Marketing a health Brand on Facebook: Effects of reaction icons and user comments on brand attitude, trust, purchase intention, and eWOM intention

Abstract

This study examined effects of Facebook reaction icons and user comments on brand attitude, trust, information seeking, purchase intention, and eWOM intention towards a health brand, as well as potential moderating effects of SNS use. Results of a 3 (reaction icons: positive/neutral/negative) × 3 (valence of comments: positive/neutral/negative) between-subjects experiment (N = 306) indicated that positive Facebook reaction icons significantly influenced brand attitude, trust, purchase intention, and eWOM intention, while neutral comments significantly impacted brand attitude and trust. The degree of SNS use also negatively moderated between reaction icon valence and eWOM intention. Implications for health marketing communication are discussed.

Keywords:

• eWOM intention
• Facebook reaction icons
• health brand product post
• social media

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yen-I Lee

Yen-I Lee (Ph.D., University of Georgia) is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. Her primary research is in the areas of health communication and strategic public relations, focusing on the role of messaging content, technology use, attention, and emotions in the context of health crisis and risk communication.

Joe Phua

Joe Phua (Ph.D., University of Southern California) is an Associate Professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. His research is in the areas of digital advertising, health, and strategic communication.

Tai-Yee Wu

Tai-Yee Wu (Ph.D., University of Connecticut) is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Communication Studies at National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan. He is interested in the use of new communication technologies and the effects of such use. His current work largely focuses on the practices of user-generated content on a variety of communication-related topics, including news discussions (online news comments), online marketing (consumer product reviews), and health campaign strategies.