'Retweet for a Chance to…': an analysis of what triggers consumers to engage in seeded eWOM on Twitter. Issue 13 (2nd September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Soboleva, Alena; Burton, Suzan; Mallik, Girijasankar; Khan, Aila
• Is Part Of: Journal of marketing management. Volume 33:Issue 13/14(2017)
• Page Start: 1120
• Page End: 1148
• Publication Date: 2017-09-02
• Subjects: Retweet -- seeded eWOM -- product involvement -- hashtags -- mentions; Marketing -- Management -- Periodicals; Marketing -- Management; Periodicals; 658.8005
• DOI: 10.1080/0267257X.2017.1369142
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0267-257X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Twitter provides an important channel for brands to seed electronic word of mouth (eWOM) by followers retweeting brand messages, but prior research has not established a theoretical framework for how brands can maximise eWOM. This study presents and tests a theoretical model incorporating interactive, textual and visual tweet features to predict eWOM, using tweets by leading brands from three industries. Industry was found to be an important moderator of the effect of tweet features; after controlling for the reach and frequency of tweets, hashtags, retweet requests and photos were consistently associated with a higher retweet rate across industries, but the effect of URL links, non-initial mentions and video varied across industries, in some cases decreasing the retweet rate. Implications for research and practice are discussed.