Evidence that user-generated content that produces engagement increases purchase behaviours

ABSTRACT

The use of social media environments that enable consumers to engage with a brand publicly is of increasing interest to marketers. In particular, contests in which consumers create user-generated content (UGC) offer the potential of actively engaging consumers with a brand and thereby directly affecting consumer purchases. This research demonstrates that prompting consumers to create UGC that engages consumers in actively thinking about or elaborating on a personal goal that is relevant to a brand does affect actual buying decisions. It shows that the impact of this engagement via content elaboration is not accounted for by mere participation in the social media activity or rewards offered to participants. The research adds to the growing literature on the importance of consumer engagement and validates the link between engagement and actual purchase behaviours.

KEYWORDS:

• User-generated content
• social media
• engagement
• elaboration likelihood model
• customer experience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

^1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_the_Super_Bowl.

^2. http://www.theguardian.com/media/blog/2009/aug/25/unilever-peperami-advertising-crowdsourcing.

^3. www.airmiles.ca.

^4. http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5983.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Edward C. Malthouse

Edward C Malthouse is the Sills Professor of Integrated Marketing Communication and Industrial Engineering and Management Science at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. He specialises in customer engagement, marketing analytics, and database marketing.

Bobby J. Calder

Bobby J Calder is Kellsdat Professor of Marketing and Psychology at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. He specializes in consumer psychology and branding, with a special interest in consumer experience and engagement marketing.

Su Jung Kim

Su Jung Kim (Ph.D., Northwestern University) is an assistant professor in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University. Her research centres around the use of big data in communication, advertising, and marketing. Her research interests include cross-platform media use and its effects, social media and electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM), and mobile customer engagement.

Mark Vandenbosch

Mark Vandenbosch is Associate Dean, Programs and Kraft Professor of Marketing at the Ivey Business School, Western University in Canada. His research interests centre around competitive strategy, product management, and loyalty research. His work has appeared in Marketing Science, Organization Science, Information Systems Research, Journal of Retailing and MIT Sloan Management Review.