Measuring Customer Engagement in Social Media Marketing: A Higher-Order Model

Abstract

Customer engagement has emerged as a vital component in social media marketing strategies, prompting considerable interest from both marketers and academics. This study investigates customer engagement (CE) in a framework that includes three antecedents and a main outcome (loyalty). Based on the survey method, we test a proposed model on social media users. The data analysis focuses on exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, as well as structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses, and a multi-group analysis. The results validate CE as a multidimensional construct and support all hypotheses of the conceptual model. As key contributions, the study reveals involvement as the strongest antecedent of customer engagement and emphasizes the importance of CE in predicting and fostering customer loyalty. This paper adds to the existing body of knowledge on customer–brand relationships by establishing the main drivers for customer engagement in digital settings, with valuable theoretical and practical perspectives. Finally, our findings provide managerial recommendations on the development of social media marketing strategies conveyed to enhance customer engagement.

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