Touch, Swipe or Click? - DiVA

Touch, Swipe or Click? Understanding information exchange

(eWOM) on Instagram and how it can be encouraged

Master’s Thesis 30 credits Department of Business Studies Uppsala University Spring Semester of 2017

Date of Submission: 2017-05-30

Vanessa Auer

Evelina Bergström Supervisor: Leon Caesarius

Understanding eWOM on Instagram

ABSTRACT Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is known as one of the most influential factors impacting

consumer behaviour. Yet, not all consumers are motivated to like, tag or comment on commercial

posts online. Therefore, marketers need to capture consumers’ attention and encourage eWOM

creation (interaction) through the content features (visual, text and audio) of their brand posts.

However, currently as many as 91% of marketers lack an understanding of what content actually

drives people to interact (Stelzner, 2015). Thus, this study’s aim is to explore, using a survey and an

in-depth experimental study, which content forms engage and encourage users to create eWOM on

Instagram. The results reveal that users seldom interact with commercial posts, which pinpoints the

difficulties for brands on Instagram and thereby the need for a different content strategy. However,

when posts connect to users’ intrinsic interests and display content forms that are in line with users’

characteristics, individuals find it more engaging and consequently create eWOM. Specifically,

findings reveal that employees (27-29 year olds) are less negative towards commercial posts and more

likely to create eWOM than students (18-26 year olds). In regards to the content forms, a post should

include; short text/videos, emotion-driven emoji, maximum three hashtags, non-static and contrasting

backgrounds, and verbal audio rather than music.

Keywords: Electronic-word-of-mouth (eWOM), Word-of-Mouth (WOM), Engagement,

Content Features, Social Networking Sites (SNS), Instagram, Social Media Marketing


TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Problem ........................................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Purpose......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Research Question ...................................................................................................................... 5

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) ........................................................................................ 6

2.1.1 Engagement ............................................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Social Networking Sites (SNS) and Content Features ............................................................. 9

2.2.1 Content Features .................................................................................................................. 10 2.3 Analytical Model ....................................................................................................................... 12

3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................ 14 3.1 Research Design ........................................................................................................................ 14 3.2 Pre-Study ................................................................................................................................... 15

3.2.1 Scale Measurement .............................................................................................................. 16 3.2.2 Administration of the pre-study ........................................................................................... 17 3.2.3 Analysis of theoretical constructs and collected data .......................................................... 18

3.3 Development of experimental in-depth study ......................................................................... 19 3.3.1 Selection of brands ............................................................................................................... 20 3.3.2 Selection of Instagram Posts ................................................................................................ 21 3.3.3 Development of questions .................................................................................................... 22 3.3.4 Administration of the experimental in-depth study ............................................................. 24 3.3.5 Analysis of data .................................................................................................................... 27

4. RESULTS ........................................................................................................................ 28 4.1 General Insights ........................................................................................................................ 28 4.2 Engagement - Content Appeal ................................................................................................. 29

4.2.1 Visual ................................................................................................................................... 31 4.2.2 Audio.................................................................................................................................... 32 4.2.3 Text ...................................................................................................................................... 33

4.3 eWOM - Intent to Interact ....................................................................................................... 34 4.3.1 Visual ................................................................................................................................... 34 4.3.2 Audio.................................................................................................................................... 36 4.3.3 Text ...................................................................................................................................... 36

4.4 Commonalities and Differences ............................................................................................... 37 4.4.1 Visual ................................................................................................................................... 37 4.4.2 Audio.................................................................................................................................... 38 4.4.3 Text ...................................................................................................................................... 38

5. ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................... 39 5.1 General Evaluation ................................................................................................................... 39 5.2 Engagement – Content Appeal ................................................................................................ 39 5.3 eWOM – Intent to Interact ...................................................................................................... 41 5.4 Commonalities and Differences ............................................................................................... 44

6. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 47


7. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS & FUTURE RESEARCH .... 49 7.1 Managerial Implications .......................................................................................................... 49 7.2 Limitations and Future Studies ............................................................................................... 50

8. REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 52

9. APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................... 61 9.1 APPENDIX 1 - Pre-Study ........................................................................................................ 61 9.2 APPENDIX 2 - Experimental in-depth study (Full-Length) ................................................ 73 9.3 APPENDIX 3 - Experimental In-depth Study (Summary of Content Features) ................ 90


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, a sincere gratitude is directed towards our supervisor, Leon

Michael Caesarius, for continuous support and supervision during the process of this study.

The guidance has provided useful insights into how to develop the study in new directions, as

well as how to improve its quality.

Additionally, a sincere gratitude is directed to all respondents, whose time and

commitment has enabled the study to achieve its purpose. Without your effort, it would not

have been possible to complete this research.

Evelina Bergström & Vanessa Auer 30-05-2017, Uppsala


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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Dinner time – it used to be a time when people sat down to eat and talk about their

days, because they had not seen each other since breakfast. Now, we are constantly connected

via phones, social media and apps, which has led us to update friends and loved ones on our

plans, activities and what has happened instantly rather than waiting until we see them. This

change in information exchange connects to that in the past 20 years, the world has seen a

whirlwind of technological innovations every year (Roser, 2016) and with every new tool,

product or service, people’s behaviour changed (Cantallops & Salvi, 2014). Why though did

we, as consumers, change our behaviour? Based on Cantallops and Savi’s (2014) argument

that consumer behaviour has changed, due to changes in technology and information

exchange, it can be argued that understanding how people behave and touch, swipe and click

on social media is crucial for marketers today. This is because otherwise marketers might

miss the window of opportunity to connect with us, and it is important to note that we as

consumers can love, hate or end you within minutes.

This change in information exchange can further be see in how people share their

experiences with others about an advertising or marketing campaign. That is, whilst in the

past, people mainly shared their consumption experiences through the act of word-of-mouth

(WOM) (Hennig-Thurau et. al., 2004), today more than three billion people like, tag and

comment about brands, products and services online and are engaged in what is known as

electronic-word-of-mouth (eWOM) (Rosario et. al., 2016). From a marketer's perspective,

eWOM is highly desirable (Hautz et. al., 2013; Hennig-Thurau et. al., 2004), since it is

widely known that consumers´ information sharing has the potential to influence other

consumers´ decision-making processes, including the process of purchasing intention

(Malthouse et. al., 2016), and the image and knowledge one might have of a brand (Hautz et.

al., 2013). Yet, not all consumers are highly motivated to interact (create eWOM) and

marketers need to differentiate the content (i.e. visual, audio and text) in an ad, campaign or

brand post online to encourage interaction and information exchange, as well as draw people

in. The ability to be drawn in or be attracted to something, is in this study referred to as

engagement (Chapman, 1997), and can be argued to correlate with a person’s intrinsic

interest, and with hedonic and utilitarian values (i.e. respectively, seeing the pleasurable and


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useful value in something) (O’Brien, 2010). Consequently, this can stimulate positive or

negative feelings (O’Brien & Toms, 2008; Kim et. al., 2013) that a person wants to share

with others, and thus can impact other’s behaviour and willingness to, for example, purchase

a specific brand (Richins & Root-Shaffer, 1988; Engel et al, 1969; Gilly et al, 1998).

Acknowledging the wide impact eWOM has, and subsequently highlighting the significance

of engagement and content features, one can argue that from a marketer’s perspective the

understanding of these three concepts and how these can stimulate reactions that users want

to share, is desirable.

However, as many as 91 percent of marketers currently lack an understanding of what

content actually drives people to interact (Stelzner, 2015). This issue intensifies with the

awareness of how information exchange has evolved in the online sphere. In this online

environment, Social Networking Sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, serve

as important and powerful platforms for this form of information exchange (eWOM). One of

the newest and fastest-growing SNS is Instagram (Sheldon & Bryant, 2016), which provides

a unique mobile platform, where people can share pictures and videos with the general public

(Zhu & Chen, 2015; Instagram, 2017). People can also follow other people or brands, and

share their experiences and opinions on this platform (Carah & Shaul, 2016; Jaakonmäki et.

al., 2017). Therefore, Instagram plays a key role for marketers today, due to the fact that

young users (i.e. individuals that use (Oxford Dictionaries, 2017) social media platforms) are

most active on this mobile platform (Salomon, 2013). This is evident in that the majority of

Instagram’s 600 million users (Statista, 2017) are women and men between the ages 18 to 29

(Statista, 2016). Individuals between these ages, can also be categorized into Millennials and

Generation Z (Prensky, 2001; Schneider, 2015; Salomon, 2013; Statista, 2016), and are not

only Instagram’s biggest demographic, but also the Internet’s (Statista, 2015). Even though

certain characteristics can be generalized for each generation (Tadajewski et. al., 2008), every

individual is different and thus one generalized strategy will not work when wanting

everyone to interact. Nevertheless, Instagram offers the most effective mobile platform to

investigate and understand these young individuals; what their various needs are and how

these can be addressed in order to impact and encourage eWOM.

1.2 Problem

Yet, people’s needs and information exchange behaviour do not come with a clear

road map, but are quite more complex. Even though previous researchers have investigated


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why individuals interact with eWOM and how it captures their attention on well-established

SNS, such as Facebook and Twitter (Bakhshi et. al., 2014; Shang et. al., 2016), few have

analysed which forms of content features foster eWOM (Bakhshi et. al., 2015; Jaakonmäki et.

al., 2017; Russman & Svensson, 2016; Carah & Shaul, 2016). Specifically, few have

investigated what form of visual (e.g. background and filter) (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017;

Bakhshi et. al., 2015), audio (e.g. music or verbal sound) (Ebie, 2004), or text (e.g. emoji and

hashtags) (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017; Jang et. al., 2015) draw people in or encourage them to

create eWOM on Instagram.

Additionally, Instagram is a new form of mobile SNS, which differs from its bigger

SNS brothers in terms of user characteristics (mainly reaches the younger generations

between 18-29 vs. all ages) (Abbott et. al., 2013); consumer wants (sharing a moment vs.

engaging in multiple ways); platform design (only mobile vs. traditional SNS); and content

(mainly visuals with little text and clutter vs. a lot of text and clutter) (Sitkins, 2016). Thus,

the same forms of content cannot be used on all SNS (Kietzmann et. al., 2011), as well as its

effect on eWOM creation can be argued to be different than on established platforms. This

highlights the aspect of that information exchange has changed and new SNS have to be

regarded differently.

In connection, in order to understand and target consumers, previous researchers and

marketers have for long relied on the segmentation of different consumers in accordance to

predefined generational brackets (Tadajewski et. al., 2008). However, even though

Instagram’s and the world’s biggest generations, Millennials and Generation Z (i.e. people

born between 1977-2012 (WJSchroer, n.a.)), have been displayed to be similar in respect to

being described as Digital Natives (Prensky, 2001) and iGeneration (Schneider, 2015),

individuals should be understood on an individual basis, rather than being categorized based

on generational generalizations. This is due to that other aspects, such as an individual’s

interests, occupation, age and gender are factors that should be considered in understanding

Instagram users and their individual tendencies to create eWOM (Tadajewski et. al., 2008).

Consequently, this study will take these characteristics into consideration when analysing

users’ reactions and intentions to interact.

Moreover, previous content features, engagement and eWOM research has not yet

investigated the effect these three aspects have on each other. Even though eWOM is said to

derive on SNS from content that displays what the person wants to be associated with (Kim


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et. al., 2015; Russman & Svensson, 2016; Goffman, 1959), it has not yet looked into which

content forms are needed in order to encourage eWOM after it has attracted a person to the

post. Nevertheless, an investigation into what forms are appealing and encourage eWOM on

Instagram is a crucial topic to look into.

1.3 Purpose

Therefore, the overall purpose of this study is to examine what forms of content

features (e.g. visual background or verbal audio) are important when wanting to encourage

eWOM on Instagram. Specifically, the study aims to explore, with the use of an extensive

pre-study and experimental in-depth study, which forms of content features appeal to

individuals (i.e. engagement), as well as to explore which aspects encourage users on

Instagram to interact (i.e. create eWOM). By observing which content forms grab users’

attention and which encourage them to interact with each other, this study cannot only

provide marketers with insights into how to successfully cater to young consumers’ needs,

but also add to existing literature.

