ABSTRACT Background: The marketing efforts made by firms have been forced to change dramatically during the past year as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Online communication and social media platforms have seen a boom in users and firms have been forced to switch both their sales and marketing efforts to the online world. By applying the definition and observable characteristics of Social Media Marketing Strategies (SMMS) in combination with Consumer Engagement Theory, the authors of this paper aim to explore which strategies have been applied by three IKEA Instagram accounts and how social media users are reacting to these applied SMMSs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Problem: It has previously been suggested to conduct further studies on the combination of social media and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in order to help firms develop stronger and more meaningful consumer relationships. Researchers further suggest that there is a current research gap regarding the factors which might influence user-generated content (such as comments), positive Word of Mouth (WoM) and brand engagement among social media users. Further it was recognized that social media reaches across national borders which leaves room for cross-cultural research to be made on the following consequences.  Purpose: The exploratory purpose of this study aims in developing a deeper understanding of the applied SMMSs by firms and the resulting consumer engagement as well as social media user’s reactions to those strategies. Research Questions: “What social media marketing strategies (SMMSs) are IKEA applying during the COVID-19 pandemic?” and, “How do social media users respond to IKEA’s social media marketing strategies (SMMSs) during the COVID-19 Pandemic?” Method: With a relativist ontology and social constructionist epistemology, the study inductively explores the SMMSs applied by three Instagram accounts from the retailer IKEA in Australia, UK and Sweden. Through a case study-approach and the application of qualitative content analysis, the accounts have been analyzed and coded separately by two independent researchers. Intercoder reliability was measured between the researchers through Cohen’s Kappa. The findings from each case were then compared in a cross-case analysis. Practical Implications: This research will help marketing managers by providing insights into how consumers respond and perceive different SMMS during the COVID-19 pandemic and to enhance their consumer engagement by adapting an appropriate communication strategy to reach their business objectives. Result and Conclusions: Within the chosen timeframe of 6 months during COVID-19, the analyzed IKEA accounts applied disparate SMMS, namely, ‘Social Commerce Strategy’, ‘Social Content Analysis’ and ‘Social Monitoring Strategy’. The Instagram users' reactions differed across the three accounts, where the strategy which received the most positive consumer reactions, as well as the highest level of consumer engagement, was the ‘Social Content Strategy’ which was applied by IKEA Australia. Thus, the findings suggest that the three Instagram accounts apply unique SMMSs adapted to each country and thus achieve distinctive results in terms of consumer engagement.

Background: Sustainability within the skincare industry is an important theme in marketing research. Sustainability sells, but it is necessary to understand how brands can drive consumer engagement on Instagram by using certain appeals. As social media has revolutionized the way consumers interact with brands, engaging online today represents a fundamental factor for a company’s success. Consequently, this study explored in particular CBE of green skincare brands with regards to female European millennials. As we were the first to research the context of three highly relevant fields in today’s time, which are sustainability, Instagram and skincare in the European setting, we contribute with new significant findings. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand which appeals drive millennial’s CBE of green skincare brands on Instagram. Thus, particularly green company-created content was examined. Method: The method chosen to answer our study purpose was semi-structured interviews. Therefore, 18 female European millennials have been interviewed to understand their thoughts and opinions concerning our purpose. Hence our study was based on an interpretivist philosophy while an inductive approach was followed. In addition, deductive elements loosely framed this qualitative study, given existing literature in respective fields of this research. Finally, we concluded this study with a conceptual framework, created upon our empirical findings. Conclusion: The results show that in specific three different types of appeals could be identified to drive CBE of green skincare brands on Instagram. These are Affective, Identification, Spokesperson & Trust as well as Factual. With regards to our CBE conceptualization, these three themes all drive CBE to a different extent in terms of cognitive processing, affectionand activation. All in all, this study could identify Affective to be the most relevant appeal in terms of driving CBE as well as affection being the only CBE dimension, which can be driven by all three themes. Green skincare brands can use these findings to understand which appeals drive engagement while also raising awareness around sustainability-related topics.

Background: Looking at many different studies, it’s known that the topics mentioned before are well researched. However, there are not many cases of brand community and customer engagement like the one with Estrella Damm. That’s why the authors wanted to work on the combination of all of them with the use of the company Estrella Damm, as they are highly involved in its community and it has made a big change in the last few years. Going from a brand of living life to a brand that generates consciousness about the Mediterranean Sea. Purpose: The purpose of the following research is to demonstrate that by putting into a side the brand's product the researchers can feel engaged through the actions they have. The objective is to answer the question; “How do consumers get engaged in a brand community? The case of Estrella Damm”. Method: For this qualitative study, case study and autoethnography methods were used to analyze in-depth the research question due to the deep knowledge of how this engages since the researchers are part of its brand community. These methods are the most appropriate since the analyzed brand is focused on creating awareness of the Mediterranean contamination, and the researchers know first-hand the engagement with the brand. Thus, a case study of this company, and with the support of the autoethnography of the authors, permit to develop as properly as possible study. Conclusion: Consumers get engaged in a brand community through different actions the company makes. In this study, the main factor of being engaged involves the company showing to the consumer that it is not only focused on its product/service, but is using its influence and power to improve social and environmental welfare, and thus, the company gets an engaged and committed consumer in its community.

