Sustainable Development and Innovation as Drivers of Brand Equity Enhancement in Knowledge-Based Enterprises: Empirical Evidence from Science Parks

Sustainable development and innovation are increasingly relevant in startup branding strategies. While existing studies have explored sustainability-oriented branding and social media–brand equity relationships, evidence remains limited on how sustainability and social media attributes jointly shape brand equity in knowledge-based enterprises (KBEs). To address this specific underexplored area, this study develops the Innovation–Brand Equity–Sustainability (IBES) model to enhance brand equity in KBEs through strategic social media use, focusing on managers’ perspectives from such enterprises in science and technology parks. Employing partial least squares structural equation modeling, the research analyzed data from 471 participants in science and technology parks and KBEs, using SmartPLS 4 to ensure statistical robustness. The findings confirmed 13 proposed hypotheses, demonstrating IBES’ robustness. Social media factors, including identity (β = 0.510 for brand awareness), active presence (β = 0.561 for brand associations), content sharing (β = 0.401 for brand loyalty), and reputation (β = 0.615 for perceived quality), may influence components of brand equity. Brand innovation emerged as the strongest driver, with a total effect of 0.668 on brand equity enhancement and 0.586 on sustainable development. Both constructs serve as critical factors, channeling social media effects through a multistage indirect path (β = 0.225 for brand innovation to sustainable development to brand equity). This study bridges critical gaps in the digital branding literature and underscores the pivotal role of brand innovation and sustainable development in achieving competitive advantage in knowledge-driven economies.