Impact of social media marketing features on consumer

Contentslistsavailableat ScienceDirect

International Journal of Information Management Data Insights

journalhomepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jjimei

Impact of social media marketing features on consumer’s purchase decision in the fast-food industry: Brand trust as a mediator

Jalal Rajeh Hanaysha

School of Business, Skyline University College, 1797 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

a r t i c le i n f o

Keywords:

Brand trust Fast-food industry Purchase decision Social media marketing

a b s t r a ct

Themainaimofthispaperwastoinvestigatetheeffectoffourfeaturesofsocialmediamarketingonthepurchase decisionofconsumersinthefast-foodindustry.Italsoaimedtodetermineifbrandtrustmediatestherelationship betweenthem.Necessarydatawasgatheredfromthevisitorsofdifferentfast-foodcafesinUAEviaaquantitative onlinesurvey.Afterobtainingthedesiredresponses,thedatawasanalyzedbytheAMOS21-structuralequation modeling.Theresultsconfirmedthesignificanceofbrandtrustinpredictingpurchasedecision.Aboveall,the findingsshowedthatinformativeness,perceivedrelevance,andinteractivityhavepositiveeffectonpurchase decision.But,itwasfoundthattheeffectofentertainmentonpurchasedecisionisinsignificant.Theresultsalso confirmedthatbrandtrustmediatestheassociationbetweenonlytwosocialmediamarketingfeatures(inter- activityandinformativeness)andconsumerpurchasedecision.Theoretically,thispaperadvancesthecurrent literaturebyexploringthemediatingeffectofbrandtrustamongthefourfeaturesofsocialmediamarketingand purchasedecisionwithnewempiricalinsightsfromUAE,takingintoaccountthattheearlierresearchesofthis natureinArabregionarescarce.

1. Introduction

Consumerpurchasedecisionhasbeenwidelyresearchedinthecon- temporarymarketingliterature.ItwasexpressedbySalem(2018)as theprocessthatstartswhenaconsumerrecognizesaneed,searchesfor options,evaluatesalternatives,andthenselectsacertainproductand service.Therefore,purchasedecisioncanbeconceptualizedasseriesof stepsthatconsumersgothroughbeforemakingtheactualpurchase.It iscomprisedofvariousaspects,suchaswhattobuy,whentobuy,from wheretobuy,whichbrandormodeltobuy,whatisthepaymentmethod thatwillbeused,andhowmuchtospend.Purchasedecisionislikely tobeformedbasedontheperceptionsofconsumerstowardsafirm’s offeringsanditsbrandname.Tobeprecise,thepurchasebehaviorof consumersisusuallyshapedaccordingtotheirpastexperiencesinusing afirm’sofferingsandtheabilityofpurchasedproductinsatisfyingthe specificneeds.Furthermore,marketerscanstimulateconsumers’buy- ingbehaviorthroughdevelopingadvertisingandpromotionprograms thatcanarousetheirresponses.Inrecentyears,multiplemediachannels haveemergedonlineforcommunicatingafirm’sofferingandinducing consumers’buyingdecisions.Thesechannelshaveemergedasaresult oftheadvancementintheinformationandcommunicationtechnologies (Aswanietal.,2018)

Earlierstudiedwhichemphasizedonmarketingactivitiesviasocial mediaestablishedthatdevelopingstrongconnectionswithcustomers

E-mailaddress: jalal.hanayshi@yahoo.com

viaonlineplatformsisregardedasacontemporarymeansforadvertis- ingandreachingmassaudiences(McClure&Seock,2020;Pandeyetal., 2018;Wangetal.,2019).Owingtothequickadvancementofcommu- nicationtechnologies,severalsocialmediasiteshaveemergedinrecent yearsthatpromptedmarketingpractitionerstotakeadvantageofthem forinteracting,communicating,andcollaboratingwiththeircustomers conveniently(Groveretal.,2019).Suchrapidadvancementsininternet andinformationtechnologiesprovidedbusinesspractitionerswithim- menseopportunitiesforreachingtheiraudiencesandreinforcingtheir brandvalues (Reveilhac& Blanchard,2022;Sahebetal., 2021).So- cialmediaplatformsincludedifferentweb-basedtoolsthatenablein- ternetuserstoshareandbroadcastlargepoolofinformationvirtually (Gómezetal.,2019;Zeng&Gerritsen,2014).Intheearlierliterature (Kaplan&Haenlein,2010,p.60),varioustermshavebeenproposedto expressthemeaningofsocialmediasites;thisincludes“Web2.0,social networkingcommunications,socialnetworkingtools,socialnetworking sites,andblogs”.

Theadoptionofsocialmediaforcommunicatingandpromotingnew orexistingproductsorserviceshavewitnessedenormousgrowthinre- centyearsduetoitssignificanceininfluencingconsumerbuyingbehav- ior(Parketal.,2021).Theemergenceof onlinemediachannelssup- portedbymobiledeviceshavereducedtheinteresttowardsusingtra- ditionalmediachannels(Chatterjeeetal.,2021).AccordingtoKarand Kushwaha(2021),whenconsumersareinterestedingettingimportant

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2022.100102

Received10May2022;Receivedinrevisedform19July2022;Accepted19July2022

2667-0968/© 2022TheAuthor(s).PublishedbyElsevierLtd.ThisisanopenaccessarticleundertheCCBY-NC-NDlicense (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

informationaboutabrand,theytendtosearchthroughsocialmedia.

Asaresultofthegrowthinsmartphoneandwirelessdevices,social mediasiteshavebeenacceptedasthemostviableoptionforsearching aboutabrand.Marketerscanalsorelyonthemforobtaininggreater insightsaboutconsumerstomakewisemarketingdecisions.Suchben- efitshaveprompted serviceproviderstocapitalizeon theirfinancial resources,dedicatetheirtimes,andusetheirmarketingskillstocom- municateabouttheirofferingsonlineinanattempttoarouseconsumer purchasedecision.Although socialmedia marketinghasgainedade- quateattentioninthemarketingliterature,onlyfewstudiesintended toinvestigateits effectonpurchase decision(Hasan&Sohail, 2021; Masonetal.,2021).Bylookingpriorempiricalstudiesonsocialmedia marketingactivities,itcanbeobservedthatmostthemexaminedtheir effectsonpurchaseintention,butnotonactualpurchase.

Priorliteraturerevealsthatthemajorityofearlierstudiesonsocial mediamarketingactivitiesexploredtheirdirecteffectsonbuyerbehav- ior,butthosewhichexploredthemechanismsthroughwhichsocialme- diamarketingfeaturesmayaffectpurchasedecisionarescarce.Certain studiesusedbrandtrustasamediatorbetweensocialmediamarketing activitiesandbrandequity(Ebrahim,2020;Hafez,2021).Othersalso verifiedthatbrandtrustmediatestheassociationbetweensocialmedia marketingfeaturesandbrandloyalty(Tatar&Eren-Erdoğmuş, 2016; Yazdanianetal.,2019).Moreover,anumberofscholarsreportedthat brandtrustmediatestherelationshipamongsocialmediamarketingel- ementsandpurchaseintention(Moslehpouretal.,2020,2021).Overall, therearemanystudiesthatusedbrandtrustasamediatorbetweendif- ferentfactors.However,thereisinsufficientevidenceintheempirical literaturetoproveifbrandtrustreallymediatesthelinkagesbetween socialmediamarketingfeaturesandpurchasedecision.Earlierstudies onsocialmediamarketingandpurchasebehaviorinthefast-foodindus- trysettingreceivedverylimitedattention.Also,theempiricalresearch onthistopicinArabcountriesarescarce.Accordingly,thepresentpaper tendstocontributetothetheoryandliteraturesocialmediamarketing, brandtrust,andpurchasedecisionbybringingnewinsightsfromUnited ArabEmirates.

