processes performance in the food sector
(Denyer et al, 2011). While the market for applications is booming, emerging technologies are
becoming more and more popular among organizations in business performance as tools (Liu
and Liu, 2009; Bell and Loane, 2010). Utilizing the newest social media technology, networked
businesses appear to perform better than their rivals and cite cost savings and increased
productivity (Harris and Rea, 2009; Eisenfeld and Fluss, 2009). It's critical to comprehend the
precise effects that social media have on the efficiency of company processes. The discovery of a
clear link between the two will facilitate the transition to Food companies, a new platform where
businesses optimize the advantages of incorporating social media suites into their regular
operations. This research aims to assess the degree to which the use of social media technology
affects business process performance in a measurable way, going beyond a simple list of
advantages and disadvantages. In this study, the research questions are: "What effect does social
media have on business process performance?" What is the impact of shared content on business
performance? To what degree do business performance impact by social media tools?
The goal of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the social media platforms and the
practical applications of popular social media tools. Analyzed a case and evaluate how IT and
marketing managers of a successful social media-based company assess this influence in order to
respond to the research question. It was interesting to observe how much social media
technologies affect both intra- and interorganizational activities in the online food sector. The
goal of the research is to find connections between social media and the effectiveness of business
processes by closely examining the strategies implemented by Food companies, the organization
for which we performed a study. We examined the effect on business performance.

Literature review
The method that has been employed in other studies to examine the literature will be adhered to
(Kumar et al., 2020; Salo, 2017), especially the three-step procedure that Salo (2017)
recommends. Our initial step of the literature research on social media in business-to-business
marketing was guided by the growing body of knowledge on the topic. The rules for the
literature review developed in the second stage, followed by a process for the inclusion and
exclusion of publications in the third stage. Every study on social media marketing have the
following :

Leading marketing journals, such as the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, the
Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Service Research, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Science, the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, the Journal of Personal Selling and
Sales Management, the Journal of Marketing Management, the Journal of Business Research,
and the Journal of Marketing Science, were carefully searched for titles and abstracts. We next
looked through conference proceedings (IMP, AMA, AMS, etc.) and ProQuest's dissertations list
to find unpublished research. It was discovered that in 2009, the first collection of articles about
social media in business-to-business marketing was published. Therefore, 115 publications that
look at social media in business-to-business marketing were found after looking through papers
published between January 2009 and December 2020.

Social media technology adoption is crucial for businesses looking to thrive in the information
technology disruption era of hyperconnected company operations. The deployment of modern
business models is frequently delayed by the issues facing the business sector because of a high
level of worry. In reality, the utilization of social media for digital

marketing plays a significant role. Thus, innovation might be the company's primary tool for
responding to and taking advantage of this disruption. The aim of this research is to ascertain
how innovation and social media affect the performance of small and medium-sized businesses.
This study employs the diffusion of innovation theory to validate that the attributes of innovation
and organizational features are what propel SMEs to adopt technological innovation.
Networked Publics Theory

This theory suggests that social media networks act as a platform for public conversations and
debates. It states that publics are formed when people come together in an online space to discuss
topics of mutual interest.

Social media and business performance

To understand how social media affects business performance, we approach businesses from the
perspective of resource-based views. According to the resource-based view, businesses have
access to a unique collection of resources (such as social media, IT infrastructure, and human
resources) that are hard for competitors to imitate and unique to their business. The foundation of
a firm's performance and competitiveness is its unique resource mix. You can interact with your
customers on social media and learn what people are saying about your company. Social media
can also be used for mobile applications, giveaways, and advertising. Social networking can
assist your company in gaining clientele, gathering feedback, and cultivating a devoted clientele.

H1: Social media affects the business performance

H0: Social media don't affect the business performance

Social media and sharing content

A key component of social media and marketing is sharing. Understanding the value of sharing
and implementing it into your content strategy will help you expand your audience, create a
community, and position your business as a reliable authority. People from the actual world live
in an unrestricted, free universe. Online, anyone can be anybody or anything. Particularly in
social networks, it is evident that an individual's life can differ significantly between the real and
virtual worlds. Social media is an online platform that facilitates interpersonal communication
between people, enabling them to engage without geographical or temporal constraints.