First and foremost, this study is important to researchers, because it provides new

insights into people’s behaviours on a rather limitedly-studied social media platform. Due to

that Instagram does not have the same principal layout as other SNS, such as Facebook and

Twitter, researchers can through this study understand how the behaviour of people has

changed on SNS as well as how interaction and exchange of information has transformed.

Therefore, this study intends to provide researchers with insights into these areas, as well as

provide a new perspective on which theoretical concepts are involved on visual SNS, and

how they are interlinked. By showing this interlinkage, this study expects to show what

content forms encourage eWOM on Instagram, and therefore provide researchers with new

understandings into how eWOM on SNS has changed and the direction of its evolution.

Secondly, due to that every individual is unique, this study aims to demonstrate how

important it is to understand each individual’s behaviours and needs. Specifically, this study

intends to highlight what content forms are of relevance to certain people, and thus show to

researchers that new insights and approaches are needed when wanting to cater to consumers’

needs in the 21st century.

Thirdly, having a deeper understanding of what forms of content drive engagement

and eWOM on Instagram, might be desirable and important from a marketer's perspective,


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since greater eWOM can potentially influence other individuals ́ purchasing decisions, their

perception of brands, companies, products and services (Hennig-Thurau et. al., 2004, Rosario

et. al., 2016; Hinz et. al., 2011). Therefore, this study expects the outcomes, in regards to the

various influences content forms have on engagement and eWOM, to expand the

understanding of these relationships on social media. Due to that both engagement and

eWOM relate to hedonic and utilitarian behaviour (i.e. act of seeking respectively sensory

arousal, fun and enjoyment versus efficiency, practicality and to solve problems (Hirschman

& Holbrook, 1982)), marketers can gather new insights from this study, in terms of how

eWOM is created by certain content, which forms attract people, and how they can encourage

more eWOM. Grasping these relationships is of utmost importance, because, as previous

research into eWOM’s effect on purchase intention (Shang et. al., 2016; Kim & Johnson,

2016; Rosario et. al., 2016; Chao & Chen, 2016; Kiran & Vasantha, 2016) has shown,

understanding the content forms that lead to eWOM is advantageous. Moreover, to

effectively understand how eWOM today is achieved, this study will analyse participants’

intention to interact on Instagram. This analysis therefore intends to provide marketers with

insights on which content forms are needed for certain individuals to create eWOM.

Additionally, this study’s outcomes are expected to provide marketers with insights about

how they can change their posts in regards to diverse user needs, and therefore adapt a

different strategy than on established SNS, due to Instagram’s differentiations.

In order to answer these questions, the study will firstly present the literature review

including previous findings within the research streams of eWOM, engagement and content

features, and conclude with a depiction of the study´s analytical framework. Secondly, a

concrete methodology, explaining the practices of the pre-study and the experimental in-

depth study, its sampling techniques, measurement methods and administrational procedures

will be described. Thirdly, the results will be presented, followed by the analysis, in which

individuals´ propensity to react and interact in relation to different content forms will be

analysed. At last, the study will present the conclusions, limitations and future implications,

which will answer the research question exhibited below.

1.4 Research Question

Which forms of content features effect users eWOM creation and engagement on

Instagram?


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2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM)

We all do it – we exchange information today via a touch, swipe or click on SNS,

which depicts even how eWOM has changed since its beginning (Hennig-Thurau et. al.,

2004). Based on Hennig-Thurau et. al.’s (2004) and Kietzmann and Canhoto’s (2013)

definition, this study defines eWOM as any statement, tag or like that is based on positive or

negative emotions made by potential, actual or former consumers about a brand or product,

as well as created by SNS users about other users, and made available to a multitude of

people and institutions online. eWOM’s significance in today’s corporate and academic

world, even though it is seen as less personal than traditional WOM (Hennig-Thurau et. al.,

2004; Kietzmann & Canhoto, 2013), is visible in regards to that it is an effective marketing

tool used by numerous organizations (Yeh & Choi, 2011), and a phenomenon of how people

interact and exchange information in the 2010’s. The effectiveness of eWOM stems from its

characteristic to overcome time and space (Gretzel et. al., 2006; Dwyer, 2007; Yeh & Choi,

2011) and quickly and effortlessly spreads information across the whole Internet at the speed

of light (Yeh & Choi, 2011). This is often facilitated through interpersonal communications

(Chu & Choi, 2011; Meuter et. al., 2013), which has with the help of SNS increased, because

people’s networks have augmented in size (Wilson et. al., 2012; Kim et. al., 2015). This

expansion of social networks can be argued to be the result of the Internet, where one can

“friend” someone he/she has never met, and who lives on opposite sides of the world.

Information sharing is a crucial component of today’s SNS (Yeh & Choi, 2011), yet

most communication happens between individuals, and not between businesses or businesses

and individuals (Kietzmann & Canhoto, 2013; Kim et. al., 2015). Why is this? Duhan et. al.

(1997) argue that a personal connection, between two individuals makes information more

authentic and trustworthy. Thus, people’s non-commercialized knowledge and opinions (Chu

& Choi, 2011), can be a great source for others, when evaluating alternatives (Gretzel et. al.,

2006). However, this interaction highlights the difficulty for firms on popular SNS, due to

that users prefer not to interact with them but rather with other users. Yet, seeing other users’

input as a source, connects to one of Chu and Choi’s (2011) eWOM behaviours: opinion

seeker (Feick et. a., 1986). In addition to opinion seeker, Chu and Choi (2011) present two

more behaviours, namely opinion leader and pass-along behaviour. Opinion leaders generate

information, whilst pass-along behaviour incorporates a user’s ability to forward information


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to other people in his/her online network (Chu & Choi, 2011) with the ease of tagging or

liking. Opinion leaders and the notion of passing-along information can be argued to connect

to how a user wants to be portrayed on SNS (Kim et. al., 2015; Russman & Svensson, 2016;

Goffman, 1959). The motive behind why people want to be portrayed in certain ways (Shang

et. al., 2016), connects to their self-image, namely something that is in-line with how the user

sees him- /herself (Kim et. al., 2013; Sirgy & Sun, 2000), and the act of self-enhancement,

where something enhances a person’s self-esteem or appears to display more expertise than

he/she has (Wu & Wang, 2011; Wojnicki & Godes, 2008). Both these aspects are said to be

important drivers on SNS, such as Instagram. In order to understand what drives individuals

on Instagram, one has to not only understand the platform, but also what content users want

or need to interact (Laurent & Kapferer, 1985; Wu & Wang, 2011). This refers to if a user

sees the content created to be useful or pleasurable (i.e. can gather hedonic or utilitarian value

from it). Yet, if the content of a post does not provide any value to an individual, then he/she

is unlikely to engage with it or create more eWOM (Wu & Wang, 2011; O’Brien, 2010).

2.1.1 Engagement

In connection, understanding what various needs and wants users on Instagram have

and what content appeals to them, can be argued to be of significance. This is due to that not

everyone finds the same content interesting. For example, a picture with a black background

and L’Oréal Paris’ Matte Addiction Lipstick, with hashtags, a product description, and a heart

emoji, will not attract the attention from everyone on Instagram. Thus, the importance of how

to foster an engaging environment on Instagram, where individuals can freely express

themselves and connect with a post, in form of eWOM, has not yet been successfully done by

many marketers (Stelzner, 2015). According to O’Brien and Toms (2008) successful

engagement, that is our ability to be drawn in, find something appealing or be attracted to

something (Chapman, 1997; O’Brien & Toms, 2008), can only be achieved by looking more

closely at the concept itself. O’Brien and Toms’ (2008) model can be divided into four

stages, namely (1) point of engagement, (2) engagement, (3) disengagement, and (4) re-

engagement (O’Brien, 2010). The first stage, point of engagement, can be argued to be of

value to this study, because in order to achieve an engaging environment, one first has to

capture users’ attention on Instagram (Carah & Shaul, 2016; Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017). This

O’Brien (2010) argues can be done with aesthetically-pleasing content, which people want to

invest themselves in. This investment connects to the reaction and behaviour of people,


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which are vital in understanding why this stage occurs (O’Brien, 2010) on Instagram.

O’Brien and Toms’ (2008; Kim et. al., 2013) state that the attributes, attention, curiosity,

intrinsic interest and motivation, are key in the point of engagement, due to that these

attributes can influence how people will interact with a post (O’Brien, 2010). If a post, for

example, appeals to a person’s intrinsic interests (e.g. women’s rights), then he/she is likely

to want to associate him/herself with it (Shang et. al., 2016) through eWOM, compared to a

post that is of no interest to him/her. Therefore, these attributes can be argued to connect to

the concept of hedonism and utilitarianism (O’Brien, 2010), which both relate to the various

ways a new Instagram post can be appealing.

This connects to Katz’s (1959) User and Gratification (U&G) theory, where people

engage differently depending on their gratification needs, which according to Levy and

Windahl (1985), can be divided into social and psychological needs. Consequently, different

needs are associated with different personalities, ages, backgrounds and social roles. Other

researchers have further divided these gratification needs into cognitive, affective, personal

integrative, tension release and social integrative (McQuail, 2010; Katz et. al., 1979). More

precisely; people might engage because they have a cognitive need to acquire information for

a better understanding, or because they have an affective need for entertainment. This

connects to O’Brien’s (2010) hedonic and utilitarian value argument. Furthermore, Shang,

Wu and Sie (2016), use these arguments to explain the reasons behind consumer resonance

on SNS and the impact these have on a consumer's intention to buy. Even though Shang, Wu

and Sie (2016) define consumer resonance as only involving users ́ positive and supportive

reactions to a particular post, they also highlight that users’ engagement and eWOM can be

both positive and negative in nature. The results of their study show that consumers are more

likely to respond, that is positively engage with a post, when: (1) the information is perceived

as useful (utilitarian value); (2) the information is posted by someone the person has a

relation with (tie strength); (3) the person has a need of being accepted and seeks approval

from other members (normative influence); (4) the person wants to obtain more useful

information from others (informational influence); and (5) the person has an intensified need

to emphasize his/her self-image (self-image). All of this occurs in a cognitive continuous

state in every individual (Kim et. al., 2013), and thus highlights the difficulty of fostering an

engaging environment for everyone on Instagram.


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2.2 Social Networking Sites (SNS) and Content Features

All current online exchange of information embraces the actions of touching, swiping,

clicking, tagging, liking and commenting, which we, as users, will continue to do every

single day, and thus researchers and academics need to comprehend its significance. In order

to simplify the various platforms that exist online, one can refer to Constantinides and

Fountain’s (2008) five social media categories, which are namely blogs, SNS (e.g.

Facebook), content communities (e.g. YouTube), e-forums, and content aggregators. SNS are

of utmost importance, since most consumers are present in these networks, as well as they

communicate with friends and others with similar interests on these platforms. Thus, they can

form communities, relationships and portray themselves how they want to be seen, based on

the eWOM they create (Shang et. al., 2016; Kim et. al., 2013; Wu & Wang, 2011).

Previous research has mostly focused on Facebook and Twitter, due to the size and

popularity of the platforms (Hu et. al., 2014). However, another SNS, which keeps on

growing in popularity, is frequently used by organizations and is one of the fastest-growing

SNS at the moment, is Instagram (Sheldon & Bryant, 2016). Instagram is a visual mobile

storytelling platform, where users can upload and share photos and videos instantly with

friends or other users (Instagram, 2017). Even though it is growing in popularity, few

academic researchers have analysed this social media channel (Carah & Shaul, 2016; Hu et.

al., 2014; Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017). However, even though Instagram is more frequently

utilized by young individuals, it is a platform with a focus on visuals (Instagram, 2017),

rather than a communication tool where individuals exchange their thoughts and opinions

(e.g. Facebook) (Rayport, 2011). This difference highlights that even though Facebook is

more frequently used by all age groups, Instagram shows how young individuals exchange

information today. Yet, even though Instagram is growing in popularity, not everyone can be

reached through this SNS. The limited reach of this platform highlights the drawbacks of new

technology and the new way of exchanging information. Even though people from all age

groups can be found on Instagram, the majority of the whole world’s population is not active

on mobile SNS such as Instagram (Statista, 2016), due to the differences in behaviours and

needs. Understanding Instagram is important, due to that a lot of information can be

portrayed in a photo or video post; which emphasizes the saying that a photo is worth a

thousand words. Yet, the photo or video in itself does not contain all information. Any kind

of content, that is visual, audio or text, contains information that is contributing to the overall


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understanding of a post, but also identifies on different levels with different users (Chapman,

1997). Thus, if a post on Instagram grabs someone’s initial attention by being visually

appealing (O’Brien, 2010), and provides additional content in order to satisfy his/her need,

he/she will probably happily like, use hashtags or tagging, in order to facilitate the possibility

to share content and information across various platforms (e.g. own Instagram page, friends’

message board, and explore page) (Hu et. al., 2014). This concept of sharing information,

highlights the argument made by Yeh and Choi (2011), that eWOM on SNS spreads at the

speed of light.

