<![CDATA[This study investigates the behavioural drivers that strengthen brand loyalty within the context of personalized social media engagement, a domain increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence driven content delivery and consumer analytics. While personalization has emerged as a strategic necessity in digital marketing, previous studies have not fully explained how individualized interactions influence long term consumer loyalty at the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural levels. To address this gap, the present research adopts an interpretivist, socio technical perspective to understand how users interpret brand interactions mediated by AI enabled personalization tools. Data were collected from active social media users in East Java, Indonesia, employing semi structured interviews and digital artifact analysis. NVivo assisted thematic coding was used to analyse a total of 25 participants and 75 engagement artefacts. Findings show that four key behavioural drivers of brand loyalty are: (1) Perceived relevance of personalised content, (2) Emotional resonance and identity alignment, (3) Trust derived from transparency in data usage, and (4) Community co creation that fosters social validation. Such drivers imply that brand loyalty is influenced not only by algorithmic accuracy but also by consumers’ socio-cultural interpretations and expectations of authenticity, credibility and community belonging. Theoretically, the study contributes to digital marketing and consumer behaviour literature by offering an integrative model that connects personalisation mechanisms to behavioural loyalty frameworks. The findings suggest that in practice, brands need to move beyond data driven targeting to strategies that amplify emotional value, transparency and participatory engagement. Policy implications emphasise the necessity of ethical standards for personalisation that protect consumer data and develop trust in digital ecosystems. The study also points to avenues for future research, such as cross cultural comparisons and longitudinal examination of effects of personalised engagement.]]>
