Social Media Marketing Intensity and Brand Equity Dimensions: An Empirical Investigation in the Nigerian Banking Sector

This study empirically investigates the relationship between social media marketing intensity and brand equity dimensions in the Nigerian banking sector, with data drawn from bank customers across Lagos State, South West Nigeria, and Edo State, South South Nigeria. While a growing body of international literature connects social media engagement to brand equity creation, empirical evidence from the Nigerian financial services context remains sparse, creating a gap that this research seeks to address. Building on Yoo and Donthu's multidimensional brand equity model and Godey et al.'s social media marketing framework, the study hypothesises that social media marketing intensity positively influences brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations, and brand loyalty in banking contexts. A cross-sectional survey design is adopted, with 380 bank customers recruited through stratified random sampling. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using Smart-PLS is the primary analytical approach. The study controls for age, digital literacy, and account tenure. Preliminary findings indicate that social media content interactivity and personalisation have the strongest direct effects on brand awareness and perceived quality, while brand association formation is primarily driven by user-generated content. An indirect path from social media intensity to brand loyalty through perceived quality is confirmed. The study contributes novel empirical evidence to the social media-brand equity nexus in African financial services markets and provides brand managers and digital strategists with insights for social media investment optimisation. Keywords: social media marketing, brand equity, banking sector, structural equation modelling, Nigeria