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Purpose This study investigates the impact of social media marketing activities (SMMA) on shoppers' store love and the impact of store love on store loyalty in grocery retail. Moreover, it explores the mediating and moderating role of store love and social media usage intensity (SMUI). Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted among grocery shoppers and social media users in Norway. A total of 177 valid responses were collected and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings The study discovered that SMMA impacts store love, and store love affects store loyalty. Store love serves as a mediator between SMMA and store loyalty. SMUI positively moderates the relationship between SMMA and store love; however, the relationship between store love and store loyalty is not moderated by SMUI. Research limitations/implications Despite having limited generalizability from a cross-sectional study, this study provides literary additions to the body of knowledge in grocery retail and enhances the cognitive appraisal theory (CAT) and the attachment theory (AT). Practical implications The findings of this study will help grocery shoppers, store managers and grocery chain marketers to comprehend the role of SMMA in building emotional attachment with a grocery store and help make better decisions. Originality/value For the first time, this study incorporated SMUI as a moderator in the relationship between SMMA, store love and store loyalty in grocery retail. The study also proposes a new explanation for the relationship between SMMA and store loyalty by highlighting the mediating role of store love.
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Marketing Intelligence and Planning
Social media marketing, shoppers' store love, and loyalty.
Journal:
Marketing Intelligence and Planning
Manuscript ID
MIP-05-2021-0164.R3
Manuscript Type:
Original Article
Keywords:
Social media marketing activities, Store love, Store loyalty, Norway,
Social media usage intensity, Grocery retail
Abstract:
Marketing Intelligence and Planning
Marketing Intelligence and Planning
Social media marketing, shoppers' store love, and loyalty.
Abstract
Purpose – This study investigates the impact of social media marketing activities (SMMA) on
shoppers' store love and the impact of store love on store loyalty in grocery retail. Moreover,
it explores the mediating and moderating role of store love and social media usage intensity
(SMUI).
Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted among grocery shoppers and
social media users in Norway. 177 valid responses were collected and analyzed using PLS-
SEM.
FindingsThe study discovered that SMMA impacts store love, and store love affects store
loyalty. Store love serves as a mediator between SMMA and store loyalty. SMUI positively
moderates the relationship between SMMA and store love; however, the relationship
between store love and store loyalty is not moderated by SMUI.
Research limitations/implications Despite having limited generalizability from a cross-
sectional study, this study provides literary additions to the body of knowledge in grocery
retail and enhances the cognitive appraisal theory and the attachment theory.
Practical implicationsThe findings of this study will help grocery shoppers, store managers,
and grocery chain marketers to comprehend the role of SMMA in building emotional
attachment with a grocery store and help make better decisions.
Originality/value For the first time, this study incorporated SMUI as a moderator in the
relationship between SMMA, store love, and store loyalty in grocery retail. The study also
proposes a new explanation for the relationship between SMMA and store loyalty by
highlighting the mediating role of store love.
Keywords - Social media marketing activities, Social media usage intensity, Store love, Store
loyalty, Grocery retail, Norway.
1. Introduction:
In the current era of digitalization, digital marketing and social media have gained pivotal
attention across the marketing landscape with technological innovations (Chen and Qasim,
2020). With a steady rise, the global user base of social media was amounted to over 3.6
billion in 2020, with a projected increase to around 4.41 billion in 2025 (Statista, 2021).
Nowadays, social media plays a crucial role in influencing consumers' perception and behavior
and attracting marketers to adopt these platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) as
their primary marketing communication channel over other traditional means of
communication (Moslehpour et al., 2020). Therefore, social media marketing (SMM) has
become an integral part of a company's marketing strategy. The interactivity feature of this
media has made it practical to incorporate and build consumer relationships with a brand
(Cheung et al., 2020b) and improve affection or loyalty toward the brand (Hasan and Sohail,
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2020). Along with the advancement of smartphones, brands in every industry have begun to
utilize SMM to reach and interact with consumers (Cheung et al., 2020a, Ebrahim, 2019, Liu
et al., 2021, Moslehpour et al., 2020).
Over the past two decades, the retail industry has seen massive restructuring and
rationalization, resulting in the growth of large businesses, higher concentration, and more
intense rivalry on a global scale. (Hiltunen et al., 2019). The grocery sector (typically composed
of few chains) encounters competition to sustain its market position in the retail industry.
