What Makes Video Ads Viral: Quantifying the Impact of Marketer- and User-Generated Content

Past research on viral advertising focuses on the direct impact of MGC (i.e. Marketer-Generated Content) on the content viral ability. However, it is not clear how this impact of MGC takes place through the mediating effect of UGC (i.e. User-Generated Content) in this process. In this study, we examine the mechanism that makes a video ad viral by taking into account the impact of both MGC (i.e. video content) and UGC (i.e. video comments) in YouTube. AMT (Amazon Mechanical Turk) and Text-Mining Method are combined to extract the characteristics embedded in MGC and UGC

Electronic word of mouth in social media: The common characteristics of retweeted and favourited marketer-generated content posted on Twitter

Marketers desire to utilise electronic word of mouth (eWOM) marketing on social media sites. However, not all online content generated by marketers has the same effect on consumers; some of them are effective while others are not. This paper aims to examine different characteristics of marketer-generated content (MGC) that of which one lead users to eWOM. Twitter was chosen as one of the leading social media sites and a content analysis approach was employed to identify the common characteristics of retweeted and favourited tweets. 2,780 tweets from six companies (Booking, Hostelworld, Hotels, Lastminute, Laterooms and Priceline) operating in the tourism sector are analysed. Results indicate that the posts which contain pictures, hyperlinks, product or service information, direct answers to customers and brand centrality are more likely to be retweeted and favourited by users. The findings present the main eWOM drivers for MGC in social media.Abdulaziz Elwalda and Mohammed Alsagga

Content and Feedback Analysis of YouTube Videos: Football Clubs and Fans as Brand Communities

The use of Web 2.0 tools has been transforming the interaction between companies and their clients, especially for those that are selling emotional products. Consumers are generating and sharing contents concerning their favourite products on the web. Even if this process has been widely acknowledged, only a few studies have been specifically devoted to the analysis of both the contents and the feedback the consumers receive from other users. This article analyzes the online presence of sport brands through contents that are generated by sport clubs (official contents) and their fans (User Generated Content, UGC) on YouTube. After a description and classification of video contents, it examines the factors that influence the performance of the videos in terms of passive (videos views) and active behaviour (any kinds of interaction with videos) among the viewers. In order to carry out this analysis, 125 YouTube channels were considered thereby accounting for a total of 375 videos. Results show that official contents are those preferred by the users/consumers and that if the video displays a passive/purely informative content, the chance of getting an active behaviour from the users tends to decrease. These findings may help companies manage their online presence, creating awareness about contents and information that should be spread and shared on the web

Consumers’ Sentiments and Popularity of Brand Posts in Social Media: The Moderating Role of Up-votes

User-generated contents (UGC) on online social media plays an important role in the branding and marketing of firms’ products and services. In this study, we examine the effect of consumers’ sentiments embedded in UGC on the popularity of brand posts. We retrieved real-world data from a social media platform and utilized a rigorous data analysis method that exploited state-of-the-art semi-supervised sentiment analysis technique. Our empirical findings confirm that positive and negative sentiments are associated with post popularity to some extent. Also, the customers’ up-votes for negative comments somehow moderates the effect of negative comments on post popularity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates the specific role of up-votes in enhancing the popularity of brand posts on online social media. Our findings provide a promising theoretical contribution to the literature. The managerial implication is that firms can apply our findings to develop more effective strategies for marketing through social media brand communities

Exploring the role of Portuguese brands' actions on social media on consumer engagement

With the progressive evolution of technology, digital communications and social media quickly turned into an indispensable practice of people's daily lives. At the same time, from a consumer point of view, individuals crave more than just transactional exchanges, they want to bond, connect with brands and engage in two-way communications. As a result, marketers saw a real opportunity in social media, as an instrument to nurture relationships, interact with consumers and increase engagement. However, due to the lack of literature concerning the impact of brand-owned communities on users' behaviour, this study aims to comprehend the role of firm-generated content on consumer engagement, investigating for that purpose, three Portuguese brand fan pages on Facebook and Instagram. In order to do so, two complementary topics connected to the subject were also investigated online relationship cultivation strategies, and the combination of traditional and digital communications- to achieve a more realistic perspective regarding marketing communications in the digital world. Results showed that brands implement interactivity and involvement strategies on Facebook and Instagram as a way to connect and boost consumer's participation. Additionally, fans respond better to photo-based posts and most commonly react to those posts through "likes". Finally, regarding engagement rate, Instagram scored higher than Facebook.Com a progressiva evolução da tecnologia, as comunicações digitais e os "social media" rapidamente se tornaram numa parte indispensável da rotina diária da maioria dos cidadãos. Ao mesmo tempo, enquanto consumidores, os indivíduos procuram estabelecer relações com as marcas que se estendam para além das transações. Ambicionam conseguir identificar-se e relacionar-se, envolvendo-se num diálogo que valorize a comunicação entre as duas partes. Consequentemente, os "marketers" vislumbraram uma excelente oportunidade nos social media como uma ferramenta útil para cultivar relações, interagir com os consumidores e aumentar o compromisso ("engagement"). No entanto, devido à falta de literatura acerca do impacto das comunidades "online" geridas por marcas no comportamento dos usuários, este estudo pretende compreender o papel do conteúdo gerado pelas empresas ("firm-generated content") no compromisso dos consumidores (consumer engagement). Para tal, 3 páginas de marcas portuguesas vão ser estudadas no Facebook e no Instagram. Adicionalmente, dois tópicos complementares a este tema foram investigados - estratégias de cultivação de relações e a combinação entre comunicações tradicionais e digitais - de modo a obter uma perspectiva mais realista acerca das comunicações em marketing no mundo digital. Os resultados demonstram que as marcas implementam estratégias de interatividade no Facebook e Instagram de modo a criar ligações e aumentar a participação dos consumidores. Foi também possível verificar que os seguidores preferem interagir com "posts" que contenham fotografias e que a reação mais comum a esses posts se dá através de gostos/"likes". Por fim, analisando a taxa de compromisso, foi possível verificar que o Instagram permite atingir níveis mais elevados desta variável do que o Facebook

