Social media marketing’s impact on brand equity and loyalty in higher education: customer engagement’s role

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of social media marketing (SMM) activities on customer-based brand equity (CBBE), customer engagement (CE) and brand loyalty (BL) in higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach The survey involved 498 students from various universities in the United Arab Emirates. Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling with SmartPLS 4.0, this study examined hypothesized relationships among constructs. Findings This study results indicate that SMM activities, as perceived by students, positively influence student engagement, university-brand equity perception and loyalty. Moreover, student engagement partially and fully mediates the relationship between SMM activities and CBBE and loyalty, respectively. The findings offer theoretical and managerial insights into SMM’s role in higher education and suggest directions for future research. Originality/value This study contributes to services marketing, social media and branding literature in the higher education context, through the development of an integrative framework addressing the issue of how HEIs’ brand managers can benefit from the use of social media in developing SMM strategies that enhance students’ overall brand engagement, learning and assessments of university’s brand equity, loyalty and trust in social media environments.