The Impact of Social Media Marketing Strategies on Consumer Purchase Intention in the Brewery Industry in Liberia

This study examines the effect of social media marketing strategies on consumer purchase intention in the brewery industry using a primary dataset collected through online questionnaires from Liberian consumers. Grounded in the Social Media Marketing Activities (SMMA) framework and Theory of Planned Behavior, the research tests whether entertainment, interaction, trendiness, customization, and advertising predict consumers’ likelihood to purchase brewery products after exposure to social media content. Reliability analysis indicates acceptable internal consistency for multi-item scales (Cronbach’s α: Entertainment = 0.768; Customization = 0.888; Trendiness = 0.658; Advertising = 0.892). Descriptively, 48.0% of respondents reported having purchased a brewery product because of social media marketing. Correlation analysis shows positive associations between purchase likelihood and trendiness (r = 0.314), advertising (r = 0.233), interaction (r = 0.233), customization (r = 0.218), and entertainment (r = 0.171). However, a multiple regression model with SMMA dimensions as predictors explains a modest portion of variance in purchase likelihood (R = 0.594) and did not yield statistically significant individual predictors at p < 0.05 in this sample. The findings suggest social media matters in Liberia’s brewery market (high proportion of social-media-driven purchases and small-to-moderate correlations), but effects of specific SMMA dimensions are modest and require larger or more targeted samples and possibly richer measurement (e.g., platform-specific behavior, user-generated content intensity) for conclusive statements. Managerial recommendations include prioritizing trend-aligned content, monitoring eWOM (Electronic word of mouth), and investing in audience segmentation and digital literacy efforts.