Additionally,thestudieson socialmediamarketingreliedon dif- ferentaspectsformeasuringit.KimandKo(2012)focusedontrendi- ness,electronicword-of-mouth,customization,entertainment,andin- teractivityforexaminingthisconcept.Sano(2015)alsousedfourkey elementsfortesting socialmedia marketingintheinsurancecontext;

perceivedrisk,trendiness,interactivity,andcustomization. Similarly, Jo(2013)examinedsocialmediamarketingusingthreeaspects;adver- tisements,information,andevents.Furthermore,Kim(2017)employed immediacy,access,responses,andinformationformeasuringsocialme- diamarketingfeatures.Inaddition,SeoandPark(2018)measuredso- cialmediamarketingeffectivenessthroughentertainment,interactivity, perceivedrisk,customization,andtrendiness.However,thecurrentpa- perattemptstomakeanoteworthycontributiontotheempiricallitera- tureonsocialmediamarketingbyincorporatinginformativeness,inter- activity,perceivedrelevance,andentertainmenttomeasuretheireffects onconsumerpurchasedecisioninUAEfast-foodindustry.Theresults wouldbeusefulforimprovingourknowledgetowardstherelevanceof theseaspectsofsocialmediamarketinginpredictingpurchasedecision, mainly,infast-foodcontext.Thenextsectionsstartbythereviewof literatureandresearchmethodology.Afterthat,researchfindings,dis- cussionofresults,theoreticalandpracticalimplicationarepresented.

Lastly,thelimitationsandrecommendationsforforthcomingresearch arehighlighted.

2. Literaturereview 2.1. Purchasedecision

Inearlierstudies,purchasedecisionwasexpressedasaperson’sde- cisiontoselectacertainproductorservicethatisintroducedbyafirm overthoseofitscompetitors(Kim&Sung,2009).Consumerpurchase

decisioncanbeinfluencedeitherbyinternalorexternalmarketingfac- tors.Internalfactorsincludebeliefsandattitude,knowledge,personal- ity,perception,lifestyle,rolesandstatus.Ontheotherhand,external factorsincludeculture,membershipgroups,andsocialclass.Ascon- sumersnowadayshavebecomeexposedtovariousproductorservice offeringsandmultiplealternatives,serviceprovidersrealizedthatitis verychallengingtoattractandretainsuccessfulrelationshipswithkey customerstoensuretheircontinuedgrowthandpresenceinthemar- ketplace(Salem,2018).Marketingpractitionersalsonoticedthatcon- sumershavebecomemorecomfortableinusinginternetchannelsand socialmediasitesforconnectingwitheachother,andforthisreason, mostoftheserviceproviderscreatedtheirownpagesonsocialnetworks inordertoconnectwithcustomersonlineanddeveloppositiveimages abouttheirbrands(Hutteretal.,2013).Whenconsumers’awareness aboutabrandanditsofferingincreases,theyusuallyseekformorein- formationaboutitonlineandthenassessthebenefitsofselectingitover thoseofcompetitorspriortomakingabuyingdecision(Sharmaetal., 2021).Inviewofthat,socialmediasitesemergedrecentlyasapowerful approachforcommunicatingandinteractingwithcustomersvirtuallyat lowercost.Byutilizingsocialmedianetworks,firmscanimprovecon- sumerengagement(Gkikasetal.,2022),easilyshareimportantmarket- ingmessages,andquicklyreachthetargetmarket(Huangetal.,2019; Liuetal.,2018).Customersthroughtheirexperienceswillalsogetthe opportunitytoinfluenceothersandsharetheiropinionsthroughonline reviews,commentsandspreadingword-of-mouth(Liuetal.,2021).

2.2. Brandtrust

Brand trust was defined in the earlier literature as the willing- nessof consumerstodependonthebrandindeliveringits statedor implied promise (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001).Therefore, itexists throughafirm’sbenevolenceforactingin theconsumers’best inter- estsinordertodevelopsuccessfulrelationshipswiththem.Accordingto MorganandHunt(1994),brandtrustexistswhenconsumershavecon- fidenceinthereliabilityandintegrityoftheserviceprovider.Inthevir- tualworld,theresponsesofconsumerstowarddifferentbrandinterac- tionsdependontrustandbrandknowledge.Calefatoetal.,Lanubileand Novielli(2015)statedthatsocialmediainteractionsplayanimperative roleinnurturingbrandtrust.Theauthorsaddedthattheseinteractions canbedevelopedeitherthroughafirm’s-generatedcontentorthrough onlinecommentsandsocialmediametrics.Asbrandtrustgrowsamong consumersintargetmarket,itwillbeeasierforfirmstoconveytheir desired marketingmessagesandcreatefavourable impressionsabout theirbrandsinconsumers’minds(Ebrahim,2020).Jadiletal.,Rana andDwivedi(2022)reportedthatonlinetrustplays akeyroleinin- fluencingconsumers’behavior.Popetal.,DabijaandAlt(2022)also confirmedthatbrandtrustpositivelyaffectspurchasedecisions.Hence, thesubsequenthypothesisissuggested:

H1:Brandtrusthasapositiveeffectonpurchasedecision.

2.3. Socialmediamarketingfeatures

Inearlierliterature,researchersemployeddifferentelementsofso- cialmediamarketingtoattesttheirimpactonconsumerbuyingbehav- ior(Alalwan,2018; Wanget al.,2019).However, thecurrentpaper emphasizesonfourdistinctfeaturesofsocialmediamarketingtode- terminetheirdirectandindirecteffectsonpurchasedecisionviabrand trust.Theelements/featuresincludeperceivedrelevance,interactivity, entertainment,andinformativeness.Therefore,themaincontribution inthispaperisrepresentedthroughthecollectiveexaminationofthe effectoftheseelementsonpurchasedecisionmediatedbybrandtrust inasingleresearchframework.Throughtheobservationofpaststud- ies,onewouldnoticethattherearelimitedempiricalstudiesonthese variablesinArab region.Inview ofthat,thekeyfocusof thisstudy isdirectedtowardsaddressingexistinggapsintheliteratureonsocial

mediamarketingandpurchasedecisionbygettingfreshinsightsfrom UAE.

Earlier studieson theacceptance andusageof information tech- nologieshavegrownintheempiricalliterature.Thisrisinginteresthas largelybeendrivenbythefactthatthesuccessofinformationtechnol- ogyapplicationsiscontingentonthedegreeofindividualacceptance.

