Social media has become an essential part of daily life, influencing how people interact, conduct business, and access information. By January 2025, the number of social media users is expected to reach approximately 5.24 billion, representing nearly 64% of the global population. This rapid growth has made social media a vital platform for businesses across sectors to promote their products and services. In India, the restaurant industry is expanding rapidly, with over 550,000 food service businesses and 55,000 hotels. However, many of these establishments still lack formal social media strategies to attract and engage customers effectively.

The AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) is widely applied in both traditional and digital marketing, helping businesses connect with potential customers. Popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp each have over two billion active users, making them powerful tools for brand promotion. As Chaffey (2017) notes, social networking offers businesses a simple yet effective way to market to consumers, engage stakeholders, and interact internally. However, social media preferences differ by region and demographics, requiring businesses to identify and leverage the most impactful platforms for their target markets.

Research Objectives:

• To investigate the impact of social media on consumer satisfaction based on the AIDA model.
• To analyze the mediating effects of brand awareness in the relationship between social media and consumer satisfaction

Research Questions:

• RQ1: What is the impact of social media on consumer satisfaction based on the AIDA model?
• RQ2: Does brand awareness mediate the relationship between social media and consumer satisfaction?

Research Hypotheses:

• Hypothesis 1 (Hₐ₁): There is a positive association between social media and customer satisfaction.
• Hypothesis 2 (Hₐ₂): Brand awareness and social capital mediate the relationship between social media and customer satisfaction.

Table 1: Literature Review Summary:

The study employed a positivist research philosophy with a deductive approach, focusing on hypothesis testing to explore relationships between variables. A quantitative research design was adopted using a survey method to assess the impact of social media, based on the AIDA model, on consumer loyalty, with brand awareness and social capital as mediators. The research population comprised customers of over 100 medium and large restaurants in Bokaro, India. A sample size of 207 respondents was selected through a random sampling technique, and data were collected using self-administered questionnaires distributed at restaurants during lunch and dinner hours. The questionnaire items were adapted from prior studies: Social Media (AIDA) – 21 items (Hajli, 2014), Consumer Satisfaction – 6 items (Susskind, 2003), and Brand Awareness – 6 items (Hassan, 2015).

For data analysis, SPSS version 27 was used to perform reliability and regression analyses, while Hayes’ mediation method (2013) was applied for testing mediation effects. This approach ensured accurate measurement of variable relationships and validation of the proposed hypotheses. The methodology enabled a structured examination of how social media engagement influences consumer behavior and loyalty within the restaurant industry in Bokaro, providing empirical evidence for marketing strategies in a digital context.

Data Analysis:

Table 2: Reliability Table:

In the table above, the reliability analysis is given. In SPSS, for reliability analysis, Cronbach’s alpha test was run. The results showed a 0.824 value for the reliability of the questionnaire, which is considered the most appropriate figure for the ongoing process of data collection through the questionnaire.

Table 3: Normality Test:

The normality of the data was assessed using skewness and kurtosis values. The skewness value of -1.774 indicates a moderate negative skew, suggesting that responses are slightly concentrated towards the higher end of consumer satisfaction. The kurtosis value of 6.243 reflects a leptokurtic distribution, meaning the data is more peaked than a normal distribution. However, both values fall within the acceptable threshold of ±7 as suggested by Hair et al. (2007), confirming that the data do not deviate significantly from normality and are suitable for regression and mediation analysis.

Table 4: Demographic Profile of Respondents:

The study collected responses from 207 participants, primarily male (92.3%), with only 7.7% female respondents. The majority of respondents were in the 21–30 age group (44.9%), followed by 31–40 years (25.1%) and under 20 years (24.2%), while only 5.8% were aged 41–50.

In terms of education, most participants were graduates (63.8%), while 24.6% had completed 12th grade, 10.1% held a master’s degree, and only 1.4% were Ph.D. holders. These results indicate that the respondents were predominantly young, educated males, reflecting the active customer segment of restaurants in Bokaro.

Regression Analysis and Mediation Analysis:

Table 5: Regression Analysis – Effect of Social Media on Consumer Satisfaction (CS):

Table 6: Regression Analysis – Effect of Social Media on Brand Awareness (BA):

The regression analysis indicates that social media marketing based on the AIDA model significantly impacts consumer satisfaction. The model explains 15.64% of the variance in consumer satisfaction (R² = 0.1564, p < 0.001), with the coefficient (β = 1.9404) suggesting that a one-unit increase in social media efforts results in a 1.94-unit increase in consumer satisfaction.

