A new study has revealed that those who had less experience with sharing on social media were more likely to show positive shifts after social media engagement with a brand. The findings by Benjamin Johnson, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Advertising associate professor, and Judith Rosenbaum from the University of Maine were featured in “Sharing Brands on Social Media: The Roles of Behavioral Commitment and Modality in Identity Shift” published in the International Journal of Consumer Studies on Oct. 3.

According to the authors, “We report on two experiments where participants used their social media accounts to interact with real brands. We tested whether making a visible commitment to a brand was more consequential for attitudes than only thinking about interaction with the brand. Our prediction was that commitment leads to more ’shift’ in attitudes, especially if the brand is connected to the self-concept. The studies tested behavior versus thought, and the potential for positive attitude change. We also looked at how types of engagement (likes vs. shares) and platform (Facebook vs. Twitter) might make a difference.”

They add, “Overall, we found that a single interaction had very small and limited effects. But we did detect that sharing was more effortful for participants; people avoided sharing or even thinking about sharing compared to liking a post. The platform also mattered. If people shared a brand’s post on Facebook, or liked it on Twitter, that led to more positive brand attitudes than liking on Facebook or sharing on Twitter. Finally, we saw that people who had less experience with sharing in the past were more likely to show positive shifts after social media engagement with a brand.”

Posted: October 18, 2022
Category: College News
Tagged as: Benjamin Johnson