Social media, according to Kaplan and Haenlin (2010), is a category of internet-based apps that
combine technology and philosophy and allow users to produce and share content. Users of
social media services can exchange ideas, viewpoints, experiences, and opinions, making it
easier for users to communicate information with one another (Akrimi & Khemakem, 2012).
Yoo and Gretzel (2011) assert that social media can fulfill the information needs of consumers
by providing factual, specific, experience-based, and non-commercial information that can be
accessed and obtained through sources outside of the consumer's social circle. Social media is
one of the platforms that makes it possible for business owners to communicate with customers
and other interested parties at any time and from any location. Social media serves as an
excellent conduit for information and contact between producers and customers, regardless of
location or distance. Social media is a type of media that may be used to locate customers and
establish a brand's reputation. Social media breaks down human socialization barriers, including
time and distance constraints. Through social media, people can connect with one another at any
time, from anywhere, regardless of day or night, distance, or other constraints. The modern
world is greatly impacted by social media. When used appropriately, this can contribute
significantly to trade, media marketing, networking, forming new relationships, strengthening
existing ones, and other activities. According to Ferrinadewi (2004), promotion is a type of
communication that explains a product and persuades potential buyers about it in an effort to
attract their attention and educate, remind, and persuade them. Similar to science, marketing is
dynamic and ever-evolving. There must be changes in the marketing industry. As the cradle of
marketing, the business sector is ever-evolving to keep up with the times. Notwithstanding the
shifts, marketing is usually accompanied by three elements: consumers, competitors, and
companies. These three elements are constants in any marketing conversation. Identifying
market conditions by taking market conditions into consideration is the first stage in a marketing
process. This condition impacts the company's prospective performance as well as the level of
competition, demand for the products the company produces or sells, costs associated with
running the business, and revenue the company makes. A commercial endeavor that uses the
internet to market a product is known as online marketing. One of the most recent technological
innovations in the globalization age is the internet, which has made it possible for people all over
the world to connect and exchange information, including details about the goods and services
that are being sold. The alternative to using the internet, of course, to market a product in this
global age is online marketing. Because they may now be completed online, a number of
purchasing and selling transactions that were previously limited to in-person meetings, phone
calls, and mail are now considerably simpler. Free commerce is growing as a result of
technological advancements, as if there were no restrictions on trade in terms of time or space.
This results in increased competition that all stakeholders, particularly the firm as a producer,
must contend with. An online business is one that operates via the internet, typically using a
website or other application medium to transmit or sell information. Using electronic commerce,
or e-commerce, is one way to leverage technology to increase company rivalry and sell goods
and services. A new marketing paradigm is emerging in the form of a modern market, a
consumer-focused marketing idea, or a marketing revolution manifested as an online
marketplace.

H2: Sharing content influences the social media

H0: Sharing content don't influences the social media

Sharing content and business performance

We make the assumption that the collection of tool features together creates an ecosystem of
shared content that facilitates business networking, network effects, and improved performance,
in line with Oesterle et al. (2001) and Van Heck and Vervest (2007). According to these writers,
the network must have evolved networked business operational logic in order for such network
effects and improved performance to materialize. This logic makes it simple for many business
players to join and establish connections between networked and proprietary processes and data.
By enabling "rapidly pick, plug, and play" business process configuration to quickly satisfy a
specific aim, such as responding to a client order or an unforeseen circumstance, such logic
makes the network intelligent (Van Heck & Vervest, 2007). They facilitate consumer interaction
and provide social capital that motivates people to participate, interact, and cultivate
relationships with customers. Utilizing the internet for business purposes is a creative approach
to carrying out corporate operations. Businesses can use the internet to carry out a variety of
business-related tasks electronically, including operational tasks, commercial transactions, and
information sharing with suppliers and customers to keep up relationships before, during, and
after the purchase process. To increase their market share, businesspeople want efficient
marketing media. Marketing communications and social media as a marketing tool are
undoubtedly connected. The purpose of this study was to evaluate social media's efficacy as a
tool for online business marketing.

H3: Sharing content affects the business performance

H0: Sharing content don't affect the business performance

Business capablities and business performance

The notion of a resource-based view states that a firm's competitive advantage and superior
performance are primarily attributable to its unique capabilities. It is possible to distinguish
between capabilities and resources. Capabilities are recurring patterns of activity in the
utilization of resources to generate, produce, or deliver value to a market, whereas resources
serve as the fundamental units of analysis (Barney 1991). It should be noted that while obtaining
resources is simple, building business-wide capabilities to leverage them to improve performance
is more difficult. Hence, whereas resources are easily copied, business practice-integrated talents
cannot.

