Author(s): Kashika Chadha, Yukti Ahuja
Social media's advent has enabled a paradigm revolution in online consumer behavior, altering the ways of consumer-brand interaction. Consumer Brand Engagement (CBE) on Social Media (SM) has been widely embraced by marketing practitioners and consultants; despite having enormous potential of this concept, research on CBE is still in its infancy. This study conceptualizes CBE by looking at the drivers behind users' social media time, the aspects of CBE on social media and the effects of CBE on marketing outcomes. The study adds to the body of research by elucidating a distinct conceptual framework for CBE by simultaneously examining the causes and consequences of engagement. By putting out a conceptual model for a theoretical explanation of Social Media Engagement (SME), this research fills this knowledge vacuum by using the uses and gratification theory on several dimensions of consumer engagement (COBRAs) and the impact of COBRAs on marketing outcomes (brand equity and purchase intention). In addition to helping managers create and preserve customer associations with the brand, this work would help future scholars comprehend the theoretical underpinnings of Consumer Engagement (CE).