Mediating impact of fan-page engagement on social media connectedness and followers purchase intention
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-05-2017-0150 |
| Date | 12 November 2018 |
| Published date | 12 November 2018 |
| Pages | 1082-1105 |
| Author | Zoha Rahman,Sedigheh Moghavvemmi,Kumaran Suberamanaian,Hasmah Zanuddin,Hairul Nizam Bin Md Nasir |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
Mediating impact of fan-page
engagement on social media
connectedness and followers
purchase intention
Zoha Rahman
Department of Media Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sedigheh Moghavvemmi
Department of Operation and Information Management System,
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kumaran Suberamanaian
Department of Indian Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Hasmah Zanuddin
Department of Media Studies,
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and
Hairul Nizam Bin Md Nasir
Department of Software Engineering, University of Malaya,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to identify the mediating effect of fan-page followers’engagement
activities and moderating role of followers’demographic profile and trust level on their purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach –This study utilised the customer engagement behaviour and consumer
involvement theory as a foundation to explore the impact of variables. Structural equation modelling was utilised
to test the modelwith the data collected from 307 Facebookfan pages’followers of five Malaysian companies.
Findings –It was shown that following fan pages will influence fan page engagement, which in turn affects
purchase intention and social media connectedness. Further analysis indicated that the impact of “follow”and
“engagement”on purchase intention differs between genders, ages, level of trust and income.
Research limitations/implications –The study serves as a basic fundamental guideline for academics
and researchers to interpret the concept of following fan pages and engagement actions and its effects on
purchase intention and social media connectivity, as well as opening a vast area of unexplored researches on
the subject of social media.
Practical implications –The research provides information for business-to-consumer companies in
utilising fan page based on user categories.
Originality/value –This study proposes the application of an empirically tested framework to the fan-page
follow actions. The authors argue that this framework can provide a useful foundation for future social
commerce research. The results would help academics be aware of fan page and its user’s engagement
actions, which will provide a new avenue of research.
Keywords Social media, Purchase intention, Fan page, Social media connectedness,
Social media engagement
Paper type Research paper
Online Information Review
Vol. 42 No. 7, 2018
pp. 1082-1105
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-05-2017-0150
Received 15 May 2017
Revised 8 October 2017
Accepted 28 December 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
This research is funded and supported by University Malaya Research Grant (UMRG) Project
No. RP024-15HNE) and PPP (Project No. PG182-2015A) Program of University of Malaya, Malaysia.
The authors would like to give our special thanks and gratitude to the University of Malaya Research Grant
Program for injecting financial support to have necessary research equipment, research-workers, research
assistants associated with this research.
1082
OIR
42,7
1. Introduction
Company fan pages are fast becoming a prominent marketing channel, due to their
contribution towards increasing sales (Chetna et al., 2016). Facebook pages results in more
selling opportunities for business to consumer (B2C) companies, as it increases web-traffic
(Matista, 2015). However, the mechanism of a fan page and its management remains obscure
(Benedikt and Werner, 2012), especially in the context of customer engagements (Benedikt and
Werner, 2012). Facebook marketers attempted to determine the value of Facebook fan and
determine whether joining a brand’s social network changes consumer behaviour ( Leslie et al.,
2017). Researchers are also interested in elucidating whether or not the positive associations
between following a brand on social media and consumer positive behaviour is causal
(Leslie et al., 2017). They are also interested in determining customer behaviour towards a
brand, as little is known about the relationship between consumers’brand “likes”on a social
network and their behaviour vis-à-vis a brand (Wallace et al., 2014; Ch etna et al., 2016).
Customer brandengagement (CBE) is the subjectof many research works.While the study
on CBE in a social media-based brand community, such as Facebook brand pages, began,
several research works were needed to help improve its understanding (Yap and Lee, 2014).
Most studies focussed on identifying factors associated with joining online communities
(Abeer and Abdelhamid, 2017), while others examined the implications of participation in
online brandcommunities in the context of consumerbehaviours, such as brand likingand the
intention to purchase (Úblová, 2014; Panos et al., 2015; Laurence et al., 2015; Abeer and
Abdelhamid, 2017; Chetna et al., 2016). Many researches w ere conducted on different pro duct
categories (Úblová, 2014; Angella and Kim, 2016; Constantinos et al., 2016) to identify the
impact of social media engagement, associal media reaches consumers at different phases of
the purchase funnel (Fulgoni and Lipsman, 2015). The subsequent results are important for
industrial players, as it increases their understanding of online consumer’s behaviour and
brand engagement. It will also create new knowledge that companies can use to improve its
marketing strategy (Schultz, 2016; Lisette et al., 2017).
Facebook is the most widely used social networking site by consumers (Schultz, 2016;
Hutter et al., 2013) and business owners. Of the Fortune 500 companies, a total of 348, or
70 per cent, are on Facebook (Barnes, 2014). Users of corporate fan pages are more
experienced, and recent studies suggested further research on Facebook brand page
community members (Wimmala et al., 2017), as the fans are the measure of its potential
(Naylor et al., 2012). Participation, “involvement”,orsimply,“membership”are issues that
most researches investigate, due to many works suggesting inherent differences between
active/passivefans (Úblová, 2014; Laurenceet al., 2015). However, not manystudies examined
fan engagement and their corresponding activities (Like, Share, Comments) and its effect on
the intention to purchase a brand (Abeer and Abdelhamid, 2017). Another important factor
that is fast gaining traction is the impact of trust on community engagement behaviour
(Li-Chun, 2017). A consumer’s trust on a retailer positively impact consumers’attitu des
toward the retailers’physical stores (Kim and Park, 2005), and further investigation,
particularly for online extensions, is strongly recommended (Yu-Teng et al., 2015).
Most companies utilise various online channels to connect to their customer, especially
social media. Schultz (2016) suggested that researches should address the interactions
between multiple social media across one or more levels as well. Furthermore, it is also vital
for the marketers todevelop a clear idea as to what extent each media platform (e.g. website,
Facebook, Twitter, television) interacts with others (Richard et al., 2011), or the connectedness
of social networking sites. This will create a clear picture of customer reaction to company
activities and new knowledge towards improving marketing strategies.
Taking into account previous researches, this study aims to examine the effect of
following fan pages on customer engagement, purchase intention and social media
connectedness among followers of fan pages. The study also aims to explore the mediating
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engagement
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