ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No.

The Impact of Digital Marketing and Digital

Transformation on Brand Promotion and
Brand Positioning in Kosovo’s Enterprises
Arta Istrefi-Jahja
South East European University, Kosovo
Jusuf Zeqiri
Faculty of Economics and Business, Tetovo South Eastern European University,
North Macedonia

Abstract
Digitalization is very important for every company in today’s fierce competition. The
development of Information Technologies has helped companies change means of
reaching their clients and changing their working practices. The paper tries to assess
digital marketing (DM) and digital transformation (DT) techniques that impact
enterprises in Kosovo in the process of their brand promotion and brand positioning
using google analytics, social media, e-commerce, search engines, mobile apps, or
other digital channels. DT is profoundly important to every company, yet the
correlation between DT, brand promotion, and brand positioning for Kosovo’s
enterprises has not been researched a lot. With the DT, many companies are
redefining business procedures and marketing strategies. The research will collect
data using a survey with 150 companies generated by the Kosovo Business
Registration Agency. Partial Least Square is used to analyse the collected data.
Structural Equation modelling is used to assess the relationship between exogenous
and endogenous variables used in the research proposed model. A moderation
effect is used to test whether COVID-19 or the company's size is linked to the usage
of DM and DT. The results are expected to reveal that DM and the digitalization
process of enterprises affect brand promotion and brand position. The findings also
imply that social media are widely used relative to other marketing channels.
Companies that use DM and invest more in technology have better chances to
promote and position their brands.
Keywords: digital marketing, digital transformation, brand positioning, brand
promotion, Kosovo
JEL classification: M30; M31
Paper type: Research article
Received: Apr 23, 2021
Accepted: Aug 12, 2021
DOI: 10.54820/UPQN1850

244
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

Introduction
In today’s world, where access to information is easy, and the supply for various
products is high, loyalty and trust are crucial reasons consumers will buy certain
products (Mishra et al., 2016; Pratminingsih et al., 2013; Alhabeeb, 2007). The right
marketing strategy is crucial for any company. As technology advances rapidly
(Customer relation management, salesforce, google analytics, etc.), e-electronics,
brand promotion and brand positioning play an important role in digital marketing
and transformation (Melović et al., 2020). Brand positioning is defined as a process of
creating own image, positive association, and values in consumers’ minds to create
a sustainable trademark image (Fayvishenko, 2018). Different target groups prefer a
certain form of online or traditional advertising. For Millennials, digital marketing is
highly effective, motivating them to visit a website and write online reviews (Smith,
2012).
There is a lack of research for the Kosovo market on this topic and transition
countries. The current research was conducted by Sadiku (2019) on higher
education and digital transformation, while Limani et al. (2018) researched banking
systems and digital technology adoption of Electronic Data Interchange. Some
research has been done on brand awareness, showing an increasing trend of
enterprises creating a brand for their products (Ukaj, 2016). Other research measures
the effects of e-marketing on brand loyalty, showing that e-marketing
communication is a key factor in building a brand image, customer satisfaction, and
loyalty towards brands of mobile operators in Kosovo (Mullatahiri et al., 2019).
However, there is no research on the impact of digital transformation and digital
marketing on branding and positioning, per se.
Digitalization is under-studied for the Kosovo market. Computers were initially used
for financial records mainly, but the Kosovo market was moving fast on adopting
new technology. An open data source shows that internet penetration in Kosovo
was 91% in January 2021, an increase of 9,7% since January 2020. Kosovo has much
higher internet penetration than North Macedonia (82%) and Albania (69,6%). In
addition, 103% of the total population had a mobile connection, while the number
of social media users in Kosovo in January 2021 was equivalent to 56,9% of the total
population (Hootsuite et al., 2019). These facts show the importance of digitalization
for any aspiring companies who wish to work on brand promotion and brand
positioning by using digital marketing tools and digital transformation.
On the other hand, 15% of the Kosovo population makes an online payment.
Traditional businesses need to rethink their strategies from five perspectives:
costumers, competition, data, innovation, and value. In today’s world, companies
suffer from attention. Therefore, we intend to shed some light on the impact of digital
marketing on brand promotion and brand position and digital transformation on
brand promotion and brand position for the Kosovo market. Pandemic COVID-19
was used as a moderator effect to test the impact on digital transformation.
The next part presents the background literature on digital marketing, digital
transformation, brand position, brand promotion, and the effect of Covid19 for
developing the hypotheses. The following parts present the methodology, the results
of the data analysis, a discussion, and conclusions of the findings. The paper ends
with theoretical and practical implications derived from the study, and finally, the
limitations of the study.

