To post or not to post: Exploring the motivations behind brand-related engagement types on social networking sites

This study investigates consumer motivations behind brand-related engagement on social media by exploring three different engagement types: consuming, contributing (to), and creating. Previous research suggests that many brands seek to engage with consumers via communications on social networking sites, however, most focus on quantitative metrics and measurement tools to evaluate such behaviour and so offer limited understanding and guidance. To address this gap the current study utilises a mixed-method approach to investigates the motivations behind each brand-related engagement type to provide deeper insight into what motivates consumers to engage with brand-related posts on social networking sites. This study also aims to investigate the motivations between different engagement types exist, and whether these vary between brands and other people's brandrelated posts.