The Relationship between Ethics in Social Media Marketing & Consumer Behavior: The Mediating Role of Brand Equity

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between ethics strategy in social media marketing and consumer behavior and to analyze the mediating role of brand equity in the dermatocosmetic industry.

The leading research was applied with a descriptive-survey approach and based on the correlation method. The statistical population included consumers of dermocosmetic industry products in Tehran who were members of online social media and 400 of them were selected by available random sampling method and participated in the research as a statistical sample. The research data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential methods (structural equations) and SPSS and LISREL software.

Data analysis showed that ethics in social media marketing has a positive and significant relationship with brand equity and consumer behavior. Also, the brand equity alone has a positive and significant relationship with consumer behavior.

The results showed that in the dermocosmetic industry, companies' adherence to ethical approaches in social media marketing can have many positive consequences for them and positively increase brand equity and thus affect consumer behavior