Yet, it is important to note that photos and videos on Instagram and other SNS are

rarely posted without any text, audio or visual manipulation, due to that users want to show

who they are, what their interests are, and display their knowledge, in one single moment

(Kim et. al., 2013; Sirgy & Sun, 2000; Wu & Wang, 2011; Wojnicki & Godes, 2008).

Moreover, Instagram users tend to follow their intrinsic interests, in regards to that they post

and create eWOM around the same topics over and over again. This is evident, in Hu et. al.’s

(2014) research, in regards to that they were able to divide Instagram users into five

categories depending on the main visual aspect in their posts.

2.2.1 Content Features

But what kind of features does a post have on Instagram? An Instagram post’s

features can be divided into three main drivers, namely creator, context, and content

(Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017). A post’s creator’s sex, age and number of followers can have a

great impact on engagement and information exchange, according to Hu et. al. (2014) and

Gilbert et. al. (2013). Furthermore, when wanting to publish a post it is also of crucial

importance to understand when one can achieve the most interaction (Ellering, 2016;

TrackMaven, 2014; Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017). According to Jaakonmäki et. al. (2017) a

woman born before 1995, who has between 50’000 and 100’000 followers, and posts on a

Friday morning (6-7am) or evening (8-9pm) is most likely to achieve higher levels of

eWOM. The last feature, content feature, can be appealing and encourage interaction, by

connecting to an intrinsic interest, motivation, attraction or curiosity, through the use of text,

audio or visual. These three content features can be argued to provide information, that every

individual needs to cognitively process, and thus emphasizes the multitude of personalities

and needs, marketers face when creating content on Instagram.


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A content’s text, which has been analysed by various researchers (Arguello et. al.,

2006; Berger & Milkman, 2012; Gilbert et. al., 2013; Hu et. al., 2014), can display hashtags,

emoji and/or descriptive text, in order to provide other users with background information

about a post (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017; Lee et. al., 2015). Jaakonmäki et. al. (2017)

investigated text in more detail and revealed that different emoji have different effects on

Instagram. This means that more expressive emoji, such as hearts and monkeys, are more

impactful compared to standard emoji, like smileys. Additionally, in the context of SNS, Lee

et. al.’s (2015) results showed that the more hashtags that a post has, the more trustworthy

and attractive the text is to other individuals. Therefore, it can be argued that emoji, hashtags,

and text connect to hedonic and utilitarian values in individuals, in regards to that they find it

pleasurable or useful (O’Brien, 2010).

In contrast to text, visual and audio features have not yet been widely studied on

Instagram (Bakhshi et. al., 2014; Bakhshi et. al., 2015; Hu et. al., 2014). Yet, both features

further convey the importance of achieving hedonic and utilitarian value in content features.

Visual features cannot only be processed 60’000 times faster by an individual than text

(Gangwer, 2015), but can also be an aesthetically appealing aspect that grabs users’ attention

on Instagram, as well as it can be enjoyable and useful (O’Brien, 2010). Pictures influence

how people view products, services, brands and companies (Fahmy et. al., 2014), and provide

a gateway for users to experience positive or negative emotions (Bakhshi et. al., 2014). In

order to enhance the experience with products or brands, Erkan (2015) suggests to make use

of filtered pictures, due to that these are more appealing to people. This is in line with Jang et.

al.’s (2015) findings that teens manipulate photos more often than adults, in order for the post

to correctly self-portray the individual. Moreover, Jaakonmäki et. al.’s (2017) study revealed

that if a visual contained animals, scenic landscapes or people, users on Instagram are easier

drawn into the post and are more likely to tag, like or comment on it. In connection, Bakhshi

et. al.’s (2014) findings showed that if a post includes a face, eWOM will increase. Moreover,

their results indicated that the number of faces, the age and gender did not impact the level of

eWOM that was achieved. However, even though these forms can be incorporated into a

post, one has to note that not everyone might find the visual alone to be in line with an

intrinsic interest, motivational, to spark curiosity, or to be attractive, which in the end will

impact their intention to create eWOM (O’Brien, 2010; O’Brien & Toms, 2008).


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The last content feature is audio. Audio content on Instagram does not only entail

music but also what people say in their videos or live-streams (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017).

Here again the content of the audio can be sensually pleasing, euphoric or contain valuable

information, which one can use or share (O’Brien, 2010; Laurent & Kapferer, 1985; Wu &

Wang, 2011). Moreover, audio is an important aspect on Instagram, due to its direct impact

on human emotions through music (Ebie, 2004). Whilst this might be true in general, one has

to note that users have the opportunity to turn the sound off on their mobile devices. Hence,

this means that video on Instagram can, depending on individual’s preferences, be viewed

with or without sound. Furthermore, Stratten and Stratten (2016) highlight that audio is not

always considered to be an important factor, due to the complication to measure its impact on

SNS. With this the authors mean that a video on most SNS first becomes a “video” as soon as

it is watched longer than 3 seconds, which often does not happen with the younger

generations where if the content does not grab their attention right away, they will continue

swiping (Kiisel, 2012; Sweeney, 2006). Thus, previous studies lack of insights into audio can

be a result of that this feature cannot be statistically measured if it is not viewed/listened to

longer than 3 seconds.

Therefore, by considering that each content feature is comprised of several forms,

which each can have a different impact on every individual, this study understands the

significance each one has in terms of attracting users or encouraging them to create eWOM.

Each content feature, that needs to be cognitively processed by each individual, can identify

with the users and provide them with a pleasurable or useful experience. Even though

Jaakonmäki et. al. (2017) describes that visual, audio and text are part of the same concept,

one has to understand each one’s separate effect.

2.3 Analytical Model

In order to analyse the depicted research question, a theoretical analytical model has

been formulated based on the presented literature (see figure 1). The three content features,

which are presented by Jaakonmäki et. al. (2017) to be visual, audio and text, can further be

analysed in terms of different forms. As previous researchers have shown each separate form

can be appealing in different ways (i.e. engagement) and stimulate users to exchange

information (i.e. create eWOM) on Instagram. Therefore, the eight presented forms in the

figure below can be argued to not only have an impact on engagement but also on eWOM. As

the literature shows, engagement and eWOM are linked on SNS, and therefore play an


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important role in this study and in answering the presented research question and purpose.

Moreover, the various terms used in this study are defined in Table 1, in order to provide

readers with a clear understanding of the aspects investigated.


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3. METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

How was the analytical model though used and measured in order to achieve a deeper

understanding of Instagram users ́ appeal towards different forms of content, as well as in

understanding why people tended to interact and exchange information differently depending

on the content shown? This was achieved by understanding that individuals ́ attitudes (i.e.

appeal and attraction to something) and behaviours (i.e. intent to interact or create eWOM)

are complex and often difficult to measure with only one data collection technique

(Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003; Saunders et. al., 2009). Thus, in order to effectively meet the

research objective, an exploratory quantitative pre-study was combined with an in-depth

qualitative experimental study.

The pre-study was conducted through an online survey, which aimed to explore and

explain (Saunders et. al., 2009), on a general basis, how the three content features (visual,

audio and text) were related to individuals´ appeal and intention to create eWOM. Therefore,

the survey was not related to any specific consumption context or brand accounts, since the

aim was to seek new insights and clarify the understanding of how the aforementioned

concepts were related. Although in-depth interviews are common in exploratory studies

(Adams & Schvaneveldt, 1991), an online survey was believed to be more appropriate, since

it statistically made it possible to analyse how the variables were generally interconnected

(Saunders et. al., 2009; Lefever et. al., 2007). The survey also made it possible to collect a

vast amount of data within a limited time frame, which according to Yin (2003) is more

difficult when using in-depth interviews (Marshall & Rossman, 1999). Consequently, the

survey resulted in new insights about users ́ attitudes on a general level, however, deeper

insights could not be gathered in regards to why people tended to behave or react the way

they did.

To understand the actual reasons behind the participants´ stated behaviour, the

experimental-in depth study aimed towards being more of a qualitative character (Saunders

et. al., 2009), in which the respondents were exposed to a variety of different visual, audio

and text forms online. The posts shown were related to two specific brand accounts on

Instagram (H&M or Nike) and each participant had to clearly justify their reactions to each

post. As such, this part of the study can be perceived as an in-depth study with experimental


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aspects (Hakim, 2000), since changes in the outcomes, engagement and eWOM intentions,

were analysed in relation to changes in particular content forms (e.g. static vs. coloured

background and long vs. short text). However, studies with experimental aspects should not

be understood as being synonymous to classical experiments (Hakim, 2000), since the

participants in this study were not randomly assigned to experimental and control groups

(Saunders et. al., 2009). Nevertheless, the experimental aspects included resulted in new and

deeper insights into how and why people touch, swipe and click on Instagram. A more

detailed description of the pre-study and experimental in-depth study is presented in the

sections below, as well as the full-length studies can be viewed in Appendix 1(pre-study) –

Appendix 3 (in-depth study).

3.2 Pre-Study

In order receive a better understanding about the interconnectedness between content

forms, engagement and eWOM in the context of Instagram, an online survey was conducted

with 111 respondents. The majority of the questions included were adopted from previous

researchers’ findings (see Appendix 1), which allowed the study to assess the findings

reliability (Bourque & Clark, 1994) on a relatively new SNS (Instagram). Each theoretical

concept was measured by six to eight questions, which can be inspected in Appendix 1 table

1. These questions, in combination with five background questions, yielded in a total amount

of thirty-eight questions. This can, according to some findings (Edwards et. al., 2002), be

perceived as too many questions for a self-administered questionnaire, since longer surveys

are believed to have lower response rates. However, the research findings are mixed (deVaus,

2002), and some researchers (Saunders et. al., 2009) state that a survey with thirty-eight

questions indeed is an acceptable length for a pre-study. Moreover, the exploratory purpose

of this phase also required a great number of questions, due to its aim of finding new insights

on the studied SNS. Consequently, the thirty-eight questions were needed in order to meet the

research objective.

The majority of the questions were designed as close-ended questions (category and

rating), whilst the introductory questions were designed as open-ended. Closed questions,

according to Dillman (2007), enable the possibility to collect and compare data about

attitudes and opinions in a time-efficient manner. Thus, closed questions were used since it

allowed the study, on a general basis, to compare how changes in content impacted

individuals´ attitudes and propensity to create eWOM.


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3.2.1 Scale Measurement

The responses received were measured on a seven-point Likert scale, in which the

individuals were asked how strongly he or she agreed/disagreed with a certain statement.

Although a variety of rating scales exist (e.g. graphic rating scale and semantic scale), the

Likert Scale is the most widely used one within social sciences (Carifio et. al., 2007), due to

its effective ability in measuring attitudes. In accordance, this study also utilized the Likert

Scale to measure the components of content features, engagement and eWOM. Despite its

effectiveness, it is crucial to remember that the points on the scale might not represent equal

changes in attitudes for all respondents. A movement from e.g. disagree to slightly disagree

on the question “The use of emoji appeals to me more than words” (Appendix1), might not

have the same meaning for all respondents. However, even though questions and answers

could be perceived differently and thus negatively impact the validity, the seven-point Likert

scale was chosen, since previous research (DeCoster, 2000) shows that seven-scored scales

are more reliable than scales with greater or fewer options.

