Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how firm-generated content (FGC) impacts consumer brand awareness, brand loyalty and electronic word of mouth (eWOM), and how this, in turn, influences consumer purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach In order to test this conceptual framework, statistical analysis was carried out employing structural equation modelling. Findings The findings indicate that FGC has a positive impact on brand awareness, brand loyalty, eWOM and purchase intention. Furthermore, the results reveal that a link exists between consumer eWOM behaviour and brand awareness and loyalty. This study also demonstrates that company communication through Facebook and Instagram has a positive effect on consumer purchase intention. Finally, it has been shown that, regarding eWOM and purchase intention, FGC posted on Instagram has a greater impact on its users than that posted on Facebook. Originality/value Consumer purchase intention is increasingly impacted by the growing use of social media by companies and marketers. This changing environment has opened up new challenges. However, there is still much work to be done in understanding the full effects of FGC communication, and how this influences consumer brand perception and purchase intention.

Purpose Under Saudi Vision 2030, there is a forthcoming raise of support to small- or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the current 20 per cent of GDP to 35 per cent; thus, SMEs’ access to finance is becoming easier. At the same time, the cosmetics retail industry is expected to rapidly grow further in the next few years, on account of the already mounting demand and easy availability of cosmetics through online channels. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of beauty Instagram influencers in advertising as a tool to increase competitiveness for SMEs. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory research design was used and in-depth interviews were conducted to get a better understanding of female Saudi young adults’ perceptions with regards to trust towards Instagram influencers, electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and advertising. Findings SMEs can benefit greatly from eWOM in their quest for competitiveness. Therefore, when a beauty influencer on Instagram advertises a product to SMEs followers this leads to increased awareness and purchase intention. The findings indicated that the participants are quite sceptical when receiving reviews or promotion from beauty influencers on social media, as they rarely regard them as authentic. Moreover participants seem to trust influential beauty Instagrammers when they had a positive experience with the influencer before. Trust, honesty and authenticity were important factors that increase the impact of eWOM. Originality/value This paper offers an in-depth understanding of the use of Instagram advertising and eWOM in a rapidly developing industry and explores these as key communication pathways for modern SMEs in their effort to achieve resilience and competitiveness.

Environmental issues are massively emerging in the current agendas of governments, businesses and consumers all over the globe. Consumers increasingly adopt a more energetic role in the environmental discussion and employ product consumption to manifest their contribution to the debate. Equally, a growing number of businesses try to affect positive social change, whereas others strategically approach green opportunities; at the same time, they persistently intensify their branding offerings to sustain loyalty. This article brings into discussion green consumption values as the authors aim to shed light into the way the latter moderate the effect of brand related factors, namely, brand experiences and brand personality, on brand loyalty. Based on data received from 413 participants and using the wearable technologies industry as the focal context, the study underscores the significance of green consumption values. Findings are discussed, and implications for managers are provided.

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Using empirical data from the Kuwaiti mobile telecommunications sector, this study models a fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) to investigate the reciprocal effects of customer loyalty and its antecedents in an emerging market context. This study investigates the effect of perceived service quality, perceived service value and brand equity on customer loyalty and the simultaneous analysis of the reverse causality of these variables. Data pertaining to 350 subscribers were analysed. According to the results, the model reaches the equilibrium when brand equity and customer loyalty are increased and reach an optimal level. Based on these findings, the authors provide implications for managers in the mobile telecom industry.