Exploring the Effect of Content Type on Customer Loyalty and Brand Advocacy Among Tiktok Users

Abstract. Social media content has become an essential tool for strengthening consumer brand relationships. Different content values informational, entertainment, social based, and functional significantly shape user perceptions and behaviors. However, most prior studies still emphasize engagement metrics, leaving limited understanding of how these specific content values influence deeper outcomes like loyalty and brand advocacy. The purpose of this study is to analyze the direct influence of content type on user loyalty and advocacy, and to test the role of loyalty as a mediating variable in the relationship between content type and advocacy among TikTok users. A quantitative survey approach was employed using purposive sampling of active TikTok users who had interacted with branded content. Data were analyzed through Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) to examine causal relationships among variables. The findings demonstrate that all four content types positively affect customer loyalty and advocacy, though their impact varies in magnitude. Entertainment and social-based values exert the strongest influence on loyalty by fostering emotional attachment and community belonging, whereas informational and functional values significantly enhance advocacy by reinforcing trust and perceived usefulness. These results confirm that a balanced content strategy integrating emotional engagement with practical relevance can effectively transform loyal audiences into proactive brand advocates. The study extends digital marketing literature by identifying content value typology as a key driver of sustained consumer loyalty and advocacy in the context of short-form social media marketing.