Accordingly,severaltheoriesthatattemptedtomeasuretechnologyac- ceptanceamongindividualsandorganizationshavebeenproposedand verified.Severalscholarsreliedondifferenttheoriesforstudyingthe facetsofnewtechnologyacceptance,suchasTechnologyAcceptance Model(TAM)andtheUnifiedTheoryofAcceptanceandUseofTech- nology(UTAUT).However,theUTAUTwhichwasproposedearlierby Venkateshetal.(2003)representstheforemostrecentpopulartheory thathasbeenextensivelyusedandappliedtoidentifythedeterminants ofcustomers’adoptionandusageoftechnology indifferentenviron- ments.AccordingtoAlawadhiandMorris(2008),UTAUTisthemost appropriatemodelin thetechnologyacceptanceliterature.Similarly, Arfi etal.(2021)indicatedthat themodelof UTAUThaseffectively harmonizedtheliteratureontechnologyadoption.Inthepublishedlit- erature,socialmediahasbeenconsideredasanimportantpartofin- formationtechnology.SeveralstudiesappliedUTAUTforstudyingthe effectofsocialmediamarketingonconsumerpurchasedecision.There- fore,thetheoreticalfoundationforthepresentstudyisbuiltuponthe UTAUTmodeltotestthelinkageamongsocialmediamarketingfeatures andpurchasedecision,andtoverifywhetherbrandtrustmediatesthe associationsbetweenthem.

In the prior literature, several studies (e.g. Gruzd et al., 2012; Mishraetal.,2022’Puriwat&Tripopsakul,2021)usedUTAUTmodel forexplainingtheeffectofsocialmediamarketingfeatureson buyer behavior.Trustisalsonecessarytotheindividualadoptionofanycon- temporarysystemofinformationtechnology(Liuetal.,2022).When usersdevelophighlevelof trusttowards brandsthat promotethem- selvesonsocialmediachannels,theywillhavehighconfidenceinpur- chasingtheirofferings.Nowadays,brandscanconnectwithcustomers andreachthemeasilyusingdifferentsocialmedianetworksinorderto promotetheirofferingsanddeveloppositiveimagesforthemselvesin consumers’minds(Thakeretal.,2020).Theinformationonsocialtend tospreadquicklyamongcustomersandminimizetheriskinpurchasing desiredproductsorservices(Liaoetal.,2019).

2.3.1. Interactivity

Interactivityisknownasoneoftheimportantfacetofdigitalmarket- ingthatgainedremarkableattentioninearlierresearch.Theconceptof interactivitywasconceptualizedintheliteratureastheabilityofafirm toenableitsstakeholdertoshareandexchangeapoolofinformation withothersvirtually(Jensen,1998).Anotherdefinitionwassuggested byKiousis(2002)asthemarketers’ abilitiesinconnectingwiththeir currentandprospectivecustomersonlinetodisseminatekeymarketing messages.Consideringthatsignificanceofsocialmediasitesinprovid- ingorganizationalcustomerswithmultipleopportunitiesforexchang- ingandobtainingdiverseinformation,theinteractionsusingtheseplat- formsenablethemtoobtainnoteworthybenefitswhilelookingforpur- chasingcertaingoodsorservices(Muntingaetal.,2011).Furthermore, thecontinuousimprovementofvirtualmediasitesislikelytoencour- ageconsumers’interactionswithothersonlinebydiscussingthebene- fits,storiesandattributesofabrand.Theseinteractionscanreinforce therelationshipsbetweencustomersandtheirserviceproviders,hence, leadingtofavourableexchangeresults.AccordingtoArjunetal.(2021), marketerscanexploit mobile applications,e-mail, andinternettech- nologiesinordertoconnectwithcustomersandreachthemeasily.

Earlierresearchesshowedtheinteractionsthroughsocialmediacan influenceconsumerpurchasebehaviorandbrandtrust.Accordingto Zafaretal. (2021), interactivityhasa noteworthyrolein determin- ingconsumers’impulsepurchasebehaviours.Certainscholars(DeVries etal.,2012;Yeonetal.,2019)examinedsocialmediainteractivityand foundthatithasasignificanteffectonpurchasedecision.Inasimilar

vein,Liaoetal.(2019)confirmedthataninteractivewebsiteleadsto favourablepurchasebehavioramongconsumers.Overall,thechannels of socialmediaareregardedasimportantmedium forreachingcon- sumersandinteractingwiththemtoinducetheirbuyingbehaviours.

AnotherstudyconductedbySohailetal.(2020)foundthatsocialme- dia interactivityhasapositiveeffectonbrandtrust.However,based ontheextantreviewofpriorresearches,itcanbesaidthatalimited empiricalworkhasbeendonewithregardstotestingthemediatingef- fectoftrustamongstinteractivityandpurchasedecision.Therefore,the subsequenthypothesesareproposed:

H2:Interactivityhasapositiveimpactonbrandtrust.

H3:Interactivityhasapositiveimpactonpurchasedecision.

H4:Brandtrustmediatestherelationshipbetweeninteractivityand purchasedecision.

2.3.2. Entertainment

Entertainmenthasundoubtedly becomean essentialsocial media marketingaspectwhichcallsupondesigningacontentthatisconsid- ered playful,funnyandinteresting (Sharma etal.,2022). According toCheungetal.(2020),entertainmentviasocialmediaplatformsex- istswhenserviceproviderscreatememorableexperiencesfortheircus- tomersbydevelopingfunnyandplayfulcontenttofulfilltheirneedsfor enjoyment.Pertierra(2021)indicatedthatentertainmentrepresentsan importantfeaturethatinfluencesconsumer’sattitudetowardsasocial mediasite.Likewise,Parketal.(2009)demonstratedthatconsumers’

involvementtendstobe fosteredviasocialmedia sitesthroughshar- ingacontentthatis perceivedtobe entertaininganduptoexpecta- tions.Thisisbecauseindividualsnormallylookforabrand-relatedcon- tentforthepurposeofenjoyment,relaxation,andpassingtheirtimes (Muntingaetal.,2011).TheseviewsweresupportedbyCourtoisetal., DeMarezandVerleye(2009)whoreportedthatthemainpurposesfor mostoftheconsumersinloadingsocialmediacontentsincludeenjoy- mentandescapism,whicharethemainindicatorsofentertainmentful- fillment.Bysuccessfully entertainingconsumersandimprovingtheir brandperceptions,firmscangenerategreatervaluesfromthemthrough positivewordofmouthandbrandtrust(Kang,2005).Inviewofthat,di- verseentertainmentactivitiesonsocialmediaplatformsmayexertpos- itiveimpactonconsumers’engagementandbrandchoice;forinstance, activeinvolvementincontests,onlinegames,andsharingprerecorded videos(Buzetaetal.,2020;Jayasingh,2019).

