INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ON BRAND AWARENESS, A STUDY OF DOMINO'S PIZZA NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The proliferation of social media platforms has fundamentally altered how brands communicate with consumers, particularly within Nigeria's fast-food industry, where a young, urban and digitally engaged customer base increasingly discovers, evaluates and forms opinions about food brands through Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok rather than through traditional media alone. This study investigates the influence of social media marketing on brand awareness using Domino's Pizza Nigeria, a major player in the country's competitive quick-service restaurant sector, as its focal case. Although a considerable body of recent Nigerian and international literature affirms that social media marketing activities, including content marketing, influencer engagement, interactivity and electronic word-of-mouth, are positively associated with brand awareness and related outcomes such as brand engagement and customer patronage, most of this evidence has been generated in relation to beverage, retail or general fast-food contexts rather than the pizza quick-service restaurant segment specifically, leaving a contextual gap that this study seeks to address. The research is guided by the objectives of examining the effect of social media content marketing, social media interactivity, and electronic word-of-mouth on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria. Anchored on the Hierarchy of Effects Model and the Uses and Gratifications Theory, the study adopts a quantitative survey approach targeting active social media users who follow or have interacted with Domino's Pizza Nigeria's official platforms.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Brand awareness, defined as the degree to which consumers can recognise or recall a brand under different conditions, remains a foundational marketing objective because it precedes and enables every subsequent stage of the consumer decision journey, from consideration to purchase and, eventually, loyalty. According to Zulfikar (2022), brand awareness reflects the extent to which consumers know and remember a brand, and how familiar they are with the products or services it offers, a familiarity that in the contemporary marketplace is increasingly cultivated through social media rather than solely through conventional above-the-line advertising. Social media marketing, comprising the deliberate use of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok to promote products, engage audiences and build brand equity, has therefore become a central pillar of contemporary marketing strategy, particularly within fast-moving, consumer-facing industries such as quick-service restaurants.

Nigeria's fast-food industry, whose modern origins are traced to the establishment of Mr Biggs in Lagos in 1986 (Akinbobola, Alawo & Akinola, 2020), has expanded considerably over the past decade, with both indigenous and international brands, including Domino's Pizza, competing intensely for the attention and loyalty of an increasingly digital-savvy consumer population. Domino's Pizza Nigeria, operated under a master franchise arrangement, has built a visible presence across major social media platforms, using these channels for product promotion, customer engagement, delivery updates and brand storytelling. Recent empirical work on the Nigerian fast-food sector provides useful context: a 2023/2024 survey of fast food restaurants across Lagos and Kano States examined the effect of social media marketing on brand loyalty and reported that social media activity influenced brand image and, in turn, brand awareness and loyalty among restaurant customers, using a scientifically determined sample drawn from registered fast-food outlets in both states. Similarly, research on social media strategies and customer patronage within Nigeria's beverage and fast-food sub-sectors has found that specific social media marketing elements meaningfully shape how consumers relate to and patronise food and beverage brands, even as some studies caution that inconsistent or inauthentic engagement can limit the effectiveness of these efforts.

International and regional literature published since 2020 reinforces the centrality of social media to brand-building. Chawla and Chodak (2021) found that organic social media promotion, particularly the sharing of web-links and brand content on Facebook, meaningfully affects business outcomes, while Daradkeh et al. (2023) demonstrated that a strong digital presence enhances customer value perceptions within fast-food restaurants specifically. Within the Nigerian context, Egbulefu and Nwaoboli (2023) observed that digital advertising has become an increasingly consequential tool for shaping public perception, a dynamic equally applicable to commercial brand communication as to the political communication context in which their study was situated. Despite this expanding evidence base, the specific mechanisms through which social media marketing drives brand awareness for pizza quick-service brands such as Domino's Pizza Nigeria, operating in a segment characterised by delivery-driven purchase behaviour and strong reliance on visual content, remain comparatively underexplored, which this study seeks to investigate.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Notwithstanding substantial marketing investment in social media platforms by fast-food brands operating in Nigeria, including Domino's Pizza Nigeria, anecdotal and industry evidence suggests that levels of brand awareness and recall among target consumers do not always correspond proportionately to the volume or frequency of social media activity undertaken. Some Nigerian fast-food brands maintain highly active social media accounts with regular posting schedules, yet studies on the sector note persistent challenges, including limited genuine customer feedback and engagement, which restaurateurs find difficult to convert into measurable increases in brand recognition and patronage. This suggests that the mere presence of a brand on social media is not, by itself, sufficient to guarantee strong brand awareness outcomes, and that specific dimensions of social media marketing, such as content quality, interactivity and electronic word-of-mouth, may matter considerably more than overall posting volume.

