Vol 22 | Issue 2 | 1-23 | June 2026
Dr Gideon Asare*
Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China
asaregideon015@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1813-8537
*Corresponding author
Abstract
Guided by the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study examines how social media platforms, content, and campaign persuade international students in China purchase intention towards coffee. The study employed structural equation modeling (SEM) on survey data from 216 international students in Jiangsu, China. The findings show that while content alone does not directly drive purchase intention, platform use and campaign quality significantly increase likelihood of purchase, with campaigns exerting the strongest influence. Customer satisfaction partially mediates this relationship, while brand engagement strengthens the platform–intention link and content authenticity offers a modest positive effect. Practically, marketers should focus on platform‑specific strategies, emotionally engaging campaigns, and authentic interactions to convert digital engagement into actual consumer action. The study shows how central and peripheral persuasion methods work together in a mobile-focused setting for foreigners, helping to broaden our understanding of marketing strategies from various viewpoints.
Keywords: Social media marketing, purchase intention, satisfaction, brand engagement
References
Alalwan, A. A., Rana, N. P., Dwivedi, Y. K. and Algharabat, R. (2017). ‘Social media in marketing: A review and analysis of the existing literature. Telematics and Informatics, 34(7), 1177–1190.
Ansari, S. and Khan, M.F. (2020) ‘Impact of social media marketing on brand loyalty in the Indian telecom sector’, Journal of Indian Business Research, 12(3), pp. 301–318. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIBR-01-2018-0029
Ashley, C. and Tuten, T. (2015) ‘Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement’, Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), pp. 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20761
Audrezet, A., de Kerviler, G. and Moulard, J.G. (2018) ‘Authenticity under threat: When social media influencers need to go beyond self-presentation’, Journal of Business Research, 117, pp. 557–569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.07.008
Bentler, P.M. (1990) ‘Comparative fit indexes in structural models’, Psychological Bulletin, 107(2), pp. 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.238
Browne, M.W. and Cudeck, R. (1993) Alternative ways of assessing model fit’, in Bollen, K.A. and Long, J.S. (eds.) Testing Structural Equation Models. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 136–162.
Cao, X. (2022) ‘Research on marketing innovation of Luckin Coffee’, Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, pp. 3047–3052.
Cheng, Y. (2022) ‘Research on the influence of Luckin Coffee advertisements upon Chinese university students’ consumer behaviours’, BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022, 1.
De Veirman, M., Cauberghe, V. and Hudders, L. (2017) ‘Marketing through Instagram influencers: The impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude’, International Journal of Advertising, 36(5), pp. 798–828.
De Vries, L., Gensler, S. and Leeflang, P.S.H. (2023) ‘The role of personalization in social media marketing: A review and future directions’, Journal of Advertising, 52(3), pp. 315–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2023.2034540
Deloitte Switzerland (2024) Deloitte Coffee Study 2024: Forces shaping the market and consumer behaviours. Available at: https://www.deloitte.com/ch/en/Industries/consumer/perspectives/coffee-study.html (Accessed: 4 April 2025).
Du, H.S., Xu, J., Tang, H. and Jiang, R. (2022) ‘Repurchase intention in online knowledge service: The brand awareness perspective’, Journal of Computer Information Systems, 62(1), pp. 174–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2020.1759150
Duffett, R. (2020) The YouTube marketing communication effect on cognitive, affective and behavioural attitudes among Generation Z consumers’, Sustainability, 12(12), 5075. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125075
Duffett, R.G. (2015) ‘The influence of Facebook advertising on cognitive attitudes amid Generation Y’, Electronic Commerce Research, 15(2), pp. 243–267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-015-9177-4
Fornell, C. and Larcker, D.F. (1981) ‘Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error’, Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), pp. 39–50. https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312
Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J. and Anderson, R.E. (2010) Multivariate Data Analysis. 7th end. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Hair, J.F., Hult, G.T.M., Ringle, C.M. and Sarstedt, M. (2014) A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hajli, N. (2015) ‘Social commerce constructs and consumers’ intention to buy’, International Journal of Information Management, 35(2), pp. 183–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2014.12.005
Hollebeek, L. D., Glynn, M. S., and Brodie, R. J. (2014). Consumer brand engagement in social media: Conceptualization, scale development, and validation. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(2), 149–165.
Hollebeek, L.D., Sharma, T., Pandey, R., Sanyal, P. and Clark, M. (2021). Fifteen years of customer engagement research: A bibliometric and network analysis’, Journal of Product & Brand Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-10-2020-3146
Huang, Y. (2021) A Market Strategy Analysis of Luckin Coffee. Master’s thesis. Chulalongkorn University. Available at: https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/chulaetd/7631
Jöreskog, K.G. and Sörbom, D. (1996) LISREL 8: User’s Reference Guide. Chicago, IL: Scientific Software International.
Khan, I. (2022) Do brands’ social media marketing activities matter? A moderation analysis’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 64, 102794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102794
Khraiwish, A. and Alsharif, A.H. (2024) ‘Insights and influencers: A decade of social media marketing research revealed through bibliometrics’, Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, 71(4), pp. 497–518. https://doi.org/10.47743/saeb-2024-0023
Kim, A.J. and Ko, E. (2012) ‘Do social media marketing activities enhance customer-based brand equity?’, Journal of Business Research, 65(10), pp. 1480–1486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.014
Koneti, C., Seetharaman, A., and Maddulety, K. (2025). Evaluating the effectiveness of influencer marketing in niche markets. Journal of Marketing & Social Research, 2(5), 65–79.
