Unpackaging stakeholders’ motivation for participating in the social media of the higher education sector: A comparison of the European and US experience

Abstract

Purpose – Increasingly, universities are adopting social media as a strategy to improve their competitive advantage. However, little is known of whether or not stakeholders are actually engaging with universities in such online environments. The purpose of this paper is, first, to analyze the level of stakeholders’ engagement via social media, particularly Facebook, in European and US universities. Second, to examine the influencing factors that boost online interactions, in particular, “location,” “transparency,” “size,” “academic performance” and “activity.” Design/methodology/approach – An engagement index and a multivariate regression analysis were carried out. Regarding the sample, European and US universities belonging to the “Top 100” of the Academic Ranking of World Universities were analyzed. Findings – Despite the large online community that US universities possess, European universities attain the higher level of online engagement from its stakeholders. In particular, the greatest level of engagement is achieved by European universities of greater size, in terms of students, with lower academic performance and a lower level of online activity. Social implications – This study contributes to existing literature by identifying the actual social impact of social media to build successful relationships with the stakeholders of higher education entities. Originality/value – This paper can contribute to the current scarcity of literature concerning social media to improve new models of accountability in higher education entities with different managerial models.