Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
##common.pageHeaderLogo.altText##

Articles

Vol. 9 No. 1 (2022): Volume 9 Issue 1

Sensitive to Sources: Generation Z Consumers’ Engagement Practices on Social Media

  • Petra Audy Martínek
Submitted
March 24, 2022
Published
2022-03-24

Abstract

Branded communication on social media faces new challenges as consumers from Generation Z intentionally keep their engagement practices from the social media metrics. This study seeks to uncover their hidden behaviours in relation to branded content on social media and explore the role of the source of the message in consumer engagement practices.  Drawing on the analysis of 134 hours of screen recordings from smartphones and PCs of 15 participants, 15 in-depth interviews and 185 questionnaires, the article proposes two contributions. First, it presents a taxonomy of non-measured consumer engagement practices on social media and outlines different motives behind each of those practices. Second, using this classification of practices, it explores the role of the source and concludes that specific combinations of promotion factors affect consumer’s engagement practices towards social media branded content posts. 

References

  1. Asmussen, B., Wider, S., Williams, R., Stevenson, N., Whitehead, E. and Canter, A., 2016. Defining Branded Content for the Digital Age. The industry experts’ views on branded content as a new marketing communications concept. A collaborative research project commissioned by the BCMA and conducted by Oxford Brookes University and Ipsos MORI.
  2. Audy Martínek, P., 2021. Mapping methods of research on consumer engagement with brands on social media: A literature review. Methodological Innovations.
  3. Azar, S. L., Machado, J. C., Vacas-de-Carvalho, L. and Mendes, A., 2016. Motivations to interact with brands on Facebook – Towards a typology of consumer–brand interactions. Journal of Brand Management, 23(2), 153–178.
  4. Bainotti, L., Caliandro, A. and Gandini, A., 2020. From archive cultures to ephemeral content, and back: studying Instagram Stories with digital methods. New Media & Society.
  5. Barger, V., Peltier, J. and Schultz, D., 2016. Social media and consumer engagement: A review and research agenda. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 10.
  6. Boccia Artieri, G., Brilli, S., and Zurovac, E., 2021. Below the Radar: Private Groups, Locked Platforms, and Ephemeral Content—Introduction to the Special Issue. Social media + Society.
  7. Brodie, R. J., Ilic, A., Juric, B., and Hollebeek, L., 2013. Consumer Engagement in a Virtual Brand Community: An Exploratory Analysis. Journal of Business Research, 66 (1), 105–14.
  8. Caliandro, A., 2018. Digital Methods for Ethnography: Analytical Concepts for Ethnographers Exploring Social Media Environments. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 47(5), 551-578.
  9. Caliandro, A. and Gandini, A., 2017. Qualitative research in digital environments: A Research Toolkit. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
  10. Chen, H., 2017. College-Aged Young Consumers' Perceptions of Social Media Marketing: The Story of Instagram. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 39(1), 22–36.
  11. Djafarova, E. and Bowes, T., 2021. ‘Instagram made Me buy it’: Generation Z impulse purchases in fashion industry. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 59, 102345.
  12. Duffy, B., Shrimpton, H., Clemence, H., Thomas, F., Whyte-Smith, H. and Abboud, T., 2018. Ipsos Thinks: Beyond Binary: The lives and choices of Generation Z. Ipsos MORI. Available from https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/2018-08/ipsos_-_beyond_binary_-_the_lives_and_choices_of_gen_z.pdf [Accessed 10 May 2021].
  13. Eigenraam, A. W., Eelen, J., van Lin, A., and Verlegh, P. W., 2018. A Consumer-based Taxonomy of Digital Customer Engagement Practices. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 44, 102–121.
  14. Francis, T. and Hoefel, F., 2020. 'True Gen': Generation Z and its implications for companies. McKinsey & Company. Available from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for-companies [Accessed 10 May 2021].
  15. Gutfreund, J., 2016. Move over, Millennials: Generation Z is changing the consumer landscape. Journal of Brand Strategy, 5(3).
  16. Hollebeek, L. D., Srivastava, R. K. and Chen, T., 2018. Correction to: S-D logic–informed customer engagement: integrative framework, revised fundamental propositions, and application to CRM. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47(1), 186–186.
  17. Kawaf, F., 2019. Capturing digital experience: The method of screencast videography. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 36(2), 169–184.
  18. Lasswell, H. D., 1948. The Structure and Function of Communication in Society. The Communication of Ideas: A Series of Addresses, L. Bryson, ed., New York: Institute for Religious and Social Studies, 37–51.
  19. McGuire, W. J., 1989. Theoretical Foundations of Campaigns Public Communication Campaigns, 2nd ed., R. E. Rice and C. K. Atkins, eds., Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 43–65.
  20. Muntinga, D. G., Moorman, M., and Smit, E. G., 2011. Introducing COBRAs. International Journal of Advertising, 30(1), 13–46.
  21. Rogers, R., 2013. Digital Methods. Cambridge: MIT Press.
  22. Rogers, R., 2017. Foundations of Digital Methods: Query Design. In M. T. Schäfer, & K. van Es (Eds.), The Datafied Society: Studying Culture through Data, 75-94. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
  23. Rudolph, C. W., Rauvola, R. S., Costanza, D. P. and Zacher, H., 2020. Generations and Generational Differences: Debunking Myths in Organizational Science and Practice and Paving New Paths Forward. Journal of business and psychology, 1–23.
  24. Syrdal, H., Briggs, E., 2018. Engagement with Social Media Content: A Qualitative Exploration. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 26(1-2), 4-22.
  25. van Doorn, J., Lemon, K. N., Mittal, V., Nass, S., Pick, D., Pirner, P. and Verhoef, P. C., 2010. Customer Engagement Behavior: Theoretical Foundations and Research Directions. Journal of Service Research, 13(3), 253–266.
  26. Vivek, S. D., Beatty, S. E., Dalela, V. and Morgan, R. M., 2014. A Generalised Multidimensional Scale for Measuring Customer Engagement. The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 22(4), 401–420.
  27. Voorveld, H. A. M., 2019. Brand Communication in Social Media: A Research Agenda, Journal of Advertising, 48(1), 14-26.