Social media marketing activities for influencing voter citizenship behaviour: brand relationship quality as a mediator

ABSTRACT

Social media marketing activities (SMMA) have become a crucial factor in the political arena, setting political parties apart from one another. This research, based on social identity and social exchange theory, aims to investigate the impact of SMMA on voter citizenship behaviour (VCB) through brand relationship quality (BRQ) as a mediator in the Indian context. Data was collected from eligible Indian voters, out of which 372 responses were valid and were analyzed using structural equation modelling. The research found that all proposed hypotheses were valid except for one. SMMA had a significant influence on BRQ, which in turn had a significant relationship with VCB. However, the direct impact of SMMA on VCB was insignificant, meaning that the relationship was indirect and mediated through BRQ. Furthermore, the educational qualification of voters was found to moderate the relationship between BRQ and VCB. This paper emphasizes the importance of various dimensions of SMMA in building and maintaining relationships with voters and influencing their citizenship behaviour, providing valuable insights for social media managers of political parties.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media marketing activities
• brand relationship quality
• voter citizenship behaviour
• political parties
• social media

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ajay Kumar

Ajay Kumar is registered as a Ph.D. research scholar at The Business School, University of Jammu. He received his MBA in 2010 and B.Tech. in Information Technology in 2007 from the University of Jammu. He has diversified experience across industries, including banking and financial services, agro-based business, and the water industry. He is currently working as a full-time teaching faculty in the Department of Business Administration, Maulana Azad Memorial College, Cluster University of Jammu.

Alka Sharma

Alka Sharma is a Professor of Management at the University of Jammu (J&K) with more than 30 years of teaching experience. She has published widely in national and international journals. She has also been associated with the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), the key research bodies of the country, and also got funding for various research initiatives. Besides academic and research pursuits, she has more than 15 years of administrative experience.