Like the international trend, the Norwegian grocery retail market is highly concentrated and
faces fierce competition (Nesset et al., 2021). The leading grocery retail chains of Norway are
Rema (REITAN), Kiwi (NorgesGruppen), and Extra (Coop), and their aggregate market share
was 96.4% in 2019 (Nesset et al., 2021). Yet, they compete with each other to hustle market
share. Following the global trend, Norwegian grocery retail chains aim to offset such
competition and have initiated social media marketing activities (SMMA) to nurture
consumers' affection and attachment to their brand. In continuation, most chains' stores have
begun to maintain their own social media pages to engage local consumers and maintain a
relationship. SMMA performed at the store level is usually maintained by the store managers
or supervisors to establish and position themselves as a store brand over other local stores
regardless of the chain it belongs to.
Scholarly attention on social media marketing activities began in 2010 (Wibowo et al., 2021,
Kim and Ko, 2010). Since then, numerous studies conceptualized (Yadav and Rahman, 2017,
Kim and Ko, 2012) and empirically validated SMMA's causal effect on consumers' behavioral
outcomes (Koay et al., 2020, Gautam and Sharma, 2017, Godey et al., 2016). A handful of
researchers integrated different contexts for the study on SMMA other than luxury (Seo and
Park, 2018, Cheung et al., 2020a, Moslehpour et al., 2020). However, no single study to date
integrated the grocery retail context to study SMMA, where a store can be viewed as a brand.
Few studies examined the effect of SMMA on brand love or brand loyalty (Algharabat, 2017,
Chen and Qasim, 2020), but not store love and store loyalty. Furthermore, the ongoing debate
on SMMA rarely included the boundary conditions to explain SMMA's impact on consumer-
brand relationship outcomes (e.g., loyalty), highlighting the need for further studies on this
avenue of research.
An exhaustive search of previous studies on SMMA reveals that a moderator was hardly
introduced in a causal map. Many researchers suggested adding socio-demographic variables
as moderators (Ibrahim et al., 2021, Sharma et al., 2021); specifically, Beig and Khan (2020)
explicitly recommended including 'social media usage.' The lockdown due to the COVID-19
pandemic has forced consumers to explore digital means of communication in all aspects of
their life and experience a higher intensity of social media usage than ever before. Thus, it is
essential to assess whether such increased social media usage intensity shifts the causal
outcomes of SMMA and offers a new explanation of the causal relationships.
The importance of SMM and brand loyalty for the success and growth of brands were
emphasized by many scholars (Yadav and Rahman, 2018, Ismail, 2017, Ebrahim, 2019).
However, this study acknowledges that the relationship between SMMA and store loyalty is
not direct; instead, it is mediated by store love. Because brand love can play an essential role
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in determining the contribution of SMMA towards brand loyalty and examining this role helps
develop a better understanding of the mechanism of impact of SMMA on brand loyalty
through brand love.
Therefore, this study aims to assess the relationship between SMMA, social media usage
intensity (SMUI), store love, and store loyalty from the Scandinavian perspective (i.e.,
Norway) and, in doing so, makes several literary contributions. First, it contributes to the
stream of research on SMMA by integrating a context (grocery-retail) that has been
overlooked. Thus, it provides novel insights into the applicability of SMMA within a sector
where the products are considered low-ticket goods. Second, assess the moderating role of
SMUI on the relationship between SMMA and store love and store loyalty. It adds a new spin
to the debate on the efficacy of social media on shoppers who use social media. Third, assess
the mediating role of store love between SMMA and store loyalty, thereby offering new
explanations for the relationship. Fourth, applying the cognitive appraisal theory and
attachment theory (Section 2.1) to explain the mentioned relationships with empirical
evidence eventually contributes to the tenets of these theories. None of the past studies on
SMMA checked the compatibility of these theories to explain the outcomes. Finally, given that
the past studies primarily operationalized SMMA as first-order constructs (entertainment,
customization, interaction, EWOM, and trendiness), this study models them parsimoniously
as a second-order (reflective–reflective) construct as suggested by Sarstedt et al. (2019).
2. Theoretical background and hypothesis development
2.1 Cognitive appraisal theory and attachment theory
Cognitive appraisal theory (CAT) suggests that subjective judgment of a particular situation,
experience or goal, arouses human emotion (Lazarus and Lazarus, 1991). In a store
environment setting, individuals' feelings are also influenced by their cognitive evaluation of
the surroundings, such as aroma and music (Walsh et al., 2011). In support of the view that
environmental stimuli activate emotional responses, Koo and Kim (2013) documented that
store environmental cues significantly influence the affective states of shoppers. Within the
online platform context, scholars applied CAT to explain the formation of online customers'
emotions (Wu and Chang, 2020, Luo and Chea, 2018, Kim and Lennon, 2013). Therefore,
drawing on the fundamentals of CAT and its application in past studies, it can be argued that
consumers' exposure to different marketing activities on social media arouses their cognitive
appraisal of the store brand, which eventually evokes an emotion toward the store (e.g., love).
