Abstract
This paper explores customer engagement in online brand communities and identifies best practices to enhance customer engagement in social media marketing contexts. Drawing on a case study of 30 full service network carrier Facebook communities, the findings demonstrate that customer engagement levels of a majority of these airlines are low, i.e. customers are only marginally or passively engaged. The findings also highlight distinct patterns of customer engagement behaviour among the top three airlines, whose customers are highly engaged. Through proposing a customer engagement measurement framework, this paper contributes to methods of measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing efforts. It suggests that one of the best ways to motivate customers to engage with brands is to create a good mix of marketing content that includes: relevant brand-focus information, entertainment, awards, and tips.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Brodie, R. J., Hollebeek, L. D., Juri, B., & Ilic, A. (2011). Customer engagement: Conceptual domain, fundamental propositions, and implications for research.
Brodie, R. J., Ilic, A., Juric, B., & Hollebeek, L. (2013). Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 105–114.
Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2011). Chapter 12. Content analysis. In A. Bryman, & E. Bell (Eds.), Business research methods (3rd ed., pp. 288–310). New York: Oxford University Press.
Cabiddu, F., Carlo, M. D., & Piccoli, G. (2014). Social media affordances: Enabling customer engagement. Annals of Tourism Research, 48, 175–192.
Calder, B. J., Isaac, M., & Malthouse, E. C. (2013). Taking the customer’s point-of-view: Engagement or satisfaction? Working Paper Series, Report No.13, 1–35.
Caliesch, D., & Liebrich, A. (2011). Organisational challenges of using social media marketing: The case of two network carriers. In P. Keller & C. Laesser (Eds.), New challenges for tourism promotion: Tackling high competition and multimedia changes (pp. 71–84). Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag.
Capa Center for Aviation (2013). World aviation yearbook 2013: Global overview. Retrieved from http://centreforaviation.com/reports/files/29/CAPA%20Yearbook%202013%20-%20Global.pdf.
Chan, N. L., & Guillet, B. D. (2011). Investigation of social media marketing: How does the hotel industry in Hong Kong perform in marketing on social media websites? Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 28(4), 345–368.
de Vries, L., Gensler, S., & Leeflang, P. S. H. (2012). Popularity of brand posts on brand fan pages: An investigation of the effects of social media marketing. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 26(2), 83–91.
Dessart, L., Veloutsou, C., & Morgan-Thomas, A. (2015). Consumer engagement in online brand communities: A social media perspective. The Journal of Product and Brand Management, 24(1), 28–42.
Facebook (2016). News Room. Retrieved from http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/.
Fisher, T. (2009). ROI in social media: A look at the arguments. Journal of Database Marketing; Customer Strategy Management, 16(3), 189–195.
Gamboa, A. M., & Goncalves, H. M. (2014). Customer loyalty through social networks: Lessons from Zara on Facebook. Business Horizons, 57(6), 709–717.
Grančay, M. (2014). Airline Facebook pages—a content analysis. European Transport Research Review, 6(3), 213–223.
Gummerus, J., Liljander, V., Weman, E., & Pihlström, M. (2012). Customer engagement in a Facebook brand community. Management Research Review, 35(9), 857–877.
Hennig-Thurau, T., Gwinner, K. P., Walsh, G., & Gremler, D. D. (2004). Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: What motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the Internet? Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18(1), 38–52.
Hoffman, D. L., & Fodor, M. (2010). Can you measure the ROI of your social media marketing? MIT Sloan Management Review, 52(1), 41–49.
Hollebeek, L. D., Conduit, J., & Brodie, R. J. (2016). Strategic drivers, anticipated and unanticipated outcomes of customer engagement. Journal of Marketing Management, 32(5–6), 393–398.
Horn, I. S., Taros, T., Dirkes, S., Hüer, L., Rose, M., Tietmeyer, R., et al. (2015). Business reputation and social media: A primer on threats and responses. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 16(16), 193–208.
Hvass, K. A., & Munar, A. M. (2012). The takeoff of social media in tourism. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 18(2), 93–103.
Kemp, S. (2016). Digital in 2016. Retrieved from http://wearesocial.com/uk/special-reports/digital-in-2016.
Kozinets, R. V. (2010). Chapter 01: Cultures and communities online. In R. V. Kozinets (Ed.), Netnography: Doing Ethnographic Research Online (pp. 1–20). London: Sage.
Ladhari, R., & Michaud, M. (2015). EWOM effects on hotel booking intentions, attitudes, trust, and website perceptions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 46, 36–45.
Leung, D., Law, R., Van Hoof, H., & Buhalis, D. (2013a). Social media in tourism and hospitality: A literature review. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 30(1–2), 3–22.
Leung, R., Schuckert, M., & Yeung, E. (2013). Attracting user social media engagement: A study of three budget airlines Facebook pages. In L. Cantoni & Z. Xiang (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism (pp. 195–206). Springer.
Malhotra, A., Kubowicz Malhotra, C., & See, A. (2013). How to create brand engagement on Facebook. MIT Sloan Management Review, 54(2), 18–20.
Mistilis, N., Agnes, P., & Presbury, R. (2004). The strategic use of information and communication technology in marketing and distribution—a preliminary investigation of Sydney hotels. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 11(1), 42–55.
Muniz, A. M., & O’Guinn, T. C. (2001). Brand community. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(4), 412–432.
Murdough, C. (2009). Social media measurement. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 10(1), 94–99.
Murphy, L., Moscardo, G., & Benckendorff, P. (2007). Exploring word of mouth influences on travel decisions: Friends and relatives vs. other travellers. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 31(5), 517–527.
Nielsen Media Research. (2012). The state of media: The social media report 2012. Retrieved from http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/reports-downloads/2012-Reports/The-Social-Media-Report-2012.pdf.
Pansari, A. & Kumar, V. (2016). Customer engagement: The construct, antecedents, and consequences. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, (online first), 1–18.
Schmallegger, D., & Carson, D. (2008). Blogs in tourism: Changing approaches to information exchange. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 14(2), 99–110.
Skytrax. (2015). World’s Top 100 Airlines in 2015. Retrieved from http://www.worldairlineawards.com/Awards/worlds_best_airline.html.
van Doorn, J., Lemon, K. N., Mittal, V., Nass, S., Pick, D., Pirner, P., et al. (2010). Customer engagement behavior: Theoretical foundations and research directions. Journal of Service Research, 13(3), 253–266.
Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2008). Service-dominant logic: Continuing the evolution. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36(1), 1–10.
Wirtz, J., Ramaseshan, B., van de Klundert, J., Canli, Z. G., & Kandampully, J. (2013). Managing brands and customer engagement in online brand communities. Journal of Service Management, 24(3), 223–244.
Withiam, G. (2011). Social media and the hospitality industry: Holding the tiger by the tail. Cornell Hospitality Report, 3(3), 6–15.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Thao, V.T., Wozniak, T., Liebrich, A. (2017). Customer Engagement in Facebook Brand Communities: Measurement and Best Practices from the Airline Industry. In: Schegg, R., Stangl, B. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2017. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51168-9_49
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51168-9_49
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51167-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51168-9
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)