Kotharia, B., Mania, A.P. and Tripathi, V.M. (2025) ‘Transformative tech and social dynamics: Redefining customer engagement in Industry 5.0’, Procedia Computer Science, 259, pp. 240–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2025.03.325
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2012) Principles of Marketing. 14th edn. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Kouam, A.W.F. (2022) ‘The contributions of international students to international trade and cross-border e-commerce: Evidence from China’, European Journal of Business and Management, 14(16), pp. 66–73.
Kumar, V., Aksoy, L., Donkers, B., Venkatesan, R., Wiesel, T., and Tillmanns, S. (2016). Undervalued or overvalued customers: Capturing total customer engagement value. Journal of Service Research, 19(3), 281–296.
Kumar, V., Bezawada, R., Rishika, R., Janakiraman, R. and Kannan, P.K. (2016) ‘From social to sale: The effects of firm-generated content in social media on customer behavior’, Journal of Marketing, 80(1), pp. 7–25. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0059
Lim, W.M. and Rasul, T. (2022) ‘Customer engagement and social media: Revisiting the past to inform the future’, Journal of Business Research, 148, pp. 325–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.04.027
Lou, C., and Yuan, S. (2019). Influencer marketing: How message value and credibility affect consumer trust and purchase intention. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 19(1), 58–73.
Luckin Coffee (2024) Annual Report 2024. Available at: https://investor.luckincoffee.com (Accessed: 4 April 2025).
Oliver, R. L. (2014). Satisfaction: A behavioral perspective on the consumer (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Onofrei, G., Filieri, R. and Kennedy, L. (2022) ‘Social media interactions, purchase intention and behavioural engagement: The mediating role of source and content factors’, Journal of Business Research, 142, pp. 100–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.12.031
Paliwal, M., and Mathur, G. (2025). Social media marketing research: A bibliometric analysis from Scopus. Future Business Journal, 11(1)
Peng, Z., Yang, Y. and Wu, R. (2022) ‘The Luckin Coffee scandal and short selling attacks’, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 34, 100629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2022.100629
Petty, R.E. and Cacioppo, J.T. (1986) ‘The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion’, in Communication and Persuasion. New York: Springer, pp. 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4964-1_1
Qiu, L. (2020) ‘The analysis on the marketing strategy of Luckin Coffee in China’, in Proceedings of the 4th International Seminar on Education, Management and Social Sciences (ISEMSS 2020), pp. 467–471. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200826.093
Revathi, K.L., Varalakshmi, T. and Gharani, G. (2024) ‘Social media in business: Leveraging platforms for marketing and communication strategies’, International Research Journal of Advanced Engineering and Management, 2(5), pp. 1655–1658. https://doi.org/10.47392/irjaem.2024.0234
Rojas-Hermida, C.J., García Peñaloza, J.E. and Castro Zamora, R.L. (2024) ‘Digital marketing strategies focused on social networks: A systematic review’, Data & Metadata, 3. https://doi.org/10.56294/dm2024.230
Shaffer, L. and Garnett, M. (2011) ‘Media monetizing social’, Printing Impressions, 54(1), p. 22.
Statista (2025) Number of active social media users in China in 2024. Available at: https://www.statista.com (Accessed: February 2025).
Sudiman, A. (2020). The role of social media in integrated marketing communication. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 14(3), 45–52.
Suparto, Y.H. (2024) ‘The role of social media in increasing brand awareness: A literature review’, Maneggio, 1(3), pp. 126–134.
Tafesse, W. and Wien, A. (2018) ‘Toward a theory of social media brand engagement’, Journal of Brand Management, 25(6), pp. 542–560. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-018-0111-z
Tanaka, J.S. and Huba, G.J. (1985) ‘A fit index for covariance structure models under arbitrary GLS estimation’, British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 38(2), pp. 197–201. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8317.1985.tb00834.x
Tharenou, T., Donohue, R. and Cooper, B. (2007) Management Research Methods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Vinodh, K., Mahendran, K., Lavanya, S.M., Narayanan, S. and Kalpana, M. (2024) ‘A systematic literature review on social media marketing and consumer behaviour’, Journal of Consumer Sciences. https://doi.org/10.4314/jfecs.v52i1.280005
Wang, C., Liu, T., Zhu, Y., Wang, H., Wang, X. and Zha, S. (2023). The influence of consumer perception on purchase intention: Evidence from cross-border e-commerce platforms. Heliyon, 9, e21617. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21617
Wang, Z. (2017) A Handbook on Structural Equation Modelling. Kuala Terengganu: University of Sultan Zainal Abidin.
Xinhua (2024) ‘China’s coffee boom—next big opportunity for global brands’, Guangming Online, 22 August. Available at: https://en.gmw.cn (Accessed: 4 April 2025).
Yang, Q., Hayat, N., Al Mamun, A., Makhbul, Z.K.M. and Zainol, N.R. (2022) ‘Sustainable customer retention through social media marketing activities using a hybrid SEM-neural network approach’, PLOS ONE, 17(3), e0264899. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264899
Yazan, B. (2015) ‘Three approaches to case study methods in education: Yin, Merriam, and Stake’, The Qualitative Report, 20(2), pp. 134–152. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2102
Zeng, Z., Shen, C., Wang, H. and Lin, I.Y. (2024) ‘Luckin Coffee in China: An innovative coffee \brand dominating the Chinese market amid the COVID-19 pandemic’, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Cases, 12(1), pp. 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/21649987241241913
Zhang, X. (2024) ‘Research on marketing strategy of social media platforms: A case study of TikTok’. https://doi.org/10.54097/zrj6nj13
Zhao, Y. (2020) ‘Research on marketing innovation of enterprises in the context of the internet’, Research in Technology Economics and Management, (4), pp. 72–79.

