Customer engagement behaviour in online social networks - the Facebook perspective

Online social networking has become an essential part of our daily life. It also has changed the way consumers receive and exchange company or brand-specific information. Accordingly, online social networking platforms have turned into an essential hub for companies to reach (potential) customers. Though, little is known about the features of customer engagement behaviour in online social media. Applying an extended model based on the theory of planned behaviour and social practice, this study contributes to an improved understanding of both antecedents and moderators of consumers’ interactions with companies and brands on Facebook. Structural equation modelling is applied to analyse the data that were collected by means of an online questionnaire (N = 358). Results confirm the suggested model and show that consumer’s self-brand relationship and interactions with friends affect customer engagement behaviour. Furthermore, moderating effects of trust, information privacy concerns, age and gender are confirmed.