Modeling the Significance of Social Media Marketing Activities, Brand Equity, and Loyalty in Predicting Consumers’ Willingness to Pay a Premium Price for Portable Technology Gadgets
Keywords:
Social media marketing activities, brand awareness, brand image, customer loyalty, willingness to pay a higher price, portable technology devicesAbstract
This study aims to examine the impact of social media marketing activities on Iranian consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price for portable technology gadgets, considering the mediating roles of brand equity and customer loyalty. This applied quantitative study employed a correlational design grounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) framework. The statistical population consisted of active users of portable technology gadgets in Iran, from whom 400 respondents were selected using convenience and snowball sampling. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire measuring five dimensions of social media marketing activities (entertainment, interactivity, trendiness, customization, and electronic word-of-mouth), two dimensions of brand equity (brand awareness and brand image), customer loyalty, and willingness to pay a premium price, all assessed on a seven-point Likert scale. Reliability and validity were confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, AVE, and confirmatory factor analysis. Data analysis was conducted through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 4. Structural model results indicated that social media marketing activities significantly influence brand image, while their impact on brand awareness is comparatively weaker. Brand image exerts a strong and significant effect on customer loyalty (β = 0.48) and willingness to pay a premium price (β = 0.35), whereas brand awareness shows no significant effect on these outcomes. Customer loyalty emerged as the strongest predictor of willingness to pay a premium price (β = 0.52). The model explains 58% of the variance in willingness to pay a premium price (R² = 0.58) and demonstrates satisfactory predictive relevance (Q² = 0.35). The findings suggest that in the Iranian market, brand image and emotional loyalty are central drivers of consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price, whereas mere brand awareness is insufficient for competitive advantage; therefore, digital branding strategies should prioritize culturally resonant and identity-based positioning among young consumers.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Gholamreza Jahanshahi (Author); Albert Boghosian (Corresponding author); Abdolhossein Karampour (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