Yet, too many answering options might, according to Jamieson (2004), cause a

central/outlier bias. This outlier bias can connect to that respondents who do not fully

understand the question or do not want to reveal their true opinions, tend to respond by giving

a midline response or by concentrating on one response side. This tendency was assessed as

being a potential problem for the pre-study since the questionnaire was constructed in

English, whilst the majority of the respondents were Swedish. As a result, the respondents

might have found it difficult to understand the true meaning of some questions and thus

responded by relying on one response side (strongly disagree/strongly agree). However, to

reduce this risk, the wordings of the questions were carefully considered and words with

double meanings, abbreviations and double negatives were avoided. For instance, instead of

using the term ‘engage’, which can be easily misunderstood, the questions included easier

terms like ‘attract’ or ‘appeal’. In addition to paying attention to the wordings, the order of

the questions was also randomized and included both positive and negative statements. By

combining questions with positive and negative statements, respondents were required to

think more thoroughly before responding, which was also believed to be an effective method

for reducing the response bias (Sauro, 2011).


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3.2.2 Administration of the pre-study

The layout of the questionnaire was created in Google Forms and administered with

the use of an online link that was posted on student community pages (Master Students

Uppsala University and Kurslitteratur, Bostad och Allt Annat med Ekonomer), as well as

distributed to the authors ́ friends to further allocate throughout their Facebook networks.

This form and place of distribution was assessed as the most effective channel for reaching a

high response rate, in contrast to other social networking sites (e.g. Twitter and Instagram),

since the desired young population (18-29), according to Bolton et. al., (2013), is most likely

to be active and read postings on Facebook.

When a respondent accessed the questionnaire through the link, they were welcomed

with an introduction letter, designed in warm-pastel colours of green, brown and orange (see

Appendix1). Warm colours such as these, in contrast to bright or fluorescent colours such as

turquoise, was chosen since previous research (Edwards et. al., 2002) shows that warm

colours generally generate more responses. The introduction letter informed about the

purpose of the study, time required (five minutes), anonymity and lastly fair treatment of the

responses received. Assuring anonymity is an important aspect of receiving high response

rates (Healey & Rawlinson, 1994). When people did not have to reveal their identities, they

were likely to indeed show their “true attitudes” in relation to different content features,

engagement and eWOM. It is crucial to assure anonymity since previous research shows that

individuals are more likely to give inaccurate responses when their anonymity is not assured

(Kozinets, 2002).

The questionnaire was reposted three times, in order to remind potential participants

to take part of the study. The link was in function for two weeks in the end of March and

beginning of April 2017. In total, the questionnaire yielded in 129 responses, of which 111

were valid. For being valid, the respondent had to fulfil the criteria of age (18-29) and usage

(Instagram user). Consequently, the study utilized the sampling technique of what Black

(2010) refers to as purposive sampling, in which all respondents who fulfilled the previously

stated criteria were included for further analysis. Although non-probability sampling

techniques, like purposive sampling, makes it difficult to generalize findings on statistical

grounds (Pallant, 2010), it was believed to be the most time efficient method for achieving

the purpose of studying young Instagram users’ attitudes and propensity to create eWOM.

The limitations of the chosen sampling technique could, however, be partly managed when


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the findings from the pre-study were combined with the deeper insights received from the

experimental in-depth study. A more concrete view of the respondents included in the pre-

study is exhibited in Table 2 below.

As can be seen in Table 2, there were mostly women (N=81) who participated in the

pre-study. Thus, the results received might have been biased towards how women, rather than

users in general, reacted and interacted to different content forms. That more women

participated in the study was not, however, assessed as being a potential problem, due to the

fact that Instagram´s biggest gender demographic is female and not male (Seligson, 2016).

Consequently, the sample was believed to be an accurate representation of Swedish

Instagram users.

3.2.3 Analysis of theoretical constructs and collected data

The data collected from the pre-study was in a final stage analysed with the SPSS

Software tool. SPSS is a widely-used program for statistical analysis within market research

(Pallant, 2010; KD Annual Software, 2013) and allowed the study to analyse how content

features affected individuals’ engagement and eWOM. However, prior to conducting the

Multiple-Regression Analysis, preliminary analyses were performed to ensure that the

assumptions underlying Multiple Regression were satisfied. Moreover, the Content Validity

was assessed in an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), whilst the reliability was evaluated by

one of the most commonly used reliability-statistics, Cronbach´s Alpha (Pallant, 2010). The

results from the pre-study´s initial data analysis are further described in section 1.2 in


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Appendix 1. However, the most crucial findings in regards to the development of the

experimental in-depth study are presented in Table 3 below. According to the pre-study,

Audio had the strongest impact on individuals´ propensity to create eWOM (Like, Tag or

Comment) (0.356), whilst Visual had the strongest impact on Engagement (0.231).

3.3 Development of experimental in-depth study

The findings from the exploratory part of the study was used to further develop the

experimental aspects in relation to two different brands, in which the overall aim was to

investigate the proposed relationships presented in the analytical model exhibited in Figure 2

below. The experimental study can be accessed in Appendix 2 (Full-Length) and Appendix 3

(Summarized Version).


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3.3.1 Selection of brands

The experimental in-depth study was in an initial phase developed based on the

selection of two of the most followed brands on Instagram, namely H&M and Nike (Statista,

2017). The number of followers served as an important selection criterion, since the number

of followers generally indicates that an account is displaying content that is engaging for the

population at large (Brenner, 2017). If more narrowly focused accounts had been included

(e.g. directed towards makeup or dog-lovers), there would be limited possibilities to

generalize the findings to broader user groups, which this study aimed to do. Thus, the brands

H&M and Nike were chosen mainly due to its general appealing characteristics (Hu et. al.,

2014). However, these chosen brands were not only chosen based on this criterion.

Additionally, H&M, a well-known retailer, and Nike, a sports brand, were selected since

previous research related to experimental studies highlight the importance of including study

objects (e.g. brands) that respondents have prior knowledge of and/or connections to (Hakim,

2000). Prior knowledge is generally perceived as advantageous, since it is often easier for

respondents to describe their mental reactions and intentions to interact in an accurate manner

(which in itself is a complex task in experimental studies) (Saunders et. al., 2009; Hakim,

2000). However, it is important to note that there are potential disadvantages related to the


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inclusion of well-known brands, since respondents´ prior connections might bias their

responses. If a participant, for instance, would have had a previous negative experience with

the Nike brand (e.g. due to poor quality of the latest product bought), he/she might have

shown negative reactions and been less inclined to create eWOM, due to his/her personal

opinions. Consequently, the inclusion of well-known brands might have impacted the validity

negatively. However, to overcome this potential risk, the participants were specifically asked

to focus on, for example, the visual or text phrase alone, without taking other factors into

consideration (see Appendix 2).

Although it can be argued that the external validity of the findings could have been

improved by including additional brands, with different degrees of consumer awareness, in

different industries and product categories, both time constraints and respondents´

willingness to participate made it difficult to include additional brands. Thus, to meet the

research objective, two brands in two different consumption contexts (fashion and sports)

were assessed as being satisfactory.

3.3.2 Selection of Instagram Posts

The choice of brands subsequently aided in the selection of the different Instagram

posts (Appendix 3), where previous content forms´ research, availability and a maximum

variation of content, served as selection criteria. In regards to previous content forms research

(Erkan, 2015; Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017; Bakshi et. al., 2014; Ebie, 2004; Lee et. al., 2015),

Table 4 presents a closer view of the selection and evaluation criteria for each post. As can be

seen for visual forms, filtered pictures (Erkan, 2015), modified backgrounds, landscapes and

people (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017; Bakshi et. al., 2014) served as a basis for the choice of the

different visual posts, whilst verbal and musical (Ebie, 2004) audio forms were used as

selection criteria for the audio posts. Finally, expressive emoji (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017),

number of hashtags (Lee et. al., 2015) and text positions (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017) were used

as selection criteria for the text posts. More precisely, for example audio posts 1, 4 and 5

were chosen due to that the main audio form in these videos were verbal, whilst different

types of musical forms occurred in audio posts 2, 3 and 6.

In addition to the research selection criteria, the availability of the posts also assisted

in the selection. More precisely, the two chosen brands in the initial stage limited the

availability of what posts that could be included, since they needed to be posted by either


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H&M or Nike to fit the sample. Consequently, there was a potential risk that the content

displayed in the different posts included too similar elements, since brands often try to

communicate a consistent message throughout all posts (Baines & Fill, 2014). This was

assessed as being a potential problem for this study, since the aim of the experimental phase

was to analyse how different forms of content impacted engagement and eWOM. As such, a

maximum variation technique was used to ensure a wide variety of different content forms.

More precisely, instead of choosing, for example, two audio posts with similar content forms,

the study aimed to display various adaptation of a content form. This means that both hyped

music as well as calm music, and informative verbal audio and storytelling verbal audio were

chosen.

3.3.3 Development of questions

The selection of brands and Instagram posts aided in the creation of the questions,

where the respondents were required to firstly answer questions in relation to their

background and secondly share their feelings, perceptions and information about how and

why they reacted to a certain post. Each question intended to measure the theoretical concepts

of content forms, engagement and eWOM (see concept definitions in Table 1). The

operationalization-table is shown in Table 5.


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The majority of the questions were designed as open questions since open questions,

compared to closed ones, are more appropriate when the aim is to explore and get a deeper

understanding behind individuals´ reasoning (Dillman, 2007). As can be seen in Table 5 and

Appendix 2, all questions were framed with simple wordings and structured in a similar way

in order to simplify the answering procedure for the respondents, as well as to reduce the risk

of misinterpretations. Each section (Visual, Audio and Text) was ended with four statements

(I will click Like on this post”, “I will write a comment on this post”, “I will send this as a

private message to someone”, “I will tag someone in this post”) that intended to measure

individuals´ behavioural intentions to create eWOM. These statements were used since

previous studies (Hennig-Thurau et. al., 2004); Kietzmann & Canhoto, 2013) have followed a

similar approach. Although these four statements are commonly used when measuring

behavioural intentions in relation to eWOM, one can argue that only limited insights could be

gathered in regards to how individuals indeed would react and behave in real life. The true

behaviour could possibly be captured by a classical experiment (Hakim, 2000), in which the

behaviour in relation to participants´ reactions (engagement) and interactions (eWOM) could

be physically observed. However, classical experiments might not either be the optimal

method to measure behaviour, since it is widely known that individuals tend to modify their

behaviour when they know they are being observed (McCarney et. al., 2007). This is

generally not considered as being a problem for online-administered experimental studies

(Lefever et. al., 2007; Dillman, 2007), since participants have the time and quiet to answer

more truthfully without the feeling that someone is observing them (Lefever et. al., 2007).

This aspect, in combination with limited time and geographical constraints, made the online-

administered experiment more suitable for this study compared to a classical experiment.

3.3.4 Administration of the experimental in-depth study

The in-depth experimental study was, after the selection of brands, Instagram posts

and questions, created in Google Forms and administered through an online link that was

distributed to fourteen carefully selected individuals. The first part was similar to the

introductory section of the pre-study (Appendix 2), in regards to that information about the

purpose, time, anonymity and fair treatment of the responses was given. In contrast to the

questionnaire, the in-depth study required more time and effort (1.5 hours), since each

respondent was required to look at various photos, videos, and texts, and successively explain

their reactions thoroughly. The length of the questionnaire and thus the associated time


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requirements were believed to have a negative impact on respondents ́ willingness to

participate. As such, a purposive sampling technique (Black, 2010) was used to ensure that

only individuals who indeed would participate and had the willingness and effort to do so,

were chosen. However, the individuals included were not only selected based on that

criterion. As Patton (2002) emphasizes, purposive sampling techniques are especially suitable

when one wants to select individuals that are particularly informative in relation to the

research question. Thus, a set of sample criteria was set up to ensure that insights could be

gathered in relation to how different users intended to react and exchange information (i.e.

interact). More precisely, age (fair distribution between 18-29 year olds), gender (fair

distribution between men and women), occupation (different types of occupations), interests

(different types of interests e.g. sports and fashion) and Instagram usage (different degrees of

usage), were used as selection criteria. These specific categories were chosen since previous

research generally has followed a similar categorization (Tadajewski et. al., 2008).

