Social Media Marketing as a Relationship-Building Strategy for Consumer Loyalty in the Local Culinary Industry
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67467/jeeb.v1i3.158Keywords:
Social media marketing, consumer engagement, consumer loyalty, electronic word-of-mouth, local culinary industry, relationship marketingAbstract
The rapid expansion of social media has transformed marketing communication from one-way promotion into an interactive process of consumer engagement and relationship building. This transformation is particularly relevant to local culinary businesses, where product experiences, authenticity, local identity, and consumer recommendations influence long-term relationships. This study aims to develop an integrated conceptual framework explaining how social media marketing contributes to consumer loyalty in the local culinary industry. An integrative literature review was employed to synthesize theoretical and empirical studies on social media marketing, consumer engagement, trust, customer satisfaction, electronic word-of-mouth, local identity, community connection, and consumer loyalty. The synthesis indicates that the contribution of social media marketing to loyalty is better understood as a relational process rather than a direct promotional effect. Interactive, relevant, informative, personalized, and authentic social media activities can stimulate consumer engagement, which subsequently supports trust and customer satisfaction and contributes to sustained consumer loyalty. Electronic word-of-mouth operates as a social amplification mechanism, while local identity and community connection provide contextual value that can strengthen consumer–brand relationships. The originality of this study lies in integrating these mechanisms into a relationship-based social media marketing framework specifically contextualized to local culinary businesses. The framework extends existing social media marketing literature by explaining how digital interactions can be transformed into sustainable consumer relationships and loyalty. Practically, the study suggests that local culinary businesses should move beyond promotion-driven social media strategies toward authentic, interactive, community-oriented, and relationship-driven engagement.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Nurhaida, Leonas (Author)
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