The Influence of Entertainment on Brand Loyalty in Higher Education Through the Mediation of Customer Engagement and Brand Trust in Indonesia.


Date Published : 10 September 2026

Contributors

wizdanulkarim

university of siliwangi
Corresponding Author

Keywords

social media marketing entertainment customer engagement brand trust brand loyalty.

Proceeding

Track

General Track

License

Copyright (c) 2026 International Seminar and Conference on Management, Research, and Transformation (I-SMART)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between entertainment as an aspect of social media marketing and brand loyalty, taking into account the mediating effects of customer engagement and brand trust. This study followed a quantitative type survey involving a purposive sample of 300 students from private and public universities (active and regular users of social media). Responses were collected by the Semantic Differential scale and analyzed with CB-SEM via AMOS. The design of applied research is cross-sectional, as data collection is applied at a specific time to analyze the interaction between the dimensions of entertainment, brand loyalty, and the mediating role of customer engagement and brand trust. The results show that entertainment, as one of the main dimensions of social media marketing activities, has a significant positive effect on brand loyalty. In other words, stronger brand loyalty is developed if users enjoy or enjoy using social media platforms. The results show that entertainment is an important part of social media marketing, leading to brand loyalty. The results found that customer engagement and brand trust are mediators that further intensify the relationship between entertainment and brand loyalty. It seems that adding entertainment in the use of social media can lead to increased customer engagement and trust, which results in brand loyalty.

