From likes to buys: How social media marketing converts brand equity into purchase intention in Pakistan

Abstract

This study explores the effects of social media marketing on Pakistani consumers’ purchase intentions with an analysis of parallel mediating effects through brand awareness and brand image, and if perceived risk restricts awareness-to-intention conversion in a high-risk digital marketplace. The positivist, deductive, quantitative approach included primary data collection via a cross-sectional online survey among active social media users in Pakistan. A structured questionnaire was used based on a five-point Likert scale adopting/adapting established measures for SMM, brand awareness, brand image, perceived risk-financial/product/delivery/time/privacy—and purchase intention. The hypothesized model has been tested using SmartPLS 4. Findings report that the direct effect from SMM to purchase intention is not significant; however, there lies a significant path linking SMM with purchase intention passing firstly through brand awareness then by way of brand image thus establishing that enhanced consumer perceptions related strongly towards brands drive intentions most effectively via SMM. However, the hypothesized risk-based conditional/indirect pathway via perceived risk is not supported, implying that risk may function more as a general barrier rather than a specific boundary condition on the awareness-intention link in this model specification.