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.

Purpose Fear of missing out (FOMO) has become a common phenomenon on social media. This study aims to examine how FOMO influences consumer preferences for posting about identity-relevant products on social media. Design/methodology/approach In this research, three studies were conducted to explore the effects of FOMO in different real-life situations. Study 1 was conducted in a laboratory setting in China. Study 2 includes two experiments, one that was conducted in China and one in the USA. Study 3 was conducted in a workplace setting in China. Findings The results of Study 1 indicate that when consumers experience FOMO, they prefer to post about identity-relevant (vs functional) products to a greater extent than usual. Study 2 examines the role of self-esteem and identifies self-presentation and the avoidance of social attention as underlying mechanisms. Thus, consumers with high (or low) self-esteem tend to be more motivated to present themselves positively (or to avoid social attention) when experiencing FOMO. Furthermore, Study 3 reveals the moderating role of supportive interactions; that is, the interaction between FOMO and consumer self-esteem is most likely to exert an effect when consumers receive many supportive interactions. Research limitations/implications This research demonstrates that posting identity-relevant content on social media is a coping strategy that individuals may adopt when experiencing FOMO. Moreover, self-esteem can predict how individuals cope with FOMO by identifying self-presentation and avoidance of social attention as the mechanisms underlying effects. Although this research attempts to avoid interference from other factors between in the relationship FOMO and the control conditions, it seems possible that more socially relevant information may be presented in the FOMO condition. Practical implications Because FOMO can be manipulated and posting types can be predicted, this research provides important implications for brands on how to create or post content to better engage consumers. Originality/value This research supports the role of FOMO as a driver of on consumer posting preferences on social media.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 epidemic not only cast a shadow on China’s economic development but also caused phased panic and anxiety among the Chinese population. At the stage when the spread of the epidemic is not completely controlled, the business activities will surely cause employees to worry and produce a work stress reaction. OBJECTIVE: This study explores the impact of psychosocial stress caused by the COVID-19 epidemic on the work stress of returned workers. Furthermore, we explore the boundary conditions for reducing work stress from the perspectives of perceived organizational support, perceived social support and epidemic awareness. METHODS: Data were collected within two weeks after the Chinese government announced the work resumption of industrial enterprises. During this period, 526 returned workers participated in the study. RESULTS: The results showed that the psychosocial stress caused by the epidemic had a positive impact on work stress. Both perceived organizational support and perceived that social support can alleviate the impact of psychosocial stress on work stress. The moderating effect of epidemic awareness was only established in non-severe epidemic areas. CONCLUSIONS: In the current period of the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, the conclusions of this study have a certain theoretical significance and practical value.

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Purpose This study aims to explore whether creativity can overcome banner blindness in the viewing of web pages and demonstrate how visual saliency and banner-page congruity constitute the boundary conditions for creativity to improve memory for banner ads. Design/methodology/approach Three studies were conducted to understand the influence of advertising creativity and banner blindness on recognition of banner ads, which were assessed using questionnaires and bias adjustment. The roles of online user tasks (goal-directed vs free-viewing), visual saliency (high vs low) and banner-page congruity (congruent vs incongruent) were considered. Findings The findings suggest that creativity alone is not sufficient to overcome the banner blindness phenomenon. Specifically, in goal-directed tasks, the effect of creativity on recognition of banner ads is dependent on banner ads’ visual saliency and banner-page congruity. Creative banners are high on visual saliency, and banner-page congruity yields higher recognition rates. Practical implications Creativity matters for attracting consumer attention. And in a web page context, where banner blindness prevails, the design of banners becomes even more important in this respect. Given the prominence of banners in online marketing, it is also necessary to tap the potential of creativity of banner ads. Originality/value First, focusing on how creativity influences memory for banner ads across distinct online user tasks not just provides promising theoretical insight on the tackling of banner blindness but also enriches research on advertising creativity. Second, contrary to the popular belief of extant literature, the findings suggest that, in a web page context, improvement in memory for banner ads via creativity is subject to certain boundary conditions. Third, a computational neuroscience software program was used in this study to assess the visual saliency of banner ads, whereas signal detection theory was used for adjustment of recognition scores. This interdisciplinary examination combining the two perspectives sheds new light on online advertising research.