Furthermore, while several recent Nigerian studies have examined social media marketing in relation to brand loyalty, customer patronage and brand engagement within the fast-food and beverage industries generally, there remains limited empirical attention to brand awareness specifically as a distinct outcome variable within the pizza quick-service restaurant segment, where visual appeal, delivery convenience and promotional deals shape consumer engagement patterns differently from other fast-food categories. Without a clear, evidence-based understanding of which social media marketing dimensions most effectively drive brand awareness for a brand such as Domino's Pizza Nigeria, marketing resources risk being misallocated across channels and content types that generate visibility without translating into the deeper brand recognition needed to sustain competitive advantage in an increasingly crowded quick-service restaurant market. It is this gap that the present study seeks to close.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to examine the influence of social media marketing on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:

i. determine the effect of social media content marketing on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria;

ii. examine the effect of social media interactivity on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria;

iii. assess the effect of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria; and

iv. identify the social media marketing dimension with the strongest influence on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria.

1.4 Research Questions

i. What is the effect of social media content marketing on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria?

ii. What is the effect of social media interactivity on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria?

iii. What is the effect of electronic word-of-mouth on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria?

iv. Which social media marketing dimension has the strongest influence on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

Ho1: Social media content marketing has no significant effect on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria.

Ho2: Social media interactivity has no significant effect on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria.

Ho3: Electronic word-of-mouth has no significant effect on brand awareness of Domino's Pizza Nigeria.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study holds practical value for the marketing and brand management team of Domino's Pizza Nigeria and its franchise partners, providing empirical evidence to guide the allocation of marketing resources across social media content types and engagement strategies most likely to build brand awareness. For marketing practitioners and agencies serving Nigeria's quick-service restaurant industry more broadly, the findings offer transferable insight into which social media marketing dimensions carry the greatest weight in a market defined by intense competition and rapidly shifting consumer attention.

For academic researchers, the study contributes to the still-developing body of Nigerian literature that examines brand awareness, as distinct from the more commonly studied outcomes of brand loyalty and customer patronage, within the specific context of pizza quick-service restaurants, thereby narrowing an identifiable contextual gap in the marketing literature. For students of marketing and communication, the study serves as a reference document illustrating how established marketing communication theories can be applied to the analysis of a contemporary, platform-specific marketing phenomenon. Finally, the study may be of interest to other fast-food operators and prospective market entrants seeking to understand the Nigerian social media marketing landscape as they design their own brand-building strategies.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study is limited in content scope to three dimensions of social media marketing, namely content marketing, interactivity and electronic word-of-mouth, and their effect on brand awareness as the dependent variable, without extending to related but distinct outcomes such as purchase intention, brand loyalty or overall sales performance, although these may be discussed contextually. The study focuses specifically on Domino's Pizza Nigeria's activities across its major social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and X. Geographically, the study is restricted to consumers who reside in Lagos State, given its status as the location of the highest concentration of Domino's Pizza outlets and social media engagement in Nigeria, and the population of interest comprises active social media users aged 18 years and above who follow or have interacted with the brand's official pages. The study is cross-sectional, capturing perceptions and engagement patterns at a defined point in time.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Social Media Marketing:

The use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product, service or brand, engage with customers and build brand equity.

Brand Awareness:

The degree to which consumers are able to recognise or recall a particular brand under different conditions and associate it with a specific product category.

Content Marketing:

The creation and sharing of relevant, valuable digital content, such as images, videos and posts, to attract and engage a clearly defined audience on social media.

Interactivity:

The extent to which a brand's social media platform enables two-way communication and engagement, such as comments, replies, likes and direct messaging, between the brand and its followers.

Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM):

Informal, consumer-generated communication about a brand, product or service shared through online platforms, including reviews, comments and social media posts.

Quick-Service Restaurant (QSR):

A type of restaurant characterised by fast food preparation, minimal table service, and an emphasis on speed and convenience, of which Domino's Pizza is an example.

Brand Engagement:

The level of a consumer's cognitive, emotional and behavioural investment in interacting with a brand, particularly on digital and social media platforms.

Domino's Pizza Nigeria:

A franchise operation of the international Domino's Pizza brand, operating quick-service pizza restaurants and delivery services across Nigeria.

REFERENCES

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Chawla, Y., & Chodak, G. (2021). Social media marketing for businesses: Organic promotions of web-links on Facebook. Journal of Business Research, 135, 49–65.

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Zulfikar, R. (2022). Brand awareness and consumer purchase decisions: A conceptual review. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 14(2), 88–99.