The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Zimbabwean Commercial Bank Customers Behaviour

While research has underscored the benefits of social media marketing, organizations including banks, still fail to justify their continued investment on social media marketing, mainly because its impact on customer behaviour remains unclear. Thus, this study aimsto establish the impact of social media marketing (SMM) on Zimbabwean commercial bank customers’ behaviour, from a Social Exchange Theory (SET) perspective. The objectives included determining the influence of the SET determinants inherent in SMM on commercial bank customers’ satisfaction; loyalty and repurchase intentions. A quantitative research approach was used to survey 384 bank customers in Harare and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences program. Structural Equation Modellingrevealed a positive and significant relationship between the perceived social, informational and monetary benefits inherent in SMM and the bank customers’ satisfaction. There was also a significant positive relationship between social connectedness inherent in SMM and the bank customers’ loyalty. Furthermore, significant positive relationships were found between perceived fairness, customer engagement, perceived reciprocity inherent in SMM and bank customers’ trust, while the strength of community ties inherent in SMM is negatively and significantly related to bank customer loyalty. It is thus recommended that marketers take cognizance of the influence of the social exchange theory determinants inherent in social media marketing on customer behaviour, when developing and implementing social media marketing strategies and policies.

Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Zimbabwean Commercial Bank Customers Behaviour C D Mudondo School of Management, IT and Governance University of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa davemudondo@gmail.com K K Govender School of Management, IT and Governance University of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa govenderkrishna@gmail.com ABSTRACT While research has underscored the benefits of social media marketing, organizations including banks, still fail to justify their continued investment on social media marketing, mainly because its impact on customer behaviour remains unclear Thus, this study aimsto establish the impact of social media marketing (SMM) on Zimbabwean commercial bank customers’ behaviour, from a Social Exchange Theory (SET) perspective The objectives included determining the influence of the SET determinants inherent in SMM on commercial bank customers’ satisfaction; loyalty and repurchase intentions A quantitative research approach was used to survey 384 bank customers in Harare and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, using a structured questionnaire Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences program Structural Equation Modellingrevealed a positive and significant relationship between the perceived social, informational and monetary benefits inherent in SMM and the bank customers’ satisfaction There was also a significant positive relationship between social connectedness inherent in SMM and the bank customers’ loyalty Furthermore, significant positive relationships were found between perceived fairness, customer engagement, perceived reciprocity inherent in SMM and bank customers’ trust, while the strength of community ties inherent in SMM is negatively and significantly related to bank customer loyalty It is thus recommended that marketers take cognizance of the influence of the social exchange theory determinants inherent in social media marketing on customer behaviour, when developing and implementing social media marketing strategies and policies 1.Introduction The 21st century witnessed the boundaries between customers and organisations gradually blurring, due to among other factors, the impact of social media (SM) on business processes, especially marketing Research has shown that amongst the most valuable global brands there is a substantial relationship between business performance and SM (Sterne, 2010) This demonstrates that engaging customers through social media marketing (SMM) should be one of the primary strategies for effective brand managers, since this has a bearing on the firm’s bottom-line in highly competitive environments Despite these claims, indications are that currently, there is little empirical research that attempts to explain the complex and dynamic nature of the relationships inherent in SMM Furthermore, the contribution and impact of SMM on the customers’ behaviour has not been fully P a g e | 373 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 explored, with firms and managers questioning their continued investment on SMM activities (Kumar and Mirchandani, 2012) In light of the above, this study therefore attempts to investigate the aforementioned by using the Social Exchange Theory (SET) 2.Literature Review Social media (SM) has significantly transformed the global business landscape in general and the marketing landscape in particular (Charlesworth, 2014), and this has created active, sophisticated and powerful customers who are difficult to manipulate, influence, persuade and retain (Constantinides, 2014) It is further suggested that “ the future of advertising and indeed that of marketing as a whole,lies largely in the realm of digital and technology ” thus mandating firms and brands to have a significant online presence to interact and engage with the ‘new’ customer and the world around them (Stanic and Hansson, 2017:7) Several researchers submit that