Research on Social Media Content Marketing: An Empirical Analysis Based on China’s 10 Metropolis for Korean Brands

Abstract

Drawing from the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), this study explores the influences of the gratifications derived from the use of the WeChat on Chinese consumers’ purchase intention for South Korean brands. A total of 2,276 respondents from ten cities in China—Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Ji’nan, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Xi’an—were part of this study. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and PROCESS analysis was applied to examine the data. Gratifications that Chinese consumers receive from the WeChat, such as functional information, entertaining information, social interaction, brand interaction, and self-concept, positively influence their brand identity. In addition, the identity of South Korean brands positively correlated with consumer’s purchase intention in China. More importantly, by using a moderated mediation model, this research finds that the relationship between SNS (social networking service) content marketing and purchase intention is influenced by consumers’ regulatory focus and CSR performance of South Korean enterprises for COVID-19 in China. This study’s findings could extend the existing theoretical framework on applying the Uses and Gratifications Theory to social media. In addition, results are in line with those authors who suggest that local social media use may positively affect foreign brand promotion. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

The Effect of Social Media Content on Customer Engagement and Its Impact on Customer Intention

“…Thus, the variable of health literacy needs to be analyzed further to test the aspect of validity and reliability in accordance with the last research. This new variable of service provider interaction creates a new framework that contributes to adding a new variable to the last research that analyzed social media content marketing (Chen & Shen, 2021).…”

“…The primary aim of this study was to analyze antecedents of Customer Engagement (CE) towards Customer Usage Intention (CUI) and Positive E-WOM (PEW) with Health Literacy (HL) as the moderating effect. The question of health literacy was derived based on the source cited in references (Chen & Shen, 2021) and modified by the respondent's understanding.…”

“…The additional variable of purchase intent from the previous study will be replaced with continuous usage intent due to the service-based industry purpose of this research (Chen & Shen, 2021). Based on earlier research (León & Garca, 2020), The significance of service as an indicator of consumer usage retention has been established.…”

“…In the context of fitness center marketing, the lack of health literacy knowledge has never been explored as a moderator of consumer involvement in long-term usage intentions and positive E-WOM (Chen & Shen, 2021). Moreover, health literacy had a substantial impact on the customer's decision-making (Gibney & Doyle, 2017).…”

Local TV Stations Post Analog Switch Off: Economic Challenges

“…Non-networked local television station managers realize that they may be unable to compete in terms of advertising revenue with networked national mainstream television stations, especially when new advertising media is developing in internet-based media [26]. Informant Y1 (ABTV) revealed that local television cannot compete for advertising revenue with national television because their ratings are still inferior.…”