Inpaststudies,Mustafi andHosain((2020))foundthatentertain- ment plays an imperative role in shaping consumers’ attitude and influencing their purchase intentions. Van Noort and VanReijmers- dal (2019) also showed that a firm’s marketing activities that are perceived by consumers to be funny and entertaining tend to en- couragethemtowards exertinghighereffortsfor gettingmoreinfor- mation about thebrand tomake wise purchase decision.Moreover, Sohailetal.(2020)foundthatentrainmenthasapositiveinfluenceon brandtrust.Hafez(2021)hasfurtherconfirmedthatbrandtrust me- diatesthelinkageamongstsocialmediamarketingfeaturesandbrand equity.Wottrichetal.(2017)alsoconcludedthatbrandtrustandchoice tendtobefosteredamongconsumersbydesigningandsharingenter- tainingsocialmediaadsandcontentstosatisfytheirneedsforenjoy- ment.However,basedontheextantreviewofpriorresearches,itcan besaidthatalimitedempiricalworkhasbeendonewithregardstotest- ingthemediatingeffectoftrustamongstentertainmentandpurchase decision.Thus,thefollowinghypothesesareprojected:

H5:Entertainmenthasapositiveimpactonbrandtrust.

H6:Entertainmenthasapositiveimpactonpurchasedecision.

H7: Brandtrustmediates therelationship between entertainment andpurchasedecision.

2.3.3. Perceivedrelevance

PerceivedrelevancewasconceptualizedbyZhuandChang (2016, p.443)as“thedegreetowhichconsumersperceiveapersonalizedad- vertisementtobeself-relatedorinsomewayinstrumentalinachiev-

ing their personal goals and values”. In virtual settings, perceived relevanceexists through designingspecificmessagesto thetargeted groupof customers. Effective managementof a firm’s webpageen- ableittocustomizeitsproductsorservices,emphasizeonindividual- ity,andestablishstrongerrelationshipswithkeystakeholders.Zhuand Chen(2015)suggestedthatfirmscancategorizetheirpostsonsocial mediasiteswithregardstomessagecustomizationbasedontwotypes:

ahighlycustomizedmessageandthebroadcast.Acustomizedmessage isprimarilydesignedtoreachaparticularpersonornichemarket;while, abroadcastfocusesonsharingmarketingcontentswithmassaudiences.

AprominentexampleisevidentinBurberryandGuccibrands,which managetheirvirtualpresencewellbytargetingcertainbrandmessages toindividualcustomerswhomayinvolveincustomizingtheirdesired productsorservices(Sangar,2012).Ingeneral,perceivedrelevancein thisstudycan be describedasthedegree towhichsocial mediaad- vertisementsaretargetedtomeetthespecificneedsandexpectationof individualcustomers.

Inearlierliterature,itisreportedthatwhenbuyerssensethatafirm’s marketingmessagesfittheirparticularpreferences,theytendtodevelop favourableintereststowardthem(Pechmann&Stewart,1990).Zhuand Chang(2016)alsofoundthatperceivedrelevanceinfluencesconsumers’

buyingintentionsthroughself-awareness.Whenmarketersfocusonin- stanceresponsestoconsumers’queriesthroughsocialmediaplatforms, purchasedecisionandbrandtrustarelikelytobestimulatedtowards theserviceprovider(Gautam&Sharma,2017).Theseclaimsaresup- portedbyHafez(2021)whoconcludedthatbrandtrustmediatesthe linkagesamongsocialmediamarketingandafirm’sbrandequity.Sim- ilarly,priorstudiesshowedthatacustomizedmarketingcontentthatis perceivedtoberelevanttoconsumersandmatchtheirspecificneeds/

interestsaffect brandtrustpositively (Kim& Ko,2012; Sohailetal., 2020)andpurchasebehavior(Thakeretal.,2020).Accordingly,the subsequenthypothesesareproposed:

H8:Perceivedrelevancehasapositiveimpactonbrandtrust.

H9:Perceivedrelevancehasapositiveimpactonpurchasedecision.

H10:Brandtrustmediatestherelationshipbetweenperceivedrele- vanceandpurchasedecision.

2.3.4. Informativeness

Rotzoll and Haefner(1990) referred informativeness tothe abil- ityof advertisementstoconvey importantinformationandmessages to consumers in order to enhance their brand attitude. Lee and Hong (2016)alsostatedthat informativenessexists whenmarketing practitioners design persuasive ads that can aid in attracting larger numberof customers andinfluencingtheir behaviourstowards mar- ketingcontent.Insocialmediasites,serviceproviderscaneasilyreach andinformtheircustomersregardingthemostrecentnewsandlatest productofferings,hencemakingitaviableoptionforthemtosearch aboutcertaingoodsor services(Naamanetal., 2011).Furthermore, thewidespreadofinternetandnewsmartphoneshavemadeiteasier forfirmstospreadimportantinformationonlineandconnectwithcus- tomers(Chhonkeretal., 2018).Incomparison tothetraditionalads andsalespromotionprograms,consumerstendtodevelopgreatertrust towardstheinformationthataresharedonsocialmedianetworks,espe- ciallywhenonlinereviewsareprovided.Inviewofthat,brandtrustis likelytobereinforcedbyexposingconsumerstotheinformationabout productorservicequalityandbrandvalues(Hajli,2014;Warrenetal., 2014).

Kitsiosetal.(2022)highlightedthesignificanceofsocialnetwork- ingsitesinenablingconsumerstosharetheirbrandexperiences,which wouldrepresentanimportantsourceofinformationtoothercustomers.

Blancoetal.(2010)foundthatsocialmediainformativenesswaspos- itivelyassociatedwithconsumerbuyingbehavior.Thisisinlinewith LeeandHong(2016)whoverifiedthepositiveimpactofcreativeads andinformativeness on consumers’ perceptions. They indicated that sharingimportantbrandinformationonthewebsiteofthefirminflu- encebuyer’spurchasebehavior.FurthersupportwasreportedbyChen

andLin(2019)whostatedthatthesourcesof informationthat con- sumerssearchforpriortomakingpurchasedecisionshavebeenchanged fromtraditionalmediatosocialmediaplatforms.Forthisreason,into- day’ssocialmediadigitalization,firmshaveputkeyconsiderationwith regardstothecreationofmarketingcontentanddeterminingthefre- quencyofpostsonmediaplatformsonhopetoattaintheirmarketing objectives.BilginandKethüda(2022)alsofoundthatinformativeness hasapositiveimpactonbrandtrust.Withreferencetotheprecedingdis- cussion,itcanbestatedthatinformativenessisanessentialmarketing elementsthatcanbeexploitedtoinfluenceandshapebuyerbehavior.

BydevelopingandcommunicatingbrandmessagesthroughSnapchat, YouTube,Twitter,Facebook,andothersocialnetworks,brandtrustand purchasebehaviorarelikelytobeimproved(Devereuxetal.,2020).Ac- cordingly,thesubsequenthypothesesareproposed:

H11:Informativenesshasapositiveimpactonbrandtrust.

H12:Informativenesshasapositiveimpactonpurchasedecision.

H13:Brandtrustmediatestherelationshipbetweeninformativeness andpurchasedecision.