Bowlby's (1980) attachment theory (AT) posits that an individual is likely to be committed to
an object or person if they have an emotional attachment, and this emotional attachment
guides toward a long-term relationship. Since store love represents a person's emotional
bonding with a particular store, his/her love toward that store will lead to loyalty (Carroll and
Ahuvia, 2006, Koo and Kim, 2013). Therefore, this study applies CAT and AT as the theoretical
basis.
2.2 Social media marketing activities (SMMA)
Social media are online applications, tools, systems, or platforms that support collaboration
and content sharing among community members (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). The media
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effectively reaches consumers cheaper than other traditional means, namely TV, radio, and
print media. The media is also recognized as a valuable instrument to build a brand and has
drawn attention from scholars (Ismail, 2017). Thus, researchers examined marketing activities
on social media (SMMA) in different brands, such as luxury cosmetics (Cheung et al., 2020c),
smartphones (Cheung et al., 2021), coffee shops (Ibrahim et al., 2021), and hotels (Ibrahim
and Aljarah, 2018), and this resulted in varied conceptualization of SMMA. For instance, Kim
and Ko (2012) and Godey et al. (2016) conceptualized SMMA as a multidimensional construct
comprising entertainment, customization, interaction, electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM),
and trendiness. Afterward, Yadav and Rahman (2017) supported the multidimensional
properties of SMMA and its potent effect on e-commerce.
Entertainment implies creating a fun and playful experience via contests, games, and video
on the social media platform to build consumer perception (Cheung et al., 2020a). This
perceived experience develops consumers' intimacy with the brand and causes brand-related
outcomes, namely purchase intention (Kim and Ko, 2012), brand equity (Ebrahim, 2019),
engagement (Cheung et al., 2020a), relationship (Sharma et al., 2021), etc. Nonetheless,
Ibrahim et al. (2021) and Sikandar and Ahmed (2019) concluded that entertaining content
stimulates other brand-related emotions such as brand love and loyalty.
Customization implies the extent to which a service meets consumers' personal preferences
through tailoring the services (Yadav and Rahman, 2018). Using social media platforms,
marketers can personalize messages and other service-related content to integrate a
customized marketing approach and create value for specified consumer groups (Ebrahim,
2019). It ultimately offers strong bonding between brands and consumers and nurtures a
good relationship and positive emotion (Kim and Ko, 2012).
Interaction on social media involves two-way communication and sharing information or
ideas with others who preserve similar interests (Cheung et al., 2020c). Such interaction
between consumers and brands facilitates a cognitive understanding of the brand's values
(Cheung et al., 2020a). This perceptual comprehension can lead to strong bonding between
brands and consumers. Marketers can improve the interaction between brands and
consumers by enabling the sharing or discussion features regarding the brand (Dessart et al.,
2015).
Trendiness denotes the extent to which brand information on social media is up-to-date with
trendy or hot updates, news, and topics (Naaman et al., 2011). With the rising popularity of
social media, consumers seek instant access to brand information through the platform
because they perceive this information source as valuable and current than other traditional
media (Liu et al., 2021). This credibility encourages marketers to share constant updates from
brands' social media pages to gain consumers' attention and build their trust (Ibrahim et al.,
2021). Consequently, consumers can get more attached to the brand and maintain feelings
(Algharabat, 2017).
EWOM stands for 'electronic word of mouth,' mainly shared among potential, former, or
actual consumers regarding a brand via social media platform (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004).
EWOM generation relies on three factors: exchange, dissemination, and uploading
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information by consumers through social media. Consumers can materialize these factors
through sharing opinions with friends, uploading content to their blog or page, and passing
out information about a brand (Kim and Ko, 2010). Akin to interaction, EWOM is perceived by
consumers as highly credible and trustworthy information and results in positive brand
outcomes (Cheung et al., 2021, Srivastava and Sivaramakrishnan, 2020).