social media (SM) is a collection of open-source, collaborative and user-managed online applications that expand the users’ knowledge, market power and experiences, as they participate in social and business processes (Charlesworth, 2014, Kane, 2015) The growth and popularity of SM has driven organisations into using SM platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube extensively Commercial banks have also responded by increasingly adopting business models which employ SMM as a critical business strategy(TsimonisandDimitriadis, 2014) Globally, SM has irrevocably changed the interaction between banks and their customers, creating an opportunity to transform the relationships that exist, as well as reaching out to the unbanked and under-served customers in remote and sometimes inaccessible locations (Cesaroni, 2015) Charlesworth (2014)argues that from a social exchange theory (SET) standpoint, the interaction between firms and their customers and, among customer communities through SM can significantly influence customer relationships, consequently affecting the performance of the institution However, the impact of these social interactions and relationships on the bank customers’ behaviour such as loyalty, satisfaction and repurchase intentions, has scantly been explored (Ananda et al., 2014) Thus, this study seeks to explore the influence of the SET determinants inherent in SMM such as perceived benefits, social interaction, trust, commitment and sociability, on the commercial bank customers’ behaviour, which in the context of this research is subjectively defined as customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer repurchase intention This research focuses on the social media platforms commonly employed by Zimbabwean commercial banks namely, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram Although still in its infancy, the uptake and use of Facebook in Zimbabwe has been put at only 1.6 million users as at December 2015, while Twitter and Instagram have also become common platforms used for marketing and communication by both Zimbabwean consumers and organizations (Internet World Stats, 2015) This sluggish uptake of social media is accompanied by a notable absence of scholarly research on SMM in different industries in Zimbabwe, including commercial banks It is this scenario which motivates academic research since it presents a gap in the body of knowledge which this study seeks to address In order to address this gap and drawing from literature review it is hypothesized with respect to commercial bank customers’ behaviour in Zimbabwe that: H1a: A significant relationship exists between the bank customers’ perceived social benefits of SMM and their satisfaction H1b: The perceived informational benefits of SMM significantly influences bank customers’ level of satisfaction H1c: The perceived monetary benefits of SMM are positively related with bank customers’ satisfaction H2a: If the social connectedness in SMM is high, this will have a higher impact on bank customers’ loyalty P a g e | 374 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 H2b: The strength of community ties in SMM has a significant influence on bank customers’ loyalty H3a :A positive relationship exists between customer engagement in SMM and the bank customers’ trust H3b: Perceived fairness in SMM has a significant influence on the bank customers’ trust H3c: Perceived reciprocity in SMM will have positive effects on the bank customers’ trust H4 A significant relationship exists between customer engagement inherent in SMM and the bank customers’ loyalty H5: A positive relationship exists between trust in SMM and the bank customers’ commitment H6: Trust in SMM can positively influence the bank customers’ loyalty H7: There is a positive association between commitment in SMM and the bank customers’ loyalty H8: High levels of satisfaction among bank customers will lead to high re-purchase intentions H9: Bank customers’ loyalty directly influences their re-purchase intentions H10: Bank customers’ satisfaction has a positive effect on their loyalty The various hypotheses postulated above will be tested using the methodology described below 3.Research Methodology A quantitative research approach was used, and while the data was largely descriptive, it was also partly explanatory, hence in this study a descripto-explanatory research design is used (Saunders et al., 2009) A survey was conducted among customers of selected commercial banks in Zimbabwe with social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram as strategic marketing platforms The survey method was used because it maximises the reliability of data since the use of fixed-response questions reduces variability and bias (Creswell, 2013) A pre-developed and validated semi-structured questionnaire was used in this study The researcher considered closed-ended questions as being ideal for the survey, since it allows for “ease of counting the frequency of each response and the ease with which the responses could be subjected to quantitative analysis” (Mbengo 2016:131) The questionnaire consisted of three sections, with the first focusing on the participants’ personal and demographic characteristics, the second section contained questions to measure the research constructs using a five-point Likert scale Prior to administering the questionnaire, 20 customers with social media links with their commercial banks were selected for pilot-testing of the appropriateness of the data collection method and clarity of the research instrument It was ascertained that the questions were clear and measured what it intended to 3.1 Research