JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

(BBA 3RD YEAR) 2022

ASSIGNMENT OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
Course Code: BR 3031

Submitted by: Waheeda Sabahat, Sobia Shabbir &

Momal Musavir
Submitted to: Sir Sherbaz Khan

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

5-C NAZIMABAD KARACHI 74600
 Framework indicating the significance of Demographic and Cultural
Variables
ABSTRACT
In light of the growing role of social media marketing in the success of businesses and its low adoption
rate among small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and purchase intention, this study aims to identify
determinants of SMM. Unlike extant literature, this study proposed a dual-stage analysis involving the
Partial least squares (PLS) technique and artificial intelligence named deep Artificial Neural
Network (ANN). The application of deep ANN architecture is used to predict 91% of accuracy for the
proposed model. The results showed that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived cost, top
management support, facilitating conditions, and perceived vendor pressure have a significant impact on
social media marketing adoption. The results of the study extend the literature on social media
marketing by illustrating the influence of technological, organizational, and environmental (TOE)
factors on social media marketing adoption among purchase the results of the study enable policymakers
and managers of SMM and buying behavior to understand the factors that influence social media
marketing adoption in both competitive and non-competitive industries and invest effectively in digital
marketing.
Keywords: Social media marketing, digital marketing, mobile marketing, TOE factors, buying
behavior, technology adoption and determinants.

INTRODUCTION
Social media is quickly growing into one of the most important aspects of digital marketing which
administers extraordinary benefits that assist in reaching millions of customers worldwide. It is one of
the profitable platforms that helps in boosting the business and making it visible. Social media
marketing has many benefits for instance it increases brand recognition, as 91% of marketers asserted
that social media marketing has heightened their user experience. Through social media, users can
easily engage with their audience, two-way communication can easily happen and brands can know their
audience in real terms (Nelson, S, 2018).
Due to the advancement of social media with respect to the provision of information, communication,
and interactional potential, these positive repercussions have not been evenly distributed. For the reason
this, uneven distribution in social media is happening. For instance, the elderly and the less educated are
less benefitted from social media than others. The utilization of social media for different purposes is
revealing and being politicized, commercialized and individualized to a great extent (Koiranen, I., Keipi,
T., Koivula, A, 2019).
In the United States in accordance with a national report on college students, 85 percent of them had a
profile on an online social network site such as Facebook as of 2008. In fact, 67% of Internet users in the
United States say that social media assist them in strengthening relationships with family and friends.
Influencers influence a considerable amount of followers; they share their own experiences and lifestyle
with the followers. With the exposure of an immense amount of familiarity, influencing has a darker
side also, for instance, it has consumer deception which is business deception that causes the customer to
suffer financial loss, it also incorporates violation of law, faking followers, and substantial drawbacks
are social comparison and materialism which ultimately hinders influencer’s credibility (Ryu, E & Han
E, 2021).
Social comparison means when an individual compares themselves with other influencers when they are
unsure about their opinions and abilities, especially in the absence of objective standards. Individuals
who are suffering from the social comparison are unsure about various aspects of themselves and they
typically necessitate to use of information with respect to other people for self-evaluation. People who
have a high social comparison prevalence can be prone to undesirable outcomes such as feelings of
academic inferiority, poor self-perception, low self-esteem, and social anxiety. On the other hand,
people with a low prevalence of social comparison are willing to accept other people’s ideas, and views,
consuming more time in attention and cognitive construction. People who have low self-esteem and
depression tend to involve in activities that are based on comparison and they are mostly in self-doubt
(Miao H, Li Z, Yang Y, Guo C, 2018).
Due to social comparison, self-esteem issues arise in the individuals. Low self-esteem means a positive
or negative evaluation of oneself. People with low self-esteem use more time on social platforms in
order to avoid face-to-face interactions. Since the rise of influencers in social media, materialism is
growing rapidly. Materialistic people are those who tend to give high importance to money and
possessions as well as they are concerned about their image and popularity. Materialism is a negative
sense because it is associated with treating others in a very competitive manner, exploiting them, and
being less empathetic. Studies reveal that the more people who tend to watch TV, the more materialistic
their values become. Perhaps because both shows and commercials broadcast messages that suggest that
happy and successful people are wealthy and they have nice things (Kasser T, 2014).

