Influence of Social Media Post Frequency and Discount Offers on Brand Attitude, Purchase Intention, and Word-of-Mouth: Evidence from Pakistan’s Fashion Industry

This study examines how social media marketing tactics -specifically post frequency and discount offers -shape brand attitude and influence purchase intention and word-of-mouth (WOM) in the context of Sapphire, a leading Pakistani fashion brand.Drawing on the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, and the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, a conceptual model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) on survey data from 200 active social media users.Findings reveal that both post frequency and discount offer significantly enhance brand attitude, which acts as a key mediator linking these strategies to purchase intention and WOM.A positive brand attitude increases both the likelihood of purchase and advocacy behavior.The study contributes to the digital marketing literature by integrating content and promotional strategies into a unified model.It offers practical insights for marketers on balancing engagement consistency with promotional incentives to foster sustainable brand growth. K E Y W O R D SSocial Media Marketing, Discount Offers, Brand Attitude, Purchase Intention, Word of Mouth (WOM) | I N T R O D U C T I O NSocial media has evolved into a vital network for brand-consumer interaction, product discovery, and purchasing decision-making in the modern digital marketplace, beyond its previous role as a simple communication medium.Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok offer brands unparalleled opportunities to engage with global audiences through curated content, real-time dialogue, and targeted promotional strategies (Dwivedi et al., 2021).Frequent brand announcements and discount offers are among the most common and cost-effective strategies; they are intended to increase visibility, encourage interaction, and drive conversions.However, the mere implementation of these tactics does not guarantee success; their true efficacy is contingent upon how they are internalized by consumers, shaping their overall perception and evaluation of the brand, a construct known as brand attitude (Mitchell & Olson, 1981).A favorable brand attitude is a critical antecedent to two paramount behavioral outcomes: purchase intention, which signals the likelihood of future transactions, and word of mouth (WOM), the powerful, consumer-driven communication that can significantly amplify or damage brand equity (Cheung & Thadani, 2012).In an era dominated by electronic word of mouth (eWOM), understanding the pathway from tactical exposure to positive attitude formation and subsequent advocacy is essential for sustainable brand growth.Despite the exponential investment in social media marketing, a significant lacuna exists in the scholarly understanding of how specific tactical elementsnamely, post frequency and discount offerscollectively and individually influence the consumer's psychological journey.Current literature often examines these variables in isolation, failing to capture the holistic, synergistic nature of the consumer experience, in which multiple