245
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

Literature Review
The importance of digital marketing is constantly growing. A study shows how
industrial companies characterized by complex selling processes can harness Web
analytics to validate how digital marketing activities benefit their businesses. The
article suggests that the benefits gained from marketing are determined by how an
organization exploits the metrics systems under specific circumstances (Järvinen,
2016). Digital marketing does have a positive impact on brand promotion and brand
positioning. Investing in digital marketing transforms to brand promotion and brand
positioning. Moreover, the size of the company influences digital marketing and
digital transformation. In other words, the larger the company, the higher the impact
of DM, DT on brand promotion and brand positioning.
The number of social media users in Kosovo is increasing, where over 90% of the
population uses it regularly. Findings from Çizmeci et al. (2015) indicate that digital
marketing communication, which creates proactive content (Facebook, Instagram
& Twitter), will become more important in the future. A consumer data collection
was analyzed by Krishnaprabha et al. (2020), which demonstrates that digital
marketing activities have a high influence in building brand awareness as well as
digital marketing activities allow on perceived quality, brand awareness, and brand
loyalty. For micro-businesses, the degree of partnership and information are linked to
organization context, whereas the level of training, service delivery, customer
fulfillment, and competition are interrelated to the environment (Eze et al., 2020). For
large companies, the investment in social media is increasing. However, the return of
investment is a concern, leaving a question mark on how many likes and shares are
translated to sales.
Nonetheless, there is a strong impact of social media on large companies as a
digital marketing tool (Bogea et al., 2018). Investment in social media is important for
brand promotion. Research by Yu et al. (2019) shows that previous experience with a
brand’s social media site is key to increasing clients’ favourable site evaluation. It
also demonstrates that having previous experience purchasing through social media
will increase the brand promotion more than those who didn’t have such
experience. Another perspective from users was studied by Jibril et al. (2019), which
shows that online-based-brand community on social media positively impacts
consumer-brand engagement and user-brand relationship.
Word of mouth (E-WOM) still has an impact on brand experience. Recent
research shows that the motivation of value co-creation positively affects the brand
experience. E-WOM moderates the relationship between customer equity and
brand experience (Yu et al., 2020). Thus, we come with the following hypotheses:
o H1: Digital marketing has a positive impact on brand position
o H2: Digital marketing has a positive impact on brand promotion
New technology or digital transformation (DS) has become an important tool that
most businesses must adopt accordingly (Morakanyane et al., 2017). The digital
transformation is defined by Fitzgerald et al. (2013) as the use of new digital
technologies, such as social media, mobile, analytics, or embedded devices to
enable major business improvements like enhancing customer experience,
streamlining operations, or creating new business models.
A study by IDG (2019) shows that 63% of organizations say delivering an excellent
customer experience as measured by customer satisfaction scores defines success
as a digital-first business. Another study conducted by KPMG (2018) indicates that
67% of CEOs said that acting with agility is “the new currency of business; if we’re too
slow, we will be bankrupt”. Technology is moving fast, while businesses are not
always able to follow. Recent research by Guenzi et al. (2020) found that 75% of