Population and Sample The target population was the commercial bank customers from Zimbabwe‘s two large cities, Harare and Bulawayo, who had on-going social media links with their bank(s) The selection of customers for participation in this research is based on and consistent with previous studies in such contexts (Laroche et al 2013) Given that this research was a survey where potential participants were difficult to reach, convenience sampling was deemed appropriate A representative sample was selected, taking into account the distribution of branches of the different commercial banks in each of the cities included in this study The sample size was determined, based on the seminal guidelines provided by Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) model for sample size determination As at November 2016, 83% of Harare’s population (2123132) was economically active and employed labour force in the formal and informal sectors (Zimstats 2016), which translates to 1762199 people The economically active population in Bulawayo comprised 73% of the total population (653 337), which translated to 476936 people, resulting in a total of 2239135 being the target population of the study residing in Harare and Bulawayo The Krejcie and Morgan (1970) model stipulates that for a population that is 500 000 P a g e | 375 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 people and above, a sample size of 384 is sufficient at 95% confidence level As such, using this recommendation for sample size determination, the sample size for this study stood at 384 commercial bank customers from both Harare and Bulawayo Against this sample size, 128 (one third of 384) customers represented Bulawayo, whilst 256 (two thirds of 384) were from Harare, a distribution which is proportional to the cities’ respective total populations 3.2 Data collection An intercept survey was conducted with the help of trained research assistants toadminister questionnaires directly to commercial bank customers at different bank branches during normal working hours Questionnaires were randomly administered to every third bank customer, three days of the week and the process was intensified during end of the month, when banks are at their busiest Although prior developed and validated measurement scales were used, some were modified in order to fit the current research context and purpose The ‘Social Benefits’ measure comprised five scaled items, adapted from Flanagan and Metzger (2000), Gou et al (2012), Park and Kim (2015) and Dhokalia, Blazevic, Wiertz and Algesheimer (2009) The ‘Informational Benefits’ measure comprised eight scaled items adapted from Kim, Choi, Qualls and Han (2008), while the ‘Monetary Benefits’ measure, comprised four scaled items adapted from Sung et al (2010) The ‘Social Connectedness ‘measure used comprised four scaled items adapted from Song and Zinkhan (2008) and Kuhlthan (2004), while ‘Strength of Ties’ and ‘Customer Engagement’ measures comprised five and seven scaled items respectively, adapted from the aforementioned authors ‘Trust’ was measured using six items adapted from Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) and Tung et al (2001) ‘Customer Satisfaction’ and ‘Customer Loyalty’ were measured using six and four items adapted from respectively Sahin, Zehir and Kitapci (2011) and Chinomona and Cheng (2013) ‘Perceived Fairness’ and ‘Perceived Reciprocity’ measures comprised four and three scaled items adapted from Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) and Sahin, Zehir and Kitapci (2011) respectively Finally, ‘Customer Repurchase Intention’ and ‘Commitment’ were measured using four and six scaled items adapted from Hellier, Geursen, Carr and Rickard (2002) All items were measured using a five-point Likert type scale anchored by = Strongly disagree, to = Strongly agree 3.3 Data Analysis The quantitative data collected through the questionnaires was analysed using inferential and descriptive statistical techniques (SPSS, Version 16) The ten hypotheses were tested using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach, which is particularly appropriate for testing theoretically justified models (Jöreskog and Sörbom, 1993) 4.Research Findings In terms of the response rate,373 usable questionnaires were completed with the majority (52.01%) being female indicating that the two genders were well represented in the study The majority (26.81%) of respondents fell within the 21-25 yearage group which may suggest that the research targeted millennials who are considered as tech savvy age In terms of educational levels, findings show that 42.63 % of the participants had a Bachelor’s degree and 42% resided in Harare (42%) showing that participants could comprehend the research questions and had access to commercial bank services An overwhelming majority (92.76%) of the participants were familiar with the social media platforms offered by their bank(s), and 79.62% indicated that they are linked to their bank’s social media platforms thereby validating and enhancing the research findings as emanating from participants who qualify to partake in the study P a g e | 376 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 The majority (68.10%) of respondentsindicated that they engage with their banks social media activities whilst (31.90%) indicated that not partake in the bank’s social media platforms Most (23.5%) of participants visited the bank’s social media platform for promotions reasons,followed by an equal (23.3%) who use the site for communication purposes A significant number (22.7%) of participant who indicated that they did not visit the bank’s social media