Although this sampling technique resulted in a wide range of attributes, behaviours

and experiences, it is important to have in mind that those who indeed participated were

selected based on the judgment made by the authors. Hence, the personal connection between

the respondents and the authors could, according to Robson (2002), have biased the way the

respondents answered. For instance, some individuals might have chosen not to reveal and

discuss certain aspects of their opinions or behaviour (e.g. why they preferred the picture with

a male and not a female), because they wanted to put themselves in a “socially desirable

role”. To reduce this risk, all individuals were assured anonymity and it was clearly stated

that there were no right or wrong answers to any questions (see introduction part Appendix

2). By contrast, Ghauri and Grønhaug (2005) state that personal connections can have a

positive impact on individuals´ propensity to answer in a truthful way. When a respondent

knows the author, he or she often has a higher confidence in revealing detailed and sensitive

information. Thus, the personal connections between the authors and the respondents were

assessed as being particularly advantageous in this case, due to the respondents´ potential

willingness to share detailed information about their reactions and propensities to create

eWOM. A further description of the individuals included is exhibited in Table 6 below.


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The selected individuals represent a relatively fair spread in regards to the variables

studied. Yet, one has to note that the majority of the participants were Swedish, which might

have impacted the generalizability of the findings negatively. Thus, the insights and results

received cannot necessarily be applied to users´ behaviour across different nationalities, but

rather to Swedish users´ behaviour. This limitation is further discussed in section 7.2.

A sample size of fourteen respondents is, according to Guest et. al., (2006), a

sufficient number of cases for qualitative research, although Patton (2002) argues the actual

sample size to be of minor importance for purposive sampling techniques. What matters is

not the sample size per se, but rather how information rich each participant is in relation to

the subject studied. The fourteen individuals included were all chosen based on the selection

criteria and thus believed to possess the knowledge and experiences needed for the study to

meet its research objective. Consequently, the fourteen individuals included in the participant

pool were assessed as being a satisfactory sample size for the experimental in-depth study.


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3.3.5 Analysis of data

The responses received from the experimental in-depth study was in a final stage

evaluated in relation to previous research findings, where the proposed relationships in Figure

2 were deeper evaluated. More specifically, the impact of each content form in the different

posts was analysed in relation to individuals´ 1) engagement and 2) intention to interact and

create eWOM. Thus, the selection criteria for the posts presented in Table 4 also formed the

evaluation criteria for the analysis, where the applicability of previous content form,

engagement and eWOM research was assessed on Instagram. Through this analysis, the

specific aspects which stimulate information exchange on Instagram were identified.


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4. RESULTS

4.1 General Insights

Yet, what were the specific results in relation to how appealing content was to

individuals and their propensity to interact with a post, based on the content forms they were

presented with? Before looking at the specific results, certain general findings have to be

presented, which relate to how information exchange has transformed and is different on

Instagram than on other SNS. The exploratory in-depth study revealed some general results in

regards to individuals’ Instagram habits, which include the findings that individuals primarily

use Instagram to follow friends and family, rather than official brands or accounts (see Table

7). This following-tendency is stated by participants to relate to their preference to get

updates on friends and loved ones’ lives and activities. Moreover, looking closer at visual,

audio and text content features, general findings have been identified in regards to each

feature.

Firstly, even though a person’s interests play a key role in the propensity to act

towards a post on Instagram, the results showed that some of the pictures were likely to

appear on participants’ newsfeed, such as Visual 1 and 3. The other pictures, according to the

results, would not be seen by the majority of the participants, simply because participants

neither followed such accounts nor were they interested in the aspects they were displaying.

Furthermore, it is uncommon to start following an account only based on the visual seen,

since almost all of the respondents claimed to mainly follow friends or companies they find

interesting. This is further supported by the fact that almost no person used the explore page

or watched Instagram stories of official accounts.

Secondly, the in-depth analysis of audio on Instagram portrayed the varied reactions

towards the content. Not every audio included on Instagram is of value or importance to

users, which can be seen in Table 8 and 9, where the various components of audio (i.e. music,

verbal sound and message) have been commented on by the participants. No single audio

investigated revealed one and the same reaction to it.

Thirdly, the in-depth analysis revealed that users, generally, read the text below a

visual, although some stated that they only do so if the picture in itself ”…is not clear

enough” (Respondent 3, 2017).


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4.2 Engagement - Content Appeal

When looking closer at how appealing brand content forms are on Instagram, several

interesting findings can be highlighted, in regards to visual, audio and text. Yet, one has to

firstly note that in order for a person to start following an account on Instagram, the content

needs to be continuously updated and in line with individuals´ stated interests. The majority

stated as well that they seek entertaining content that simply makes them smile or laugh

(Respondent 12, 2017).


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Furthermore, consistent messages or themes throughout an account were appreciated

by many. Yet, it was highlighted to depend on if it would be on an official account or a

friend´s account. Inconsistent messages were said to be more appreciated on private accounts,

since it gives “…a true picture of the person owning the account” (Respondent 4, 2017).

Official accounts, by contrast, need consistent messages to a higher degree, but run the risk of

being too monotone and could be seen as too commercial.

4.2.1 Visual

When looking closer into an account´s pictures and videos, the majority mentioned

visually appealing pictures with bright colours, landscapes and vacation spots as being

particularly captivating. Consequently, edited pictures that use filters and colouring functions

were appreciated, since

“…a photo is interesting when it displays a nice setting, mainly

related to a nice landscape or in a cool spot. “Normal" pictures

as you see on Facebook are not that appealing” (Respondent 6,

2017).

Moreover, the results showed that almost all pictures presented were assumed to be to

some degree manipulated (i.e. used filters or photoshoped), which according to the results

made, for example, Visual 2 “brighter”, more “appropriate” and more “appealing”

(Participant 3, 2017). For Visual 1 participants were highlighting that they liked the black and

white filter, however that if the picture was shown in a coloured filter, the happiness of it

would have come across even more. Nevertheless, for Visual 5 no one thought a filter was

used and thus it was mentioned that something was missing or not highlighted enough to

enhance the picture’s meaning. Hence, missing or single coloured backgrounds, with no

contrasts, were less attractive and said to be boring and without a context or theme. On the

other hand, the amount of people/faces that should be shown in a post, depended on the

picture itself and the message/theme that was related to it. For example, due to that Visual 1

was mostly associated with happiness, participants explained that if the picture would display

two women instead of men, it would not have made a significant difference.

The investigation of visuals in relation to videos on Instagram, have revealed

interesting information in regards to visual as well as audio forms. Table 8 shows the general

video outcomes when audio was not considered. In regards to the likelihood to watch the six


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videos on their own Instagram, most answers revealed that participants would not, due to it

being commercial, uninteresting, too long or not fun. However, videos, by contrast to

pictures, do not necessarily need to be edited, since the informative message and storytelling

aspects is what mainly captures the attention.

4.2.2 Audio

However, even though a person’s interests again played an important role in the

appeal of the videos, participants seemed to agree on that most videos needed a sound in

order to understand the context. Yet, they also agreed that if a video is short and the visuals

are well done, no sound is needed and the likelihood of watching the video on their own

channel is higher than for the other videos (e.g. Video 3) (see Appendix3). In regards to

Video 6, the majority of the participants (those not interested in fashion) thought the video

without sound to be annoying and uninteresting and did not find it to give any value, which

impacted the overall negative viewpoint on the post. Yet, the results about audio content

revealed that verbal sound was preferred over music, which is enforced by participants stating

that the music in Video 6 was “not important [and it] did not increase my interest”

(Participant 10, 2017), whilst in Video 1, where a verbal aspect was used, participants were

stating that it is “very important! […]. The video without the visuals was not appealing to

me” (Participant 4, 2017).


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These arguments were further highlighted throughout the other videos, based on that

the verbal videos (Video 1, 4, and 5) (videos where speaking was the main form) were

described with words such as story, message and value, which is in contrast to the more

mixed and negative words used for videos containing music (music is the main audio form in

these videos) (Video 2, 3, and 6), that were namely unnecessary, bland and annoying (see

Table 8). The spoken aspect was also preferred, due to that it provided a feeling to the video,

whilst with music most argued that it depended on the music chosen (see Table 9).

Participants pinpointed that some did not add any value, and did not match the video well.

However, they also highlighted that if music and speaking were combined an even more

powerful connection could be built, if they both connected to one message and emotion.

Overall, the two most preferred videos were the video about Serena Williams and the H&M’s

environmental ad, due to that they conveyed important messages:

“The H&M environmental video, it had a clear message that added to the video”

(Participant 3, 2017).

“The Serena Williams one, I loved the strength in it”

(Participant 12, 2017).

4.2.3 Text

In terms of text, some partakers explicitly mentioned that “…the text below the video

needs to be short and inform about what the video is all about…” (Respondent 2, 2017). That

is, it should preferably only consist of 4-5 clear words and not become overly generic or

commercial. This argument is further emphasized in Text 1 and 4, in which some respondents

believed that the commercial purpose takes away the positive emotions created from the

picture alone.

Nevertheless, the results indicated that when an unclear picture is accompanied by a

short text (see Table 9), which shows a connection to the picture, it can have a positive

impact on users on Instagram (Participant 3, 2017). Moreover, a happy tone, in combination

with the use of emoji is described as “…evoking positive feelings” (Respondent 7, 2017) and

is further stated to attract users on Instagram (see Table 8 and 9). By contrast, few appreciate

the use of hashtags due to it giving an ”…unserious feeling” (Respondent 4, 2017), where it

is apparent that the owner of the post is only looking for attention (see Table 9). This is,

however, dependent upon how many hashtags that are used. If a post includes less than three


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and the hashtag in itself has a clear connection to the picture, as is highlighted for Text 4,

hashtags were explained as being “…quite powerful” (Respondent 14, 2017).

4.3 eWOM - Intent to Interact

When looking at the results of the pre-study, the results did not indicate a relationship

between engagement and eWOM, however a closer investigation revealed a quite contrasting

picture. Participants of the experimental in-depth study explained that if the appeal, attraction

and interest is not existing, then the likelihood for eWOM creation is minimal to non-existent.

Moreover, Table 8 and 9 show that the intention to create eWOM is not only dependent on

the interest and appeal, but also on integrity, effort and account owner. Due to integrity

issues, commercial aspects and lack of interest, the majority of the participants would not

intend to create eWOM on any of the posts.

Furthermore, in general terms participants were inclined to like more often than any

other form of eWOM, which is closely dependent on the effort level involved. According to

participant 4 (2017), “liking requires no effort” and thus it is the easiest form of eWOM.

However, one has to be aware of the constant relationship between interaction and appeal,

which means that even liking only occurs if the post is interesting and appealing or has an

important message. Thus, if a post does not attract a user on Instagram on the first look,

he/she is likely to keep swiping, and no eWOM is created.

4.3.1 Visual

The investigation into how the visual feature forms impact eWOM creation, revealed

that appeal and interest are important drivers for Instagram users to interact. The majority of

responses, in terms of video and pictures, stated that they would not intend to interact with

the post due to that the content is no appealing enough to convince them. This further

connects to that even if a brand post is appealing, users worry about their integrity on the

social media platform. This means that they only interact with a post, in regards to likes,

comment and tagging, if they really believe in the post (i.e. think the post is really pretty,

connects to their interests or contains an important message). This is highlighted by the

participants throughout the study, by stating that they “would like the picture since it shows

something…[they] like” (Participant 4, 2017).


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Nevertheless, users on Instagram do not often produce other forms of eWOM than

likes, due to that a post does not only need to be interesting and appealing, but also needs to

contain an important message, in order for users to write comments or tag someone. This is

visible in the actions that participants were intending to take in regards to the various videos

that contained an important message such as the environment or empowerment (Video 5 and

1). Here participant 14 (2017) stated that “I would send it to others because I like the message

in it and think it is an important one”.

Nevertheless, this did not convince the majority of the participants to create eWOM,

due to that the visual alone did not always contain the whole message to the fullest extent, as

well as users’ integrity and that it was a commercial post contributed to the unwillingness.

Moreover, participants stated that they did not intend to create eWOM if a visual is not

appealing and does not provide instant gratification, in form of being useful or pleasurable.

