A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of
Brand Owned Social Media on Social
Media Engagement and Sales
Do owned social media pay off?
How can we maximize this impact?

Brand Social Media
Owned Social
Media
Social Media
Engagement
Sales
• Firm-initiated content shared on social
media
• Consumer reactions to firm-initiated
communication such as likes,
comments, shares, retweets, and posts
on brand-controlled channels
• Sales, the number of categories sold,
sales rank, etc.

Are Owned Social Media Effective?
1. Yes, owned social media do create
social media engagement
2. But the elasticity for sales is even larger
(p < .001)!
.137***
.353***
Social Media
Engagement
Owned Social Media
Sales
Social media generate engagement but do not necessarily lift sales
Popular belief
Key findings

Which content to use…
…to stimulate social media engagement?
Emotional content is more effective than other
types of content, most likely because it creates
emotional arousal that fosters message liking and
sharing
…to affect sales?
Informational content is more effective than
emotional and deals content, as it aids consumers
in their purchase decisions
Key finding
Key finding
Popular belief
Popular belief
Communicating deals are one of the top three
reasons for firms to use social media
“End your posts with questions” and other
social content advice can help secure social media
engagement

Does Context Matter?
Brand Industry Platform Country
The effect of owned social
media on sales is stronger
in smaller brand
communities than in
larger ones
Implications
Key
findings
It is more important to
focus on the quality rather
than quantity of followers.
This helps managers to
better address consumer
needs and create more
authentic interactions
The effect of owned social
media on sales is stronger
for new products than
mature products
Managers can benefit
from creating content
about new products on
social media
Owned social media are
weaker on microblogs for
social media engagement
than on social networks
given closer ties
Managers need to
address the platforms that
are most appropriate by,
for example, relying on
social networks
(Facebook) to stimulate
social media engagement
Owned social media are
more effective for sales in
countries with higher
mobile phone
penetration and
higher power distance
Because many platforms
are international, using
one global social media
strategy is tempting, but
managers cannot count on
the same type of response
across countries