References

Abbasi, A. Z., Rehman, U., Hussain, A., Ting, D. H., & Islam, J. U. (2021). The impact of advertising value of in-game pop-up ads in online gaming on gamers’ inspiration: An empirical investigation. Telematics and Informatics, 62, 101630. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2021.101630
Abbasi, A. Z., Rehman, U., Ting, D. H., & Quraishi, M. A. (2021). Do pop-up ads in online videogames influence children’s inspired-to behavior? Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers, 23(3), 362–381. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-06-2021-1347
Algharabat, R., Rana, N. P., Alalwan, A. A., Baabdullah, A., & Gupta, A. (2020). Investigating the antecedents of customer brand engagement and consumer-based brand equity in social media. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 53(October 2018), 101767. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.01.016
Ali, F., Suveatwatanakul, C., Ali, M., & Terrah, A. (2025). Social media marketing and brand loyalty : exploring interrelationships through symmetrical and asymmetrical modeling. 29(1), 114–135. https://doi.org/10.1108/SJME-08-2023-0219
Bae, B. R., & Kim, S. E. (2023). Effect of brand experiences on brand loyalty mediated by brand love: the moderated mediation role of brand trust. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 35(10), 2412–2430. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-03-2022-0203
Borishade, T. T., Ogunnaike, O. O., Salau, O., Motilewa, B. D., & Dirisu, J. I. (2021). Assessing the relationship among service quality, student satisfaction and loyalty: the NIGERIAN higher education experience. Heliyon, 7(7), e07590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07590
Bui, H. T. T., Bui, Q. T. T., Nguyen, T. T. P., Cao, Q. H., Phung, T. Van, & Nguyen, H. T. (2023). Assessing the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and loyalty: the Vietnamese higher education experience. Quality Assurance in Education, 31(2), 197–214. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-01-2022-0015
Cardoso, A., Gabriel, M., Figueiredo, J., Oliveira, I., Rêgo, R., Silva, R., Oliveira, M., & Meirinhos, G. (2022). Trust and Loyalty in Building the Brand Relationship with the Customer: Empirical Analysis in a Retail Chain in Northern Brazil. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc8030109
Chang, Y. P., & Dong, X. B. (2016). Research on the impact of consumer interaction behaviour on purchase intention in an SNS environment: evidence from China. Information Development, 32(3), 496–508. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266666914556821
Chaudhuri, A., & Holbrook, M. B. (2001). The chain of effects from brand trust and brand affect to brand performance: The role of brand loyalty. Journal of Marketing, 65(2), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.65.2.81.18255
Cheung, M. L., Pires, G. D., Rosenberger, P. J., & De Oliveira, M. J. (2021). Driving COBRAs: the power of social media marketing. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 39(3), 361–376. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-11-2019-0583
Cheung, M. L., Pires, G., & Rosenberger, P. J. (2020). The influence of perceived social media marketing elements on consumer–brand engagement and brand knowledge. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 32(3), 695–720. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-04-2019-0262
Ebrahim, R. S. (2020). The Role of Trust in Understanding the Impact of Social Media Marketing on Brand Equity and Brand Loyalty. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 19(4), 287–308. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332667.2019.1705742
Fayyaz, M. S., Abbasi, A. Z., Altaf, K., Alqahtani, N., & Ting, D. H. (2025). Not inspired enough: the mediating role of customer engagement between YouTube’s perceived advertising value and customer inspiration. Kybernetes, 54(2), 1175–1198. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-03-2023-0387
Fazel, H., & Sayaf, A. (2025). Social media integration in marketing education: A way forward to improve engagement and learning outcomes. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 17(January), 100595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100595
Godey, B., Manthiou, A., Pederzoli, D., Rokka, J., Aiello, G., Donvito, R., & Singh, R. (2016). Social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: Influence on brand equity and consumer behavior. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), 5833–5841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.181
Gordon-Isasi, J., & Ronda, L. (2024). Journal of Marketing for Higher Education Creating student value in higher education through customer-centric integrated marketing communication View supplementary material Creating student value in higher education through customer-centric integrated mar. Journal of Marketing for HIGHER EDUCATION. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2024.2301776
Greve, G. (2014). The Moderating Effect of Customer Engagement on the Brand Image – Brand Loyalty Relationship. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 148, 203–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.035
Griffin, J., Elphinstone, B., Sands, S., & Pallant, J. (2025). Bridging the Gap: Aligning Academic and Practitioner Approaches to Brand Trust Measurement. Australasian Marketing Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/14413582251331608
Hafidz, G. P., & Widyastari, F. S. (2024). The Influence of Social Media Marketing on Consumer Brand Engagement on the Luxcrime Brand. Scientific Journal of Educational Vehicles, 10(7), 568–598. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11097475
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2013). Multivariate Data Analysis. Pearson Education Limited. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=VvXZnQEACAAJ
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
Hanaysha, J. R. (2022). Impact of social media marketing features on consumer’s purchase decision in the fast-food industry: Brand trust as a mediator. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, 2(2), 100102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2022.100102
Ho, L. S., Zakaria, N. B., & Foo, S. M. (2024). The impact of social media marketing activities on customer purchase intention: a study of the property industry in Malaysia. Property Management, 42(4), 545–562. https://doi.org/10.1108/PM-07-2023-0066
Ho, M. H. W., & Chung, H. F. L. (2020). Customer engagement, customer equity and repurchase intention in mobile apps. Journal of Business Research, 121(April), 13–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.07.046
Huang, C. C. (2017). The impacts of brand experiences on brand loyalty: mediators of brand love and trust. Management Decision, 55(5), 915–934. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-10-2015-0465
Ibrahim, A. A., Ahmad, S. Z., & El-adly, M. (2025). Social media marketing ’ s impact on brand equity and loyalty in higher education : customer engagement ’ s role. August. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-08-2024-0105
