Purpose Hospitality and tourism brands face the challenge of effectively building customer engagement (CE) on social media. Drawing on social psychology theories of influence, this study aims to examine how reciprocity and social proof affect hotels’ Facebook CE performance and tests the moderating effect of gender on these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 360 participants in an online experimental survey (Study 1) and from 110 participants in a subsequent eye-tracking study (Study 2). Findings Results reveal that the impact of influence tactics on online CE performance varies by gender and across measures, including behavioral intention, attention and trust. Overall, the eye-tracking study’s findings align more closely with the research hypotheses regarding attention. Research limitations/implications Results suggest that the effectiveness of engagement tactics depends on specific business goals, offering valuable insights for designing targeted social media strategies and future research. Originality/value This study advances understanding of firm-led CE strategies in hotel brands’ social media by exploring the interplay of reciprocity, social proof and gender. The findings advocate for methodological designs that incorporate objective data in future CE research.
Wang et al. (2026) studied this question.