Functional building blocks Impact of the Functionality on Capabilities . Table.1

Online food ordering Food companies maintain a website and a mobile app that people
can use to order food
Easy accessibility People can search for restaurants that deliver food to their
addresses using Food company's website/app.
Effective payment Once the meals are finalized, people can check out their cart and
gateway pay via online payment gateways or through cash-on-delivery.
Fast delivery Once the order is confirmed, a notification goes to the restaurant.
Every restaurant that partners with Food companies get access to
an app.
 Live tracking Customers can track the entire process right from food preparation
to delivery on Food company's app/website.

Methodology

Our study research regarded as positivist but critical (Mingers, 2001). When it is impossible to
isolate a phenomenon (social media effects) from its context, in-depth investigation of a single
example is a suitable research technique (Yin, 1994). Myers (2007) makes a distinction between
four research methods (action research, case study research, ethnography, and grounded theory).
Since we were not involved in the creation of the social media platforms currently in use, our
research is not action research, and its conclusions are not have any bearing on.

We employed a qualitative research approach, , to uncover empirical support for the two
premises and to address the research question, which asks what effect social media has on
corporate performance. The indicators given below are used to evaluate each latent factor in the
study model using Likert scales (1–5). In our survey question 8, we used the business process
performance self-assessment approach. Even if these companies have a number of responders,
our research based on five actors.

Food companies in online food industry

Food companies have an online marketplace that links customers to thousands of nearby
restaurants offering online food delivery services. It continues to run one of the most well-known
restaurant ordering apps. Customers can order for pickup or home delivery at the best cost after
perusing a variety of menus. It only requires a few clicks. You can see meal point menus,
reviews from patrons. Many restaurants use marketing tools, especially those that are opening
soon. Restaurants those are register can enhance their visibility. Additionally, they can pay a set
fee to have their brand promoted on the app. Online food advertising presents a huge commercial
possibility due to the fact that over 100 million people utilize these social media platforms. A
company owns the online food delivery platform. It provides a platform for online and mobile
advertising with the goals of helping publishers monetize their content and advertisers engage
with users through brand engagement. Promoting an offer (such as a survey, sale, registration, or
application install) can be done by direct advertisers or advertiser networks. Marketers purchase
tools in order to reach a certain audience with their offers. Advanced targeting options, like
regional, demographic, or application-level targeting, may be requested by customers. Reactions
to offers are received by these social technologies, and those responses are turned into leads for
sales. Users who obtain these leads are referred to as "incentivized traffic" and are rewarded.
Rather than having an innate liking for the brand, good, or service, their incentive to finish an
order is to get more free discount coins in their subsequent purchase.

3.7 Respondents Profile

Descriptive statistics was used to provide an overview of respondents’ organization, department,
turnover and gender. Data represents a good mixture of male and female from different
departments in different organizations as elaborated in Table 1.

Table 1 Demographic Profile of the Respondents

Demographic Characteristics Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender of the respondents
Male 98 65
Female 52 35
Department of the respondents
IT dept 28 50.9
Marketing dept 27 49.1
Turnover age of the respondents
Less than a year 11 20.0
1 to 2 year 13 23.6
3 to 4 year 14 25.5
5 year or more 17 30.9
Organization of the respondents
Lahore broast 6 10.9
Clifton grill 4 7.3
Bundu khan 4 7.3
Papa John's 4 7.3
 Foodcourt by Hifny Tifny 5 9.1
Domino's pizza 4 7.3
Spice Bazaar 5 9.1
Chandni chowk 6 10.9
Dumm gulberg 6 10.9
Daily foods 6 10.9
Mid town pizza 5 9.1

Data Analysis
Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the proposed
model by using SmartPLS 4. SEM is a two step process, in which first this study established
measurement model and then structural model to test the proposed hypotheses.

Measurement model
In the initial step of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), we focused on evaluating the
measurement model, assessing its internal consistency, indicator reliability, convergent validity,
and discriminant validity for the outlined constructs. Internal consistency, also known as
construct reliability, was examined using Composite Reliability (CR) and Cronbach’s alpha (α),
with a criterion of values above 0.7 indicating satisfactory reliability. The results in Table 2
demonstrated that both CR and α value for each construct surpassed 0.70, signifying sufficient
reliability.

