The Effect of Digital Marketing Strategies on Audience Loyalty in Online News Media: The Mediating Role of Audience Engagement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59525/jess.2038Keywords:
digital marketing; online news media; audience engagement; audience loyalty; social media marketingAbstract
The development of digital media has changed news consumption patterns and increased competition among online news media in retaining audiences. This study aims to analyze the effect of digital marketing strategies on audience loyalty in online news media with audience engagement as a mediating variable. The study uses a quantitative approach with an explanatory design. Data were obtained through a survey of 400 online news media users selected using purposive sampling. Digital marketing strategies were operationalized through four dimensions, namely social media marketing, content marketing, personalized marketing, and interactive marketing. Data analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with tests of validity, reliability, the structural model, and mediation effects. The results show that social media marketing, content marketing, personalized marketing, and interactive marketing have positive and significant effects on audience engagement. Audience engagement also has a positive and significant effect on audience loyalty with a path coefficient of 0.521. In addition, audience engagement was found to mediate the effects of all four dimensions of digital marketing strategy on audience loyalty. These findings indicate that digital marketing strategies not only function to increase the reach and visibility of news content, but also serve as important instruments for building engagement and long-term relationships with audiences. This study contributes theoretically by integrating digital marketing and audience behavior perspectives in the context of online news media and provides practical implications for media managers to develop more relevant, personalized, and interactive digital strategies
References
Aldousa, K. K., Anb, J., & Jansen, B. J. (2022). What really matters? Characterising and predicting user engagement of news postings using multiple platforms, sentiments and topics. Behaviour & Information Technology. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2022.2030798
Bazi, S., Filieri, R., & Gorton, M. (2023). Social media content aesthetic quality and customer engagement: The mediating role of entertainment and impacts on brand love and loyalty. Journal of Business Research, 160, 113778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.113778
Castells-Fos, L., Pont-Sorribes, C., & Codina, L. (2023). Decoding news media relevance and engagement through reputation, visibility and audience loyalty: A scoping review. Journalism Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2023.2239201
Changani, S., & Kumar, R. (2024). Social media marketing activities, brand community engagement and brand loyalty: Modelling the role of self-brand congruency with moderated mediation approach. Global Business Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/09721509241245558
Dvir-Gvirsman, S. (2022). Understanding news engagement on social media: A media repertoire approach. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820961349
Fetais, A. H., Algharabat, R. S., Aljafari, A., & Rana, N. P. (2023). Do social media marketing activities improve brand loyalty? An empirical study on luxury fashion brands. Information Systems Frontiers, 25, 795–817. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-022-10264-7
Gajardo, C., & Costera Meijer, I. (2023). How loyalty works: Why do people continue their relationship with journalism? Journalism Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2178246
Guo, M., & Sun, F.-S. (2022). Local news on Facebook: How television broadcasters use Facebook to enhance social media news engagement. Journalism Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2022.2074519
Himma-Kadakas, M., & Ferrer-Conill, R. (2022). Is news engagement worthwhile? Studying young audiences’ engagement with YouTuber-like news content. Nordicom Review. https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2022-0010
Kim, H. S., Suh, Y. J., Kim, E. M., et al. (2022). Fact-checking and audience engagement: A study of content analysis and audience behavioral data of fact-checking coverage from news media. Digital Journalism. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.2006073
Lathifah, N. N., Siregar, F. A., & Risqiani, R. (2023). Pengaruh pemasaran media sosial Instagram terhadap customer brand engagement dan brand loyalty. Equilibrium. https://doi.org/10.25134/equi.v20i02.7454