246
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

managers said that tools (from CRM to digital signature) are an integral part of the
modern sales process, but only 15% said these tools were effective. So, for digital
transformation to succeed, sales managers need to be selective, focusing on issues
that have the biggest impact on their selective goals. The importance of brand
loyalty and brand positioning was studied for different brands in Pakistan, revealing
that a good marketing strategy can increase the market shares, particularly for new
entrants. Even big companies like Coca-Cola and Gucci created a brand image
and brand positioning through the investment of digital marketing (Ahmed et al.,
2015).
Various companies use different strategies of brand promotion and brand
positioning. A study shows that the usage of sports celebrities is an effective
competitive source in brand positioning, which gives a competitive advantage over
other competitors (Malik et al., 2014). As consumer behavior plays an important role
in digital marketing strategy, firms are co-creating content with their consumers. The
evidence shows that marketers must focus on relationship-based interaction with
their costumes to improve digital marketing engagement (Tiago et al., 2014).
Therefore, we propose the following hypotheses:
o H3: Digital transformation has a positive impact on brand position
o H4: Digital transformation has a positive impact on brand promotion
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many problems to various companies in
their business activities. Even though companies' digitalization has started earlier as a
need for companies to offer online services and connect with customers, COVID-19
has accelerated the pace of the process of digitalization of companies. Thus,
digitalization supports companies in overcoming problems caused by COVID-19
(Almeida et al., 2020). Because of many country lockdowns, many organizations and
people have been forced to modify their working practices (Pandey et al., 2020),
leading to an inevitable must for the use of digital technologies. Thus, COVID-19 has
accelerated the adoption of digitalization technologies (Pinzaru et al., 2020).
Therefore, we suggest the following hypothesis:
o H5: COVID19 has a positive impact on digital transformation
Based on the above, we have a research proposal model as depicted in Figure 1.

Figure1
The Research model

Source: Authors’ work

247
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

Methodology
The study's objective is to explore the impact that digital marketing and digital
transformation have on brand promotion and brand position among companies in
Kosovo. A structural questionnaire has targeted all sizes in Kosovo, micro, small,
medium, and large companies. The questionnaire was sent to 150 companies and
collected 120 questionnaires, and the response rate was 80%. The data were
collected through a web-based survey (using google forms) distributed online. The
questionnaire was translated to Albanian, and respondents were asked to answer a
five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to agree strongly. Table 1
presents the demographic profile of the respondents. Of the respondents, 47.5%
belong to micro-sized companies, 32.5% to small-sized companies, 16.5% to medium-
sized companies, and 3.5% to large-sized companies. Regarding the industry type of
companies, 30% are in the production sector, 37% in services, and 33% in trade.

Table 1
Demographic profile
Company size / Industry type Frequency Percent
Micro 57 47.5
Small 39 32.5
Medium 20 16.5
Large 4 3.5
Production 36 30
Services 44 37
Trade 40 33
Total 120 100.0
Source: Authors’ work

The collected data were analysed using IBM SPSS and Partial Least Squares (PLS)
with Smart PLS for assessing the measurement model and structural equation
modelling (SEM). The respondents were assured their anonymity and confidentiality.
The scales for measuring digital marketing, digital transformation, brand position,
brand promotion, and COVID-19 were developed to review the existing literature
(Table 2).

Results
To assess convergent validity, the outer loadings and the average variance
extracted (AVE) must be reconsidered while assessing the convergent validity of the
reflective constructs (Zeqiri et al., 2020). Hair et al. (2017) suggested a general rule for
outer loading to be 0.708. In cases when the outer loading of an item is between 0.4
and 0.7, it needs to be removed if we want to achieve a good model fit. Therefore,
the convergent validity evaluates the factor loadings, average variance extracted
(AVE), Cronbach’s alpha, and composite reliability. As shown in Table 3, the
Cronbach’s alpha values range from 0.651 to 0.843, signifying that all values are
above the recommended value of 0.60 accepted threshold for social sciences
research (Ursachi et al., 2015). In addition, composite reliability values vary from
0.827 to 0.906 exceeding the proposed value of 0.70. The average variance
extracted (AVE) values range from 0.552 to 0.762, which all are over the
recommended value of 0.50 (Fornell et al., 1981). Therefore, convergent validity was
achieved based on the results in Table 3.

