Social media communication influences sustainability awareness through brand equity, brand preference and student satisfaction: Evidence from China within a stimulus– organism–response framework

Guided by the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study aims to explore how social media communication in higher education institutions influences students’ sustainability awareness by examining the organic connection mechanism of brand equity, brand preference, and student satisfaction. Data were collected from 472 students in Guangxi's colleges and analyzed using by Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results demonstrate that social media communication has a direct and indirect positive effect on sustainability awareness through brand equity, brand preference and student satisfaction, presenting a sequential mediating mechanism. This study extends the application of the S-O-R framework to the context of higher education and sustainable development. These findings provide empirical evidence for university administrators to understand how social media communication supports sustainability awareness.