2.3 Store love
Brand love is an emotional dimension of consumer-brand relationships (Algharabat, 2017). It
encompasses emotional attachment with a brand, and lovers of a brand are often cognitively
satisfied with the brand (Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006). Therefore, brand love can be classified as
a positive emotional/affective construct set to the opposite spectrum of brand hate (Sarkar
et al., 2020). It can play an essential role in influencing brand loyalty, growth, and success in
the brand-building process. Thus, it is crucial to inquire about different efforts of store
managers that can essentially lead to store love. Besides any physical or environmental
factors (e.g., Koo and Kim, 2013, Sarkar et al., 2019), marketing activities on social media can
be effective in this regard. From the theoretical lens of CAT, consumers' exposure to different
marketing activities on social media elicits their cognitive appraisal of the store, which
eventually evokes an emotion (e.g., love) toward the store (Section 2.1). When a store
enhances certain aspects of its social media efforts on different platforms (e.g.,
entertainment, interaction, trendiness, and others), it becomes more efficient to engage
consumers emotionally.
Past studies documented the link between SMMA and brand love (e.g., Algharabat, 2017,
Sikandar and Ahmed, 2019, Chen and Qasim, 2020) and suggested that consumers' brand love
can be improved through these marketing activities. They implied that consumers are more
likely to love a brand when they positively perceive SMMA. Thus, shoppers should feel
passionate and emotional when they perceive that the store actively produces content and
takes entertaining, interactive, trendy, customizable initiatives with the EWOM sharing
facility. Hence, the following hypothesis can be proposed:
H1. SMMA positively impacts shoppers' store love.
2.4 Store loyalty
Loyalty can be associated with several entities, such as brands, products, suppliers, stores,
organizations, and destinations. Consumer loyalty was defined in various ways (Dick and Basu,
1994, Oliver Richard, 1997, Latif, 2021); for example, Lam et al. (2004) stated, "loyalty is a
buyer's overall attachment or a deep commitment to a product, service, brand, or
organization." Similarly, store loyalty has also been perceived as "the biased (i.e., non-
random) behavioral response (i.e., revisit), expressed over time, by some decision-making
unit concerning one store out of a set of stores, which is a function of psychological (decision
making and evaluative) processes resulting in brand commitment" (Bloemer and De Ruyter,
1998). According to Oliver (1999), loyalty is related to a four-stage model composed of
cognitive, affective, conative, and action loyalty. In this study, store loyalty captures the
conative intention to be loyal, leading to the motivation to overcome various switching
incentives and the development of action loyalty toward the store. Thus, this study considers
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the affective stage of Oliver's (1999) model to be equivalent to store love and conceptualizes
store loyalty as conative intention and an outcome of store love.
Prior studies showed that brand or store love could lead to loyalty (Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006,
Koo and Kim, 2013, Algharabat, 2017, Sarkar et al., 2019). Consumers who form a solid
emotional bond with a brand are more likely to invest in it and work hard to keep it going
(Park et al., 2010, Malär et al., 2011). Bowlby's (1980) attachment theory suggested that a
person is likely to be committed to an object or person if he/she has an emotional attachment,
and this emotional attachment guides toward a long-term relationship. In line with Oliver's
(1999) four sequential phases of loyalty, the affective attitude component will predict the
conative intention of consumers to be loyal toward an object/entity. Therefore, the following
hypothesis is proposed:
H2: Store love positively impacts store loyalty.
2.5 SMMA, store love, and store loyalty
SMMA can influence store loyalty via store love. Algharabat (2017) documented that SMMA
explains brand love and brand love explains brand loyalty, and Chen and Qasim (2020)
showed that SMMA predicts brand love. However, only Sikandar and Ahmed (2019) focused
on the mediating role of brand love between SMMA and brand loyalty. Reflecting on the
argument of H1 and H2 and Oliver's (1999) sequential loyalty phases, it can be assumed that
store love mediates between SMMA and store loyalty. Following the cognitive appraisal and
the attachment theory, SMMA can evoke shoppers' emotions or love for a store, resulting in
long-lasting loyalty. Nonetheless, numerous studies registered that brand love plays a
mediating role in a causal model to explain the relationship between predictors and
dependent variables (Kim et al., 2020, Trivedi and Sama, 2020). Therefore, the following
hypothesis is put forward:
H3: Store love mediates the relationship between SMMA and store loyalty.
2.6 Social media usage intensity
Social media usage intensity (SMUI) refers to the extent to which a user is emotionally
attached to the platform and the degree to which the platform has been incorporated with
the user's daily life (Ellison et al., 2007). Consistent with prior studies, SMUI can be
operationalized by tapping into the attitudinal and feelings aspect of the user (Choi et al.,
2018, Gupta and Vohra, 2019, Jordaan and Van Heerden, 2017).