248
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

Table2
Research instrument description
Construct Code Item
Digital Marketing DM1 We measure the influence of social media, which has an
(DM) impact on brand promotion
DM2 We measure the Google analytics, which has an impact on
brand promotion
DM3 Digital Marketing (social media, google analytics,
webpage, etc.) has an impact on brand positioning
DM4 The company uses social media as a form of band
promotion
DM5 The company uses a webpage as a form of band
promotion
DM6 The company uses SEO and google analytics to create a
digital marketing strategy
DM7 The company has implemented digital marketing in the last
five years
Digital DT1 Production or services which we offer have automated
Transformation processes
(DT)
DT2 The company uses software systems for account purposes
DT3 The company has dedicated employers in digital marketing
DT4 The company has invested in technology that helps on
digital transformation (tech defined as processes
automation, continuous investment in new machines,
e-commerce, CRM, salesforce et) in the last five years)
Brand Promotion Bprom1 We do business promotion through sales agents, seasonal
(BP) promotion, or campaigns for brand promotion
Bprom2 The company offers personalized products
Bprom3 We still use traditional marketing (sales agents, billboards,
flyers, etc.)
Brom4 Marketing through social media helps in distributing the
information for the company’s brand
Brand Position BP1 Our company’s approach is enough creative which is
(BP) related to brand positioning
BP2 Brand positioning of our company is different from our
competitors
BP3 We have a good communication form of brand positioning
which is clear and acceptable by our clients
BP4 We have identified what makes our brand unique
BP5 Depending on our sales process, our company constantly
works on brand positioning
COVID19 COV1 Pandemic COVID-19 had an impact on investing in the
automatization of processes
COV2 We started online sales as a result of COVID -19
COV3 The company invested in digital marketing as a result of
COVID-19
COV4 From pandemic COVID-19, we plan the brand promotion
through the website and social media
Source: Authors’ work

249
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

Table 3
Construct reliability
Cronbach's Alpha rho_A Composite Reliability AVE
Brand position 0.843 0.847 0.906 0.762
Brand promotion 0.651 0.717 0.847 0.736
COVID19 0.840 0.954 0.895 0.743
Digital transformation 0.744 0.778 0.854 0.662
Digital marketing 0.723 0.766 0.827 0.552
Source: Authors’ work
This study evaluates discriminant validity by using the heterotrait-monotrait ratio
(HTMT). The HTMT values for all constructs must be below 0.85, as suggested by Hair
et al. (2017). Table 4 shows the total HTMT value for all constructs below the
recommended threshold of 0.85; therefore, all construct pairs have discriminant
validity.
Table 4
Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT)
BP Bprom COVID19 DT
Brand position (BP)
Brand promotion (Bprom) 0.558
COVID19 0.223 0.545
Digital transformation (DT) 0.571 0.78 0.453
Digital marketing (DM) 0.718 0.64 0.498 0.753
Source: Authors’ work
Table 5 shows factor loadings, means, standard deviations, t-values, and VIF for all
items in the construct. Outer loadings, as a rule, should be 0.708 or higher as
recommended by Hair et al. (2017). Based on the values provided in Table 4, all
item loadings range from 0.708 to 0.930; that is over the recommended threshold
value. DM3 outer loading value is 0.542, but it can be kept since the minimum AVE
value of 0.5 has been reached (Ramayah et al., 2018). To check the collinearity
issue, VIF values are used to check if the model is biased. According to Kock (2015),
VIF values greater than 3.3 indicate a collinearity problem. Thus, denoting that the
model is biased.
Table 5
Factor loadings
Loadings Mean STDEV T-values VIF
BP1 0.851 3.88 0.99 17.715 2.038
BP3 0.924 4.04 0.98 44.413 2.846
BP5 0.842 4.22 1.01 18.626 1.920
BProm1 0.912 3.29 1.36 37.87 1.304
BProm3 0.799 2.85 1.45 11.567 1.304
COV2 0.930 2.62 1.50 55.19 2.338
COV3 0.926 2.81 1.36 34.82 2.659
COV4 0.711 3.28 1.34 7.527 1.650
DM2 0.838 3.32 1.43 23.906 1.861
DM3 0.542 4.44 0.91 4.807 1.195
DM6 0.838 3.06 1.35 19.215 1.908
DM7 0.713 3.69 1.24 9.763 1.411
DT2 0.708 3.98 1.29 9.556 1.307
DT3 0.841 3.26 1.47 15.649 1.654
DT4 0.882 3.45 1.47 31.208 1.751
Source: Authors’ work