Objectives of the Study:

1. This study examines the relationship between material and social comparison.
2. It focuses on the demographic and cultural variables such as gender, age, nationality, and their
impact on firm performance.
3. This research investigates the attributes of social media influencers and also investigates how
influencers influence the consumer behavior intentions of followers.
4. This article will also contribute to the study of self-selection bias and what are its possible
consequences.
5. This study aims to address the influence of interpersonal communication on social comparison
along with the adoption of different social media platforms with new and advanced technology.
Research Problems
The reason that some members are very eager to fill the questionnaires for community identity, is it is
empowering in self-selection bias which means always putting oneself above. It is also influencing the
validity and authenticity of the results. The research must also reveal why people having cultural
backgrounds are using different types of social media platforms.
Secondly, for conducting social media marketing research, the research must also incorporate
demographic and cultural variables as moderating the use of social media to enhance performance.
Thirdly, SMMs endorsing luxury brands incites social comparison among followers which is also related
to materialism in which people tend to give more importance to money and possess a lot of material
things, which also leads to compulsive buying.
Lastly, this study is cross-sectional which limits the potential of adopting social media marketing, it also
does not give benefit from technological, organizational, and environmental factors.
1. Why do people with different cultural backgrounds engage in different social media platforms?
2. Why it is necessary for social media marketing research to include demographic and cultural
variables as moderating use?
3. What kind of measures we can take to stop social comparison among followers?

LITERATURE REVIEW
Social Media Marketing Activities
Most businesses use online marketing strategies such as blogger endorsements, advertising on social
media sites, and managing content generated by users to build brand awareness among consumers
(Wang and Kim, 2017). Social media is made up of internet-associated applications anchored on
technological and ideological Web 2.0 principles, which enables the production and sharing of the
content generated by users. Due to its interactive characteristics that enable knowledge sharing,
collaborative, and participatory activities available to a larger community than in media formats such as
radio, TV, and print, social media is considered the most vital communication channel for spreading
brand information. Social media comprises blogs, internet forums, consumer’s review sites, social
networking websites (Twitter, Blogger, LinkedIn, and Facebook), and Wikis (Arrigo, 2018).
Social media facilitates content sharing, collaborations, and interactions. These social media platforms
and applications exist in various forms such as social bookmarking, rating, video, pictures, podcasts,
wikis, microblogging, social blogs, and weblogs. Social networkers, governmental organizations, and
business firms are using social media to communicate, with its use increasing tremendously (Cheung et
al., 2021). Governmental organizations and business firms use social media for marketing and
advertising. Integrated marketing activities can be performed with less cost and effort due to them
seamless interactions and communication among consumer partners, events, media, digital services, and
retailers via social media (Tafesse and Wien, 2018).
According to Liu et al. (2021), marketing campaigns for luxury brands consist of main factors such as
customization, reputation, trendiness, interaction, and entertainment which significantly impact
customers’ purchase intentions and brand equity. Activities that involve community marketing accrue
from interactions between events and the mental states of individuals, whereas products are external
factors for users (Parsons and Lepkowska-White, 2018). But even though regardless of people
experience similar service activities, there is a likelihood of having different ideas and feelings about an
event; hence, outcomes for users and consumers are distinct. In future marketing, competition will focus
more on brand marketing activities; hence, the marketing activities ought to offer sensory stimulation
and themes that give customers a great experience. Now brands must provide quality features but also
focus on enabling an impressive customer’s experience (Beige).

LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT

Perceived Cost
Perceived Cost Earlier research has established that the perception of cost displays an imperative role in
accepting and utilizing technology (Alma & Noor, 2009). The element of cost is considered as a pivotal
technological factor that can significantly influence SMEs’ intention to adopt social media marketing
practices (Chatterjee & Kar, 2020; Ram ayah et al., 2016). However, there have been cases where cost
did not significantly impact IT adoption, particularly in the case of Malaysia (Sin Tan et al., 2009).
In general, the new technology adoption in any firm would draw a substantial start-up cost (Ghobakhloo
et al., 2012). But unlike any IT-related adoption, several SMEs prefer social media adoption due to its
cost usefulness, little or no barrier to involvement, and ease of use (Derham et al., 2011). In fact, many
businesses will prefer using social media if the cost is low because it enables direct interaction between
customers and businesses (Ainin et al., 2015a). By and large, social networking is a cost-effective
innovation. It allows SMEs to engage with customers at a reasonable cost. Simply put, it is quite
conceivable that SMEs will adopt social media marketing if the associated costs are fair. Thus, the
preceding discussion led to the following hypothesis:
H1. Perceived cost has a negative influence on social media marketing adoption.