While beauty brands are often known to set industry trends, the consumers pave the way forbranding communications on social media. Companies have adapted their marketing strategies tobuild interactivity into their branding outreach. Therefore, this study answers the question, “Howdo beauty brands utilize consumer posts to convey branding messages?” To answer this, acontent analysis was performed using two sets of data: brand posts (n=314) from July 2019 andJanuary 2020, and consumer posts (n=100) which tagged the beauty brands. Using consumerculture theory, the study examines several themes, including branding messages, consumerengagement, and brand authenticity. Results reveal that beauty brands typically use consumerproducedcontent to convey experiential or user-centered branding messages, while companyproducedcontent most often includes informative and emotional messages. Further discussed isthe inclusion of Calls-to-Action (CTAs) which brands use to encourage user engagement. Thisstudy found a significant correlation between posts with CTAs and increased numbers in Likesand comments; however, these numbers are often misleading and represent manufacturedengagement. At the same time, users were found to engage more with the brands whenincentives or self-promotion opportunities were available.

The term of "consumer engagement" is extensively used in the digital era. It is believed that engaged consumers play an important role in products/services referral and recommendation, new product/service development and experience/value co-creation. Although the notion of consumer engagement sounds compelling, it is not fully developed in theory. Different interpretations coexist, resulting in confusion and misuse of the concept. This study attempts to define consumer engagement and develop a conceptual framework of consumer engagement, addressing antecedents of consumer engagement in online context. Moreover, some situational and social media usage-related factors are incorporated into the framework. A set of propositions are presented based on literature review and the conceptual framework to illustrate the relationship between consumer engagement and related factors. To provide empirical evidence for the conceptual model, an online survey is conducted. Participants complete the self-administered survey by answering questions concerning their online experience with the travel-related social media website they visit most. Two-step structural equation modeling is employed to analyze the data. The results show that both community experience and community identification have significant and positive relationship with consumer engagement. Community experience is also a strong predictor of community identification. Attitude toward using social media and travel involvement influence the relationship between consumer engagement and its antecedents. With focus on the interactive and experiential nature of consumer engagement, this study expands current understanding of consumer engagement and provides insights for hospitality and tourism businesses regarding how to engage consumers through travel-related social media.

Online behavioral targeting (OBT) are customized ad messages based on personal information to enhance advertising effectiveness. Greater personalization typically increases relevance but is also told to cause privacy concerns. This study examines the constructs of advertising engagement and advertising avoidance on Instagram. Using the Critical Incident Technique, it identifies a typology of the three antecedents of both engagement and avoidance: relevance, degree of personalization and traceability of data source. While a high degree of personalization and relevance was found to be prevalent in both engagement and avoidance scenarios, tractability of data source was identified as an ethical boundary for research subjects and a decisive criterium in whether privacy concerns were being raised. The results propose common trigger combinations for both engagement and avoidance scenarios, yet there are cases falling outside the norm with suggests that acceptance and reactions to OBT is a highly complex construct were many external variables and as well as personal character traits might be at play. / Online beteendeinriktning (OBT) är anpassade annonsmeddelanden baserat på personlig information för att förbättra reklameffektiviteten. Större personalisering ökar vanligtvis relevansen men indikerar också att orsaka integritetsproblem. Denna studie undersöker konstruktioner av reklamengagemang och reklamundvikande på Instagram. Med den kritiska incidenttekniken identifieras en typologi av de tre föregångarna för både engagemang och undvikande: relevans, grad av personalisering och spårbarhet av datakällan. Emedan en hög grad av personalisering och relevans befanns vara vanligt i både engagemangs- och undvikelsesscenarier, identifierades datakällans spårbarhet som en etisk gräns för forskningsämnen och ett avgörande kriterium för huruvida integritetshänsyn togs upp eller inte. Resultaten föreslår vanliga utlösarkombinationer för både engagemangs- och undvikelsesscenarier, men det existerar fall som faller utanför normen men antyder att acceptans och reaktioner på OBT är en mycket komplex konstruktion där många externa variabler och personliga karaktärsdrag står på spel.

Yes / This special issue of the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services aims to bring together a variety of disciplines and a scholarly community for the advancement of knowledge regarding practice and research related to digital and social media marketing. Accordingly, the special issue includes papers using a variety of theories, research methods, contexts, and conceptualizations to enrich our understanding of digital and social media marketing from consumer and practitioner perspectives. The thirteen articles accepted for inclusion in this special issue are summarised in this editorial introduction.