250
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

To test the hypotheses, we used bootstrapping technique. This technique helps

assess the structural model, R-square (R2), beta, and t-values as recommended by
Hair et al. (2017). The findings revealed support for all hypotheses (Table 6). Figure 1
presents the path model.

Table 6
Hypotheses testing results
Hypotheses Path STDEV T- P-values
coefficient values
H1 Digital marketing -> Brand position 0.433 0.105 4.133 0.000
H2 Digital marketing -> Brand promotion 0.203 0.097 2.086 0.038
H3 Digital transformation -> Brand position 0.198 0.094 2.101 0.036
H4 Digital transformation -> Brand 0.453 0.076 5.954 0.000
promotion
H5 COVID19 -> Digital transformation 0.401 0.065 6.142 0.000
Source: Authors’ work

Figure 2 presents the path diagram. Digital marketing (DM) positively affected
brand position (BP) (path coefficient = 0.433, t-value = 4.133, p < 0.000). Thus, H1, is
supported. H2, Digital marketing (DT) has a positive significant effect on Brand
promotion (Bprom) (path coefficient = 0.203, t-value = 2.086, p < 0.038). In addition,
H3 is also supported, i.e., digital transformation (DT) has a positive significant impact
on brand position (path coefficient= 0.198, t-value = 2.101, p <0 .036). Furthermore,
digital transformation (DT) has a significant positive effect on brand promotion (path
coefficient= 0.453, t-value = 5.954, p < 0.000). Finally, H5 is also supported. Findings
reveal that COVID19 has an impact on digital transformation ((path coefficient=
0.401, t-value = 6.142, p < 0.000).

Figure2
Path graph of the PLS-SEM model

Note: DM1, DM4, DM5, DT1, COV1, BP2, BP4, Bprom2, Bprom4, and Bprom5 were removed
from the model because of low loadings

251
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

The model explained 33 % of the variance in Brand position (BP) and 35.8% in
Brand promotion (Bprom). The predictive relevance of the model was evaluated
using Stone-Geisser’s Q2 following a blindfolding procedure. The obtained values for
BP (Q2 = 0.233) and Bprom (Q2 = 0.240) denoting a good predictive relevance (Hair
et al., 2017) (Table 7).

Table. 7 Determination of Co-efficient (R2), Predictive Relevance (Q2), and Effect size
(f2)
Constructs Determination Predictive Effect size (F2)
of coefficient Relevance
R2 Q2 BP Bprom DT
BP 0.330 0.233
Bprom 0.358 0.240
DM 0.177* 0.041*
DT 0.037* 0.201**
COVID19 0.192*
Note: BP= Brand promotion, Bprom= Brand promotion, DM= Digital marketing, DT = Digital
transformation; *Small effect 0 to 0.20, **Medium effect 0.20 to 0.50, ***Large effect more
than 0.50
Source: Authors’ work

Notwithstanding test model fit, model fit parameters need to be tested first. The
Standard Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) values are 0.094, denoting that the
model is a considerably good fit for the saturated and estimated models. The SRMR
values less than 0.10 or 0.08 are considered a good fit (Henseler et al., 2014). The
second fit index used in PLS-SEM is NFI needs to be above 0.9 to denote an
acceptable fit (Ramayah et al., 2018). In our study, the NFI value is 0.687, below the
proposed threshold.

