The Moderating Role of Brand Experience on the Relationship between Social Media Marketing Activities and Brand Equity in Jordanian Five Star Hotels.

Abstract

• The tourism sector in Jordan has a major role in the national economy. So, this study aims to determine the role of social media marketing activities as an independent variable and the brand experience as moderator in the relationship between social media marketing activities and brand equity in its dimensions (image of the brand, perceived quality, and loyalty to the market) as an approved variable in the five-star hotel sector operating in Jordan. The data collection was carried out by means of a selfadministered questionnaire designed for the purpose of the current study. 300 forms had distributed and only retrieved (206) but only (204) valid forms and excluded two invalid ones. An analytical descriptive approach, Correlation and regression analyses were used to test the two hypotheses. The study showed that there is an impact of social media marketing activities on brand equity. Dimensions (image of the brand, perceived quality and loyalty to the brand), and that there is an effect of the moderator, the effect of the brand experience in the relationship between social media marketing activities and trademark ownership rights, as the effect was raised from 13.9% to 59.3%, as with the modified variable entering the brand experience The effect was raised by 45.5%, which indicates the important role of the customer's experience with the brand in the impact of Social media marketing activities on the formation of the brand's value. These results would help the decision maker to take seriously steps to improve the hotel sector in Jordan.