Next, we examined indicator reliability through factor loadings, aiming for values greater than
0.60 according to established criteria (Chin, 1998; Rahi, 2017). The results, presented in Table 2,
revealed that all factor loadings exceeded 0.60. Similarly, convergent validity was assessed using
Average Variance Extracted (AVE), with a threshold of values surpassing 0.5 (Fornell &
Larcker, 1981). Results depicted in Table 2 affirmed substantial AVE for all constructs,
confirming convergent validity.

Furthermore, discriminant validity was evaluated using Fornell and Larcker criterion, cross-
loadings, and Heterotrait–Monotrait ratio (HTMT). The results, detailed in Tables 3, 4, and 5,
indicated the successful establishment of discriminant validity for all constructs. This
comprehensive measurement model assessment ensures that all constructs are distinguishable
and suitable for subsequent structural model evaluation.

Initially, the discriminant validity of the construct underwent scrutiny using the Fornell and
Larcker criterion (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). This criterion posits that the square root of Average
Variance Extracted (AVE) in diagonal should be greater than the AVE values in both horizontal
and vertical AVE values between the constructs and other constructs. The outcomes from the
Partial Least Squares (PLS) algorithm confirmed the attainment of discriminant validity for all
constructs. The diagonal's square root surpassed the corresponding correlation values in both
rows and columns of the constructs, as illustrated in Table 3 using the Fornell-Larcker criterion.

Another approach for achieving discriminant validity involves evaluating the cross loadings of
indicators (J. Hair Jr et al., 2021). According to this method, each indicator's outer loading
should be higher within its own construct than with other constructs. In this study, discriminant
validity was established, as evidenced in Table 4, where every indicator within each construct
exhibited greater factor loadings with its designated construct than with other constructs.

Finally, the assessment of discriminant validity extended to the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio

(HTMT). The results, presented in Table 5, showcased values consistently below the specified
thresholds of 0.85 (Kline, 2023) and 0.90 (Gold, Malhotra, & Segars, 2001) underscoring the
satisfactory discriminant validity of the measurement. Consequently, the measurement model
was confirmed, ensuring that all constructs are discernible and suitable for subsequent structural
model evaluation.

Table 2 Accessing the measurement model SC

Variables Factor Loading α CR AVE

Social Media Platform (SMP) 0.885 0.899 0.741
SMP1 0.890
SMP2 0.838
SMP3 0.891
Business Capabilities (BC) 0.856 0.866 0.699
BC1 0.862
BC2 0.766
BC3 0.882
 BC4 0.832
Sharing Content (SC) 0.840 0.843 0.678
SC1 0.833
SC2 0.880
SC3 0.751
SC4 0.824
Business Performance (BP) 0.797 0.804 0.711
BP1 0.813
BP2 0.837
BP3 0.879

Table 3 Discriminant validity using Fornell-Larcker criterion

Variables BP SMP BC SC
BP 0.843
SMP 0.644 0.861
BC 0.781 0.639 0.836
SC 0.451 0.527 0.663 0.823
Note: Diagonal represents the square root of AVE, while horizontal and vertical values
represents correlations.

Table 4 Discriminant validity - Cross loadings

BC*SM
Constructs BP SMP BC SC P
BP1 0.813 0.441 0.571 0.247 -0.086
BP2 0.837 0.625 0.682 0.451 -0.055
BP3 0.879 0.548 0.710 0.422 -0.284
SMP1 0.512 0.890 0.582 0.485 -0.088
SMP2 0.370 0.838 0.424 0.335 -0.328
SMP3 0.620 0.891 0.513 0.405 -0.114
BC1 0.731 0.608 0.862 0.596 -0.006
BC2 0.550 0.475 0.766 0.387 -0.125
BC3 0.694 0.528 0.882 0.491 -0.123
BC4 0.616 0.514 0.832 0.733 -0.033
SC1 0.371 0.488 0.516 0.833 0.044
 SC2 0.398 0.447 0.594 0.880 0.129
SC3 0.358 0.466 0.486 0.751 0.100
SC4 0.355 0.330 0.585 0.824 0.201
BC*SMP -0.172 -0.127 -0.082 0.143 1.000

Table 5 Heterotrait-Monotrail ratio (HTMT)