Perceived Usefulness
Research explains the relationship between perceptions of use and the use of social media marketing (SMM).
Research on the relationship between perceived usefulness (PEU) and the use of technology was carried out
by Kim and Chiu (2019) who found that PEU has a positive relationship with the use of new technology. PEU
has a positive relationship with the use of smartphone technology (Park, Kim, & Kwon, 2016; Kim & Chiu,
2019).
Perceived usefulness (PEU) is a belief in performance, effectiveness, risk and trust in a technology (Turner et
al., 2010). Risk factors, privacy and security are also part of perceived usefulness (Chatterjee & Kumar Kar,
2020). If these factors can be overcome, then the use of SMM for purchase intention will get many benefits
(Turner et al., 2010). Based on the results of this study, the following hypothesis can be proposed:
H2. Perceived usefulness has a positive effect on the use of SMM for purchase intension.

Facilitating conditions (FCO)

Facility conditions are defined as the extent to which a person has confidence that this is the right technical
infrastructure and that there is support from top management to use the new system (Venkatesh, 2012). In
previous studies, it was revealed that facilitation conditions have a significant effect on innovative technology
adoption behavior (Chatterjee & Kumar Kar, 2020 (Chatterjee & Kumar Kar, 2020). Based on the results of
this study, the following hypothesis can be formulated:
H3. Facilitating condition (FCO) has a positive impact on the use of SMM for purchase intention.

Perceived Ease-of-Use (PEOU)

The belief in the ease-of-use of technology is associated with the conception of exerting one’s efforts to use a
system or technology (Buffett; Henderson & Divett, 2003; Park, 2009). This belief includes self-efficacy or
simplicity (Yi, Liao, Huang, & Hwang, 2009). These factors are also thought to influence SMEs to adopt the
use of social media (Kuo & Yen, 2009). This shows that, if there is an innovation that is easier to use, then
users are motivated to use the technology (Ware, 2018). This confirms that PEOU has a positive relationship
with the use of new technology. The results of the study by Chatterjee and Kumar Kar (2020) prove a positive
relationship between PEOU and SMM adoption. Based on these results, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H4. Perceived ease-of-use (PEOU) has a positive impact on the use of SMM for purchase intention

Social Media Marketing (SMM) has an impact on purchase intention

Social media is a communication facility, a source of information sharing, a medium for self-actualization and
collaboration in cyberspace (Elbanna, Bunker, Levine, & Giring, 2019). In Indonesia, the use of social media
reaches 160 million people and the average daily use of social media is 3 hours 26 minutes (We are social,
2020). This shows that the market potential in social media is very high and this platform has become an easy
instrument to communicate online between consumers and companies, or between consumers and consumers
around the world at any time. The use of this platform is very appropriate for purchase intension because they
have limited resources such as funds, technical knowledge and so on (Rana, Barnard, Baabdullah, Rees, &
Roderick, 2019).
Social media marketing increases the trust and brand loyalty of a company, besides social media marketing
makes it easier for consumers to obtain information about a company’s products (Puspaningrum, 2020).
Social media marketing also shows a positive relationship with trust, intimacy, and customer loyalty (Khoa,
2020). The use of social media by a company makes it easy for companies to build their brands and increase
their business activities (Sullivan & Koh, 2019; Fatima & Bilal, 2019; and Chatterjee & Kumar Kar, 2020).
 SMM can help to improve their purchases Based on these findings, the following hypothesis can be
formulated.
H5. Social media marketing has a positive effect on purchase intension.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Perceived Cost

Perceived
Usefulness
Social Media Marketing

Facilitating (SMM) Purchase Intension

Functions

Perceived Ease of
Use

H1. Perceived cost has a negative influence on social media marketing adoption for purchase intension.
H2. Perceived usefulness has a positive effect on the use of SMM for purchase intension
H3. Facilitating condition (FCO) has a positive impact on the use of SMM for purchase intention.
H4. Perceived ease-of-use (PEO) has a positive impact on the use of SMM for purchase intention.
H5. Social media marketing has a positive effect on purchase intension.

Research Methodology
A qualitative research design was used to validate hypothesis proposed in the research. Specifically, data
were collected via self-administered and online surveys. The questionnaire was made up of two sections.
Section 1 included demographic information. Section two intended to measure perceived cost, perceived
usefulness, facilitating conditions, perceived ease of use, competitive industry, purchase intention and
social media marketing Likert scales.
A cover page was appended on the first page of the questionnaire stating the purpose of the study. The
respondents were informed that the information would not be exposed to external parties. The target
population of this study is social media users. Specifically, the sampling frame is Instagram users. Using
a purposive sampling method, the respondents were sampled based on two criteria. First, they must be
an Instagram user and second, they must at least follow one Instagram influencer who frequently
endorsed products and/or brands on their Instagram account. Subsequently, the respondents were
requested to provide the name of the Instagram influencer, which would later be used as an anchor
reference to answer the following questions contained within the questionnaire, a technique that past
studies have commonly applied.

