THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN THE SALE OF FROZEN FOODS.

Аннотация

Abstract 
This  work  aims  at  identifying  the  effect  of  SMM  on  frozen  food  sales  in 
Uzbekistan  with  special  reference  to  Instagram,  Facebook,  and  TikTok.  Growing 
market for frozen foods has made the global market reach USD 232.40 billion in 2020 
and it is expected to reach USD 389.90 billion in the year 2030 and due to urging need 
of enhancing brand awareness, customer engagement, and brand loyalty, the brands are 
using social media platform actively. Thus, the study adopts a quantitative research 
method to validate the research hypotheses and questionnaire that was completed by 
106 consumers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, were used to assess the link between SMM 
activities and frozen food sales. Consequently, the research results show that social 
media  marketing,  while  having  a  positive  effect  on  brand  trust  and  customer 
participation, has a rather limited effect on the direct purchases and market share. They 
find that the branded frozen food has more market share when compared to unbranded 
frozen foods, and that the consumers’ trust plays the role of a mediator. Nevertheless, 
pointing  to  the  positive  effects  of  SMM,  the  research  identifies  a  lack  of  content 
satisfaction  and  consumer  interaction  –  it  is,  thus,  argued  that  frozen  food  brands 
should  enhance  the  focus  on  their  digital  marketing  approaches  to  target  younger 
consumers more effectively. Finally, this research finds that there is a strong potential 
to  leverage  social  media  marketing  for  the  frozen  food  industry  especially  within 
Uzbekistan and other growing economy attracting a rising trend in digital food retail.