sites, indicated a lack of data and 19% indicated that they lacked know-how to use social media platforms A significant number (29.7%)of participants never visited their bank’s social media platform, whilst 25% showed that they visited their bank’s websites several times a week.It was ascertained that most (28.1%) of the participants had never posted on their bank’s social media platform and this was followed by those who indicated that they read or post several times a month (21.4%).Most (35.6%) of the participants indicated that their bank is most active in customer service communication, followed by 35.6% who reported customer service, communication and complaints handling 4.1 Measurement Model Assessment Cronbach’s coefficient alpha, composite reliability (CR) and Average shared variance AVE were used to evaluate the measurement scale to verify internal consistency and ascertain the reliability of the measurements As reflected in Table 1, all the overall Cronbach values exceeded the recommended threshold of 0.6, which implies that all the measurement instruments used in the study can be considered reliable (Diedenhofen and Musch 2016) Table Reliability Measures Cronbach's Alpha rho_A Composite Reliability CE 0.925 0.930 CL 0.853 0.863 COM 0.936 0.937 CR 0.900 0.901 CS 0.923 0.925 IB 0.901 0.910 MB 0.870 0.872 PF 0.911 0.914 PR 0.858 0.861 SB 0.929 0.932 SC 0.895 0.904 ST 0.916 0.920 TR 0.930 0.932 Source: Compiled by the Researcher from the Primary data 0.940 0.911 0.951 0.930 0.940 0.922 0.911 0.937 0.914 0.946 0.927 0.937 0.945 Average Variance Extracted (AVE) 0.664 0.773 0.797 0.769 0.724 0.628 0.719 0.789 0.779 0.779 0.760 0.749 0.741 4.2 Validity Convergent validity is assessed by checking item-total correlations and factor loadings (Crego et al., 2015; Hair et al., 2016) The estimates of the factor loadings greater than 0.5 are presented in Table 2, demonstrating convergent validity The lowest factor loading was 0.642, representing Customer Engagement inherent in SMM which was (CE1), whereas 0.919 was the highest and represented bank Customers’ Loyalty (CL4) P a g e | 377 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 Table 2: Correlation Matrix CE CL CE CL 0.777 COM COM CR CS IB MB PF PR SB SC ST TR 0.744 0.800 CR 0.721 0.779 0.813 CS 0.771 0.813 0.816 0.726 IB 0.755 0.668 0.651 0.654 0.654 MB 0.725 0.587 0.571 0.505 0.597 0.604 PF 0.807 0.728 0.662 0.632 0.718 0.715 0.664 PR 0.769 0.686 0.640 0.591 0.714 0.697 0.669 0.770 SB 0.787 0.712 0.638 0.674 0.717 0.795 0.652 0.774 0.680 SC 0.771 0.686 0.610 0.580 0.723 0.725 0.722 0.714 0.734 0.756 ST 0.857 0.713 0.701 0.635 0.726 0.717 0.738 0.729 0.757 0.760 0.860 TR 0.799 0.723 0.746 0.640 0.792 0.687 0.650 0.783 0.770 0.712 0.707 0.749 Convergent validity is assessed by checking item-total correlations and factor loadings (Crego et al., 2015; Hair et al., 2016) The estimates of the factor loadings greater than 0.5 are presented in Table 3, demonstrating convergent validity The lowest factor loading was 0.642, representing Customer Engagement inherent in SMM which was (CE1), whereas 0.919 was the highest and represented bank Customers’ Loyalty (CL4) 4.3 Summary of Measurement Model Assessment According to Chinomona (2011) discriminant validity is assessed using correlation matrix and the value for the correlation between the variables ought to be less than 1.0 Table indicates the intercorrelation values for all the variables and are less than 1.0, hence confirming discriminant validity P a g e | 378 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 Research constructs CE CL COM CR CS IB MB PF PR Table 3: Scale Accuracy Analysis Scale Items Cronbach’s Alpha test Mean SD  value CE1 CE2 CE3 CE4 CE5 CE6 CE7 5,65 3,09 1,07 1,20 2,55 2,14 1,32 3,454 1,380 0,259 0,403 1,802 0,900 0,467 0.925 0.940 Average Variance Extracted (AVE) 0.664 CL1 CL2 CL3 CL4 COM1 COM2 COM3 COM4 COM5 CRI1 CRI2 CRI3 CRI4 CS1 CS2 CS3 CS4 CS5 CS6 IB1 IB2 IB3 IB4 IB5 IB6 IB7 MB1 MB2 MB3 MB4 PF1 PF2 PF3 PF4 PR1 PR2 2,83 4,09 4,20 3,01 3,54 3,52 3,57 3,58 3,74 3,98 3,69 3,65 3,74 3,74 3,77 3,80 3,07 3,41 2,98 3,27 3,49 3,41 3,37 3,29 3,21 3,54 3,38 3,17 3,27 3,67 3,65 3,58 3,55 3,50 3,48 3,51 1,284 1,559 1,565 1,476 1,258 1,165 1,179 1,277 1,145 0,984 3,280 1,103 1,034 1,136 2,350 1,125 1,294 1,216 1,386 1,255 1,213 1,200 1,283 1,217 1,248 1,281 1,323 1,346 1,290 1,000 1,133 1,153 1,194 1,128 1,195 1,221 0.853 0.911 0.773 0.936 0.951 0.797 0.900 0.930 0.769 0.923 0.940 0.724 0.901 0.922 0.628 0.870 0.911 0.719 0.911 0.937 0.789 0.858 0.914 0.779 P a g e | 379 Composite Reliability Values Factor Loadings 0.825 0.891 0.697 0.919 0.849 0.909 0.902 0.907 0.895 0.827 0.906 0.894 0.880 0.781 0.897 0.838 0.847 0.880 0.857 0.717 0.733 0.742 0.819 0.851 0.850 0.822 0.843 0.831 0.871 0.846 0.829 0.908 0.905 0.909 0.870 0.877 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors 0.642 0.854 0.873 0.905 0.868 0.836 0.806 Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 SB SC ST TR PR3 SB1 SB2 SB3 SB4 SB5 SC1 SC2 SC3 SC4 ST1 ST2 ST3 ST4 ST5 TR1 TR2 TR3 TR4 TR5 TR6 3,45 3,62 3,51 3,62 3,68 3,58 3,64 3,55 3,74 3,79 3,69 3,72 3,60 3,74 3,71 3,65 3,68 3,52 3,63 3,72 3,63 1,192 1,152 1,199 1,082 1,057 1,113 1,168 1,030 0,986 0,993 0,981 0,881 0,977 1,147 1,104 1,074 1,041 1,137 1,133 1,046 1,088 0.929 0.946 0.779 0.895 0.927 0.760 0.916 0.937 0.749 0.930 0.945 0.741 Note: SB = Social Benefits; IB = Informational Benefits; MB = Monetary Benefits; SC = Social Connectedness; ST= Strength of Ties; CE = Customer Engagement; PR = Perceived Reciprocity; PF = Perceived Fairness; TR = Trust; CS = Customer Satisfaction; CL = Customer Loyalty; CRI = Customer Repurchase