Marketing a health Brand on Facebook: Effects of reaction icons and user comments on brand attitude, trust, purchase intention, and eWOM intention

Yen-I Lee; Joe Phua; Tai-Yee Wu

doi:10.1080/07359683.2020.1754049

Marketing a health Brand on Facebook: Effects of reaction icons and user comments on brand attitude, trust, purchase intention, and eWOM intention

Health Mark Q. 2020 Apr-Jun;37(2):138-154. doi: 10.1080/07359683.2020.1754049. Epub 2020 Apr 14.

Authors

Yen-I Lee¹, Joe Phua², Tai-Yee Wu³

Affiliations

¹ The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA.
² Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
³ Institute of Communication Studies, National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan), Hsinchu, Taiwan.

PMID: 32286189
DOI: 10.1080/07359683.2020.1754049

Abstract

This study examined effects of Facebook reaction icons and user comments on brand attitude, trust, information seeking, purchase intention, and eWOM intention towards a health brand, as well as potential moderating effects of SNS use. Results of a 3 (reaction icons: positive/neutral/negative) × 3 (valence of comments: positive/neutral/negative) between-subjects experiment (N = 306) indicated that positive Facebook reaction icons significantly influenced brand attitude, trust, purchase intention, and eWOM intention, while neutral comments significantly impacted brand attitude and trust. The degree of SNS use also negatively moderated between reaction icon valence and eWOM intention. Implications for health marketing communication are discussed.

Keywords: Facebook reaction icons; eWOM intention; health brand product post; social media.

MeSH terms

Attitude*
Consumer Behavior*
Health Communication*
Humans
Information Seeking Behavior
Intention*
Marketing*
Social Media*
Trust*