The role of social media elements in driving co-creation and engagement

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a research model examining the impact of five social media marketing (SMM) elements–entertainment, customization, interactivity, electronic-word-of-mouth (eWOM) and trendiness–on consumers' intent to participate in value co-creation and on consumer–brand engagement (CBE) and perceived brand value in turn.Design/methodology/approachThe research model is tested for wearable healthcare technology, a smart-technology product. Data were collected in China from 294 users using a self-administered online survey. Data analysis uses partial least squares – structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).FindingsEntertainment, customization and eWOM are the key predictors in driving consumers' value co-creation intention, thereby strengthening the value co-creation process, CBE and perceived brand value. In contrast with previous studies in the area of value co-creation and CBE, the impact of interactivity and trendiness on value co-creation intention is non-significant.Research limitations/implicationsThe research contributes to the literature by providing an understanding of how to use SMM dimensions to drive consumers' value co-creation intention for smart-technology products, such as healthcare-wearable technology. However, this study is cross-sectional in nature and its focus is solely on wearable healthcare technology in China. To enhance the generalizability of the findings, future research might consider a longitudinal design and include comparisons between countries with diverse cultures, along with other types of smart-technology products.Practical implicationsThe findings provide guidance for marketers to enhance CBE and perceived brand value by strengthening consumers' value co-creation intention, using SMM with entertaining and customized content and encouraging positive referrals on social-media platforms.Originality/valueScholarly attention on the importance of SMM in strengthening consumers' value co-creation intention and CBE is limited, and the question of which SMM elements are effective in driving value co-creation and its link to perceived brand value has not been examined. This paper contributes to the marketing literature by developing and empirically testing a research model, revealing entertainment, customization and eWOM as key SMM elements driving value co-creation intention and CBE for a smart-technology product in China.

An Exploration of Social Media Marketing Features and Brand Loyalty in the Fast Food Industry

“…The results showed that interactivity has a positive effect on brand loyalty, and this was supported by prior research which outlined that interactivity (Sohail et al, 2020) was positively associated with brand loyalty. Cheung et al (2021) stated that using interactive features on a brand's social-media channel provide a motivation for targeted consumers to be engaged in information dissemination, thus resulting in greater degrees of enthusiasm among consumers (Vivek et al, 2012). The finding suggests that fast food brands can increase their emphasis on sharing interactive content with their customers by providing different opportunities for them to participate on their social media pages.…”

“…Schulze et al (2015) stated that consumers have a tendency to search for relevant brand information on social media channels. In fact, when firms share customized information to match individuals' preferences, they are likely to obtain better brand evaluation and the consumers feel motivated to share such information with their peers on social networks (Cheung et al, 2021). Furthermore, when consumers have higher involvement with the interactive posts of brands, it is common for them to post their thoughts or feelings on their social media pages, thus leading to the formation of consumergenerated marketing (Cheung et al, 2021).…”

“…In fact, when firms share customized information to match individuals' preferences, they are likely to obtain better brand evaluation and the consumers feel motivated to share such information with their peers on social networks (Cheung et al, 2021). Furthermore, when consumers have higher involvement with the interactive posts of brands, it is common for them to post their thoughts or feelings on their social media pages, thus leading to the formation of consumergenerated marketing (Cheung et al, 2021). Similarly, Ebrahim (2020) reported that customized messages which are relevant to consumers' interests and preferences play a key role in reinforcing brand loyalty.…”

Mining brand value propositions on Twitter: exploring the link between marketer-generated content and eWOM outcomes

“…Notably, this work is one in a series of works that approach co-creation using the qualitative method of netnography (Sindhwani and Ahuja 2014;Sorensen et al 2017;Fujita et al 2019). In a similar manner, several works have also conducted an analysis of brand engagement data using interviews and surveys of customers (Kao et al 2016;Choi et al 2016a, b;Zhang et al 2020;Cheung et al 2021); however, the scalability of these techniques has been highlighted as a limitation (Bharti et al 2014).…”

The Determinants of Users’ Behaviour on Social Media: The Role of Religion and Personal Values

“…Social media is a powerful medium of communication that can shape changes in the thinking, attitude and behaviour of users who use them (Ping et al, 2019). However, these social media platforms need to be utilized in a positive way to facilitate interaction with others (Cheung et al, 2021). The literature on ethical behaviour emphasized that the users must recognize the unethical conduct and the factors to resist such behaviour were determined by family influences, religious values and personal experiences (Khazanch,1995;Abutaleb et al, 2021).…”