Studies have revealed that users are more likely to demonstrate love and loyalty toward a
brand when exposed to different marketing activities on social media (H1, H2). Logically, their
exposure to marketing activities increases when the usage of social media is higher. In other
words, SMUI increases the likelihood of a user encountering the SMMA of a particular brand.
Meanwhile, users who perceive themselves as strongly bonded with the brand (e.g., love) are
prone to depict behaviors in favor of the brand (e.g., loyalty) (Jahn and Kunz, 2012, Choi et
al., 2018). Therefore, it can be deduced that consumers who extensively use social media
pages of a brand are likely to get exposed more to SMMA of the brand and showcase higher
love and loyalty toward the brand than those who use social media less. Hence, it is expected
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that the impact of SMMA on store love and the impact of store love on store loyalty will be
higher for a shopper with higher SMUI compared to his/her other counterparts who have less
SMUI. Thus, the following hypothesis can be formulated:
H4a: SMUI positively moderates the relationship between SMMA and store love.
H4b: SMUI positively moderates the relationship between store love and store
loyalty.
[Insert Figure 1 about here]
3. Methodology
3.1 Sampling and data collection
This study was conducted in Norway. Following the purposive sampling method, respondents
were screened via two questions: whether they follow a store's social media page on any
platform and whether they shop at a grocery store. Respondents were students at a public
university who were sent survey invitations by email without any financial incentives of any
kind. University students are deemed appropriate for a target sample because they are active
social media users and shoppers of a grocery store.
The questionnaire had three sections: introduction and screening questions, construct-
related questions, and demographic questions. Research goal and data privacy information
were shared. Two screening questions were coupled with the picture logo of different grocery
chain brands of Norway and social media platforms. Here, respondents were instructed to
use their selected store brand as a reference for subsequent questions. Such an approach is
congruent to past studies on SMMA (Ismail, 2017, Koay et al., 2020). The demographic
questions asked respondents to state their gender, age, possession of loyalty cards, and
preferred shopping mode.
187 respondents completed the questionnaire, of which 177 responses were usable. In terms
of the selected grocery brand, 33.9% and 29.9% of respondents shop from Kiwi and Coop,
followed by Rema1000 (26%), Meny (7.9%), Joker (1.1%), Spar (0.6%), and other (0.6%). 113
respondents were female, 61 male, and 3 other genders. Respondents' mean age was 30.4
years, with a standard deviation of 10.3 years. 149 respondents confirmed to own loyalty
card. 167 respondents' preferred shopping method is in-store, and only 10 respondents
prefer online shopping over in-store.
3.2 Measures
Questionnaire items were validated scales from the prior literature. The responses were
recorded on a seven-point Likert scale (1: Strongly disagree to 7: Strongly agree). SMMA (11
items) was modeled as a higher-order (reflective-reflective) construct for: entertainment,
customization, interactivity, EWOM, and trendiness (Kim and Ko, 2012, Godey et al., 2016). 9
items of store love were adapted from Koo and Kim (2013), and 4 items of store loyalty from
Koo and Kim (2013) and Sarkar et al. (2019). 6 items of SMUI were adapted from Ellison et al.
(2007) and Choi et al. (2018). The original English survey was back-translated into Norwegian
to ensure consistency of meaning (Brislin, 1970).
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[Insert Table 1 about here]
4. Results
Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was implemented to analyze the
data using SmartPLS v.3.3.3 (Ringle, 2015). Reasons for opting for PLS-SEM in this study
revolve around some key advantages of this technique. PLS-SEM works effectively for small
sample sizes discarding the normality assumption requirement in a dataset (Henseler, 2010).
Also, the technique is suitable for a prediction-based model with complex structures and
hierarchical constructs (Sarstedt et al., 2019). This study used 'Web Power' software to test
Mardia's multivariate skewness and kurtosis (Cain et al., 2017, Mardia, 1970) and found the
p-values of skewness and kurtosis were below 0.05, indicating multivariate non-normality.
Having a sample of only 177 with non-normal data and a higher-order independent variable,
selecting PLS-SEM was deemed suitable (Hair et al., 2019). The recommended 5000 bootstrap
procedure of Hair Jr et al. (2016) was used to assess the measurement and structural model.
For the second-order construct, the disjoint two-stage approach of Becker et al. (2012) and
Sarstedt et al. (2019) was applied. It means latent variable scores from the first-order model
were obtained and used for the second-order construct, where each latent variable score
served as the single-item loading.