Intention; COM = Commitment SD= Standard Deviation CR= Composite Reliability AVE= Average Variance Extracted * Scores: – Strongly Disagree; – Moderately Agree; – Strongly Agree 4.4 Overall Model Fit Assessment Model fit was assessed using the Chi-square (x2/df) and the Normed Fit Index (NFI) While the Chisquare (x2/df) and NFI have not met the acceptable threshold, the results in Table can be regarded marginally acceptable For instance, the NFI should be above 0.8 while 0.9 is regarded excellent (Chinomona 2011, Bryman and Bell 2015).By and large, the GoF and NFI provided in Table indicates a marginal fit of the data to the proposed conceptual model On this basis of this marginal fit – the researcher proceeded to test the proposed hypotheses SRMR d_ULS d_G Chi-Square NFI Table Smart PLS Model fit Indices Saturated Model Estimated Model 0.058 0.093 7.005 18.042 6.752 7.243 11 031.101 11 368.761 0.647 0.636 4.5.Hypotheses Test Results Table indicates the path coefficients, t-statistics and whether a hypothesis is rejected or supported The literature reveals that t >1.96 are indicators of relationship significance and that higher path P a g e | 380 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors 0.900 0.871 0.886 0.900 0.893 0.864 0.843 0.900 0.892 0.852 0.862 0.886 0.839 0.866 0.874 0.849 0.884 0.857 0.863 0.888 0.824 Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 coefficients indicate strong relationships among latent variables (Chinomona, Lin, Wang & Cheng 2010) Fifteen hypotheses were tested, and the path coefficients are provided in Table The significant levels were assessed using p-values and t-statistics respectively using the p-values Hypotheses are viewed as significant at a 95% or higher level of significance (≥ 95%), where the p-value is ≤ 0.05 (Hastie et al 2009; Hair et al 2010) The t-statistics are expected to be greater than 1.96 for the proposed relationship to be deemed acceptable The proposed hypotheses and path coefficients are provided first and followed by t-statistics and p-values – that indicate the significance level of the proposed relationship Finally, the last column provides the decision taken by the research – on whether to accept or reject the proposed hypotheses given the research findings The path coefficients demonstrate the strength of the relationships between the dependent and the independent variables (Hsu, 2008) Upon assessing the probability value also referred to as the p - value, it was demonstrated that thirteen out of the fifteen hypotheses postulated were significant at p CS 0.444 T Statistics (|O/STDEV|) 6.492 IB -> CS 0.181 2.825 0.005 MB -> CS 0.198 3.736 0.000 SC -> CL 0.126 1.814 0.070 ST -> CL -0.066 0.752 0.452 CE -> TR 0.360 6.024 0.000 PF -> TR 0.278 4.740 0.000 PR -> TR 0.279 4.858 0.000 CE -> CL 0.270 2.754 0.006 TR -> COM 0.746 31.601 0.000 TR -> CL 0.028 0.399 0.690 COM -> CL 0.340 4.966 0.000 CS -> CR 0.272 4.946 0.000 CL -> CR 0.558 8.947 0.000 CS -> CL 0.306 3.881 0.000 P a g e | 381 P Values OUTCOME 0.000 Significant& Supported Significant & Supported Significant & Supported Significant & Supported Insignificant Significant & Supported Significant & Supported Significant & Supported Significant & Supported Significant & Supported Insignificant Significant & Supported Significant & Supported Significant & Supported Significant & Supported Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 The results revealed that all fifteen hypotheses were positive However, although positive, H2b and H6 were found to be insignificant since the p-value is greater than 0.05 (0.452 and 0.690 respectively Individual path coefficients of H1a, H1b, H1c, H2a, H2b, H3a, H3b, H3c, H4, H5, H6, H7, H8, H9 and H10 were 0.444, 0.181, 0.198, 0.126, -0.066, 0.360, 0.278, 0.279, 0.270; 0.746; -0.028; 0.340; 0.272; 0.558 and 0.306 respectively Generally, these results indicate that all the latent variables have a positive relationship with each other Drawing from the research findings, trust in SMM has a strongest relationship with the bank customers’ commitment as indicated by the path coefficient value of 0.746 Discussion of the Findings The findings indicatedthat the bank customers’ perceived social benefits and customer satisfaction are significantly positively related This finding is consistent with those reported by such researchers as Gordon and Levesque (2000), Lin and Lu (2011), and Liang, Ting-Peng, Lu, Chi-Chung, Wu, ChiaHsien (2008) This outcome may suggest that commercial bank customers in Zimbabwe are more satisfied with an entity’ s SMM activities if it allows them to develop a sense of belonging and community as they check each other’s posts and comments; to interact with their peers and friends and exchange valuable information Additionally, the bank customers’ satisfaction is further enhanced when meaningful social relationships and a sense of identification are developed through personalised attention The findings also revealed a relatively positive and significant relationship between the perceived informational benefits inherent in SMM and the bank customers’ satisfaction This finding is consistent with those reported by Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrot (2017); and Muntinga, Moorman and Smit, (2011), all of who established the existence of a strong link between the perceived informational benefits and customer satisfaction It therefore may suffice to argue that customers feel satisfied with their banks’ social media platforms when they are able to obtain, exchange and share information they deem important in solving brand related problems through online questions and answer sessions The findings also