Underpinnings of User Participation in Innovation on Online Communication Platforms

The aim of this dissertation is to advance the understanding of the motivational and behavioral factors affecting user participation in innovation on online communication platforms. In particular, social networking service (SNS)-based brand communities (such as Facebook) have been recognized as effective platforms for practicing user innovation, and they are very popular among small, medium and large organizations. However, these platforms suffer from two major challenges, user retention and continuous user participation. Prior literature has paid little attention to understanding these important issues of user participation in the innovation process. Therefore, this dissertation aims to fill these gaps by investigating different factors that affect user participation and retention in innovation on SNS-based brand communities.                              The research questions of the dissertation are addressed using quantitative research methods and psychometrics. This dissertation utilized several theoretical frameworks, including the flow theory, consumption value theory, uses and gratification theory, social cognitive theory, the theory of reasoned action, and developmental psychology to explain different aspects of user participation in innovation on online communication platforms. A total of five empirical research articles were undertaken to address the different aspects of the phenomenon. The present thesis developed an instrument for measuring users' flow experience during SNS and SNS-based brand communities' use. It examined users' online regret experience in SNS from the perspective of their demographic characteristics and flow experience. The thesis also investigated users' participation from the perspective of the participation facilitating functionalities (i.e., commenting). Finally, the present thesis aimed at understanding the reasons that motivate users to continue participating in SNS-based brand communities. The main results of the dissertation are: First, a valid and reliable flow experience instrument for addressing the different dimensions of users' flow experience was developed. Second, it was found that online regret was experienced by older adolescents and those spending more time on SNS-based brand communities, and was positively correlated to playfulness and focused attention. Third, the elements of self-efficacy, social influence, reciprocal benefit and hedonic motivation were found to influence users' attitudes towards the usage of the commenting in SNS-based brand communities. Fourth, playfulness and social enhancement were found to predict users' intention to continue using SNS-based brand communities. Fifth, a valid and reliable instrument measuring users' flow experience during the usage of SNS-based brand communities was developed

Modelling fashion microblogs to increase the influence of social media marketing in Ireland and China

With the breakthrough of social media in the 21st century, microblogging has become an influential medium for marketing fashion brands and products online. For this reason, this study explores ten Irish and another ten Chinese fashion microblogging influencers’ microblogs using Text Mining and Netnography. By this comparison, the study finds a current model of how fashion microblogs influence fashion consumption in Ireland and China. With the help of this model, the study proposes a typology of Irish and Chinese fashion microblogging influencers and their basic microblogging strategies. The proposed typology intends to help fashion marketers to model their fashion microblogs in order to increase the influence of social media marketing in Ireland and China. Furthermore, the proposed typology is applied to develop a digital artefact that not only can deal with Irish and Chinese fashion microblogs at the same time but also show the results employing text visualisation. This bilingual digital website tries to make up for the lack of attention to text analysis on fashion-related words in the development of text mining tools. Finally, the methodological combination of Text Mining and Netnography employs digital tools and computer programming to conduct studies in the field of arts and humanities. The success of methodological combination in the study opens up a bright prospect for interdisciplinary research methodology

An evaluation of the effects of user and marketer generated content on customer equity drivers in the context of the UK’s online-only fashion industry

This thesis evaluates the effects of user and marketer generated content on customer equity drivers in the context of the UK’s online-only fashion industry. Specifically, it conceptualises and presents a model which allows for the direct comparison of user and marketer generated content upon brand equity, relationship equity, and value equity, which are the drivers of customer equity. The use of mixed methods research strengthens the model, as the focus groups undertaken in phase one of the research add advertising scepticism and fashion involvement to the model as antecedents to user engagement with marketer and user generated content. The findings of the model demonstrate that these antecedents do influence user engagement with fashion-related social media. The model also demonstrates that both marketer and user generated content positively affect all three drivers of brand equity, however user generated content is shown to influence all three drivers more strongly