4.1 Measurement model assessment
The measurement model revealed that all item loadings were satisfactory (>0.73, except
LOYAL2=0.61) (Table 1). For both first and second-order constructs, Cronbach's alpha and
composite reliability were satisfactory (>0.82, except α for trendiness=0.71) (Table 2). The
average variance extracted (AVE) was checked to confirm the convergent validity of
constructs; all scores were above 0.61, which surpassed the recommended threshold (0.50).
Using the Fornell and Larcker (1981) criterion, discriminant validity was confirmed for both
first and second-order constructs (Table 3) (Hair Jr et al., 2016). A more conservative HTMT
(Heterotrait-Monotrait) ratio also confirmed discriminant validity. None of the HTMT values
of first or second-order constructs crossed the 0.90 thresholds (Hair Jr et al., 2016). The data
were collected from a single source; thus, any issue concerning ‘common method bias (CMB)’
was checked using Harman's single-factor test (Podsakoff et al., 2003). The test result showed
that a single factor explained 40.7% of the variance (below the 50% threshold), indicating that
the data does not suffer from CMB.
[Insert Table 2 about here]
[Insert Table 3 about here]
4.2 Structural model assessment
The structural model in Figure 2 showed R2, β coefficient, p-values, and t-value. R2 revealed
the explanatory power of the conceptual model of this study. 31% variance of store love and
46% variance of store loyalty was explained by the model, which is above the recommended
criterion benchmark (R2>0.10) (Chin, 1998).
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The result supports H1 because the impact of SMMA on store love was positive and significant
= 0.35, t-value = 4.60, p = 0.000). The effect of store love on store loyalty was also positive
and significant = 0.62, t-value = 10.64, p = 0.000), supporting H2. While exploring the
mediating role, store love fully mediated the relationship between SMM and store loyalty
= 0.22, t-value = 4.32, p = 0.000), supporting H3. Regarding H4a and H4b, SMMA*SMUI had a
positive and significant effect on store love = 0.14, t-value = 1.85, p = 0.033); however, the
interaction effect of SMUI and store love on store loyalty was insignificant. Therefore, H4a
was supported, but H4b was rejected.
[Insert Figure 2 about here]
5. Discussion and conclusion
The study assessed the relationship between SMMA, store love, store loyalty, and SMUI while
highlighting the mediating and moderating functions. The study validated the
multidimensional property of SMMA and successfully affirmed the suitability of CAT and AT
in explaining the concerning relationships. It also confirmed that SMMA yields a positive
influence on store love, and store love in turn positively affects store loyalty. The findings
supported the mediating role of store love between SMMA and store loyalty, congruent to
the explanation of the underpinning theories. SMUI is found to moderate the relationship
between SMMA and store love positively. However, it did not modify the relationship
between store love and store loyalty.
Conforming to the identification of multidimensional SMMA to build brand love (Algharabat,
2017, Chen and Qasim, 2020), the findings of this study advocate the importance of SMMA
to establish store love of Norwegian shoppers. The holistic role of SMMA (along with its
element) is crucial to building affection among shoppers regarding a particular store. The
findings also indicate that store love does, in turn, affect store loyalty of Norwegian grocery
shoppers. This finding is in line with Algharabat (2017) and Sikandar and Ahmed (2019) and
points that grocery shoppers' affection or love toward a store can evoke their conative
intention to be loyal to that store. The very nature of Norwegian consumers can justify this
that once they deeply love a brand, they tend to stick to it for a lifetime (Harrison, 2020). This
study also confirms the mediating role of store love (full mediation) between SMMA and store
loyalty, supporting the previous study on the same role examined by Sikandar and Ahmed
(2019). Norwegian grocery shoppers suggest that SMMA does not directly affect their loyalty;
instead, their loyalty is channeled via their love for the store. The findings also identify SMUI
to moderate the relationship between SMMA and store love positively. It indicates that
grocery shoppers who highly engage with social media tend to confront and explore more
content regarding their store, resulting in higher affection toward the store than their other
counterparts. Surprisingly, a non-significant moderating effect was identified for SMUI on the
relationship between store love and store loyalty. The likely reason can be that the lovers of
a store naturally build their loyalty toward the store, regardless of their social media usage
intensity. Again, this can be referred back to the nature of Norwegian shoppers that once they
love a brand from heart, they tend to renew their loyalty toward it to such an extent that it is
not impacted by any third factor (i.e. SMUI).
