Social Media's Dominant Role In Ar/Vr-Driven Brand Equity: Empirical Evidence From The Apac Region

Abstract

Social Media has emerged as the dominant driver of brand equity in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) contexts. This quantitative study investigates Social Media's influence on brand equity within AR/VR environments, examining both direct effects and mediating mechanisms through Customer Experience, Marketing, Purchase Intention, and Customer Satisfaction. Data were collected from 567 valid respondents across the APAC region using structured 5-point Likert-scale. The sample comprised predominantly male respondents (92.4%) aged 20-30 years (73%) from India (94%).

Statistical analysis using ADANCO 2.4.1 variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that Social Media demonstrates the strongest direct effect on brand equity (β=0.2810, t=5.8141, p<0.01) among all five independent variables examined. Furthermore, Social Media operates through four significant mediating pathways: through Customer Experience (β=0.0477), Marketing (β=0.0878), Purchase Intention (β=0.0633), and Customer Satisfaction (β=0.0877).  The model achieved R²=0.583, explaining 58.3% of variance in brand equity outcomes.

Key findings indicate that Games (SM3: 0.7239) and Emotions (SM4: 0.7170) emerged as strongest Social Media indicators, while Social Activism (OM4: 0.7464) demonstrated the highest brand equity outcome loading.These results confirm that AR/VR-driven brand equity thrives on interactive, emotional, and gamified social engagement rather than technological sophistication alone. This research provides marketers with empirically validated guidance for leveraging social media integration within AR/VR strategies to maximize brand equity in the APAC region.