Leviani, L., Tatang, N. H., & Riorini, S. V. (2023). Pengaruh customer engagement behavior terhadap brand loyalty yang dimediasi oleh social interactivity pada brand lokal kecantikan di Instagram. Business Economic and Entrepreneurship. https://doi.org/10.46229/b.e.e..v5i1.616
Lim, C., & Kim, S. (2024). Examining factors influencing the user’s loyalty on algorithmic news recommendation service. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02516-x
Nguyen, N. M., Nguyen, H. T., & Cao, T. A. (2024). Effects of social media marketing activities on perceived values, online brand engagement, and brand loyalty. Emerging Science Journal, 8(5), 1957–1975. https://doi.org/10.28991/ESJ-2024-08-05-017
Nurfarida, I. N., Sarwoko, E., & Rusno. (2024). Customer engagement di social media marketing: Anteseden dan konsekuensinya pada brand loyalty. Management and Business Review, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.21067/mbr.v8i2.10484
Pertiwi, R. D., Wardana, W., Tondo, A., et al. (2023). Customer brand loyalty model for social media marketing. Sosiohumaniora, 25(2). https://doi.org/10.24198/sosiohumaniora.v25i2.46291
Putra, S. F. L., & Dermawan, R. (2023). The effect of customer engagement and social media marketing on brand loyalty on Shopee application user. International Journal of Business and Applied Economics, 3(5). https://doi.org/10.55927/ijba.v3i5.5719
Andika, Y., Yusrita, Nugroho, J. P., et al. (2024). Social media marketing dynamics and brand loyalty: A sequential mediation model in the Indonesian packaged drinking water industry. Jurnal Siasat Bisnis, 28(2). https://doi.org/10.20885/jsb.vol28.iss2.art3
Daya, M., Siagian, Y. M., & Kurniawati. (2022). Influence social media marketing activities against brand loyalty directly or through consumer satisfaction and brand equity on the largest e-commerce in Indonesia. Jurnal Aplikasi Manajemen, 20(4). https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.jam.2022.020.04.09
Kumar, S., & Hsieh, J.-K. (2024). How social media marketing activities affect brand loyalty? Mediating role of brand experience. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-09-2023-0900
Ladha, N., Maheshwari, P., & Sharma, V. (2024). Purchase intention of content consumers: Role of customer engagement. Seoul Journal of Business, 30(2). https://doi.org/10.35152/snusjb.2024.30.2.001
Pradnyani, N. P. D., Widagda, I. G. N. J. A., & Giantari, I. G. A. K. (2024). Analisis peran pengaruh customer engagement memediasi content marketing terhadap purchase intention. E-Jurnal Manajemen, 13(8). https://doi.org/10.24843/EJMUNUD.2024.v13.i08.p06
Arguedas, A. A. R., Mont’Alverne, C., Toff, B., Fletcher, R., & Nielsen, R. K. (2024). Ritual reinforcement: Habit, emotion, and identity as attributes of trust in news. Journalism Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2024.2401403
Carson, A., Gibbons, A., Martin, A., & Phillips, J. B. (2022). Does third-party fact-checking increase trust in news stories? An Australian case study using the “Sports Rorts” affair. Digital Journalism. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2031240
Goyanes, M., Ardevól-Abreu, A., & Gil de Zúñiga, H. (2023). Antecedents of news avoidance: Competing effects of political interest, news overload, trust in news media, and “News Finds Me” perception. Digital Journalism. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.1990097
Liu, Z., Delaloye, M., Glassey Balet, N., et al. (2022). Trust in the news: A digital labelling solution for journalistic contents. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/11528
Sapir, E. V. (2022). Can we trust measures of trust? Measurement invariance in trust in EU news media. SN Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-022-00534-1
Nair, J. G. (2023). Creating brand loyalty: Role of brand love, trust, product quality, customer service on customer engagement among social media users. Journal of Management Research and Analysis. https://doi.org/10.18231/j.jmra.2023.015
Nelson, J. L., et al. (2023). How loyalty works: Why do people continue their relationship with journalism? Journalism Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2178246
Alalwan, A. A., Rana, N. P., Dwivedi, Y. K., & Algharabat, R. (2022). Social media in marketing research: Theoretical foundations and emerging directions. International Journal of Information Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102564.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Andi Faisal Syam, Al Kausar, Nurfadillah Nurfadillah, Paris Paris
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
