Motivations to share online content : a study of the influence of emotive and interpersonal motivators on consumer content sharing

Abstract

Social media marketing has gamered a great deal of attention, with many companies creating an online presence on social media. Despite the large amount of online marketing content being created, little is known about what motivates consumers to share the produced content with others. Relying on consumers to disperse content is an essential component to any social media marketing strategy. This study conceptualised content sharing as a form of online interpersonal communication on social media. Two main factors which influence the sharing of online content were identified from the literature: the emotions elicited by the message, and latent interpersonal motivators. Using an online survey, the relationships between these factors and the .frequency of online sharing were examined. The results show that emotive marketing content is more likely to be shared than non-emotive marketing content. The findings also clearly identified seven interpersonal motivators which influence online sharing: pleasure, affection, inclusion, need to belong, individuation, escape and relaxation. The findings obtained are not product or industry related, and can therefore serve to enhance a general understanding of social media marketing, allowing it to be applied to various sectors.