The Influence of Social-Media Marketing on Brand Equity and Financial Success in Women-Owned Micro-Businesses
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53555/jaes.v22i1.107Keywords:
Social-Media Marketing; Brand Equity; Financial Success; Women-Owned Micro-Businesses; Structural Equation Modeling; Moderating VariablesAbstract
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the business environment is in an extremely challenging scenario. A decline in revenues causes the existence of small and medium-sized businesses in danger on a worldwide scale. When micro-SMEs are run by women entrepreneurs, the situation becomes significantly worse. Therefore, micro-SMEs, especially those run by women entrepreneurs, must reinvent themselves in order to overcome the present challenges that might result in the demise of their companies and, therefore, their professional lives. Using the evolution of technology is one approach to do this. In the modern era, social networking sites and digital marketing have emerged as crucial tools for company growth, especially for women-owned businesses. Therefore, this study aims to identify the impact of social media marketing factors on the brand equity and financial success of women-owned micro-businesses. Also, inspect the outcome of trust as a moderating indicator between these relationships. The research chose a diversified sample of 516 women-owned micro-businesses from across a variety of industries, including fashion, beauty, healthcare, and education, using purposive sampling. The data was analysed using structural equation modeling. The research result shows that Reputation and Conversation have a positive impact on both Brand Equity and Financial Success, whereas Trendiness has a negative or non-significant impact. Furthermore, Trust has a strong moderate effect on the association between Brand Equity and Financial Success, hence its pivotal role in female entrepreneurs' micro-businesses. These findings establish the foundation for further studies on sustainable business development while highlighting the potential of digital technologies to support women-owned businesses in environments with limited resources.
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