Unpacking the influence of social media marketing activities on brand equity in the banking sector in Bangladesh: A moderated mediation analysis of brand experience and perceived uniqueness

The main purpose of this paper was to explore the effect of social media marketing activities (SMMAs) on brand equity (BEQ) through a moderated mediation analysis of brand experience (BE) and perceived uniqueness (PU) in the banking sector in Bangladesh. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS 23 was applied to test the research model with a sample of 222 followers of banks on social media. The findings reveal that SMMAs positively and substantially impact BEQ. In addition, BE mediates the association between SMMAs and BEQ. Interestingly, perceived uniqueness was found to have a moderating influence on the link between SMMAs and BE. This study contributes to the extant literature by investigating the mediation influence of brand experience on BEQ in the SMM context. Moreover, to the best of the author's knowledge, this study offers completely novel insight for bank marketers by empirically confirming the moderating role of perceived uniqueness on the robust pathway between SMMAs and BE, which will plug the present research gap and enrich SMM literature.