Do Consumers Really Care About Social Media Marketing Activities? Evidence from Netflix's Turkish and German Followers in Social Media

This study investigates the direct effect of social media marketing activities SMMA conducted through firm-generated content (FGC) on purchase intention (PI) and the indirect effects of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) and consumer-brand engagement (CBE). To understand how the content produced by Netflix on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Youtube drives consumers with different characteristics. Namely, data were collected from two countries, 203 from Turkey and 235 from Germany, through an online survey. The analysis method of the data is variance-based partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM), and SmartPLS is employed. While none of the SMMA directly affect the PI of Turkish participants, the customization has an effect on PI for German participants. According to the results of the analysis of the data collected from the Turkiye, it is determined that CBBE has a partial mediation (competitive) effect in the relationship between entertainment and PI, and CBBE has a full mediation in the direct effect of trendiness on PI. On the other hand, it is determined that CBBE has a full mediation effect in the direct effect of interaction, trendiness and eWOM on PI for German participants. The mediating role of CBE, which is proposed as a new mediator to fill the gap in the literature, is not confirmed in both samples.