BC*SM
BP SMP BC SC P
BP
SMP 0.734
BC 0.710 0.713
SC 0.541 0.594 0.778
BC*SMP Business 0.188 0.168 0.093 0.157
capabilities
Structural Model
Sharing content
The structural model was employed to assess hypothesized relationships between exogenous and
endogenous variables, with the initial step involving an evaluation of multicollinearity using the
Variance Inflation Factor (VIF). To ensure satisfactory lateral collinearity, the criterion
stipulated that exogenous variable values should be below 3.3 when comparedBusinessto endogenous
Social media
performance
variables. Fortunately, the study's results indicated that multicollinearity is unlikely, as VIF
platforms
values were all below 3.3, as depicted in Table 6.
Table 6 Lateral collinearity estimation

BP-VIF SMP-VIF BC-VIF SC-VIF BC*SMP-VIF

BP
SMP 1.786 1.000
BC 2.300
SC 2.011
BC*SMP 1.109

Hypotheses Testing
The evaluation of the structural model involves testing proposed hypotheses through a
bootstrapping procedure with 5,000 resample. Path estimates, t-statistics, and confidence interval
values were computed for the hypothesized relationships, in Table 7 presenting the results. Two
direct and one indirect hypothesis (H2, H3, and H4) were confirmed, significant impact of social
media platforms on sharing content, significant direct impact of sharing content on business
performance, and finally, the mediating impact of sharing content between social media
platforms and business performance .

However, the proposed direct relationship between social media platforms and business
performance was statistically insignificant, along with two other proposed moderating
hypotheses (H1, H5 and H6).

Table 7 Hypothesis testing

Hypothesis Relationship β SE t-value

H1 SMP -> BP 0.263 0.179 1.471
H2 SMP -> SC 0.639 0.087 7.359***
H3 SC -> BP 0.704 0.163 4.327***
H4 SMP->SC->BP 0.450 0.139 3.232***
H5 BC -> SC -0.146 0.168 0.869
H6 BC*SMP -> SC -0.053 0.108 0.489

Note: *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.

Mediation and Moderation Effect
Proposed relationship between social media platforms and content sharing was significant and
statistically confirmed (H2 SMP -> SC, b = 0.639, t-value = 7.359, significance = p < 0.001).
Similarly, content sharing has significant impact on business performance (H3 SC -> BP, b =
0.704, t-value = 4.327, significance = p < 0.001). Finally, full mediation is also confirmed in the
model as the direct relationship between social media platforms and business performance was
insignificant. Therefore, full mediation exist in the model as content sharing significantly
mediates the relationship between social media platforms and business performance (H4 SMP -
> SC -> BP, b = 0.450, t-value = 3.232, significance = p < 0.001). Thus, three proposed
hypothesis were confirmed, namely; H2, H3 and H4.

Furthermore, proposed direct impact of business capabilities on content sharing and moderating
impact of business capabilities on the relationship between social media platforms and content
sharing was insignificant. Thus, business capabilities does not moderate the relationship between
social media platforms and content sharing.

Assessing the Level of the Coefficient of Determination (R2)

Structural model revealed that constructs like SMP and SC explained 66.4 percent variance in
business performance. This study integrated two endogenous constructs such as BP and SC;
while, SMP explained 66.4% and 40.8% variance in these variables respectively. As according to
J. Hair Jr et al. (2021), R2 values such as 0.75, 0.50 and 0.25 respectively, describing substantial,
moderate, and weak level of predictive accuracy. This study represents 66.4% variance in depend
on coefficient variable (BP) due to all other independent variables, which described significantly
moderate level of predictive accuracy ( where R 2 = 0.664, t-value = 8.185, significance = p <
0.001).
Conclusion

Gaining a deeper understanding of the social media platforms and the practical applications of
popular social media technologies is the aim of this research. In order to accomplish this, we
distinguished between "social media use," "sharing content","social media-triggered
organizational capabilities," and "business process performance," using the resource-based view
of the firm as the theoretical foundation. We outlined four rather straightforward concepts that
connected performance, capabilities, sharing content and social media use. It discovered the
variety of social media platforms that are connected together create a social media ecosystem
that improve company performance. Additionally, we discovered empirical data to bolster the
claims, leading us to the conclusion that, in this particular study, social media utilization might
improve company. We also draw the conclusion that better business process performance a direct
result of sharing content and increased business capabilities. There are significant limitations to
our investigation. Initially, study focuse on online advertising in the online food sector, which
naturally relies largely on social media usage. Future studies must examine the effects of social
media on other businesses. Second, we limited our analysis to a few companies. There are still
more organizations of all shapes and sizes that require analysis. Third, a basic self-assessment
instrument to evaluate the performance of the business processes used. Additional performance
metrics ought to be incorporated into future studies.