How does marketers’ and users’ content on corporate Facebook fan pages influence brand equity?

Abstract

There is scarce empirical research devoted to understanding if and how the social media efforts of brands have economically significant effects that reach beyond the online environment. Based on 2211 brand posts from 36 international brands, published on their corporate Facebook fan pages, this study analyses the influence of marketers’ and users’ content on brand equity. Content on Facebook is examined on three separate dimensions: content quality, content valence, and content volume. This study extends previous literature by: (1) accounting not only for brand posts but also for user content; (2) jointly considering quality, valence, and volume dimensions to assess Facebook content; and (3) analysing the effects of such content beyond the online environment on brand equity. The findings confirm that all dimensions of Facebook content considered here have significant effects on brand equity. Important research and managerial implications are derived for improving content on social networking sites.