Consumer Engagement with Brand Posts on Social Media: Current State and Research Agenda

Abstract

Social media has become an integral part of the marketing communication mix and has changed the way that brands and consumers engage with each other. To marketers, consumer engagement with brand posts on social media is crucial because it is essential for creating social contagion effects and positively impacts consumers’ perceptions of brand. However, social media marketers are struggling with approaching the creative brand contents in a way that maximizes consumer engagement. In academia, while some research suggests that marketers can strategically design brand contents that improve consumer engagement, it is not clear what contents work better, for which brand, and in what way. This paper presents a review of previous literature on consumer engagement with brand social media posts. Through the literature review, this paper summarizes the factors that are found to impact consumer engagement with brand social media posts. As such, this paper identifies several research streams which can be pursued.