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5.1 Theoretical implications
This study draws theoretical implications as it offers several literary additions to the body of
knowledge. Firstly, it is the first empirical endeavor to investigate the role of SMMA to build
store love and store loyalty from the Norwegian (i.e., Scandinavian) perspective while
highlighting the mediating and moderating function of store love and SMUI. Hence, some
novel causal links were explored through incorporating a new context (i.e., grocery retail) and
perspective. Secondly, this study enhances the cognitive appraisal and attachment theories
by rendering new empirical evidence for the relationship between SMMA, store love, and
store loyalty. Thereby, the study ascertains the application of these theories in the domain of
brand love and loyalty. Thirdly, prior studies established the direct effect of SMMA on brand
love (Algharabat, 2017, Sikandar and Ahmed, 2019); this study first empirically demonstrates
that store love fully mediates the relationship between SMMA and store loyalty. Therefore,
the study proposes a new explanation to the literature regarding the relationship between
SMMA and store loyalty. Fourthly, SMUI is empirically verified to moderate the relationship
between SMMA and store love, but not the relationship between store love and store loyalty.
It is a two-fold theoretical contribution to the retail marketing literature. Lastly, the holistic
identification of SMMA (comprised of entertainment, customization, interaction, EWOM, and
trendiness) supports the research stream of a higher-order model of a similar nature.
5.2 Managerial/practical implications
This study can act as a helpful guide for grocery shoppers, store managers, and grocery chain
marketers. Especially, Norwegian grocery shoppers can find this study helpful to comprehend
how SMMA builds their affection or love toward a store and eventually their loyalty. Thus,
they will be better informed and knowledgeable about assessing the social media
performance of a grocery store compared to another store. Store managers can find this study
motivating to carry out different online social media activities with quality content to build
store love among shoppers. Past studies also proposed similar recommendations (Algharabat,
2017, Chen and Qasim, 2020, Sikandar and Ahmed, 2019). Store managers should also
allocate continuous effort toward SMMA because the established store love will eventually
evoke shoppers' loyalty toward the store. Previous studies also put forward a similar
recommendation concerning other brands (Algharabat, 2017, Sikandar and Ahmed, 2019).
Grocery chain marketers can be recommended to allocate more resources and provide
central support for improving social media activities by each store. This study also suggests
that the heavy reliance on loyalty card programs to improve shoppers' loyalty can be
diversified by utilizing different social media channels. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic
and strict data privacy regulation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
directive (Nesset et al., 2021), retail marketers can augment their effort to improve loyalty
with the use of social media besides the traditional loyalty card program. As social media use
is projected to increase in the future (Statista, 2021), this study can be critical empirical
evidence for chain marketers to prioritize social media marketing.
5.3 Limitations and future research directions
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This study provides empirical evidence from Norway. Thus, the findings may differ in different
country contexts or depending on other external factors. Future studies can include different
or multiple countries to extend this study. Using cross-sectional survey data limits the
generalizability of the finding, which can be overcome using longitudinal studies. An
alternative approach can be using big data from the store's social media pages. Also, the
inherent limitation regarding the small sample size and the purposive sampling method can
be overcome using a large sample with different sampling methods. Another limitation of this
study is using the grocery retail sector as the contextual basis. Future researchers can examine
other sectors of retail (e.g., clothing, electronic, petrol retail). This study used store love and
store loyalty as the brand outcomes at the store level; future researchers can include other
store-level outcomes (e.g., store image, store satisfaction). Furthermore, they may extend
this study to examine social media brand-building outcomes at the chain level. Lastly, a
potential avenue for future research is to explore the moderated mediation from the causal
model as it was beyond the scope of this current study.
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List of Tables
Table 1. Outer loadings
Construct
Entertainment
Using THIS STORE's social media is fun.
Content found in THIS STORE's social media seems interesting.
Customization
It is possible to search for customised information on THIS STORE's social media.
THIS STORE's social media provide customized services.
Interaction
THIS STORE's social media allow information sharing with others.
Conversation or opinion exchange with others is possible through THIS STORE's social media.
It is easy to deliver my opinion through THIS STORE's social media.
Electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM)
I would like to pass information on brands, products or services from THIS STORE's social media to my
friends.
I would like to upload content from THIS STORE's social media on my social media page or my blog.
Trendiness
Content found on THIS STORE's social media is up-to-date.
Using THIS STORE's social media is very trendy.