Similarly, social media significantly affects brand awareness, explaining 16.06% of the variance (R² = 0.1606, p < 0.001). The coefficient (β = 2.1472) indicates that each unit increase in social media activities increases brand awareness by 2.14 units.

Table 7: Mediation Analysis – Role of Brand Awareness Between Social Media and Consumer Satisfaction:

The mediation analysis reveals that brand awareness partially mediates the relationship between social media and consumer satisfaction. When brand awareness is included, the effect of social media decreases from 1.9404 to 1.6222, and brand awareness itself has a positive and significant effect (β = 0.1482, p = 0.0204). This suggests that social media not only influences consumer satisfaction directly but also indirectly through brand awareness.

Hypothesis Testing:

• H1: There is a positive association between social media and customer satisfaction
  This hypothesis was supported, meaning that social media marketing efforts—particularly when structured around the AIDA model—significantly enhance customer satisfaction in the restaurant sector. This finding suggests that effective social media strategies can increase engagement, influence purchase decisions, and improve overall customer experiences.
• H2: Brand awareness mediates the relationship between social media and customer satisfaction
  This hypothesis was also accepted, confirming that brand awareness acts as a partial mediator. In practical terms, this means that while social media has a direct positive effect on customer satisfaction, its impact is amplified when customers are more aware of the brand. Therefore, businesses should focus not only on social media presence but also on strengthening brand awareness to maximize customer satisfaction.

The study aimed to examine the impact of social media on consumer satisfaction in the restaurant sector in Bokaro, India, using the AIDA model with brand awareness as a mediator.

Findings show that social media marketing based on the AIDA model has a significant positive effect on consumer satisfaction.

Brand awareness partially mediates the relationship between social media and consumer satisfaction, amplifying the positive impact.

Restaurant managers and owners should strategically use social media with the AIDA model and focus on building brand awareness to maximize customer satisfaction.

Results are consistent with prior research (Al-Dhuhli et al., 2013; Rasool, 2015), emphasizing the positive role of social media in enhancing consumer satisfaction.

Social media is considered a powerful tool for customer engagement, relationship building, and retention (Ramsaran-Fowdar & Fowdar, 2013).

Other studies (Anjum et al., 2012; Clark & Melancon, 2013; Muhammad & Abdul, 2012) also confirm that social media marketing improves customer acquisition, satisfaction, and loyalty.

Managerial Implications:

Organizations and academics across different sectors could potentially use the results of this study. This thesis can assist students in their research. Additionally, this study contributes to the literature on using social media sites based on the AIDA model for advertising to reach the maximum audience.

The research offers some implications for restaurant managers. Managers should actively seek to understand which social media sites are most popular among consumers so they can advertise their products there and attract customer attention.

To better understand customer needs and feedback, managers should consistently gather comments from social media platforms.

Limitations and Future Recommendations:

There are different limitations of this study given below.

• One limitation of this research is that while the quantitative method was used for this research, future researchers should be encouraged to apply the same variables in qualitative research.
• The second limitation was to use a higher sample size, as a 207 sample size is very small compared to the restaurants and consumers visiting them regularly. Future researchers should try to use a higher sample size if they want their findings to be easily generalizable to the maximum population.
• Only one mediator was used in this study: This was the third limitation. Future probes should use multiple mediators to extend the results and impacts of social media on consumer satisfaction.
• The fourth limitation of this study was that it was done only in the restaurant sector in Bokaro, India. The researchers suggest that they should use this model with more independent variables, mediators, and moderators, and in other sectors of the country, because these days, social media has become popular for advertising for even multinational companies.

Any business would need social media in today’s competitive world to be successful. It is a very Important tool used to attract potential clients and new customers to any company. The increased popularity of social media has replaced earlier marketing methods.

The study aimed to analyze the effects of social media on consumer satisfaction dependent on the AIDA model, while investigating the mediating effect of brand awareness. The target area selected for the study is Bokaro city, with the restaurant sector. Social media is an affordable and effective platform for small businesses like restaurants looking to broaden and advance their business in a competitive environment. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and many others are excellent sites for restaurants to do advertising. These sites allow you to reach out to thousands of people easily at a very low cost. Restaurants are given great opportunities to have their information available on these social media sites, which will help their consumers to be well-informed of these restaurants’ product offerings and take the opportunity to avail of products and services of their choice.

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