These two criteria would help to ensure that the respondents had sufficient and related knowledge to
participate in this research. A research assistant promoted the online survey link through her social
media accounts and online discussion platforms.

We instructed the respondents to indicate their agreement on statements regarding their intention to
purchase products and/or services endorsed by the (Instafamous) on a seven-point Likert scale.

Smart PLS version 3.2.8 software was used to perform partial least squares structural equation modeling
(PLS-SEM) to analyze the data for this research. (Ringle et al.,2015) Given that this research’s primary
aim was to inspect the moderating effects of competitive industry on the relationship between purchase
intention and SME performance, which is exploratory in nature, PLS-SEM was deemed suitable and
fitting.

In addition, Sarstedt et al. (2020) stated that SEM should be used instead of the PROCESS macro when
estimating models with latent variables. For this reason, the PROCESS macro was not used in this
research. First, we conducted a full collinearity test (Kock, 2015) and created a dummy variable with
random numbers to perform the test before regressing it on all variables, including perceived cost,
perceived usefulness, facilitating conditions, perceived ease of use, SME performance, purchase
intention.

Second, we performed the measured latent marker variable approach to detect CMV (Chinet al.,2013),
where we compared the coefficient of determination (R2) of purchase intention between a model with
(R2 = 0.560) and without (R2= 0.506) a marker variable represented by a shortened social desirability
scale by Fischer and Fick (1993).

The final assessment of the measurement model was discriminant validity. To confirm that the partial
least square (PLS)-model was free from the issue of discriminant validity, the square root of the AVE of
each construct should be higher than the correlation with any other construct (known as the Fornell and
Larcker criterion) (Fornell and Larcker, 1981) and heterotrait monotrait (HTMT) values should not be
greater than 0.9 or else discriminant validity might be a problem (known as the HTMT criterion)
(Henseler et al., 2015).

The significance of an independent variable on a dependent variable is represented by the total effect,
whereas the performance of an independent variable on a dependent variable is measured by the mean
score (Ringle and Sarstedt, 2016).
Demographic Characteristics
Demographic analysis showed the following information that is presented in Table 1. As it is shown in
the table, considering the gender of the respondents, 42.15% were male while 57.85% were female.
Concerning age groups, 73.3% respondents is between 18-25 years, 15.3% respondents is between 25-
35 years, and 11.4% respondents is between 35-45years. Evaluating the level of education of the
respondents, it was found that 60.8% of respondents were post graduated, 27.8% were graduated, 5.5%
were M. Phil, and 5.9% were PhD. Evaluating the marital status of respondents, it was 75% respondents
were single, 22.7% respondents were married, and 2.3% respondents were divorced.
Table 1.

Demographic items Frequency Percentile

Gender
Male 177 42..15%
Female 243 57.85%
Age
18 – 25 308 73.3%
25- 35 64 15.3%
35-45 48 11.4%
Education level
Post Graduate 255 60.8
Graduate 117 27.8
M-Phil 23 5.5
PhD 25 5.9
Marital status
Single 315 75%
Married 95 22.7%
Divorced 10 2.3%

Result
This study measured the constructs competency of model by reliability, validity, discriminate validity
and convergent validity.

Table 2: Measurement Model Assessment

Average Variance
Variables Items Outer Loadings Cronbach's alpha
extracted
Perceived Usefulness PU1 0.903 0.915 0.856
  PU2 0.918
PU3 0.954
Facilitating Conditions FC1 0.925 0.902 0.836
FC2 0.896
FC3 0.921
Perceived Ease of Use PEOU1 0.915 0.9110 0.849
  PEOU2 0.902
  PEOU3 0.948
 Perceived Cost PC1 0.935 0.921 0.864
PC2 0.920
   PC3 0.932
 Social Media Marketing SMM1 0.923 0.925 0.870
  SMM2 0.938
  SMM3 0.937
Purchase intension PI1 0.561 0.882 0.894
  PI2 0.496

Table 2 represent the results of measurement model in which Cronbach's alpha value of all the variables
is greater than 0.7; thus, it meets the proposed benchmark of (Hair, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2011). The
criteria for composite reliability are greater than 0.7 as per (Straub, 1989) and have been met. For
measurement the Convergent validity present study used AVE (average variance extracted) that is
proposed by (Fornell & Larcker, 1981) which assert the each variable value of AVE should be greater
than 0.5. Table 2 shows that all construct value of AVE higher than 0.5 which is approved the
convergent validity of measurement model.

