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Despite the demonstrated importance of customer sentiment in social media for outcomes such as purchase behavior and of firms’ increasing use of customer engagement initiatives, surprisingly few studies have investigated firms’ ability to influence the sentiment of customers’ digital engagement. Many firms track buyers’ offline interactions, design online content to coincide with customers’ experiences, and face varied performance during events, enabling the modification of marketer-generated content to correspond to the event outcomes. This study examines the role of firms’ social media engagement initiatives surrounding customers’ experiential interaction events in influencing the sentiment of customers’ digital engagement. Results indicate that marketers can influence the sentiment of customers’ digital engagement beyond their performance during customers’ interactions, and for unfavorable event outcomes, informational marketer-generated content, more so than emotional content, can enhance customer sentiment. This study also highlights sentiment’s role as a leading indicator for customer lifetime value.

Despite the popular use of social media by consumers and marketers, empirical research investigating their economic values still lags. In this study, we integrate qualitative user-marketer interaction content data from a fan page brand community on Facebook and consumer transactions data to assemble a unique data set at the individual consumer level. We then quantify the impact of community contents from consumers (user-generated content, i.e., UGC) and marketers (marketer-generated content, i.e., MGC) on consumers' apparel purchase expenditures. A content analysis method was used to construct measures to capture the informative and persuasive nature of UGC and MGC while distinguishing between directed and undirected communication modes in the brand community. In our empirical analysis, we exploit differences across consumers' fan page joining decision and across timing differences in fan page joining dates for our model estimation and identification strategies. Importantly, we also control for potential self-selection biases and relevant factors such as pricing, promotion, social network attributes, consumer demographics, and unobserved heterogeneity. Our findings show that engagement in social media brand communities leads to a positive increase in purchase expenditures. Additional examinations of UGC and MGC impacts show evidence of social media contents affecting consumer purchase behavior through embedded information and persuasion. We also uncover the different roles played by UGC and MGC, which vary by the type of directed or undirected communication modes by consumers and the marketer. Specifically, the elasticities of demand with respect to UGC information richness are 0.006 (directed communication) and 3.140 (undirected communication), whereas those for MGC information richness are insignificant. Moreover, the UGC valence elasticity of demand is 0.180 (undirected communication), whereas that for MGC valence is 0.004 (directed communication). Overall, UGC exhibits a stronger impact than MGC on consumer purchase behavior. Our findings provide various implications for academic research and practice.

How to improve the predictive accuracy of box office revenue with social media data is a big challenge and is particularly important for movie distributors and cinema operators. In this research, we find that microblogging UGC (MUGC) is a significant predictor of box office revenue and has stronger predictive power than UGC on Douban! Movies (DUGC) based on our examination of 60 movies released in China in 2012. To increase the attendance rate of movies, cinema operators can consider previous valence and volume of MUGC before scheduling the current film screenings because these messages can quickly predict the future box office revenue of a movie. Besides, we find that the volume of enterprise microblogs (i.e., MGC) can predict both box office revenue and MUGC, indicating that movie distributors should optimize their online media strategy by shifting more resources to utilizing enterprise microblogging. Although rebroadcasting volume from microblogging platforms does not predict box office revenue directly, it can indirectly predict it via MGC. Accordingly, compared with third-party platforms, rebroadcasting as one of the key distinct functions of microblogging platforms also shows its usefulness in box office revenue prediction. Overall, metrics from microblogging platforms are more effective in predicting box office revenue than those from third-party platforms. In this research, we build a prediction model of movie box office revenue by empirically exploring its intricate relationships with user-generated content (UGC) as well as marketer-generated content (MGC) on a microblogging platform and UGC on a third-party platform. Our analyses are based on a panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model that is calibrated with a combination of data from Weibo (microblogging platform) and Douban! Movies (third party). Our empirical results show that microblogging UGC (MUGC) is a significant predictor of box office revenue and has stronger predictive power than UGC on Douban! Movies (DUGC). In addition, we find that the volume of enterprise microblogs (i.e., MGC) predicts box office revenue directly and also indirectly via MUGC, and MUGC thus exerts a partial mediating effect on the predictive relationship between the volume of enterprise microblogs and box office revenue. Finally, a prediction model of box office revenue using lagged box office revenue, MGC, MUGC, and DUGC is proposed, and its forecasting accuracy is found to outperform that of existing models. Managerial implications on utilizing social media for enterprises are provided. The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2018.0797 .

