Semarang, June 12th, 2023. The Doctor of Economics Program at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Diponegoro (PDIE FEB UNDIP) conducted a doctoral promotion examination on behalf of M Rifqy Roosdhani with the theme “Building Marketing Performance with the Quality of Referral Marketing Communication in Social Commerce.”

Promovendus, in his dissertation, focuses on developing a new conceptual model that explains how to improve marketing performance using relevant theories, namely, the Service-Dominant Logic theory and communication theory used to explain and solve identified problems. In addressing the research gap, this study proposes a new conceptual model with a mediating variable called Referral Marketing Communication Quality. This conceptual model can explain the influence of Social Commerce Capability on marketing performance.
This study involved 240 food and beverage MSME businesses in Surakarta (Solo), Semarang City, Semarang Regency, Kudus Regency, and Jepara Regency using the SPSS program and the AMOS version 24 structural equation model in the data analysis process to test the hypotheses in this study. The results of the hypotheses proposed in this study show the importance of variables such as Social Commerce Capability, Referral Marketing Communication Quality, Market Penetration, and Brand Exposure in driving marketing performance.

The Referral Marketing Communication Quality variable proposed in this study is convincingly proven as a mediating variable that plays an important role in filling the research gap by clarifying the relationship between Social Commerce Capability and marketing performance. This research model is based on relevant marketing concepts and can contribute theoretically and managerially.

   

The Examination Committee consists of Prof. Anis Chariri, S.E., M.Com., Ph.D., Ak, CA, CfrA (Chairman of the Examination), Prof. Dr. Dra. Naili Farida, M.Si. (Secretary of the Examination, Supervisor), Prof. Dr. Suliyanto, SE., M.M. (External Examiner), I Made Sukresna, S.E., M.Si., Ph.D. (Examiner), Dr. Harry Soesanto, M.Kes. (Examiner) and Dr. Farida Indriani, S.E., M.M. (examiner, Co- Supervisor). The examination session lasted for two hours, and in the end, the promovendus passed the examination and was declared entitled to hold a Doctoral degree by the Committee. Hopefully, this research can make a meaningful contribution to improving the quality of marketing in social commerce and encourage business innovation and growth in an increasingly digitally connected era.