Assessing the role of social media marketing in shaping brand awareness and loyalty: a study of customer satisfaction in the Indian telecom market

Purpose This research investigates how social media (SM) marketing activities influence brand loyalty and brand awareness in India’s telecommunications industry. It also aims to explore the role of customer satisfaction as a mediator in the relationship between SM marketing efforts and brand outcomes. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative method based on the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) theory was employed for this study. A quantitative research approach was utilized, employing a structured questionnaire distributed to 209 SM users of telecommunications service providers in the Tricity area of India (comprising Mohali, Chandigarh and Panchkula). The data were examined using partial least squares structural equation modeling via SmartPLS. Findings The findings indicate that SM marketing activities significantly enhance both brand loyalty and brand awareness. Furthermore, customer satisfaction serves an important mediating role, strengthening the connection between SM marketing and brand outcomes. The research underscores that active consumer engagement on SM platforms fosters improved brand perceptions. For telecom managers, these findings suggest that SM strategies focused on responsive, service-oriented customer interaction – rather than promotional content alone – are likely to be the most effective route to building both brand loyalty and brand awareness. Originality/value This study’s contribution is empirical and contextual: it is among the first to test the SMMA–customer satisfaction–brand loyalty/awareness chain in a large, digitally transitioning telecom market, showing that satisfaction only partially mediates these relationships – a pattern that points to market-specific forces (e.g. network reliability, price sensitivity, informal digital communication norms) not captured in prior applications of the S–O–R model in retail, tourism or hospitality settings.