3. Methodology

3.1. Datacollectionandsample

Theprimaryaimofthispaperwascenteredondeterminingthedi- rectandindirectimpactofsocialmediamarketingfeaturesonthepur- chasedecisionofconsumersthroughbrandtrust.Accordingly,asurvey methodisemployedforcollectingthedata.Theparticipantsconsistedof 258customersofseveralfast-foodbrandinUAE.Assurveyresearches require selectingsuitable samplingtechniquesduringdata collection inordertoensurethatdesirednumberofresponsescan begathered, convenience samplingmethod wasused. This isbecauseithasbeen widelyregardedasthemostappropriatetechniqueforcollectingdata fromconsumeratlowercost,particularlywhenthesamplingframecan- notbeobtained.Furthermore,conveniencesamplingallowsresearchers toeasilyreachtherespondentsanddistributethequestionnaire.Several priorstudieshavealsoreliedonthissamplingtechniqueforcollecting datafromcustomersindiversesectors(e.g.Guanetal.,2021;Phau&

Teah,2009;Yadav&Pathak,2016).Furthermore,thedataofthispaper weregatheredinaccordancewithethicalguidelinesandprinciples,and theconsentfromtheparticipantsinthisresearchwasobtainedbefore startingdatacollectionprocess.

3.2. Measures

Whiledevelopingthesurveyfordatacollectionpurpose,themea- surementitemsofconstructswereadaptedfrompastresearches.Sec- tionAinthesurveyfocusedonthepersonalinformationofrespondents (e.g.gender,age,education,etc.),whereastheothersectionwasabout themeasurementitems.First,brandtrustwasmeasuredthroughfour itemstakenfromthestudyofEbrahim(2019).Moreover,purchasede- cisionwasmeasuredusing5itemsadaptedfromHanaysha(2018).Ad- ditionally,socialmediamarketingfeaturesinthisstudyweremeasured basedonatotalof19itemsbeingadaptedfromtheearlierresearches ofAlalwan(2018)andCheungetal.(2020).Indetails,interactivitywas measuredthrough4items,andentertainmentisalsomeasuredbasedon 4items.Finally,perceivedrelevanceismeasuredaccordingto6items, whileinformativenessismeasuredthrough5items.Likertscalewhich rangesfromstrongdisagree(1)tostronglyagree(5)wasusedacrossall themeasurementitems.

3.3. Dataanalysistechnique

Asstatedintheabovesection,only267respondentsfilledthesurvey returnedit.Amongthem,itwasfoundthatthevalidresponseswhich aredeemedsuitablefordataanalysisaccountedfor258.First,thecol- lecteddatawerecodedandscreenedinordertoidentifymissingvalues,

andthen,replacingthembeforeproceedingtoactualdataanalysis.In thisstudy,theAMOSsoftwarewasemployedforestimatingthemea- surementandstructuralmodels.Specifically,measurementmodelwas usedtoverifythereliabilityandvalidityofmeasurementscales.Relia- bilityanalysiswascalculatedthroughCronbach’salphaandcomposite reliability,whereasconvergentvalidityaswellasdiscriminantvalidity wereusedfordeterminingthevalidityoftheinstrument.Afterachiev- ingacceptablevaluesforthem,thefinalstructuralmodelwasgenerated inordertoverifytheprojectedhypotheses.

3.4. Robustnesscheck

Commonmethodbias (CMB)haslargely beenemphasizedin the literature as a vital test for checking the robustness of data, espe- cially when a survey tool is employed and the responses are self- reported(Podsakoff etal., 2003).Therefore,in linewiththesugges- tionsofPodsakoff etal.(2003), CMBtestwasconducted.According totheseauthors, itisimportanttoprovidetherespondents withas- surancethatallthecollecteddatawillremainsynonymousandused onlyfor thepurpose of researchwithout disclosing thempublically.

Therefore,whileapproachingtheparticipantsfordatacollection,they wereinformedthat theiranswers willbe strictlyconfidential.More- over,Harman’s(1967)singlefactortestwasexecutedinordertocheck ifthemeasurementitemshaveanyasinglefactorextractionduringex- ploratoryfactoranalysis(EFA).Basedontheresults,itwasfoundthat about38.4%ofvarianceisexplainedbyunrotatedsinglefactor,which meansthatitdidnotexceed50%.Consequently,theseanalysisprovide anindicationthatthereisnoCMBissuesacrossthecollecteddata,be- causethemeasurementitemsofconstructsdidnotmixwitheachother, andnoonesinglefactorexplainsoraccountsformostofthevariance.

4. Analysisofresults

Inthisstudy,258usableresponsesweregatheredfromthepartici- pantsanddeemedsuitablefordataanalysis.Thedemographicanalysis pointedoutthatmalesrepresent63.2percentofthem,whilefemales represented36.8percent.Concerningageprofile,theanalysisindicated thatthosewhoseageswerelessthan25yearsaccountedfor56.2per- cent,30.1percentrepresentedtheagegroupof26–35years,11.4per- centwereagedbetween36–46years,andonly2.3percentbelongthe agegroupof46yearsandabove.Furthermore,thedemographicstatis- ticsexhibited that67.9percentof therespondentsin thisstudyhad bachelordegreequalification,7.6percenthaddiplomabackground,and 25.5percenthadaqualificationinpostgraduateprogrammes.Lastly,the statisticalanalysisofrespondentsoutlinedthatallofthemareinvolved insocialmediaandhaveaminimumofonepersonalaccountonanyof thesesocialmediachannels:Facebook,Instagram,Snapchat,andTwit- ter.Indetails.51.4percenthadanaccountonFacebook,17.7percent hadanaccountonSnapchat,18.3percenthadaTwitteraccount,while 12.6hadanaccountonInstagram.

InordertocheckifthereisanyissuesofMulticollinearityamongthe constructsintheproposedmodel,thisstudyreliedontheVariableInfla- tionFactor(VIF).Earlierstudiesrevealedthatthisindicatorhaswidely beenusedinquantitativeresearchtoestimatethemulticollinearityas wellascorrelationsbetweenthemeasurementscalesofconstructsvia themeasurementmodel.Vuetal.(2015)outlinedthatmulticollinearity issuetendstobeabsentwhenthevaluesofVIFacrossallitemsdonot surpass5.Table1displaysthatallvalueofVIFforselectedmeasuresap- pearinthetolerablerange(<5),andthisconfirmstheappropriateness ofcollecteddataforadditionalanalysis(Podsakoff etal.,2003).

Furthermore,thedescriptivestatisticsofconstructs(Meansandstan- darddeviation)aswellascorrelationmatrixwereanalyzed.Itisevident inTable2thatinteractivityispositivelycorrelatedwithentertainment (r=0.518,p<0.01),informativenss(r=0.391,p<0.01),perceivedrel- evance(r=0.464,p<0.01),brandtrust(r=0.453,p<0.01),andpur- chasedecision(r=0.529,p<0.01).Itisalsoclearthatentertainment

Table1

Multicollinearitytest.

Construct Item VIF Construct Item VIF

Interactivity INT1 1.321 Brand Trust BT1 1.569

INT2 1.351 BT2 1.817

INT3 1.411 BT3 2.128

INT4 1.218 BT4 1.707

Entertainment ENT1 1.313 Purchase Decision PD1 2.067

ENT2 1.257 PD2 2.042

ENT3 1.158 PD3 1.890

Informativeness INF1 2.264 PD4 1.860

INF2 2.592 INF3 2.147 INF4 1.538 Perceived Relevance PR1 1.910 PR2 2.124 PR3 2.446 PR4 2.207 PR5 1.299

Table2 Correlations.