Jayasuriya, Nisha Anupama., & F. A. (2017). “The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Brand Equity: A Study of Fashion-wear Retail in Sri Lanka.” *Journal of Business Research*, January, 79, 1-10.
Juhaidi, A., Al-Ansi, A. M., Fitria, A., Hidayati, N., & Huriyah. (2025). Understanding the role of university commitment, socioeconomic background, and brand trust in shaping brand loyalty in Islamic higher education in Indonesia. Sustainable Futures, 10(May), 100912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2025.100912
K S, D., & Massand, A. (2025). A study on reflective factors of social media marketing activities and its influence on purchase intention of gen z. Acta Psychologica, 259(April), 105459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105459
Kang, M. J. (2005). A study on the effect of features of brand community using one-person media on consumers. Seoul: Seoul National University.
Kini, A. N., Savitha, B., & Hawaldar, I. T. (2024). Brand loyalty in FinTech services: The role of self-concept, customer engagement behavior and self-brand connection. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 10(1), 100240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2024.100240
Lacka, E., & Wong, T. C. (2021). Examining the impact of digital technologies on students’ higher education outcomes: the case of the virtual learning environment and social media. Studies in Higher Education, 46(8), 1621–1634. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1698533
Li, M. W., Teng, H. Y., & Chen, C. Y. (2020). Unlocking the customer engagement-brand loyalty relationship in tourism social media: The roles of brand attachment and customer trust. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 44(June), 184–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2020.06.015
Lim, W. M., & Rasul, T. (2022). Customer engagement and social media: Revisiting the past to inform the future. Journal of Business Research, 148(May), 325–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.04.068
Ling, P.-S., Chin, C.-H., Yi, J., & Wong, W. P. M. (2023). Green consumption behaviour among Generation Z college students in China: the moderating role of government support. Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers, 25(4), 507–527. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-01-2022-1443
Liu, M., Xu, J., Li, S., & Wei, M. (2023). Engaging customers with online restaurant community through mutual disclosure amid the COVID-19 pandemic: The roles of customer trust and swift guanxi. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 56(June), 124–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2023.06.019
Liu, X., Shin, H., & Burns, A. C. (2021). Examining the impact of luxury brand’s social media marketing on customer engagement: Using big data analytics and natural language processing. Journal of Business Research, 125(January 2018), 815–826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.04.042
Malarvizhi, C. A., Al Mamun, A., Jayashree, S., Naznen, F., & Abir, T. (2022). Modelling the significance of social media marketing activities, brand equity and loyalty to predict consumers’ willingness to pay premium price for portable tech gadgets. Heliyon, 8(8), e10145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10145
Moslehpour, M., Dadvari, A., Nugroho, W., & Do, B. R. (2021). The dynamic stimulus of social media marketing on purchase intention of Indonesian airline products and services. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 33(2), 561–583. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-07-2019-0442
Oliver, R. L. (1999). Whence consumer loyalty ? Journal of Marketing, 63(Special Issue 1999), 33–44.
Osei-frimpong, K., Mclean, G., Islam, N., & Appiah, B. (2022). What drives me there ? The interplay of socio-psychological gratification and consumer values in social media brand engagement. Journal of Business Research, 146(August 2021), 288–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.03.057
Perera, C. H., Nayak, R., & Nguyen, L. T. V. (2022). The impact of social media marketing and brand credibility on higher education institutes’ brand equity in emerging countries. Journal of Marketing Communications, 29(8), 770–795. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2022.2086284
Perera, C. H., Nguyen, L. T. Van, & Nayak, R. (2023). Brand engagement on social media and its impact on brand equity in higher education: integrating the social identity perspective. International Journal of Educational Management, 37(6–7), 1335–1359. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-05-2023-0260
Seo, E. J., & Park, J. W. (2018). A study on the effects of social media marketing activities on brand equity and customer response in the airline industry. Journal of Air Transport Management, 66(August 2017), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2017.09.014
Singh, J., Steele, K., & Singh, L. (2021). Combining the Best of Online and Face-to-Face Learning: Hybrid and Blended Learning Approach for COVID-19, Post Vaccine, & Post-Pandemic World. In Journal of Educational Technology Systems (Vol. 50, Issue 2). https://doi.org/10.1177/00472395211047865
Sohail, M. S., Hasan, M., & Sohail, A. F. (2019). The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Brand Trust and Brand Loyalty. International Journal of Online Marketing, 10(1), 15–31. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijom.2020010102
Takahashi, H., Ban, M., & Asada, M. (2016). Semantic differential scale method can reveal multi-dimensional aspects of mind perception. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(NOV), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01717
Tuti, M., & Sulistia, V. (2022). The Customer Engagement Effect on Customer Satisfaction and Brand Trust and Its Impact on Brand Loyalty. Jurnal Manajemen Bisnis, 13(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.18196/mb.v13i1.12518
Wahyuni, P., Anjani, R., Fadilah, H. W., Mariyam, D., & Aditya, T. (2025). The Influence of Persuasion on Instagram @ UMT. Indonesia on the Decision on the Election of Private Universities in Tangerang City in 2024/2025. 1(4), 1–20.
Zhao, Y., & Watterston, J. (2021). The changes we need: Education post COVID-19. Journal of Educational Change, 22(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-021-09417-3
Zollo, L., Filieri, R., Rialti, R., & Yoon, S. (2020). Unpacking the relationship between social media marketing and brand equity: The mediating role of consumers’ benefits and experience. Journal of Business Research, 117(May), 256–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.001

Downloads

How to Cite

The Influence of Entertainment on Brand Loyalty in Higher Education Through the Mediation of Customer Engagement and Brand Trust in Indonesia. (wizdan karim, Trans.). (2026). International Seminar and Conference on Management, Research, and Transformation (I-SMART), 1, 537-550. https://conference.unsil.ac.id/ismart/paper/view/121