Social media data analytics-enabled marketing strategy: conceptualization, development, and validation of a multidimensional scale

Abstract

Social media data analytics (SMDA) now feeds directly into how firms make marketing decisions. The research on that value, though, has grown one marketing domain at a time, and it still lacks a single firm-level construct able to capture the phenomenon as a whole. This article develops and validates a measure of SMDA-Enabled Marketing Strategy (SEMS), defined as the degree to which a firm’s marketing strategy, across its core strategic domains, is informed and supported by social media data analytics. We treat SEMS as the social-media instance of a wider construct family, data-enabled marketing strategy. The scale was built following Churchill’s (1979) paradigm together with more recent measurement guidance: items came from a systematic review of 120 articles and from expert interviews, were purified through exploratory factor analysis using survey data, and were then assessed with partial least squares structural equation modeling. The final 42-item instrument recovers five dimensions and performs well on reliability as well as on convergent and discriminant validity. The findings reveal strong psychometric properties, while nomological validity is established. Beyond the measurement tool, the study offers an integrative reading of evidence that had until now remained fragmented and domain specific. This research contributes to both theory and practice by offering an effective tool to easily assess the SMDA-Enabled Marketing Strategy. Future research could use this scale by applying it in different contexts, industries, or technological environments.