PurposeThis study assessed the effect of photo themes to facilitate social media user engagement in Facebook brand pages and emphasized the important role of designing images for developing destination marketing strategies.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyzed 8,900 posts that were published by official tourism destination marketers for each destination (Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea). Text mining analysis, image thematic coding analysis and two-way ANOVA were applied to examine the significant differences across proposed determinants for the following engagements: the numbers of likes, comments and shares.FindingsThe results indicated that photographs on social media of three tourism destinations can be explored based on 11 categories of image themes. The themes' significant and distinct effects on three indicators of social media engagement were verified.Originality/valueThis research presented methodological insights by integrating thematic and statistical analyses with social media analytics. The findings of this study provided theoretical evidence of the importance of image themes in the context of social media engagement marketing. Based on the implications of this study, practitioners would enhance the effectiveness of social media marketing.

PurposeThis research explores the impacts of content-generating devices (mobile phones versus personal computers) and content features (social content and achievement content) on consumer engagement with marketer-generated content (MGC) on social media. It also examines these factors' interaction effects on consumer engagement.Design/methodology/approachThe study analyzed MGC that 210 companies had posted to Sina Weibo over three years, testing the study’s proposed model with negative binomial regression analysis.FindingsThe study's results show that MGC generated via mobile phones attracts more consumer engagement than MGC generated via personal computers. MGC with more social features attracts more consumer engagement, whereas MGC with more achievement features reduces consumer engagement. The authors also found that MGC with more social features generated via mobile phones and MGC with more achievement features generated via personal computers lead to more consumer engagement due to the congruency of the construal level of psychological distance.Originality/valueThis research enriches the literature by exploring the effects of content-generating devices and content features on consumer engagement in the MGC context, which extends the research on consumer engagement with social media from the context of user-generated content to the MGC.

PurposeThis study examines the relationship between streamers' product descriptions, customer comments and online sales and focuses on the moderating effect of streamer–viewer relationship strength.Design/methodology/approachBetween June 2021 and April 2022, the structured data of 965 livestreaming and unstructured text data of 42,956,147 characters from two major live-streaming platforms were collected for the study. Text analysis and regression analysis methods were employed for data analysis.FindingsFirst, the authors' analysis reveals an inverted U-shaped relationship between comment length and product sales. Notably, comment volume and comment emotion positively influence product sales. Furthermore, the semantic richness, emotion and readability of streamers' product descriptions also positively influence product sales. Secondly, the authors find that the strength of streamer–viewer relationship weakens the positive effects of comment volume and comment emotion without moderating the inverted U-shaped effect of comment length. Lastly, the strength of streamer–viewer relationship also diminishes the positive effects of emotion, semantics and readability of streamers' product descriptions on product sales.Originality/valueThis study is the first to concurrently examine the direct and interactive effects of user-generated content (UGC) and marketer-generated content (MGC) on consumer purchase behaviors in livestreaming e-commerce, offering a novel perspective on individual decision-making and cue utilization in the social retail context.

Purpose This study examined both American and Korean consumers’ motivation to share marketer-generated content (MGC) on Facebook and how these motives are related to the frequency of various types of sharing activities and the frequency of sharing various types of MGC. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted in the US and Korea. Findings The findings demonstrated that both American and Korean consumers share MGC for several reasons: liking/helping the brand, self-presentation/social interaction, economic rewards, and entertainment. In addition to these four motivations, Korean consumers also share MGC with others to offer information that may be of use to them. These different types of motivations were associated with the frequency of sharing MGC directly from Facebook brand pages, of re-sharing what Facebook friends shared first, of adding comments when sharing, and of sharing different types of MGC differently. We found similarities and differences in the patterns of these relationships between the US and Korea. Originality/value Although many studies on electronic word of mouth (eWOM) have examined consumers’ motivations for providing consumer-generated content, research on consumer motivations to forward marketer-generated content is scarce. Additionally, earlier work examined the influences of motivation on sharing in general and on a certain type of MGC. Our findings that focused on various types of motivations to share MGC, and their influences on various types of MGC and specific types of sharing activities can provide a more complete picture than what was previously available in the eWOM literature. Further, by comparing American consumers’ motivations to share MGC on SNSs and their influences on sharing activities with those of Korean consumers, this study contributes to building a body of cross-cultural studies on consumer sharing of MGC.