The concept of the sharing economy has gained increased attention among academicresearch and practitioners alike. The sharing economy presents a shift from the traditionalcommerce way of business to a more collaborative sharing of resources. Companies suchas Uber, Airbnb and TaskRabbit have contributed to the raising popularity of sharingservices, by providing consumers with a platform to engage in peer-to-peer sharing. Inaddition, Web 2.0 has proven to be an essential factor in the rigorous growth of the sharingeconomy among consumers, by connecting them and enabling consumer engagement.Despite academic researchers devoting more attention to the sharing economy, there hasbeen a lack of research addressing specific influences that Web 2.0 has on the consumerin the sharing economy. In order to fill this gap, this research seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the consumerperspective by providing valuable insights into how Web 2.0 affects consumer behaviorwithin the sharing economy. Therefore, this research first aims to identify the aspects thatdrive consumers to consider the sharing economy as an alternative to traditional options.Following this, the research intends to uncover how both companies and peer consumersin the sharing economy attempt to influence potential consumers’ consideration of asharing option. Finally, it is equally important to highlight how participation and Web 2.0affects the outcomes. To fulfill this purpose, a qualitative study has been conducted among users of the sharingeconomy. The sample group for the semi-structured interviews was selected based ontheir shared characteristic of belonging to Generation Y and having used a sharing optionin the past. In order to add a degree of credibility to our findings, a product manager fromthe sharing economy shared comments and insights in regards to the data gathered duringthe interviews. Several themes were derived from the gathered data through the analysis and discussionin regards to the drivers, influencing factors and outcomes of the participation in thesharing economy. In terms of the drivers, the first theme is financial considerations, whoseimportance is dependent on the nature of the sharing option. The second theme is the needfor experience, which includes authentic and local experiences. Finally, the theme ofsecurity considerations is concerned with the perception of risk of participation in thesharing economy. Within the company influencing factors, the first theme of onlinemarketing is subjected to factors such as presentation and delivery which affect thecredibility of these activities. Meanwhile, the second theme of consumer referral systemsenjoys more credibility due to the overwhelming involvement of peers. On the other hand,influences by other consumers show the importance of trust in peers through eWOM,including reviews and recommendations, as part of the identified receiving consumerengagement theme. The final influencing factors are part of the third-party theme, whichincludes the importance of online news and pop culture as a source of awareness. Lastly,the identified themes in terms of outcomes after participating in the sharing economyrevolve around the change in concerns regarding risk and uncertainty, which affect thedegree of online trust. Finally, the creating consumer engagement theme shows that thequality of the sharing experience motivates the consideration to engage in eWOM and inturn become an advocate for sharing options.

Considering social media’s widespread marketing possibilities this study aims at investigating consumer engagement across YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and how luxury fashion brands can produce such activities on their corporate social media pages. Through applying a mixed method combining both social media data collection together with conducting a content analysis, both quantitative and qualitative measurements were attained. This to provide a deeper understanding when analyzing actual consumer engagement efforts and what role brands’ content strategies play in encouraging these activities. The results confirmed some expectations of the heterogeneous nature of social media as the level of consumer engagement showed to vary notably between both platforms and brands. More so, the results in the current study were not able to confirm any great effects of firm engagement having a direct effect on consumer engagement, instead response and interaction seems to be strictly related to content and product factors. In turn, these factors in relation to aspects such as the psychological state of mind, social, emotional and behavioral aspects showed to be encouraging added consumer engagement.

abstract: In two thematically related chapters, I explore the benefits incurred as companies actively respond to consumers who share positive word of mouth in digital environments (eWOM). This research takes a multi-method approach by first addressing the psychological impact of company response on the sharing consumer, followed by an examination of real behavioral consequences in a social media setting. Across six studies in Chapter 1, I find support for a conceptual model indicating that consumers who receive a company response to their positive eWOM experience greater satisfaction compared to no response, leading to increased intentions to engage in future positive eWOM on behalf of the company, both through social media and online review websites. Furthermore, I find that consumer perceptions of response personalization lead to judgments of company effort and that these two elements mediate the effect of response on consumer satisfaction. In Chapter 2, using a dataset of firm responses to positive consumer feedback on Twitter (tweets) from 79 apparel retailers, I find that company responses to positive consumer tweets can generate consumer engagement behavior in the form of continued interaction. Company responses that use consumer-oriented language increase the likelihood of consumer interactivity. However, this effectiveness depends on whether the consumer's audience is the company or their broader network of followers. I also show that, in some conditions, companies achieve higher consumer engagement by personalizing responses with the consumer's name. Together, the findings from these two chapters point to the need for companies to strategically practice positive eWOM management, both to promote consumer engagement behaviors and to avoid the negative outcomes associated with unresponsiveness. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2017