Furthermore, looking closer at the different forms of visual, one can see that some

impacted the intent to create eWOM more than others and that most interrelate with content

appeal. Firstly, when participants were given the chance to see the same picture twice, once

in its original form and once with a modified (one coloured) background, the results showed

that the modified pictures were not perceived well, due to that they looked too commercial

and unreal. Consequently, this impacted the inclination to create eWOM. Secondly, when the

background displayed a social setting (e.g. a carnival) (see Visual 3), a single person in the

centre of the post did not encourage people to interact, due to that if more people are

displayed the post seems “…more real” (Participant 3, 2017).

Thirdly, as depicted above in content appeal, a filtered picture related more to the

participants, due to that it highlighted the context and thus participants were more likely to

state they would intend to interact with the post.

Fourthly, eWOM creation was more likely, based on participants’ testimony, if a

video (without audio) included an important message, for example about empowerment and

the environment. Additionally, participants highlighted the importance of a competition when

it came to Video 3. That is, participants said they would interact with the post, if it would

include a competition or if they are currently in need of new running shoes.


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4.3.2 Audio

Moreover, the relationship between visual and audio on Instagram becomes clear

when evaluating the responses of the 14-in-depth study participants and the 111 pre-study

respondents. Due to that the pre-study revealed that many individuals do not have the sound

on when they are on Instagram, participants were asked if they would encounter this video on

their own newsfeed if they would turn on the sound. The findings showed that when the

viewer noticed that the audio is needed to fully understand a video, several participants would

turn on the sound, and would intend to create eWOM. In this regard, the experimental in-

depth study showed that even though a video can be appealing, more context is given if a

video is shown with sound. This is due to that “the video becomes so much better with the

sound; the whole context and message is not clear without the sound” (Participant 2, 2017).

Nevertheless, if the video and audio are not in-sync and it seemed commercial, the

majority of participants would not create eWOM, as it is shown for Audio 2,3,5 and 6. The

audio has to be “relevant” (Participant 14, 2017, Audio 2) and “interesting” (Participant 3,

2017, Audio 3), otherwise interaction with the post will be limited. The results showed that

verbal audio was preferred over music, not only in terms of appeal, but also in encouraging

eWOM. This can be seen in Audio 4, where participant 14 (2017) states that the verbal audio

sends “…a powerful message” and thus, encouraged this participant to like, tag and comment.

Even though music can do the same in some occasions, the results show that the majority of

participants perceived verbal audio to be less commercial compared to music. This is

because, as the participants emphasized, with music alone, the visual has to be more

appealing and interesting in order to achieve the intention to interact.

4.3.3 Text

When a picture speaks for itself, as expressly highlighted by the respondents in Text 2

and 3 (Appendix 3), the text is not needed in order to stimulate people to create eWOM. Nevertheless, the results showed that tone, emoji and hashtags to different degrees’ impact

users´ propensity to interact and create eWOM. The text features are overall described as

important aspects that clarify the message of a post, as well as they impact users’ willingness

to interact. Explicitly, the text posts that are intricately motivational (e.g. go surfing as in

Text 3 or visiting Coachella displayed by the hashtag in Text 4) are explained as having a

greater impact on the level of interaction. However, users mostly create eWOM in the form


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of likes, rather than comments, tags or private messages (see Table 8). This, according to the

results, is due to the commercial themes of the text and the associated visual, which did not

sufficiently enough evoke the feelings and encouragement to users to, for example, tag a

friend. Furthermore, participants expressed that for Text 1, the picture in itself would not

have encouraged them to create eWOM, but when reading the text some stated that

“it tells me something, and yes, it shows that we should set some

goals for 2017. It has a positive feeling, stimulates positive

emotions” (Participant 4, 2017).

By connection, participants reasoned that their interaction, in form of a like, was

based on these reasons. Nevertheless, it is important to note that all participants for all text

posts demonstrated highlighted that the visual’s attractiveness impacts if users on Instagram

will read the text below a post or not. This means for example for Text 2 and 6, that the visual

seemed quite commercial and thus most participants would continue swiping.

4.4 Commonalities and Differences

Even though the results postulate insights into appeal for variable content forms how

they can lead to eWOM intention, differences and similarities between gender, age and

occupation can also be detected based on the experimental in-depth study.

4.4.1 Visual

In regards to visual, several dissimilarities and similarities were found. Pertaining to

Visual 6, which was perceived to be about jeans-fashion, a woman was preferred by all

females, whilst the men preferred to see both a male and a female in the picture. For Video 4,

18 and 19 year olds were more likely to encounter the video and turn the sound on, but highly

unlikely to create eWOM. The 27-29 year olds, on the other hand, showed a lower tendency

to encounter this video, however were more likely to intend to create eWOM. Moreover,

women were more likely to encounter this video compared to men, and employees would

watch it on their own Instagram, whilst students would not. This tendency of employees and

27-29 year olds to turn on the sound can be seen throughout most video results, and also the

inclination to create eWOM is highest within the older age bracket. Gender differences can

also be seen to relate to the tendency to create eWOM, in regards to the videos with a

message (Video 1, 4 and 5). Women showed a higher likelihood of encountering these


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videos, turn the sound on and some would want to like, share, tag or comment on these

videos. Furthermore, the students that were questioned, stated several times that Instagram

should be about instant gratification and many videos did not provide this to them, which was

their reasoning for not creating eWOM.

4.4.2 Audio

Even though overall participants across age, gender and occupation showed similar

views, reactions and intended interaction, some differences were noted. For example, for

Video 2, the two youngest participants (number 2 and 8), even though they thought the audio

gave feeling and an aspect of drama to the visual, they still did not intend to interact with this

video, which can also be seen in the results of Video 4. Participants in the older age bracket

(27-29) were more motivated by video 3 than the other participants, and affirmed that they

would watch this video if it appeared on their newsfeed due to its powerful message. The

videos that were seen as carrying a message in their audio (Video 1, 4 and 5) showed a

difference between the two occupational categories; student and employee. Students were

more critical towards the message being conveyed in the audio than employees. Additionally,

these videos were seen by both men and women as important, however women showed a

higher inclination towards the intention to watch these videos when they would appear on

their newsfeed and maybe even like them, compared to men who state that they most likely

would not watch these videos or create eWOM in regards to these posts.

In regards to Video 3, the results showed that women were more likely than men to

encounter this video on their Instagram, and employees are more inclined to turn on the

sound than students.

4.4.3 Text

Although the participants’ intention to interact and engage with the various texts was

the same, similarities across gender, age and occupation as well as differences were noted.

For instance, women were more likely to interact and create eWOM based on the text forms

compared to men. The men in the over age-bracket (27-29) stated that they seldom interact

with a post that is created by a company or brand, due to its commercial value. Differences

can also be noted in regards to what type of text one prefers. Specifically, employed women

between the ages of 27 and 29 preferred text that included quotes and inspiring words, whilst

younger female and male students to a high degree preferred funny and short text.


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5. ANALYSIS

5.1 General Evaluation However, what connection can be seen between the various forms of content,

engagement and eWOM? The results highlight, with the help of the 111 respondents from the

pre-study and the 14 participants from the in-depth study, how different people are from each

other, and how not everyone reacts and acts the same on Instagram. Just as information

exchange has transformed throughout the years in general, so has the content appeal and the

propensity to create eWOM on SNS.

General findings support previous researchers’ conclusions (O’Brien, 2010; O’Brien

& Toms, 2008, Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017), in regards to that interest is one of the key drivers

of engagement and intention to create eWOM. That is, content appeal and interaction is

dependent on if the overall content theme (e.g. fashion, sports or environment) is of interest.

Yet, according to the results this is hardly achievable, due to that users often only follow

family and friends on Instagram, and thus capturing their attention as a brand or company

provides a challenge. To clarify, this means that even if companies or brands have interesting

content that is appealing to certain users on Instagram (e.g. sports or fashion lovers), their

posts are often not seen, due to that their accounts do not show up on users’ newsfeeds.

5.2 Engagement – Content Appeal

When looking more intently at engagement, the aspect of interest and visual appeal is

highlighted by various participants in the study, and therefore provides insights into the


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understanding of what drives users to engage on Instagram. This argument is in line with

O’Brien’s (2010) and O’Brien and Toms’ (2008) findings where they point out that in order

to attract and engage individuals they need to have an intrinsic interest in the object in front

of them or find the content to be visually appealing. In regards to interest, if no interest of e.g.

fashion or sports exists, users are prone to just swipe by the picture or video. Additionally,

previous research shows that visually appealing content (O´Brien, 2010), with a face and a

scenic landscape (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017) and a short text (Arguello et. al., 2006), are more

likely to capture the attention of users, which is also the case in this study. The interlinkage

between attention and visual content features was first discovered in the pre-study and was

further investigated in the experimental in-depth study. The results revealed similar findings

to O’Brien’s (2010), in regards to that visually appealing content is needed in order to capture

the attention of users. Even though Instagram users’ network consists mainly of friends and

family, they also follow a few brands or companies that are of interest, where the appeal of a

post is an important aspect to improve. This is because of that advertisements that are pushed

onto users’ newsfeed, need to capture the attention immediately. The attention can be,

according to the results, captured by providing hedonic value in the initial appeal stage, rather

than utilitarian (Laurent & Kapferer, 1985). This means that users on Instagram, as

highlighted by the results of this study, find bright colours, landscapes, happiness and

vacation spots to be captivating, which can be argued to be in line with O’Brien’s (2010)

visual appeal argument. Nevertheless, one has to note that according to the results users on

Instagram engage to a high degree, due to their need for social interaction with like-minded

people (Katz et. al., 1979; McQuail, 2010). As such, marketers’ challenge resides in how to

promote new products and services on a platform where commercial posts are not seen as

positive, and interaction occurs mostly between individuals (Kietzmann & Canhoto, 2013;

Kim et. al., 2015). Yet, brands and companies can still capture the attention of users on

Instagram, by providing visually appealing content, that is nor perceived as too commercial,

and by addressing a user’s interests, needs and contains an important message (O’Brien,

2010).

Moreover, looking closer at the different content forms, this study’s results are in

accordance with Erkan (2015), who states that filters appeal more to users on SNS. That is,

participants were drawn to pictures where colours were highlighted to represent the overall

message of the post, and filters were used to communicate a state of mind or feeling. In terms

of audio, results were in line with O’Brien (2010), Laurent and Kapferer (1985), Wu and


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Wang (2011) and Ebie’s (2004) research in terms of that audio was said to have to be

sensually pleasing, euphoric, contain valuable information or connect to the users’ emotions.

Yet, participants expressed that the latter finding, connection to users’ emotions, is not

needed in all circumstances. Specifically, they stated that in videos where one wants to

discuss an important issue at hand, for example an environmental issue, the connection to

emotions is crucial, but otherwise unnecessary. Furthermore, users preferred videos where

they heard a dialogue rather than only music. The speaking voice was said to provide

valuable information and display the importance of the topic/message with the use of a

“darker” voice. This form of audio can be said to provide utilitarian value to the users, which

connects to O’Brien’s (2010) argument that people’s attention is captures by content that is of

utilitarian value to people. When looking at text, not only does the text need to be short, as

Arguello et. al. (2006) highlight, but also needs to make use of emoji and hashtags

(Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017). However, whilst the number and choice of emoji is not of

importance as long as it connects to the overall message of the post, users on Instagram do

not like when more than three hashtags are used. This stands in contrast to Lee et. al.’s (2015)

statement, that the more hashtags are used the more trustworthy a post is. This study’s results

showed that disinterest and non-appeal occur if a post has more than three hashtags or when

these hashtags are not clearly related to the message of the post. Thus, it can be argued that

users on Instagram quickly judge the sincerity of the person who posts, based on the hashtags

displayed.

