Digital Marketing Stimuli, Buyer Trust, and Real Estate Sales Performance: A Stimulus-Organism-Response Perspective

Real estate developers and brokerages increasingly invest in digital marketing channels such as social media, property listing websites, and online review platforms, yet converting digital exposure into actual sales remains a persistent challenge in a market characterised by high financial value, long decision cycles, and significant information asymmetry between buyers and sellers. Although prior research has examined how digital tools and platforms influence property purchase intention, the psychological mechanisms through which digital marketing stimuli translate into sales outcomes remain underexplored. Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework and signaling theory, this paper develops a conceptual model that explains how three digital marketing stimuli (Social Media Marketing Quality, Website Quality, and Online Reputation and Reviews) influence Real Estate Sales Performance. Buyer Trust is conceptualised as the key psychological mechanism through which these digital marketing stimuli are translated into measurable sales outcomes. Five propositions are advanced, and a methodology for future empirical testing using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is outlined. The framework offers testable guidance for property developers, brokerages, and digital marketing teams seeking to optimise their digital marketing investments. The propositions require future empirical validation.