An S–O–R framework analysis of social media communication impacts on sustainability awareness in Chinese higher education

Guided by the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework, this study explores how social media communication influences sustainability awareness through the sequential mediating mechanisms of brand equity, brand preference, and student satisfaction. Data were collected from 472 students in Guangxi’s colleges and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results demonstrate that social media communication exerts both direct and indirect positive effects on sustainability awareness through brand equity, brand preference and student satisfaction, which reveals a sequential mediating mechanism, with the model explaining 60% of the variance in sustainability awareness. This study extends the application of the S–O–R framework to the context of higher education and sustainable development, and represents the first empirical investigations of this sequential mediating chain within China’s distinct digital media environment. These findings also provide empirical evidence for university administrators to understand how social media communication supports sustainability awareness.