Conclusions
The objective of this study was to explore the relationship of digital marketing and
digital transformation on brand position and brand promotion among different-sized
companies in Kosovo. Moreover, the study attempted to determine the impact that
DM and DT have on BP and Bprom. In addition, this research tried to find out the
effect that the pandemic of COVID-19 has on the digital transformation of
companies in Kosovo.
Our findings show that digital marketing predicts brand position. This finding is
similar and is supported by previous studies (Bogea et al., 2018; Melović et al., 2020;
Niculescu et al., 2019). Therefore, the findings approve our prediction that digital
marketing is an important tool for supporting companies in their effort to position
themselves in the Kosovo market. Next, the findings showed that digital marketing
(DT) predicts brand position among companies in Kosovo, which is similar to other
findings like Melović et al., 2020; Fejling et al., 2019). The findings also revealed that
digital transformation is a significant predictor of brand position among companies in
Kosovo. The finding is supported by Morakanyane et al. (2017) and other previous
publications (Ahmed et al., 2015; Reinartz et al., 2019). Therefore, our findings confirm
our prediction that digital transformation impacts brand position. Moreover, the
findings showed that digital transformation predicts brand promotion. The findings
are in line with other publications, like, Melović et al. (2020). Finally, the findings
showed that the pandemic of COVID-19 had a positive and significant impact on
the digital transformation process of companies in Kosovo. The result is supported by
other publications (Almeida et al., 2020; Pandey et al., 2020; Pinzaru et al., 2020).

252
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

The significance of this research is to study the relationship between digital

marketing and digital transformation on brand position and brand promotion
motivation being the first study to focus on this issue in Kosovo. The study will also add
to the literature a better understanding of the relationship between DM and DT and
BP and Bprom on the other side. Moreover, this research provides some practical
implications for companies and various other organizations to digitalize their business
and marketing activities.
Last but not the least, the study has some limitations. The sample size is small,
which cannot be generalized in other contexts. So, expanding the sample size could
eventually lead to more reliable results from the research. Thus, further research can
be expanded and using the company's size as a moderating variable to check
whether the size of the company moderates these relationships, comparing more
perspectives in their entrepreneurial motivation towards entrepreneurial. Finally,
more extended research combining this model with other existing theories could
provide more insights for future researchers.

References
1. Ahmed, R., Kumar, R., Baig, M., Khan, M. (2015), “Impact of Digital Media on Brand
Loyalty and Brand Positioning”, available at:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2708527 (12 May 2021)
2. Alhabeeb, M. J. (2007), “On consumer trust and product loyalty”, International Journal of
Consumer Studies, Vol. 31 No. 6, pp. 609-612.
3. Almeida, F., Santos, J. D., Monteiro, J .A. (2020), “The Challenges and Opportunities in the
Digitalization of Companies in a Post-COVID-19 World”, IEEE Engineering Management
Review, Vol. 48 No. 3, pp. 97-103.
4. Bogea, F., Brito, E. P. Z. (2018), “Determinants of social media adoption by large
companies”, Journal of technology management & innovation, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 11-18.
5. Çizmeci, F., Ercan, T. (2015), “The Effect of Digital Marketing Communication Tools in the
Creation Brand Awareness By Housing Companies”, Megaron, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp.149-161.
6. Eze, S. C., Chinedu-Eze, V. C., Okike, C. K., Bello, A. O. (2020), “Critical factors influencing
the adoption of digital marketing devices by service-oriented micro-businesses in Nigeria:
A thematic analysis approach”, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Vol. 7
No. 1, pp.1-14.
7. Fayvishenko, D. (2018), “Formation of brand positioning strategy”, Baltic Journal of
Economic Studies, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 245-248.
8. Fejling, T., Torosyan, E., Tsukanova, O., Kalinina, O. (2019), “Special aspects of digital
technology-based brand promotion”, in IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and
Engineering, IOP Publishing.
9. Fitzgerald, M., Kruschwitz, N., Bonnet, D., Welch, M. (2013), “Embracing Digital
Technology, "A New Strategic Imperative"”, Volume MIT Sloan Management Review.
10. Fornell, C., Larcker, D.F. (1981), “Structural equation models with unobservable variables
and measurement error: Algebra and statistics”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18
No. 3, pp. 382-388.
11. Guenzi, P., Habel, J. (2020), “Mastering the digital transformation of sales”, California
Management Review, Vol. 62 No. 4, pp. 57-85.
12. Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., Sarstedt, M., Thiele, K. O. (2017), “Mirror, mirror on the
wall: a comparative evaluation of composite-based structural equation modeling
methods”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 45 No. 5, pp.616-632.
13. Henseler, J., Dijkstra, T. K., Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., Diamantopoulos, A., Straub, D.W.,
Ketchen Jr, D. J., Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Calantone, R. J. (2014), “Common beliefs and
reality about PLS: Comments on Rönkkö and Evermann (2013)”, Organizational research
methods, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp.182-209.
14. Hootsuite, We Are Social (2019), “Digital 2019 Global Digital Overview”, available at:
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2019-global-digital-overview (14 May 2021)

