From Feed to Fan: How Content Marketing Value Builds Brand Advocacy Through Authenticity

Abstract

As brands increasingly use social media content to create lasting connections with consumers, it is not always known whether – and when – this content will turn into unprompted advocacy, especially in under-researched secondary markets. The value of content marketing and its influence on consumer advocacy via brand authenticity and brand familiarity and digital engagement among adult social media users of Punjab, Pakistan. The study adopts a combination of Signalling Theory, Uses and Gratifications Theory, and Social Exchange Theory, and models content marketing value (CMV) affecting consumer advocacy both directly and indirectly via brand authenticity, which in turn is moderated by brand familiarity, while digital engagement is moderated by the path of brand authenticity to consumer advocacy. The data analysis technique in this research was qualitative using cross-sectional survey method with quantitative approach, which was then analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) software version 4.0. Indicator reliabilities, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement model were satisfactory, and there was no common method bias. All six hypotheses were supported: content marketing value significantly predicted both brand authenticity and consumer advocacy; brand authenticity significantly predicted consumer advocacy and partially (complementarily) mediated the content value–advocacy relationship (34.1% of the total effect); and both moderation effects were positive and significant, with the content value–authenticity link strengthening at higher brand familiarity and the authenticity–advocacy link strengthening at higher digital engagement. The findings extend authenticity-mediated content-marketing frameworks to a secondary urban market and offer brand managers an evidence base for calibrating content strategy to consumers’ familiarity and engagement levels rather than applying a uniform approach.