Brand Trust between Social Networking and Brand Loyalty: SEM-PLS Approach

This research examines the effect of social networking on brand trust and brand loyalty while simultaneously examining the role of brand trust mediation on the relationship between social networking and brand loyalty. Respondents in this study consisted of 100 consumers who use social networks and do beauty treatments at beauty clinics in Surabaya. Students in private universities and employees dominate the number of respondents in this research. To test the research hypothesis, this research adopted the Structural Equation Model-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS) technique using SmartPLS. This research proves that brand trust has a significant influence on brand loyalty and a significant effect of social networking on brand trust. This research also found that social networking does not have a significant effect on brand loyalty. Therefore, this research also proves that brand trust has a full mediating role in the relationship between social networking and brand loyalty