Ethical Consideration

First of all, before the data collection procedure, researchers develop trust and credibility was ensured so
that participants get comfortable. Secondly, we consider the individual needs of vulnerable populations;
hence keep their identity confidential. Moreover, the anonymity of individuals, roles is protected, and
incidents in the research and projects as well. Lastly, we have cited the sources and past literature
studies.

Table 3: Discriminant validity (Fornell-Larcker Criterion)

  Facilitating Perceived Perceived Perceived Purchase Social

conditions cost ease of use usefulness Intention Media
Marketing
(SMM)
Facilitating conditions 0.914          
Perceived cost 0.882 0.929        
Perceived ease of use 0.908 0.850 0.922      
Perceived usefulness 0.869 0.780 0.846 0.925    
Purchase Intention 0.891 0.821 0.830 0.825 0.946  
Social Media Marketing 0.890 0.846 0.841 0.866 0.854 0.933
(SMM)

Table 3 shows that discriminate validity through cross loadings and AVE (average variance extracted).
According to the (Fornell & Larcker, 1981), the values of AVE should be greater than correlation of
construct. According to the results of FLC, the diagonal values fulfill the criteria of (Fornell & Larcker,
1981).

All these analyses confirm that this study is reliable as well as valid.
Structure Model

Structure model examined by standardize path. Further, each path resembles the hypothesis which is
tested Results of path analysis are given in table 4.

Table 4: path analysis.

Mean, STDEV, T-Values, P-Values

Regression path Sample Standard T Statistics P Values Decision

Mean Deviation (|O/STDEV|)
(M) (STDEV)
Perceived cost -> Social Media 0.250 0.152 1.664 0.097 Not
Marketing_(SMM) Supported
Perceived usefulness -> Social Media 0.353 0.083 4.372 0.000 Supported
Marketing_(SMM)
Facilitating conditions -> Social Media 0.348 0.114 3.071 0.002 Supported
Marketing_(SMM)
Perceived ease of use -> Social Media 0.016 0.130 0.009 0.993 Not
Marketing_(SMM) Supported
Social Media Marketing_(SMM) -> 0.856 0.025 34.140 0.000 Supported
Purchase Intention

Regression

  R Square
Purchase Intention 0.730
Social Media Marketing_(SMM) 0.841

Discussion
The results of path analysis show five hypothesis in which three hypothesis is accepted whereas two
hypothesis are rejected.

The H1 Perceived cost -> Social Media Marketing (SMM) shows that there is no association between
Perceived cost and Social Media Marketing (SMM) because its Sig value is 0.097 (P>0.097) which is
greater than 5% or 0.05, hence it is rejected.

The H2 Perceived usefulness -> Social Media Marketing (SMM) shows that there is a significant
association between Perceived usefulness and Social Media Marketing (SMM) because its Sig value is
0.000 (P<0.000) which is less than 5% or 0.05, hence it is accepted.

The H3 Facilitating conditions -> Social Media Marketing (SMM) shows that there is a significant
association between Facilitating Condition and Social Media Marketing because its Sig value is 0.002
(P<0.002) which is less than 5% or 0.05, hence it is accepted.

The H4 Perceived ease of use -> Social Media Marketing (SMM) shows that there is no association
between Perceived ease of use and Social Media Marketing (SMM) because its Sig value is 0.993
(P>0.993) which is greater than 5% or 0.05, hence it is rejected.

The H5 Social Media Marketing (SMM) -> Purchase Intention shows that there is a significant
association between Social Media Marketing (SMM) and Purchase Intention because its Sig value is
0.000 (P<0.000) which is less than 5% or 0.05, hence it is accepted.

IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND CONCLUSION

Implications
By examine the buying behavior, the fact that consumer become more price sensitive specifically in
crisis time period and its sensitivity impact on buying and purchasing pattern that is most difficult to
deal with, but this result obtained in this research can be used for marketing purpose, marketers should
prioritize the benefits of products more to make less price sensitivity to these product sorts.
Psychological factors also effect on consumer buying behavior regarding price of the product so that
companies carefully play with consumer mind and make strategies according them like focus on less
pricing strategies and motivates their potential consumer. CSR activities also captured consumers
towards purchasing the product, those companies who’s highly socially responsible and pay amount for
the betterment of society so consumer highly recommended those products and purchases the product
but price also reflect consumer buying behavior, companies more focuses on CSR activities and also set
price according them.