indicated that a positive and significant relationship exists between the perceived monetary benefits of SMM and customer satisfaction making them consistent with what researchers such as Hennig-Thuran and Klee 2010; Men and Tsai, 2013; Storm, 2015; Ramanathan et al., 2017 reported that economic incentives significantly influence online customers participation contributing to increased satisfaction with the brand or service on offer These results suggests that commercial bank customers in Zimbabwe look forward to any promotional programs or incentives such as special discounts, exclusive deals and gift vouchers that their banks offer through their social networks as this increases their levels of satisfaction Furthermore, the research findings showed that the strength of community ties in SMM and customer loyalty are negatively related in a significant way, which implies that the loyalty of commercial bank customers is somewhat influenced by factors other than the strength of community ties in social media marketing This finding is consistent with those reported by Hansen (1999), Riedl et al (2013), and Huang (2017), who argue that there are other factors such as customer engagement, satisfaction and trust that may determine customer loyalty other than strength of ties One may argue that while SMM creates social bonds among commercial bank customers, their contribution to the bank customers’ loyalty, is relatively weak The findings also confirmed that perceived fairness in SMM and the bank customers’ trust are positively and significantly related and this finding is consistent with those reported by Chang et al (2005), Kauffman et al (2010) and Liu et al (2013) Commercial bank customers appear to trust the P a g e | 382 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 social media marketing messages that project a sense of justice and fairness such apologies for an error of a retraction of false or bad statement and celebration of positive and excellent customer behaviour It emerged from this study that customer engagement inherent in SMM and the bank customers’ trust are positively related in a significant way suggesting that the higher the level of customer engagement through social media marketing is, the higher the level of commercial bank customers’satisfaction as this creates a sense of belonging and trust These results are similar to those reported by De Witt and Brandy (2003) and Hollebeek (2011), who submit that high levels of customer engagement generate customer satisfaction which enhances customer trust Another objective of the study was to establish the relationship between customer engagement in SMM and the bank customers’ loyalty, and the results confirmed that the two variables are positively related in a significant way This outcome is consistent with those reported by Hollebeek (2011), De Witt and Brady (2003), Khan (2016), Sondhi (2017) and Kosiba (2018) When commercial banks deliberately and seriously keep their customers informed and make them active participants, customers develop high levels of satisfaction, which in-turn translates to loyalty It emerged from the study that the relationship of trust in SMM is significantly positively related with the bank customers’ commitment This finding is similar to those reported by Morgan and Hunt (1994), Ganesan (1994), Hollebeek (2011), and Akman and Yorur (2012) The study also revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between commitment generated by SMM and the bank customers’ loyalty, while the trust developed through SMM is significantly and positively related with the bank customers’ commitment The former result is similar to those reported by Morgan and Hunt (1994) Ganesan (1994), Hollebeek (2011) and Akman and Yorur (2012), while the latter finding resonates with those reported by Garbarino and Mark (1999), Bansal et al (2003) and Yim et al (2008) If customers feel that they trust their banks’ social media platforms as well as the marketing information conveyed on these platforms, they develop a deep sense of commitment and loyalty to the banks’ brands and services Conversely, absolute commitment to a bank product or service tends to enhance the trust that exists between banks and their customers It emerged that a positive and significant relationship between the bank customers’ satisfaction and their repurchase intention exists and this finding is consistent with that reported by Lin and Wang (2005), Wang and Sohal (2003) cited in Leninkumar (2017) and Chinomona (2013), all of who concur that customer satisfaction leads to higher probability of repurchase since it assists in risk and decision uncertainty reduction The findings also revealed that the relationship between customer loyalty and customer repurchase intention is significant and positive which is that same position expressed by Dimitriades (2006), Meng et al (2010), Deng et al (2010) and Chinomona (2013), who postulate that loyal customers have an inclination towards a firm’s products or services and will recommend them to other customers with a high propensity to repurchase the product Conclusions and Recommendations Since it emerged that there is a significant positive relationship between Perceived Social Benefits inherent in SMM and commercial bank customers’ satisfaction, it may be concluded that the perceived social benefits that bank customers derive from social media marketing activities can enhance their satisfaction It is therefore recommended that in their quest to increase their customers’ satisfaction, commercial banks should devote considerable attention to their use of social media for marketing purposes, since it is