Triangulating the moderate impact of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence in social media marketing: A study of business performance in Sri Lanka's cashew industry

Theoretical triangulation (TT) within the context of social media marketing communication (SMMC) and business performance (BP) is a rarely observed phenomenon. This paper offers a critical review of the contributions of multiple theories, including performance expectancy theory (PET), effort expectancy theory (EET), and social influence theory (SIT), to examine whether SMMC moderates the relationship between these theories and business performance. Survey data from 218 cashew salespeople in Sri Lanka were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) via AMOS 26.0. The SEM analysis revealed significant positive relationships between performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), and potential sellers' business performance. However, the moderation effect results indicated that SMMC had a weak moderating effect on the relationship between EE and BP, as well as SI and BP. Nevertheless, it demonstrated that SMMC partially moderated the relationship between PE and BP. While this study provides valuable insights, it should be noted that caution is required when generalizing the findings. Future research could introduce additional variables to further explore moderation effects within the Unified Theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) framework. Ultimately, this study serves to broaden the perspectives of cashew sellers, offering practical implications derived from academic research. The findings not only support the acceptability of TT in explaining predictors and BP within the cashew industry but also underscore the resilience of TT in diverse research contexts. Through SEM analysis, this study introduces SMMC as a moderator in the UTAUT framework, shedding light on the moderating effects of SMMC on the relationship between predictors and BP and its impact on salespeople in the realm of SMMC.