Perceptual, Attitudinal, and Behavioral Outcomes of Organization–Public Engagement on Corporate Social Networking Sites

Abstract

This study proposes and tests a conceptual model that not only measures public engagement with corporate pages on social networking sites, but also evaluates the influence of such engagement on important perceptual, relational, and behavioral outcomes. Study results provide empirical evidence of the positive effects of public engagement on perceived corporate authenticity, organizational transparency, organization-public relationships, and public advocacy. Findings underscore the importance of public engagement via social media on enhancing perceived corporate transparency and authenticity, and thereby cultivating strong relationships. Additionally, organization-public relationships emerged as a deciding factor driving the effects of public engagement on advocacy behaviors.

Terms of engagement: Analyzing public engagement with organizations through social media

“…On the other hand, other studies also suggest the opposite, that engagement precedes an organization-public relationship, including research by Men and Tsai (2014) showing evidence that relationships may also form from user engagement with organizational content on social networking sites. As a result, the connection between engagement and organizational relationships becomes a chicken-and-the-egg debate of which comes first: engagement or the organization-public relationship?…”

“….communicative relationships'' (Johnston, 2014, p. 382). To this point, recent studies have sought to connect engagement with efforts to secure positive organization-public relationships (Kang, 2014;Men & Tsai, 2014;Taylor & Kent, 2014). In fact, Kang (2014) points out that engagement and relationships share two important antecedents: trust and satisfaction.…”

The Effect of Participation Effort on CSR Participation Intention: The Moderating Role of Construal Level on Consumer Perception of Warm Glow and Perceived Costs

“…In summary, consumer participation in public campaigns has positive effects on their perceptions of the authenticity of the company's activities. According to previous studies, transparency is one of the most important factors influencing consumer's perception of authenticity about corporate activities [28]. In other words, in order to raise consumers' awareness of authenticity, clear and sufficient information regarding the decision-making process of the company should be provided to consumers.…”

“…In other words, in order to raise consumers' awareness of authenticity, clear and sufficient information regarding the decision-making process of the company should be provided to consumers. At this time, consumer participation can make consumers committed to the company's decision making process by increasing transparency and authenticity [28]. Thus, consumers who participate in CSR truly believe in and do not doubt corporate motivation for CSR activities.…”

Visual Communication and Consumer-Brand Relationship on Social Networking Sites - Uses & Gratifications Theory Perspective

“…Consumer engagement is gaining attention from academia as well as from practitioners, reason being its strategic impetus on developing the rousing relationship between both the parties (business organizations and consumers) to seek mutual advantage in it [86], [87], [121], [127]. The corporate SNS pages have been successful in engaging consumers with their visual contents.…”