The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Consumer Buying Behavior: A Quantitative Analysis

The rapid growth of digital technologies has transformed marketing practices, particularly through the increasing use of Social Media Marketing (SMM) as a key tool for engaging consumers. Social media platforms enable brands to communicate more effectively with their audiences and play an important role in shaping Brand Awareness (BA) and influencing Consumer Buying Behavior (CBB). In the context of the luxury market, understanding how these digital marketing efforts affect Generation Z consumers has become increasingly relevant, as this group is highly exposed to digital content. This study examines the impact of SMM on Generation Z’s luxury product consumption in Indonesia, with BA as a mediating variable and Information Search (IS) as a moderating variable. Data were collected through an online survey of active Generation Z social media users who are familiar with luxury brands and analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS). The findings indicate that SMM has a significant positive effect on BA, which subsequently influences CBB. In addition, IS significantly moderates the relationship between SMM and BA as well as between SMM and CBB, indicating that the effect of social media marketing becomes stronger when consumers actively engage in information search during the decision making process. Overall, this study contributes to the literature on digital marketing and consumer behavior by providing empirical evidence from Generation Z consumers in the Indonesian luxury market.