Purpose This paper aims to understand how structural characteristics of social media enable consumers to satisfy needs related to marketer-generated content (MGC) and identify the consequences of consumer exposure to MGC. Design/methodology/approach This paper revisits research on antecedents and consequences of advertising consumption to build an emergent conceptual model applied to MGC through the investigation of consumer experiences in social media. Thirty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with consumers who follow brands on Instagram. The interview transcripts were coded and analysed using a grounded theory approach. Findings This study finds that, structurally, MGC consumption is characterised by the combination of: consumer micro-control over both content and timing/place of consumption and ease of consumption, enabling consumers to seek pleasure and utility without effort. The data show that MGC is only likely to be shared to a restricted group with strong social connections, such as family members and close friends with similar interests, with whom new interactions develop over brands and products, online or in person. MGC consumption experiences also generate significant consumer learning that improves purchase outcomes for consumers. Three types of MGC consumers were identified in the data: “enthusiasts”, “circumstantial” and “occasional”. Research limitations/implications This study updates previous literature, offering a conceptual framework that specifies how the structural characteristics of social media are conducive to consumer exposure to self-curated MGC flows. This research also uncovers unique social dynamics and consumer learning related to MGC consumption. Practical implications Insights from this study suggest alternative business models that may be attractive for consumers, brands and social media platforms. This research also suggests ways in which brands can improve consumer MGC experiences. Originality/value This research demonstrates how and why consumers embrace MGC at scale through social media and reveals consequences of MGC consumption.

PurposeFirms increasingly rely on content marketing to trigger user engagement in social media brand communities. The purpose of this paper is to examine how three generic types of marketer-generated content (affiliative, injunctive and utilitarian content) drive user engagement by considering distinct motivational paths and the role of users’ preference for intimate (vs broad) social networks.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conduct a field survey and a scenario experiment among social media users across different brands from three different product categories. They examine the impact of marketer-generated content on user engagement while considering the moderating role of network intimacy (i.e. the mutual confiding within a user’s social network in terms of small social circles) and the mediating role of user motivations (i.e. autonomous vs controlled motivation for community membership).FindingsThe findings show that affiliative content (i.e. content that highlights shared values) drives user engagement through autonomous motivation, and utilitarian content (i.e. content that highlights tangible benefits) drives user engagement through controlled motivation. Notably, injunctive content (i.e. content that demands specific user behavior) is not a promising instrument to increase user engagement in social media brand communities when not targeted correctly.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors link three generic content types derived from literature on communal systems to user engagement, demonstrate the motivational underpinnings of their translation into engagement behavior and show that network intimacy can explain why the same content type can impact user engagement through two motivational paths.Practical implicationsThe authors present three types of content that marketers can craft to trigger users to engage with a brand’s social media community and show when this content is most effective and why. By examining the moderating role of network intimacy, this research aims at providing targeting implications to social media marketers.Originality/valueThis research provides new insights on the effectiveness of marketer-generated content. The authors reveal two motivational paths that compete in explaining the overall effectiveness of different types of marketer-generated content to fuel user engagement. The authors further demonstrate that these relationships depend on the intimacy of a user’s circle of online friends.

This research is to examine the effects of attributes related to designing post content in Facebook marathon community pages on enhancing levels of engagement. Marketer- and user-generated content of 3,142 posts published on three Facebook pages for the Boston, Chicago, and New York City marathons were collected. Social media analytics were used to discover major topics and engagement trends on the pages. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to examine how publisher type, content type, event case, time, and interactions among these factors affected the engagement levels of Facebook users. Results show that main and interaction effects significantly increase engagement among Facebook users. In particular, content generated by marketers was more effective in engaging users than content generated by users. Posting photos and videos enhanced engagement more than status posts. The effects of inserting hyperlinks varied depending on the marathon page. This exemplary study extends the social media marketing literature in event marketing and provides useful information on how social media marketing strategies can be made more effective through engaging social media users. Findings will be of benefit to both researchers and marketers.