evident that the 21st century bank customer derives social value from the virtual communities that exist via the use of such platform as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, among others This social value includes a sense of belonging and identification that creates strong bonds among customers Furthermore, bank customers also benefit socially when they communicate P a g e | 383 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 and interact with likeminded people creating social experiences that promote meaningful relationships Of note is that such customers especially those that lack reliable, dependable and correct brand or service information, may prefer to interact with well informed and resourced individuals in their social networks so as to obtain credible and important information when making critical purchase decisions 6.1 Perceived Informational Benefits and Customer Satisfaction A relatively positive and significant relationship exists between Perceived Informational Benefits and Customer Satisfaction It can therefore be concluded that perceived informational benefits that bank customers obtain from social media marketing when they interact with their commercial banks can influence their satisfaction Social media marketing allows customers and firms to exchange vital information which concerns brands, products and services selection and use as well as providing a platform for sharing their experiences and brand related solutions for decision making for example the Facebook discussion groups (public or private) It is therefore recommended that in order to enhance the bank customers’ satisfaction using social media marketing, commercial bank managers should create informational value by timeously making available information which customers perceive and consider as critically topical and important while eliminating that information which may be deemed manipulative, unhelpful and irrelevant 6.2 Perceived Monetary Benefits and Customer Satisfaction A positive and significant relationship between Perceived Monetary Benefits of social media marketing and Customer Satisfaction was evident This can therefore confirm that commercial bank customers in Zimbabwe consider as valuable such benefits as price discounts, gifts and other promotional programs they obtain through social media marketing It is important to note that customers use social media platforms to exchange information on any price related promotions and economic incentives with other online community members It can therefore be recommended that as commercial bank managers promote their brands and services through social media, they should ensure that they take into account the value online communities and bank customers attach to any promotional material and as such there is need to continuously monitor and evaluate and update their social media platforms to ensure recency, truthfulness and credibility 6.3 Social Connectedness and Customer Loyalty The findings revealed that Social Connectedness of SMM has a positive relationship with bank Customer Loyalty It can therefore be concluded that social connectedness which is promoted via social media marketing, influences the bank customers to be loyal, since through customer intimacy and passion, attachment in enhanced It is argued that the banks’ social media marketing activities creates social networks in which opinion leaders, experts in various fields and authorities emerge and provide the much needed direction, influence and ‘voice’ on issues important to other ‘following’ customers for decision making These ‘experts’ are deemed credible and as such, elicit trust in the banks’ brands and services, which may translate to customer satisfaction and loyalty 6.4 Strength of Community Ties and Customer Loyalty It emerged from the study that a negative and significant relationship exists between Strength of Community Ties inherent in social media marketing and Customer Loyalty This may imply that strong community ties that may be forged between and among bank customers as they interact through social media marketing not necessarily enhance or influence bank customers to be loyal This finding leads one to suggest that customer loyalty decision is not a function of the strength of community ties inherent in social media marketing, but other factors, such as the users’ personality P a g e | 384 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 As such, it is recommended that when developing social media marketing strategies, practitioners need to understand the dynamics of social media use since consumers assume different personalities when using various platforms hence marketers should look beyond the ‘posts’, ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ and pay attention to customers’ private and public conversations, detect dissatisfaction and solve complaints promptly 6.5 Perceived Fairness and Customer Trust The findings also indicated that Perceived Fairness inherent in SMM and Customer Trust are positively related Drawing from the results, it can be suggested that the fairness that customers may perceive to experience as they interact with their banks through social media marketing can enhance their trust It is argued that consumers exchange information based on the assumption that if one party invests in the interaction, the other party is obliged to reciprocate since they consider the exchange process to be fair It is therefore recommended that the commercial bank managers take cognizance of the value that their targeted consumers attach to the concept of fairness as it heavily influence not only their continued interaction with the banks