From followers to advocates: Does social media marketing boost brand advocacy in Jordanian insurance companies?

It has been suggested that social media marketing may be inclined more towards functional branding than intentional branding. The present study empirically examined the relationship between social media marketing strategies, intentional branding and functional branding with a view to determining where social media marketing strategies are more strongly inclined towards intentional than functional branding. Quantitative data were collected from 133 participants from Jordan marketing departments using questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS. The results of the study confirmed the relationship between social media marketing strategies. However, results showed that social media marketing strategies are more strongly inclined towards intentional branding than functional branding suggesting that social media marketing strategies are oriented towards intentional branding. The study recommends examining the idea of intentional branding and its role in controlling the image of the brand among customers.

With increasing consumer awareness of environmental issues, green marketing has gained prominence in the fashion industry. However, the rise of greenwashing has raised concerns about its impact on consumer behavior. The study aims to investigate the influence of greenwashing perceptions on consumer purchase intention in the Chinese fashion industry, proposing green skepticism as a mediating factor and brand loyalty as a moderating variable. A moderated mediation model, grounded in the theory of planned behavior, was proposed. Data were collected through an online survey conducted in June 2024, using random sampling to select 350 consumers who interacted with merchants during live-streaming sessions on Douyin in the fast fashion sector. The results largely supported the proposed framework. Specifically, the findings indicate that greenwashing perceptions negatively impact consumer purchase intention (β = –0.43, p < 0.01). Furthermore, green skepticism was found to partially mediate the relationship between greenwashing perception and purchase intention (β = –0.26, p < 0.01). Finally, the moderating role of brand loyalty was confirmed, as it moderates the effect of greenwashing perceptions on green skepticism (β = –0.22, p < 0.01), thereby buffering the indirect effect of greenwashing perceptions on purchase intention through green skepticism (β = 0.06, 95% CI = [0.028, 0.091]). This study contributes to the growing body of green marketing literature by emphasizing the interplay between consumer greenwashing perceptions, green skepticism, and brand loyalty in shaping purchasing behavior in the fashion industry.

Digital marketing has become a central driver in tourism promotion, reshaping how destinations engage with potential visitors. This study investigates the impact of digital marketing strategies ‒ social media marketing, electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM), and online advertising ‒ on brand awareness and tourists’ intention to visit destinations in Saudi Arabia’s Asir region. The study utilized a sample size of 400 participants, with a 70% response rate, resulting in 280 completed surveys. The sample represented a diverse demographic, with 57.1% male, 42.9% female, 89.3% Saudi nationals, and 96.4% domestic tourists. Data were collected from tourists visiting key attractions such as the Al-Soudah Mountains and Abha, either in person or via digital channels. The survey assessed the effectiveness of digital marketing tools and their influence on brand awareness, intention to visit, and tourist satisfaction.
The results analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression, revealed that all three digital marketing strategies significantly influenced both brand awareness and the intention to visit. Social media marketing showed the strongest impact (β = 0.31**, p < 0.01), followed by online advertising (β = 0.30**, p < 0.01) and e-WOM (β = 0.25**, p < 0.01). These findings highlight the effectiveness of digital marketing in shaping tourist behavior and decision-making, with significant implications for tourism marketing in emerging destinations like Asir.

Acknowledgment
The authors are thankful to the Deanship of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research at University of Bisha for supporting this work through the Fast-Track Research Support Program.