253
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

15. IDG (2019), "Digital Business Study", available at: https://www.idg.com/tools-for-

marketers/2019-digital-business-research/ (14 May 2021)
16. Järvinen, J. (2016), “The use of digital analytics for measuring and optimizing digital
marketing performance”, available at: https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/51512 (14 May
2021)
17. Jibril, A. B., Kwarteng, M. A., Chovancova, M., Pilik, M. (2019), “The impact of social media
on consumer-brand loyalty: A mediating role of online based-brand community”, Cogent
Business & Management, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 1-20.
18. Kock, N. (2015), “Common method bias in PLS-SEM: A full collinearity assessment
approach”, International Journal of e-Collaboration (ijec), Vol. 11 No. 4, pp.1-10.
19. KPMG (2018), “Global Manufacturing Outlook”, available at:
https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2018/06/2018-global-manufacturing-
outlook.html (15 May 2021)
20. Krishnaprabha, S., Tarunika, R. (2020), “An Analysis on building Brand Awareness through
Digital Marketing Initiatives”, International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science
and Management, Vol. 3 No. 7, pp. 266-270.
21. Limani, Y., Stapleton, L., Groumpos, P. (2018), “The Challenges of Digital Transformation in
Post- Conflict Transition Regions: Digital Technology Adoption in Kosovo”, IFAC-Papers
Online, Vol. 51 No. 30, pp. 186-191.
22. Malik, A., Sudhakar, B. D. (2014), “Brand positioning through celebrity Endorsement-A
review contribution to brand literature”, International Review of Management and
Marketing, Vol 4 No. 4, pp. 259-275.
23. Melović, B., Jocović, M., Dabić, M., Vulić, T. B., Dudic, B. (2020), “The impact of digital
transformation and digital marketing on the brand promotion, positioning and electronic
business in Montenegro”, Technology in Society, Vol. 63, p. 101425.
24. Mishra, M.K., Kesharwani, A., Das, D. (2016), “The relationship between risk aversion, brand
trust, brand affect and loyalty”, Journal of Indian Business Research, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 78-
97.
25. Morakanyane, R., Grace, A. A., O'Reilly, P. (2017), “Conceptualizing Digital Transformation
in Business Organizations: A Systematic Review of Literature”, Bled eConference.
26. Mullatahiri, V., Ukaj, F. (2019), “The effects of E-marketing communications on brand
loyalty: The case of mobile telephone operators in Kosovo”, The Journal of Distribution
Science, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp.15-23.
27. Niculescu, A., Dumitriu, D., Purdescu, C., Popescu, M. A. M. (2019), “Enhancing Brand
Value of Modern Organizations through Digital Marketing Tools and Techniques: A Study
on Top Ten Romanian Companies”, TEM Journal, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 171-181.
28. Pandey, N., Pal, A. (2020), “Impact of digital surge during Covid-19 pandemic: A
viewpoint on research and practice”, International Journal of Information Management,
Vol. 55, p. 102171.
29. Pinzaru, F., Zbuchea, A., Anghel, L. (2020), “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on
Business. A preliminary overview”, International Academic Conference, Bucharest,
October 15-16, 2020, pp. 721-730.
30. Pratminingsih, S. A., Lipuringtyas, C., Rimenta, T. (2013), “Factors influencing customer
loyalty toward online shopping”, International Journal of Trade, Economics and
Finance, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 104-110.
31. Ramayah, T., Cheah, J., Chuah, F., Ting, H., Memon, M. A. (2018), Partial least squares
structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using smartPLS 3.0., Pearson, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
32. Reinartz, W., Wiegand, N., Imschloss, M. (2019), “The impact of digital transformation on
the retailing value chain”, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 36 No. 3,
pp. 350-366.
33. Sadiku, A. (2019), “Digitalization of Banking Services in Kosovo: Trends and comparison
with the neighbouring countries”, Piran, Slovenia, pp. 379-392.
34. Smith, K. T. (2012), “Longitudinal study of digital marketing strategies targeting
Millennials”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 86-92.
35. Tiago, M. T. P. M. B., Veríssimo, J. M. C. (2014), “Digital marketing and social media: Why
bother?”, Business horizons, Vol. 57 No. 6, pp. 703-708.