Construct 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Interactivity 1 2. Entertainment 0.186 ^∗∗ 1 3. Informativeness 0.230 ^∗∗ 0.392 ^∗∗ 1 4. Perceived Relevance 0.385 ^∗∗ 0.083 ^∗∗ 0.541 ^∗∗ 1 5. Brand Trust 0.557 ^∗∗ 0.491 ^∗∗ 0.636 ^∗∗ 0.412 ^∗∗ 1 6. Purchase Decision 0.520 ^∗∗ 0.380 ^∗∗ 0.549 ^∗∗ 0.633 ^∗∗ 0.545 ^∗∗ 1

∗∗p<0.01.

hasapositiverelationshipwithinformativenss(r=0.549,p<0.01),per- ceivedrelevance(r=0.549,p<0.01),brandtrust(r=0.549,p<0.01), andpurchasedecision(r=0.549,p<0.01).Similarly,informativenss hasapositivecorrelationwithperceivedrelevance(r=0.532,p<0.01), brandtrust (r =0.583,p<0.01), andpurchasedecision (r =0.709, p<0.01).Theanalysisalsoshowedthatperceivedrelevancehasapos- itivecorrelationwithbrandtrust(r=0.540,p<0.01)andpurchasede- cision(r=0.626,p<0.01).Finally,thecorrelationbetweenbrandtrust andpurchasedecisionispositive(r=0.680,p<0.01).Onwhole,these resultsprovideanindicationfortheexistenceofsignificantandposi- tiverelationshipamongtheconstructs.Furthermore,themeanvalues forallconstructswerefoundasfollows:interactivity(3.95),entertain- ment(4.02),informativenss(3.79),perceivedrelevance(3.83),brand trust(3.84),andpurchasedecision(3.70).Lastly,thestandarddevia- tionrangedfrom0.79to0.93forallconstructs.

Inthisresearch,thesoftwareofAMOS21wasutilizedforperform- ingtheanalysisofdata.Initially,themeasurementmodelwasestimated inordertocheckthefactorloadingsandestablishthereliabilityinad- ditiontovalidityfortheselectedmeasurementscales.Afterthat, the structuralmodelwasestimatedtoverifythehypotheses.Inthemea- surementmodel,therearefourthingsthatshouldbeestimated:model fit,factorloadings,reliabilityanalysis,andconvergentvalidity.Thefit indicesshouldachievetheacceptablethresholdvalues.Afterdeletion offewitemsduetolowerloading,theestimatedmeasurementmodel achievedagoodfitwiththedata(𝜒²=239.704,df=150,GFI=0.876, AGFI=0.826,RMSEA=0.061,CFI=0.921,andTLI=0.900).Corre- spondingtothesuggestionsofHairetal.(2010),theacceptablevalues offactorloadingfortheremainingitemsofeachconstructshouldfall in therangeof0.5to1.Thestatisticalanalysisshowed thatallfac- torloadings(standardized)oftheresidualitemscameintherangeof 0.544to0.829.Therefore,itcanbesaidthatthereisnoissuebeingre- portedwithrespecttotheconvergentvaliditytest.Anothertestwhich wasconductedtoassessconvergentvalidityistheAverageVarianceEx- tracted(AVE). Hairetal.(2010)statedthatitcanbeattained when theAVEvalueforaconstructsurpasses0.5.Ingeneral,theoutcomes

Table3

Confirmatoryfactoranalysis.

Constructs Items Loadings Cronbach’s Alpha CompositeReliability AVE

Interactivity INT1 0.737 0.814 0.884 0.615

INT2 0.805 INT3 0.609 INT4 0.809

Informativeness INF1 0.676 0.736 0.753 0.432

INF3 0.657 INF4 0.632 INF5 0.664

Entertainment ENT1 0.726 0.738 0.741 0.492

ENT2 0.772 ENT3 0.593

Perceived Relevance PR1 0.654 0.793 0.805 0.514

PR2 0.544 PR3 0.829 PR4 0.803

Brand Trust BT1 0.688 0.776 0.781 0.543

BT2 0.801 BT4 0.718

Purchase Decision PD1 0.622 0.685 0.736 0.413

PD2 0.712 PD3 0.664 PD4 0.562

Table4

Testofdiscriminantvalidity.

Construct 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Interactivity 0.784 2. Entertainment 0.186 0.657 3. Informativeness 0.230 0.392 0.751 4. Perceived Relevance 0.385 0.083 0.541 0.716 5. Brand Trust 0.557 0.491 0.636 0.412 0.737 6. Purchase Decision 0.520 0.380 0.549 0.633 0.545 0.642

showedthattheconvergentvalidityforallconstructsisachieved.In additiontothat,reliabilityanalysiswerecalculatedfortheconstructs.

Hairetal.(2010)statedthatthethresholdvalueforbothcomposite reliabilityandCronbach’sAlphaisequalto0.6.Thestatisticalanalysis presentedinTable3confirmedthatallofthevalueforCronbach’sAl- phaandcompositereliabilityaswellexceeded0.60;hence,reliability assumptionsarefulfilled.

Furthermore,discriminantvaliditywasexaminedviathemeasure- mentmodeltoensurethatthemeasurement itemsof eachconstruct aredifferentfromthoseofotherconstructs.Thisprocedurewasusedin responsetotheproposedformulaofFornellandLarcker(1981).Accord- ingtotheseauthors,wecancheckdiscriminantvaliditybycomparing theinterrelationshipswhichexistamongalltheconstructsagainstthe squareroot(SQRT)ofAVE.Ingeneral,theresults(seeTable4)verified thatthevaluesofAVE’SQRTforeachconstructsurpassedthevaluesof thecorrelationintheidenticalrowandcolumn,whichprovidesaclear indicationthattheassumptionsofdiscriminantvalidityareattained.

Astheacceptable values of factorloadings along withreliability andvalidity analysisaremet basedon themeasurementmodel, the finalstructural modelwas generatedusing AMOSsoftware tocheck andtesttheprojectedhypotheses. Fig.1exhibitsthat thegenerated structuralmodelmaintainedagoodfitwiththedata(𝜒² =363.260, df=189,GFI=0.839,AGFI=0.785,RMSEA=0.076,CFI=0.873,and TLI=0.845).Table5alsoillustratesthatthehypothesis1regardingthe impactofbrandtrustonpurchasedecision(𝛽=0.449,t-value=3.135, p< 0.05) is supported.The statistical findings alsoshowed that in- teractivitypositivelyaffectedbrandtrust(𝛽=0.413,t-value=4.227, p<0.05)andpurchasedecision(𝛽=0.228,t-value=2.403,p<0.05), thus,H2 andH3 aresupported, The statistical analysisalso proved thatentertainmenthasapositiveimpactonbrandtrust(𝛽=0.236,t- value=2.355,p<0.05),butitseffectonpurchasedecision(𝛽=0.023,

t-value=−0.278,p>0.10)isinsignificant;consequently,H5isaccepted whileH6isrejected.Unexpectedly,theoutcomesshowedthatperceived relevancedoesnotaffectbrandtrust(𝛽=−0.013,t-value=−0.123,p

>0.05),whileitsimpactonpurchasedecisionissignificant(𝛽=0.191, t-value=2.257,p<0.05),thus,H8isrejectedwhereasH9issupported.

