Social Media Marketing Activities and Brand Loyalty: A Meta-Analysis Examination

This research investigates the robustness of the relationship between social media marketing activities (SMMA) and brand loyalty (BL). This relationship is examined based on six contextual factors classified into three categories: methodological, economic, and social variables. A quantitative meta-analysis is conducted to test the study hypotheses, and 11 effect size from the article published between 2010 and 2019 are examined for the final sample size (n = 3,535). The meta-analysis results indicate a positive correlation between SMMA and BL at the cumulative level of 0.49, demonstrating a medium to large effect size. Potential moderating effects have been investigated for three types of study characteristic variables; the methodological (sample type and survey type), social (human development index HDI and level of globalization), and economic variables (country brand ranking and connectivity level). These relationships are moderated by sample type, survey type, and the country's brand ranking, among other factors. However, the levels of globalization and connectivity, and the HDI, have no significant moderating effects on the SMMA–BL link. More importantly, the study indicates the factors that moderate these relationships. No prior meta-analysis of this fundamental relationship has been conducted