254
ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Vol. 7 No. 1

36. Ukaj, F. (2016), “The Role and Importance of Brand in the Marketing of Small and Medium-
Sized Enterprises in Kosovo”, International Journal of Marketing Studies, Vol. 8 No. 6, pp.52-
57.
37. Ursachi, G., Horodnic, I. A., Zait, A. (2015), “How reliable are measurement scales?
External factors with indirect influence on reliability estimators”, Procedia Economics and
Finance, Vol. 20, pp. 679-686.
38. Yu, X., Yuan, C. (2019), “How consumers’ brand experience in social media can improve
brand perception and customer equity”, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics,
Vol. 31 No. 5, pp. 1233-1251.
39. Yu, X., Yuan, C., Kim, J., Wang, S. (2020), “A new form of brand experience in online social
networks: An empirical analysis”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 130, pp. 426-435.
40. Zeqiri, J., Kareva, V., Alija, S. (2020), “The Impact of Blended Learning on Students’
Performance and Satisfaction in South East European University”, in Proceedings of the
ENTRENOVA-ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 233-244.

About the authors

Dr. Jusuf Zeqiri holds the position of Associate Professor of Marketing and
International Business at the South East European University in Tetovo, Macedonia. Dr.
Zeqiri also holds a Master of Science in International Trade from SS. Cyril and
Methodius University in Skopje, a Ph.D. from the SS. Cyril and Methodius University
Skopje. Dr. Zeqiri has also gained an online DBA from SMC University, Switzerland. Dr.
Zeqiri has more than 20 years of teaching experience in various institutions. He taught
for 18 years at the undergraduate and graduate levels at South East European
University in Tetovo, Macedonia. He held lectures as a Visiting Professor at many
domestic and international educational institutions in Southeast Europe. He has
supervised many students in their master's and doctorate thesis. Dr. Zeqiri has
published many research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and reviews
many international journals. The author can be contacted at email
[email protected]

Arta Istrefi-Jahja is a Ph.D. student at the South East European University, Macedonia.
She is Ecosystem Facilitator at the Swiss Entrepreneurship Program, helping
entrepreneurs scale up. Arta has 14 years of experience in private sector
development with a substantial practice in developing economic policy at the
national level. She was a Political Advisor to the Minister of Trade and Industry,
focusing on the business climate. She worked for eight years in senior positions with
international donor projects focusing on business development and marketing. Arta
holds an MSc. in Economic Development & Policy Analysis from the University of
Nottingham, U.K. She is a Certified Digital Transformation Expert. The author can be
contacted at [email protected]

255