Finally,theresultsconfirmedthepositiveeffectofinformativenesson brandtrust(𝛽=0.456,t-value=3.430,p<0.05)andpurchasedeci- sion(𝛽=0.317,t-value=2.513,p<0.05),hence,H11andH12are supported.Ingeneral, thesefactorsexplain60.2%ofthevariancein brandtrust.Also,brandtrustexplains61.4%ofvarianceinpurchase decision.

Toverifythemediatingroleofbrandtrustamongsocialmediamar- ketingfeaturesandpurchasedecision,thisstudyfollowedtheformula whichwasproposedbyPreacherandHayes(2008).Initially,theindi- recteffectofindependentvariables(SMMfeatures)onthedependent variable(purchasedecision)wascalculated.Basedontheirsuggestions, thefirstconditionforexistenceofmediatingeffectcanbemetifthe p-valueissignificant.Afterthat,bothoflowerboundaswellasupper bound valuesshould be calculated.Themediatingeffect ofindepen- dentvariablesonthedependentvariablecanbeconfirmedandproved iftherethelowerboundandupperboundvaluesdonothavezerobe- tweenthemwithaConfidenceIntervals(CIs)of95%.Orelse,thereis noprooftoconfirmthemediatingeffect.Overall,theresultsdisplayed in Table6revealthattheindirecteffectofinteractivityonpurchase decisionisconfirmed(p-value=0.017,LL=0.150,UL=0.696),thus, H4isaccepted.Thefindingsalsoshowedthattheindirecteffectofen- tertainment(p-value=0.180,LL=−0.072,UL=0.412)andperceived relevance(p-value=0.825,LL=−0.474,UL=0.466)onpurchasedeci- sionisinsignificant,thus,H7andH10arerejected.Finally,theanalysis indicatedthattheindirecteffectofinformativenessonpurchasedeci- sionissupported(p-value=0.010,LL=0.287,UL=0.955),thus,H13 isconfirmed.

5. Discussion

Theprimaryaimof thepresentpaperwascenteredonexamining thedirectandindirecteffectofthefeaturesofsocialmediamarketing onbuyingdecision,andalsotoverifyifbrandtrustreallymediatesthe linkagesbetweentheminUAEfast-foodcontext.Itwasfoundthatbrand trustisasignificantpredictorofpurchasedecision.Popetal.(2022)also confirmedthatbrandtrusthasapositiveeffectonpurchasedecision.

Brandtrustrepresentsanimportantreasonforbuildingandmaintaining

Fig.1. Thestructuralmodel.

Table5

Hypotheses’results.

Hypotheses Std. Estimate S.E. C.R. P-Value

H1 Brand Trust Purchase Decision 0.449 0.181 3.135 0.002

H2 Interactivity Brand Trust 0.413 0.062 4.227 ^∗∗∗

H3 Interactivity Purchase Decision 0.228 0.076 2.403 0.016

H5 Entertainment Brand Trust 0.236 0.081 2.355 0.019

H6 Entertainment Purchase Decision − 0.023 0.083 − 0.278 0.781

H8 Perceived Relevance Brand Trust − 0.013 0.076 − 0.123 0.902 H9 Perceived Relevance Purchase Decision 0.191 0.079 2.157 0.031

H11 Informativeness Brand Trust 0.456 0.108 3.430 ^∗∗∗

H12 Informativeness Purchase Decision 0.317 0.130 2.513 0.012

∗∗p<0.01.

Table6 Mediationtest.

Bootstrapping BC 95% CI

Est. Std. Error Lower Bound Upper Bound P-Value Indirect Effect

Interactivity 0.451 0.148 0.150 0.696 0.017 0.127

Informativeness 0.591 0.208 0.287 0.955 0.010 0.193

Entertainment 0.154 0.120 − 0.072 0.412 0.180 0.132

Perceived Relevance 0.009 0.262 − 0.474 0.466 0.825 0.216

∗Dependentvariable:purchasedecision;mediator:brandtrust.

arobustandenduringrelationshipamongthecustomersandtheservice provider.Statisticalresultsalsooutlinedthatsocialmediainteractions positivelyinfluencepurchasedecisiondirectlyandindirectlyviabrand trust.Thisresultisinharmonywiththoseofearlierresearcheswhich concludedthatsocialmediainteractions(Islametal.,2021;Linetal., 2019)havesignificantimpactonpurchasedecision.Furthersupportwas seeninthestudyofIbrahimandAljarah(2018)whoreportedthatbrand trustwasapartialmediatorintherelationshipbetweeninteractivityand purchaseintention.Cheungetal.(2021)alsoshowedthatacompany whichreliesonsocialmediasitestocommunicateandinteractwithits specificgroupofcustomers,islikelytogethighbrandtrustandbeone oftheconsumers’choices.BylookingatUAEcontext, itcanbe seen mostofthebuyerspreferbrowsingthroughsocialmediachannelsto

lookforbrandsandinteractwithoneanother.Duetothesefacts,social mediahasbeenregardedasthemostviableoptionforconnectingand interactingwithcurrentaswellasprospectivecustomers.

Surprisingly,thefindingsdisplayedthatentertainmentispositively associatedwithbrandtrustonly,whileeffectonpurchasedecisionisin- significant.Furthermore,themediatingeffectofbrandtrustbetweenen- tertainmentandpurchasedecisionisnotsupported.Thisindicatesthat sharingbrandmessagesonthesocialmedia sitesoffast-foodrestau- rants,andincludingentertainingactivitiescanbuildbrandtrust,but necessarilyinfluencesconsumers’purchasedecisions.Consistentwith HollebeekandMacky(2019),whensocialmediaadsaredesignedfor providingentertainmenttoconsumers,ahigherdegreeofbrandtrust willbedevelopedinconsumers’minds.Otherstudiesalsovieweden-

tertainmentasonetheforemostpredictorsofelectronicwordofmouth (Haetal.,2020)andbrandinvolvement(McClure&Seock,2020).Like- wise,Cheungetal.(2020)revealedthatmarketingmessagesthatenter- tainconsumersandhavefunfeaturescanbeeasilyandquicklydissem- inatedonsocialmediaplatforms.Basedontheresult,itcanbesaidthat whenserviceprovidersfocusonentertainmentactivitiestoenhancecon- sumers’experiencesviasocialmediasites,thisresultsingreaterbrand trust.

Thefindingsofthisresearchhavefurtherconfirmedthedirectim- pactofperceivedrelevanceonpurchasedecisionissignificantwhileit relationshipwithbrandtrustisinsignificant.Themediatingeffectof brandtrustbetweenperceivedrelevanceandpurchasedecisionisalso notconfirmed.Theinsignificanteffectonbrandtrustcouldbebecause consumersdonottrustthefirm’sadsinsocialmediasetting.Accord- ingtoNaeem(2021),customizedbrandcontentsthataredesignedand sharedonsocialmediasitesexertapositiveimpactonbuyerbehavior.