but their trust of the brand and services 6.6 Customer Engagement and Customer Trust Furthermore, the study revealed that Customer Engagement in SMM is positively significantly related to Customer Trust It can be concluded that increased customer engagement that is enabled by social media marketing enhances the bank customers’ trust and this continues to proportionally grow with the levels of engagement with the bank Customer engagement is the interface and association between thecustomer and the firm, between the customer and the brand, and among customers themselves, which transforms them into co-producers or co-creators of products or services To ensure that customer engagement produces and reinforces the bank customers’ trust, it is recommended that social media marketing practitioners in banks learn about customer needs and opinions while interacting with them on a more personalised basis As such, commercial banks in Zimbabwe should invest in social media marketing activities since they contribute significantly in enhancing customer engagement especially in those fragmented online consumer markets which may in-turn build trust and loyalty among networks of bank customers 6.7 Perceived Reciprocity and Customer Trust It emerged from the study that the Perceived Reciprocity inherent in social media marketing is positively related to the bank Customers’ Trust It can therefore be confirmed that the reciprocity that is facilitated and allowed by social media marketing can generate and build the customers’ trust as they engage with their bank The study results also revealed that Customers Engagement in SMM and Customer Loyalty are positively significantly related It thus can be concluded that increased levels of customer engagement through social media marketing can enhance the commercial bank customers’ trust It is therefore recommended that social media practitioners in commercial banks have to ensure consistent, timeous and continuous communication and engagement with their customers so as to capitalize on the benefits of reciprocity 6.8 Trust and Commitment In addition, the study findings showed a positive significant relationship between Trust created through social media marketing and the customers’ Commitment to their commercial bank, implying that the trust which is generated and provided through social media marketing has a strong impact in enhancing commercial bank customers’ commitment It is argued that trust is critical to the social P a g e | 385 Copyright ⓒ 2019Authors Restaurant Business ISSN:0097-8043 Vol-118-Issue-10-October-2019 exchange process, since it creates and maintains exchange relationships resultantly increasing customers’ commitment to a brand or service It is therefore important and necessary for social media practitioners in commercial banks to build trust in their communication efforts by providing forthright, truthful and honest information that engenders and cultivates customer trust It is also important that besides being customer centric, commercial banks need to ‘walk the talk’ as they offer their services and products to enhance customer believability and credibility 6.9 Commitment and Customer Loyalty The study indicated a significant positive relationship between Commitment generated through social media marketing and the bank Customers’ Loyalty, which therefore implies that the commitment that social media marketing develops and promotes between customers and their banks enhances their loyalty Furthermore, the study revealed that bank Customers’ Satisfaction and their Repurchase Intentions are positively significantly related, implying that satisfied bank customers have a propensity to repurchase a firm’s products and service thereby, enhancing their repurchase intentions 6.10 Customer Loyalty and Customer Repurchase Intention It also emerged that the Customer Loyalty generated through social media marketing has a positive and significant relationship with Customer Repurchase Intention This implies that customer loyalty founded through social media marketing has a strong influence on the commercial bank customers’ repurchase intentions, since loyal customers have a positive inclination towards a firm’s products and services, and may repurchase them Finally, the findings also revealed that Customer Satisfaction which is generated through social media marketing has a positive relationship with bank Customer Loyalty It can therefore be concluded that customer satisfaction has a significant influence in determining commercial bank customer loyalty Loyal customers generally have a positive perception or inclination towards the firm and its products or services and will endorse or recommend them to other customers, whilst they have a higher propensity and probability to repurchase It is therefore imperative that commercial bank customers direct their social media strategies towards developing loyal customers who should be continuously nurtured into company advocates since they will not only speak on behalf of the firm, but also have a high propensity to provide customer life-time value It is therefore recommended that commercial bank managers and social media marketing practitioners use social media marketing as an innovative tool not only to communicate positively about their brands and services, but also to actively engage with their customers so as to influence, obtain and reinforce the desired behavioural responses While the research findings attested empirically to the positive influence of social media marketing on bank customer behaviour, they did not reveal the degree of their influence on 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