ABSTRACT Brands use social media to engage consumers in all stages of the customer journey. Prior work on consumer engagement with brand-generated content on social networking sites has not taken into account the different needs and gratifications sought by consumers during consecutive stages of customer journeys over time. We propose that what drives consumer engagement with brand posts on social networking sites is contingent on the stage of the customer journey. We test our hypotheses by analyzing over 24,000 brand posts by event organizers on Facebook. Adopting a multilevel approach, we find that informative posts generate more Likes, shares, and comments in the preconsumption stage, whereas entertaining posts generate more consumer engagement in the postconsumption stage. A higher degree of activation in brand posts is associated with higher engagement in the pre- and postconsumption stage but not in the consumption stage. Finally, we find support for an optimal level of vividness during all stages of the customer journey. These findings suggest that brands can benefit from adapting their content on social networking sites to the stage of the customer journey over time. On a theoretical level, this study deepens the understanding of how brands’ activities on social networking sites drive consumer engagement throughout the customer journey and offers an empirical link between the domains of customer journeys and consumer engagement.

中文翻译：

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消费者在客户旅程的连续阶段与社交媒体上的品牌帖子互动

摘要 品牌使用社交媒体在客户旅程的所有阶段吸引消费者。之前关于消费者在社交网站上参与品牌生成内容的工作没有考虑到消费者在客户旅程的连续阶段随时间推移所寻求的不同需求和满足。我们建议，推动消费者在社交网站上与品牌帖子互动的因素取决于客户旅程的阶段。我们通过分析活动组织者在 Facebook 上发布的 24,000 多条品牌帖子来检验我们的假设。采用多层次的方法，我们发现信息性帖子在消费前阶段会产生更多的喜欢、分享和评论，而娱乐性帖子在消费后阶段会产生更多的消费者参与度。品牌帖子中更高程度的激活与消费前和消费后阶段的更高参与度相关，但与消费阶段无关。最后，我们在客户旅程的所有阶段找到了对最佳生动程度的支持。这些发现表明，随着时间的推移，品牌可以通过调整社交网站上的内容以适应客户旅程的阶段而受益。在理论层面上，这项研究加深了对品牌在社交网站上的活动如何在整个客户旅程中推动消费者参与的理解，并提供了客户旅程和消费者参与领域之间的经验联系。这些发现表明，随着时间的推移，品牌可以通过调整社交网站上的内容以适应客户旅程的阶段而受益。在理论层面上，这项研究加深了对品牌在社交网站上的活动如何在整个客户旅程中推动消费者参与的理解，并提供了客户旅程和消费者参与领域之间的经验联系。这些发现表明，随着时间的推移，品牌可以通过调整社交网站上的内容以适应客户旅程的阶段而受益。在理论层面上，这项研究加深了对品牌在社交网站上的活动如何在整个客户旅程中推动消费者参与的理解，并提供了客户旅程和消费者参与领域之间的经验联系。