Boosting eWOM through Social Media Brand Page Engagement: The Mediating Role of Self-Brand Connection

The present study’s objective is to investigate the influence of active and passive social media brand page engagement on eWOM, via self-brand connection. To accomplish this objective, an online survey was conducted among a sample of Facebook users from Romania, Facebook being the most popular social network worldwide, and Romania being an adequate representation of a European developing country. To assess the proposed research model, we used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Our results show that social media brand page engagement, either passive or active, has a positive impact eWOM, both directly and indirectly, via self-brand connection. Additionally, our research reveals that the two types of social media brand page engagement generate eWOM distinctly: although passive engagement has a considerably stronger direct influence on self-brand connection, active engagement is equally influential for both self-brand connection and eWOM. However, due to the mediating role of self-brand connection, the total effect on eWOM is relatively equal for both passive and active engagement. The research provides practical implications for social media marketers, emphasizing the importance of increasing consumers’ engagement with social media brand pages for generating eWOM and, consequently, to attract new customers and to reinforce brand loyalty for existing ones.