5.3 eWOM – Intent to Interact


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However, why are people on Instagram, as the results from the in-depth study shows,

less inclined to interact with a post, specifically that is like, comment or tag someone, even

though they are attracted to it? As Yeh and Choi (2011) point out, eWOM spreads at the

speed of light and enables people to share information in a much faster fashion than with

traditional WOM. Yet, this might not be the case on Instagram, where this study´s results

show that a much deeper issue is at hand. As previously discussed, information sharing

occurs between individuals and not between individuals and businesses (Kim et. al., 2015;

Kietzmann & Canhoto, 2013). This is highlighted through the results of the experimental in-

depth study where participants were confronted with brand posts and displayed an

unlikelihood to intend to interact with many of them. This unlikelihood can be argued to

depend on that users do not want to interact, based on their integrity and their dislike for

commercial accounts. To clarify, this means that the majority of users would not create

eWOM based on these two aspects. Yet, if a user would encounter a post that relates to

his/her intrinsic interest (O’Brien & Toms, 2008), he/she has a high propensity to interact in

form of a like (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017). Moreover, based on the results it can be argued that

if the interest is strong and the post is overall well put together/constructed, in regards to

harmonizing audio, short text and bright visuals, the user is likely to create more than one

eWOM form, which is in line with Jaakonmäki et. al.’s (2017) study.

Additionally, the propensity to create eWOM is further emphasised through the

results, by participant’s need for instant gratification or fun. That is, when a post provides

instant gratification or is funny, the likelihood that users will create eWOM is higher. This

relates to the hedonic and utilitarian value argument (Wu & Wang, 2011; O’Brien, 2010),

where the different authors highlight that if either of these values can be fulfilled users are

likely to create eWOM. Yet, the results show as well that if a commercial post would be

encountered, and it would contain a message that draws users in, they would interact with the

post. That is because they would like to show their support or display that they care about the

message being conveyed. This kind of eWOM action relates to Kim et. al. (2013), Sirgy and

Sun (2000) and Wu and Sie’s (2016) self-image concept, where users create eWOM in order

to connect/relate to something they want to be perceived as. Here as well the coordination

between audio, visual and text is said to have to be on point in order to portray one common

theme and make the message even stronger and thus increase the likelihood for users to

intend to create eWOM.


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Another aspect, which is in line with previous research (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017) is

the visual forms that a post should contain in order to increase interaction. A visual that

contained one or multiple people as well as a picture that contained a scenic landscape or

background (in combination with people) created more positive intentions, in form of liking,

commenting, tagging or sending a private message, than a visual that confused people or

where nothing was happening. Even though filtered pictures enhanced the perception of the

post (Erkan, 2015), it cannot be stated to have an impact on the intention to create eWOM in

this study. Moreover, as verbal audio was seen as more appealing than music it can be

argued, based on the results, to impact eWOM more than its counterpart (music), which

stands in contrast to Ebie’s (2014) findings. This can be argued to not only connect to the

utilitarian value it offers (O’Brien, 2010), but also because the music was often seen to not fit

well with the video or to be in sync enough for the users, which would have increased their

appeal and thus their likelihood to create eWOM. In regards to text, previous researchers’

results and assumptions were proven correct, in the sense that hashtags, emoji and the text

would provide background information to the post (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017; Lee et. al.,

2015), which would impact users’ intention to create eWOM. Yet, this study’s results did not

indicate that expressive emoji were preferred over standard emoji, as suggested by

Jaakonmäki et. al. (2017). This is due to that participants highlighted that the emoji choice is

not important, but rather the fun and feeling that is communicated through them. When emoji

were used, participants indicated that they would intend to like, because the text displayed

some emotions. Moreover, in contrast to Lee et. al.’s (2015) findings, participants in this

study highlighted, that if more than three hashtags were used, they thought the person posting

was attention seeking, which consequently was displayed by their negative intention to create

eWOM. Another important aspect revealed in this study, was the length of the text. The

propensity to like, comment, tag or send a private message, was increased if the text below a

post is short and to the point. Hence, it can be argued that users on Instagram want to get

quick utilitarian (O’Brien, 2010) value and gratification.

Overall, the most impactful forms, which impacted eWOM in addition to interest,

were visual background and naturalness (i.e. less staged visuals were perceived as less

commercial), message, theme and shortness of video and audio, and shortness of text,

emotions through emoji and maximum three hashtags. Moreover, when looking at the results,

two behaviours out of three presented by Chu and Choi (2011) can be found. These are

namely pass-along behaviour or opinion seekers. Due to the issues of integrity and


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commercial accounts, opinion leaders were not detected in this study. Based on the results,

opinion seekers are mostly present on Instagram, due to that they seek information in regards

to friend’s activity or interest related news, but are not likely to create eWOM due to integrity

issues. Moreover, pass-along behaviour was seen to be present if the post was in line with an

intrinsic interest, offered an opportunity to compete or was motivational (O’Brien, 2010) and

then the aspects of commercial and integrity could be overlooked.

5.4 Commonalities and Differences

Nevertheless, can the identified forms be applied overall to all users of Generation Z

and Y? Probably not, as the participants in this study have highlighted, interests impact the

accounts they follow and the posts they view. Interests vary between every individual and

also impact the appeal of a post. Yet, certain commonalities and differences were detected

when analysing the participants’ results, which can increase the likelihood of appeal and

interaction on Instagram. This means that even though every individual is different certain

forms and components of an Instagram post can be used in order to attract more eWOM.

Dissimilarities and similarities have been identified between different groups of

people, which are discussed in terms of interest, occupation, age and gender. Based on the

previous results presented, clear interest patterns can be seen, as well as its influence on

appeal and the intention to create eWOM. For example, on a fashion post, fashion lovers,

would like, comment, tag and send a private message, due to that they are interested in

fashion and therefore found the post interesting. The participants that did not like fashion, did

to some degree like the forms being presented, but would not say they find it appealing or

intended to produce eWOM, due to their disinterest.


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An additional difference between the participants’ reactions was shown in regards to

their occupation. Whilst, for example, the environmental video by H&M received a lot of

attention in general, students showed a tendency to not watch this video on their Instagram,

due to that it is done by a brand. In contrast, employees would watch it and would intend to

create eWOM. The point of that students judge quicker in regards to who posted the content

(here a brand) (Jaakonmäki et. al., 2017) and thus would not create eWOM, is highlighted

throughout the study. Moreover, it was seen several times as well, that employees would be

more lenient towards who posted the content, even though they also did not follow a lot of

brands. Specifically, they were more inclined to create eWOM if the content was in line with

their interests or connected to an important topic, (e.g. such as recycling or empowerment). In

addition to employees not disregarding content right away, they also showed a higher

inclination to turn the sound on, on a video they found interesting or portrayed an important

message, whilst students showed a tendency to disregard commercial content in any way.

Based on the results text can be an appealing feature on Instagram, yet differences exist

between employees and students. Students disregarded any content that is not in line with

their interests or was perceived as commercial, whilst employees read for example the text

before they formed an opinion. This is further highlighted by the aspect that employees liked

simplicity and students wanted it to be expressive and fun. Therefore, it can be said that

employees, often in the upper age ranges, showed an inclination to be appealed and to create

eWOM more likely than students, due to that they consider all the content, before rushing to

judgement. Students, which are often in the mid to lower age ranges, need according to the

results instant gratification and judge quicker than employees.

Categorical differences exist as well in regards to age. Similarities have been seen

between 18 and 19 year olds (younger bracket), 23,25 and 26 year olds (middle bracket), and

27 to 29 year olds (older bracket), and therefore in regards to this study they can be clustered

together. The younger bracket showed throughout all content aspects the tendency to react

negatively if the post was in any aspect commercial or was posted by a commercial account.

The middle bracket usually displayed a mix between the younger and older bracket, and their

shift on the scale was heavily impacted by their interests and the value the post provided (i.e.

utilitarian or hedonic) (O’Brien, 2010). The older bracket, in contrast to the younger one,

even though also impacted by interest and commercial accounts, was more likely to have the

sound on from the beginning or to turn it on if they found a video they liked. Due to that the

results showed that sound can have an impact on the propensity to create eWOM, it can be


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argued that this was a contributing factor to why the older age bracket was more likely to

interact. Nevertheless, an important difference between the different brackets was that the

younger bracket would encounter commercial accounts on their Instagram and not watch

them or create eWOM around them, even if they were about an important issue or message.

The older bracket, on the other hand, would not encounter these accounts in the first place,

but would create eWOM and be attracted to them if they would appear on their Instagram.

Moreover, the older bracket and some of the middle bracket, found the text of text 1 and 4 to

be informative and catchy, whilst the younger bracket only pinpointed its shortness and that

is was simple, which according to them would not be enough to create eWOM or to be

appealing to them. Still, the age differences came together in regards to their perception of

commercial posts or accounts, which could provide hedonic or utilitarian value to them.

However, this was perceived as overall negative, due to that Instagram is not seen as forming

relationships with brands or companies, but with other individuals with similar interests (Kim

et. al., 2013; Kietzmann & Canhoto, 2013).

The last category within which differences and similarities were detected were

between men and women. Here the similarities and differences in what the perception of the

audio, visual and text were, and if they would encounter a post on their own Instagram and

engage and interact with it, can be argued to rely on interest. The results showed that many

men that were interested in sports, or of need of a new pair of shoes, were likely to react and

intended to interact with the running Nike post and found the audio and text that

accompanied that post appealing. In contrast, many women found the Serena Williams post

by Nike and the environmental post by H&M appealing due to various interests (i.e. sports,

fashion, empowerment and environment), and were inclined to create eWOM on those posts.

When looking at some more specific differences, it can be argued that women found posts

that they could identify with (i.e. a post with a woman rather than a man) more appealing and

would interact with it, whilst the appeal of men was not dependent on the gender of the

person or people in the post. Specifically, this means that women preferred pictures with only

one or multiple women, rather than a combination of both men and women or only men.


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6. CONCLUSION

This study aimed to provide marketers and researchers with new insights into eWOM

behaviour on Instagram, and has done this by looking at the different forms of content and

how these are connected to engagement and eWOM among users with different interests,

occupation, age and gender. With the aid of a pre-study and an experimental in-depth study,

previous research has been affirmed or proven to not be applicable on Instagram.

Firstly, this study provides new insights into what content forms are needed to

encourage eWOM and engagement on a rather limitedly-studied platform, Instagram. Some

of the previous researchers´ content form results from Facebook and Twitter have shown to

be applicable on Instagram, whilst some have not. Specifically, this study, in line with

previous findings, also shows that faces, scenic landscapes, filters, expressive emoji, hashtags

and emotional music, are important when wanting to impact engagement and eWOM.

However, newly identified forms have also been found. These new identified outcomes

include that no more than three hashtags should be used, that the choice of emoji does not

matter as long as it reveals some kind of emotion related to the post, that the text and video

length should be short, that verbal audio is preferred over music, and that backgrounds should

include contrasts and not be static. Thus, these insights are crucial to take into consideration,

since the choice of content forms has shown to impact the level of engagement and eWOM.

Secondly, this study adds new and more detailed insights into what content forms are

appealing and eWOM stimulating in connection to users´ interests, gender and occupation,

and not only in connection to a user´s age, which previous research has done. The findings

reveal that employees (here 27-29 year olds) are less negative towards commercial posts and

more likely to create eWOM than students (here 18-26 year olds). Students are described as

having a greater need for instant gratification and thereby judge the content quicker than

employees, who evaluate the content before determining the level of interaction.

Consequently, when wanting to interact with younger users, it is of high importance to create

posts that are immediately appealing, whilst this is not of equal relevance when

communicating with users in older age brackets.

Thirdly, this study enhances the understanding of how content forms, engagement and

eWOM are interlinked on Instagram, which has previously not been researched. However,

this interconnectedness has been shown to be difficult to evaluate, since users, overall, mainly


page 48

use Instagram to exchange information with friends and family, rather than exchanging and

connecting with brands or commercial posts. In order to react and interact with commercial

posts, users need to have an intrinsic interest of the content shown. Therefore, one can argue

that a lack of interest hinders the intention to interact with commercial posts on Instagram.

Consequently, this study adds to previous research in terms of identifying the

interconnectedness between these factors, as well as provides new insights into the

difficulties brands face in promoting new products or services on Instagram.

In summary, this study contributes to previous eWOM research, in regards to specific

insights into what content forms are needed to change the intention to interact, how different

content forms are connected to the appeal and eWOM behaviour in relation to different user

characteristics, and the interconnectedness between these factors on Instagram. A higher

awareness of the interconnectedness between content forms, engagement and eWOM, is

desirable from both a theoretical and practical viewpoint.