Social media usage intensity
Social media is part of my everyday activity.
I’m proud to tell people I'm on social media.
Social media has become part of my daily routine.
I feel out of touch when I haven't logged onto social media for a while.
I feel I am part of the social media community.
I would be sorry if social media shut down.
Store love
THIS STORE is a wonderful store.
THIS STORE makes me feel good.
THIS STORE is totally awesome.
THIS STORE makes me very happy.
I love THIS STORE!
I have particular feelings about THIS STORE.
THIS STORE is a pure delight.
I’m passionate about THIS STORE.
I'm very attached to THIS STORE.
Store loyalty
In the future, I will be loyal to THIS STORE.
I will buy products at THIS STORE again.
THIS STORE will be my first choice in the future.
I will recommend THIS STORE to my friends.
Note(s): All loadings are significant at p < 0.001
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Table 2. Construct reliability
Cronbach's Alpha
Composite Reliability
Average Variance Extracted (AVE)
1
Store love
0.98
0.98
0.83
2
Store loyalty
0.82
0.88
0.66
3
SMUI
0.87
0.90
0.61
4
Customizationa
0.90
0.95
0.91
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Entertainmenta
0.91
0.96
0.92
6
EWOMa
0.82
0.92
0.85
7
Interactiona
0.90
0.94
0.83
8
Trendinessa
0.71
0.87
0.77
9
SMMAb
0.89
0.92
0.69
Note: a First-order construct, b Second-order construct.
Table 3. Discriminant validity of the measurement model: Fornell-Larcker criterion and HTMT ratio.
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9
1 Store love
.91
2 Store loyalty
.67(.71)
.81
3 SMUI
.40 (.42)
.37 (.41)
.78
4 Customization
.28 (.30)
.26 (.30)
.25 (.27)
.95
5 Entertainment
.42 (.44)
.32 (.35)
.37 (.41)
.66 (.73)
.96
6 EWOM
.51 (.56)
.29 (.33)
.33 (.38)
.59 (.68)
.69 (.79)
.92
7 Interaction
.29 (.30)
.26 (.28)
.20 (.22)
.46 (.51)
.54 (.59)
.44 (.51)
.91
8 Trendiness
.45 (.47)
.33 (.40)
.27 (.32)
.68 (.86)
.74 (.90)
.74 (.86)
.61 (.82)
.87
9 SMMA
.48 (.49)
.35 (.39)
.35 (.38)
-
-
-
-
-
.83
Note: Diagonals (italic) represent the square root of the AVE, while the off-diagonals represent the correlations.
HTMT values (in bracket) < .90 indicate a satisfactory result for discriminant validity (Hair et al. 2017).
Page 16 of 17Marketing Intelligence and Planning
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Marketing Intelligence and Planning
List of Figures
Figure 1 Research model
Figure 2 Research model with results
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... Social media platforms are becoming more and more popular around the world; by 2020, there will be over 3.6 billion users, and by 2025, there should be about 4.41 billion. Social media has become deeply ingrained in consumers' lives, significantly shaping their attitudes, opinions, and actions [2]. Social media marketing activities (SMMA) have become an essential tool for businesses to interact with their customers and promote their products as the number of people using social media continues to climb [3]. ...
... There are researcsh that explains that all dimensions of SMMA, namely interaction, entertainment, customisation, trends, and word-ofmouth (WOM) will positively and significantly influence consumer purchasing decisions. [10], [15], [2]. Thus, it can be said that SMMA has an impact on consumers' decision-making process when making purchases. ...
... This study tested the mediating influence of shop love and moderating social media usage intensity. PLS-SEM offers flexibility in model design, enabling researchers to examine multiple associations and moderating or mediating effects [2]. ...
... According to earlier studies, SMMA and brand love are related [29][30][31], and these marketing initiatives may increase customer brand love. They suggest that when customers have a favorable opinion of SMMA, they are more likely to like a brand. ...
... This shows the important role of brand trust in the relationship between SMMAs and brand loyalty In addition, Yadav and Rahman (2018) demonstrated that SMMAs in ecommerce significantly and positively impact all drivers of customer equity-value equity, brand equity, and relationship quality-thus fostering brand loyalty. Similarly, brand love has been found to mediate the relationship between SMMAs and brand loyalty (Ahmed, 2021, Riady and Kusumawati, 2023, Algharabat, 2017. The findings revealed that SMMAs positively influence self-expressive brands (both inner and social), enhancing brand love and, consequently, brand loyalty (Algharabat, 2017). ...
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