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Title
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Customer engagement across social media platforms : a uses and gratifications perspective
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Author
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Abstract
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| The rise of social media has dramatically impacted how individuals experience the digital world. They interact, express, share and create content about anything on social media, including brands. Social media are used by brands to engage consumers through several activities. Drawing on the consumers’ online brand-related activities (COBRAs) typology, a vast stream of research has examined the drivers of consumption, contribution, and creation of brand-related content in social media. Nevertheless, it is necessary to further examine why people use different social media and how these motivations affect the way users interact with brands. We study this influence of motivations on brand-related outcomes across different social media types. Based on the uses and gratifications (U&G) theory, this dissertation connects motivations for social media use -as crucial antecedents of differential media selection- to effects on various brand outcomes. Across five empirical chapters, this work focuses on two different aspects of how individuals’ use of different social media can affect brand outcomes: (1) the drivers of COBRAs across different social media platforms and (2) the role of social media content and style, along with the cultural context, on the studied brand outcomes. Overall, this dissertation finds relevant evidence supporting the crucial role of motivations as critical antecedents of consumer brand engagement. Further, we find this evidence for different brand outcomes, social media platforms, and cultural contexts. Consistent with more recent views in the U&G theory, individuals’ motivations should be understood as essential ingredients of brand management, considering they determine (social) media exposure, directly impacting the effectiveness of brand communication. Moreover, Remuneration and Empowerment represent the two most critical motivations influencing brand outcomes at all COBRAs levels, viral behavioral intentions, click intention, and brand purchase intentions. These findings contrast with a more limited influence found in prior research. Further, we highlight the relevant role of the social media content and style, along with the cultural context, affecting how customer engagement is produced across different social media platforms. Brands using social media for their marketing activities can benefit from a better understanding of individuals’ motivations to use these platforms and how they differ and affect brand outcomes across different social media types. Managers are advised to identify which motivations for social media use to tap into for specific social media types. Their facilitation and encouragement will likely lead to increased performance of brand outcomes. Depending on the goals for each campaign, managers are advised to select the best platform fitting those particular objectives, as each platform can produce specific user experiences and, thus, engagement. |
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Language
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English
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Publication
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Antwerp
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University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics, Department of Marketing
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2021
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ISBN
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978-90-5728-701-5
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Volume/pages
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xiv, 264 p.
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Note
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:
Dens, Nathalie [Supervisor]
:
De Pelsmacker, Patrick [Supervisor]
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Full text (open access)
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