Therefore,customizedbrandmessagesonsocialmediaplatformswill providecustomerswithgreaterchancestobeengagedinbrandadver- tisements,andhence,stimulatingpurchasebehavior(Moslehpouretal., 2021).Hewettetal.(2016)addedthatwhenafirmsharescustomized andrelevantbrandmessageswithitscustomersonline,andthenreply toeachofthemprivatelytendstobeperceivedpositively.Forthisrea- son,perceivedrelevancehavebeenconsideredtobevitalforpredicting purchasedecision.

Finally,theoutcomesconfirmedthatinformativenessdirectlyand indirectlyaffectsconsumerpurchasedecisionviabrandtrust.Thiswas supportedearlierbyMoslehpouretal.(2021)whoconfirmedthatbrand trustmediatestherelationshipbetweensocialmediamarketingactiv- itiesandpurchasebehavior.Kangetal.(2020)alsofoundapositive associationbetweeninformativeness(afeatureofsocialmediamarket- ing)andpurchase decision.DhaneshandDuthler(2019)added that theyounggenerations(thoseagedlessthan30years)in Gulfregion relyheavilyonsocialmediaandinternetchannelsinsearchingfordif- ferenttangibleandintangibleproducts.Therefore,creatingbrandtrust throughsocialmedianetworksisbecomingveryimportantbecausecon- sumersdeal withservices providersvirtually.The spreadofpositive wordofmouthandconsistentbrandmessagescanimproveconsumers’

perceptionsandbrandtrust.However,ifbrandtrustamongconsumers islow,theirpurchasedecisionwillalsobenegativelyaffected,andvice versa.

5.1. Contributiontotheliterature

Thisstudyattemptedtomakeakeytheoreticalcontributiontothe empiricalliteraturebyexploringandverifyingtheroleofsocialme- diamarketingfeaturesinpredictingpurchasedecision.Primarily,three elementsofsocialmediamarketing(informativeness,interactivity,and perceivedrelevance)weretakenfromthestudyofAlalwan’s(2018)that wasconductedinJordaniancontext.Inothersimilarresearches,enter- tainmentwas alsousedasoneofthemainelementsofsocialmedia advertisingthatcouldaffectbrandtrustandbuyingbehavior.Bylook- ingatexistingstudiesinthepublishedliterature,onewouldnoticethat itishardtocomeacrossastudythatfocusedoninvestigatingtheimpact ofselectedfeaturesofsocialmediamarketingdirectlyandindirectlyon purchasedecisionviabrandtrustjointlyinoneresearchframework.The presentresearchfurthercorrespondstothestudiesthatrecommended identifyingthemediatingmechanismsthroughwhichthefeaturesofso- cialmediamarketingaffectthepurchasedecisionsofconsumers.There- fore,brandtrustwasusedasakeymediatortoaddressexistinggapsin theliterature.Thispaperalsointendedtocontributetheempiricalliter- aturebyverifyingthepositivecorrelationsbetweenselectedvariables basedonconsumers’insightsinUAEowingtotheapparentsocialand culturaldiversity.Importantly,thecurrentstudyprovedthepositiveim- pactofbothinformativenessandperceivedrelevanceonthepurchase decisionofconsumers.Suchlinkageshavereceivedverylimitedatten- tionintheearlierresearches,especiallyinthefast-foodsector.Lastly,

thisresearchcontributestotheUTAUTmodelandupsurgesourcompre- hensionregardingthesignificanceofthechosensocialmediamarketing aspectsinpredictingbrandtrustaswellaspurchasedecisions.

5.2. Implicationsforpractice

Theprimaryfocusofthispaperwastoidentifythedirectandin- directeffectsofsocialmediamarketingfeaturesonpurchasedecision viabrandtrustinfast-foodcontext.Theresultsexhibitedthatinforma- tivenesshasthestrongestimpactonbrandtrustandpurchasedecision.

Theanalysisfurtherindicatedthatpurchasedecisioncouldbe signif- icantlyinfluencedbyperceivedrelevanceandinteractivity,whileen- tertainmentdoesnothaveasignificanteffectonit.Mostimportantly, itwasfoundthatbrandtrustisasignificantmediatorintherelation- shipbetweenonlytwoelementsofsocialmediamarketing(interactivity andinformtiveness)andconsumerpurchasedecision.Theseresultsin generalprovetheimportanceofsocialnetworksandsuggestthatbusi- nesspractitioners,particularly,inthefast-foodsectorshouldexploitso- cialmediachannelsfordesigningpersuasivecontentandspreadingkey marketingmessagestoattaintheirdesiredmarketingobjectives.Manag- ingonlinecommunitiesonsocialmediaplatformsisalsoveryessential forbuildingbrandcommunityandshapingcorporateimage.Moreover, marketersareencouragedtofocusoncreatingappealingadsthatmay arousethefeelingsofconsumerstowardstheserviceproviderandrein- forcetheirbrandengagement.Whendesigningsocialmediacontents, marketingpractitionersshouldpayaremarkableattentiontotheirlevel ofqualityandcharacteristicsasthiscouldresultingreaterbrandtrust, andeventuallybetter purchasedecision.Inadditiontothat,market- ingspecialistsshouldhaveadequateunderstandingsaboutthesortof brandinformationthatconsumersusuallysearchforviasocialmedia platforms,andalsobeabletodeterminewhichcontentscanenhance consumers’interactions.However,therearesomemeansthatcan be usefulformarketersinmonitoringconsumers’responsestowardtheon- linecontent,suchasGoogleanalyticsandothertools.

5.3. Limitationsandfutureresearch

Therearesomelimitationsinthecurrentpaperwhichcanbetaken intoaccountinforthcomingstudies.Forinstance,therequireddatawas gathered viaasurveymethod tomeasureconsumers’perceptionsto- wardssocialmarketingfeaturesandpurchasedecision;accordingly,up- comingstudiesmayemploythequalitativeapproachorusethelongitu- dinalmethod.Moreover,thedatawascollectedfromconsumersinUAE fast-foodindustry;hence,itissuggestedforforthcomingresearchesto replicatethemodelin differentcontextstogaingreater insights.Ad- ditionally,socialmediamarketingwasmeasuredusingfourelements, thus,futureresearchesarerecommendedtoexamineotherelementsthat mayexertasignificantimpactonpurchasedecision(e.g.trendinessand habits).Finally,datacollectionprocedurefollowedanon-randomsam- plingtool;consequently,futurestudiesarerecommendedtouserandom samplingmethodsinordertoensurethegeneralizabilityofthestatisti- calresults.

6. Conclusion

Thisstudyattemptedtoexaminetheeffectsofsocialmediamarket- ingfeaturesof fast-foodbrandsonpurchasedecision.Themediating effect of brandtrust betweenthem isalsoverified. Theresults indi- catedthatsocialmediasitesrepresentimportantplatformsforfast-food brandstoattaintheirdesiredmarketingobjectives,forinstancebuilding brandtrustandinfluencingconsumers’purchasedecision.Socialmedia marketingfeaturesinthisstudyarecomprisedoffourdimensions;in- teraction,entertainment,perceivedrelevance,andinformativeness.All ofthesedimensionsexceptentertainmentarefoundassignificantpre- dictorsofpurchasedecision.Theinsignificanteffectofentertainment maymeanthatconsumersperceivethesocialmediacontentoffast-food