Theoretically, researchers can use these insights to learn how different consumers´

reactions and intentions to interact relate to the established marketing concepts of hedonic

and utilitarian attributes on a relatively new visual SNS. Consumers´ negative reactions

towards commercialism on visual SNS provides a new perspective into online consumer

behaviour, which is crucial to analyse further in today´s social media landscape, since the

number of business actors active on SNS with commercial purposes increases. Hence, a new

perspective on what theoretical concepts are involved on visual SNS, and how they are

interlinked, will be needed in the 21st century´s way of exchanging information.

Practically, marketers can use these content form insights to encourage eWOM

behaviour and thereby potentially learn how to increase the marketing productivity of their

efforts. Knowledge of how to more effectively engage the target group based on different

user characteristics is desirable, not only from a strategic perspective, but also from a

financial one. As has been argued, more eWOM has the potential to influence consumers´

purchasing intentions, image and knowledge of other business actors. If marketers succeed in

influencing consumers´ e.g. purchase intentions, they might, among several other outcomes,

reach higher sales and a stronger competitive standing in terms of market share. However,

this will only be possible if a new content strategy is applied, which marketers and

practitioners can learn by taking part of this study.


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7. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND

FUTURE RESEARCH

7.1 Managerial Implications

With the purpose of investigating what content forms stimulated users´ engagement

and eWOM intentions, this study has provided new insights to marketers and practitioners,

mainly in regards to the difficulties they face with their brand accounts on Instagram. As the

findings reveal, users are generally negative towards commercial posts and mainly use

Instagram to socially interact and follow the everyday emotional and entertaining updates of

friends and family. Consequently, users only follow brands if the content (e.g. sports or

fashion) is in line with their intrinsic interests. These findings thus pinpoint the difficulty for

brands and companies to promote new products and services on a platform where commercial

posts are perceived as negative. If a post is perceived as too commercial (e.g. posts about the

latest news in regards to prices or the spring´s collection), users are not even considering

clicking on it, but rather just swiping by in search of more emotional content that displays

activities in everyday life. Consequently, to capture the attention of Instagram users,

marketers to high degree need to create posts that are emotionally and hedonic arousing,

without including aspects that can be perceived as “too commercial”.

Thus, for practitioners this means that there is a great need for combining the three

content features (visuals, audio and text) to build accounts that mediate the sense of “being a

friend with similar interests”, rather than being a company that tries to promote new products

and services. Hence, the key implication is to understand that users are not necessarily

connecting with brands on Instagram for the same reasons as they might do on other SNS,

such as Facebook. On Facebook users mainly connect to commercial accounts in order to

receive useful and utilitarian information in relation to future consumption behaviour.

Consequently, this emphasises the need to develop different content strategies for different

SNS, which has not been clearly identified or understood in previous studies. It is important

to realise, in the context of Instagram, that focus needs to be on creating a strategy where

clear connections to users are made on a social everyday level and not on a commercial level.

This social connection can be established in a variety of ways; however, one practical

suggestion is to use all three content forms and create posts that do not follow any specific


page 50

message consistency, which is the case for many brands on Instagram today. Message

consistency, in terms of publishing posts that attempt to mediate a similar brand message

through all posts, is generally perceived as being repetitive and commercial. Instead, in order

to strengthen the feeling of being a friendly connection, emphasis should be put on sharing

the everyday experiences and exciting developments of the people behind the brands or

official accounts. Connecting with users through this strategy will help practitioners to create

a sense of belonging and community that makes users feel involved in the brand´s or

company´s everyday life. When users feel involved, they are more likely to psychologically

establish positive associations in relation to a specific brand. Positive associations, in turn,

can be argued to be of high commercial value for business actors, since previous consumer

behaviour research clearly indicates that positive associations are important for future

purchase intentions. Furthermore, these associations can impact consumers´ propensity to

exchange positive brand- and company related information with friends and family.

However, feelings of involvement are not only related to positive associations, but also to

consumers’ stances of being an active participant in the value creation of a brand. This can be

argued to be crucial in today´s competitive landscape, since consumers´ future behavioural

intentions are, to a large extent, determined by the relational value that exists with a brand,

rather than by the utilitarian value embedded in the product or service per se.

Consequently, if marketers start viewing Instagram as a platform in which social

connections can be strengthened with the right content forms, brands and companies have the

potential to successfully capture the attention of consumers. Once captured, brands are in

powerful positions to stimulate users´ willingness to interact and create eWOM to a higher

degree.

7.2 Limitations and Future Studies

This study is associated with a variety of limitations, which can provide guidelines for

future research. Firstly, the samples in both the pre-study and the experimental in-depth study

consisted of a relative low number of respondents, in which those individuals included were

mainly Swedish, whilst the survey questions were developed in English. Consequently, a

sampling- and language bias might have impacted the results´ generalizability, since specific

user characteristics (e.g. nationality, interest, age, gender and occupation) to certain extent

impact users´ engagement and propensity to create eWOM. As such, future studies should


page 51

include a greater number of respondents with different user characteristics to validate and

expand further on the insights gathered in this study.

Secondly, although the experimental in-depth study provided a deeper understanding

of the interconnectedness between content features, engagement and eWOM, it can be argued

to have been too extensive and demanding for the respondents to be able to accurately share

their attentional and behavioural reactions. Using different visual, audio and text forms in a

variety of posts, might thus not have been the optimal measurement of engagement, since

engagement can be argued to be a complex mental process that is difficult to evaluate in an

online survey. Consequently, to get a more concrete view of what features that indeed draws

users´ attention, another data-collection technique should be utilized. Future studies should,

preferably, measure engagement and behaviour through a classical experiment, which would

enable a more detailed investigation of how changes in content forms impact the level of

reactions and behaviour. This would allow researchers to not only investigate users’

intentions to act, which this study has done, but also to expand on these insights and

investigate users´ actual reactions and behaviour in real life.

Thirdly, only two brand pages (H&M and Nike) were investigated in this study and

the insights are therefore limited to the consumption contexts of fashion and sports. In order

to expand on these insights and get a deeper understanding of what content forms different

companies and brands need to put emphasis on, other brand accounts from different product

categories should be investigated in the future. When examining diverse product categories

(e.g. automobiles or consumer electronics), with a variety of hedonic and utilitarian attributes,

useful insights can be gathered in terms of how visual, audio and text features relate to

engagement and eWOM in a broader consumption context.


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9. APPENDIX

9.1 APPENDIX 1 - Pre-Study


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Note: Abbreviation (Statistical Coding).

Table 1. Pre-Study Survey Questions.


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9.1.1 Full-Length Online Survey in Google Forms


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9.1.2 Pre-study results 9.1.2.1 Evaluation of the data Prior to evaluating the relationships between content features (Visual, Audio and Text), engagement and eWOM, preliminary analyses need to be performed to ensure that the assumptions underlying Multiple Regression and Factor Analysis (Pallant, 2010) are satisfied. The assumptions of normality, as well as the correlation strength and multicollinearity between the different variables, will thus in an initial stage be assessed. A violation of the assumptions can impact the results negatively and in worst cases skew the results completely (Pallant, 2010). As previously mentioned, the sample consists of 111 respondents and there exist no missing values. In relation to normality, the values of skewness and kurtosis need to be below the minimum value of 1.0, which can be seen in Table 2, where all, except for one fulfill this criterion (Visual = 1.152).

Moreover, even though the majority of the p-values are below the 0.05 and thus violate the assumption of normality (Pallant, 2010), it is common for a large sample (N>100) (Ghasemi et. al., 2012) and does not necessarily indicate non-normal distributions. Indeed, what might be even more important for studies within social sciences is the shape of the distribution of each variable (Ghasemi et. al., 2012). The histograms over Engagement and eWOM below reveal fairly symmetrically distributions. Consequently, the variables included are considered as normally distributed although the Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests are non-significant.

Note: Left Histogram (Engagement). Right histogram (eWOM). Figure 1. Histograms of Engagement and eWOM. Even though the histograms and box-plots reveal a few outliers, no extreme values exist and the 5% Trimmed Mean values are relatively close to the Mean values. Given this, and the fact that the values are not too different from the remaining distribution (Pallant, 2010), 111 respondents are kept for further statistical analysis. In addition to normality, the multicollinearity and Pearson correlation coefficients between the included variables need to be assessed. From Table 3, one can see that no multicollinearity between the independent variables (Content features and Engagement) exists (r<0.9) (Pallant, 2010) and that the majority of the correlations are significant. Table 3 shows five weak relationships (r<0.3) (Cohen, 1988) and four strong relationships. The strongest correlations existing between Visual and Audio (r=0.533**), and Audio and eWOM (r=0.356**). These coefficients thus indicate that, for example, Audio and eWOM are positively related, where high values of Audio are


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associated with high values of eWOM. Moreover, the weakest correlation is the one between Engagement and eWOM (r=0.064).

9.1.2.2 Factor Analysis In order to assess the validity and the reliability of the 33 items in relation to the three theoretical constructs (content features, engagement and eWOM, an exploratory factor analysis with Principal Components and Varimax rotation is conducted. For the factor analysis to be appropriate, the correlations need to be moderately strong (Kaiser- Meyer-Olkin (KMO) > 0.6 (Tabachnick & Fidell 2007) and the Barlett ́s Test of Sphercity <0.05). As can be seen in Table 4, the KMO is exceeding the minimum value (0.653), as well as the Barlett ́s test of Sphercity is significant (p= 0.000). Consequently, factor analysis is considered as appropriate.

In order to determine how many factors and items to retain for further analysis, the Eigenvalues (Kaiser ́s criterion) and Scree plot needs to be analysed. The Eigenvalue of a factor represents the amount of total variance explained by that factor (Catell, 1966). Using this rule, only factors with an Eigenvalue of 1.0 should be retained. In this case, as many as 11 factors present Eigenvalues above 1.0. However, the Kaiser’s criterion has been criticized for resulting in the retention of too many factors (Pallant, 2010). Thus, it is important to also graphically analyse the Eigenvalues in the Scree plot, which in figure 2 reveals a relatively clear break after the third component.

Figure 2. Scree Plot. Given Catell’s (1966) Scree plot, three factors are determined to be retained for further analysis, which is in line with the theoretical background of this study. To aid in the interpretation of these three components, Varimax rotation is performed, which attempts to minimize the number of variables that have high loadings on each factor. Due to that no clear pattern was revealed initially, following the recommendations of Pett et. al. (2003), some questions are removed from the scales (i.e. those highly loading on more than one factor or with


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loadings below 0.4) and the analysis was repeated. The remaining items load significantly on the three different components and are shown in table 5.

9.1.2.3 Reliability of the Factors

In order to evaluate if the questions are measuring the same underlying constructs (content features, engagement and eWOM), the Cronbach ́s alpha values for each scale needs to be assessed. Ideally, the Cronbach ́s alpha coefficient of a scale should be above 0.7 (DeVillis, 2003), however, as can be witnessed in Table 2, only eWOM has a Cronbach ́s Alpha above 0.7 (0.769). However, Cronbach ́s Alpha Values are extremely sensitive to the number of questions included for each scale. Thus, it is not uncommon to find low Cronbach ́s Alpha values (e.g. 0.4) for scales with fewer than ten items (Pallant, 2010), which is the case for this study. Consequently, although the values are below the ideal value of 0.7, the scales are still considered as achieving internal consistency. The inter-item correlations between the items are furthermore in the accepted range of (0.2-0.4) for the included items (Briggs & Cheek, 1986), which further supports that the scales indeed are reliable.

9.1.2.4 Regression Analysis The preliminary analyses in the sections above reveals that the assumptions behind Standardized Multiple Regression are satisfied. An inspection of the normal Probability Plots of the Regression Standardized Residuals further supports the normality of the error terms, in which the points lie in a reasonably straight diagonal line. With the fulfillment of these assumptions, the relationships between Content features, Engagement and eWOM, can be further analysed.


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Table 6. Evaluation of the relationships between Content Features, Engagement and eWOM. An inspection of Table 6 shows that five of six previously proposed relationships are supported (R1, R3-R5), whilst two are not (R2, R6). The choice of supporting/not supporting is in this case mainly based on the values exhibited in the columns for Standardized Coefficients (Beta) and Sig. values. R5, for instance, has been accepted due to that Text explains 23.4% (Beta) of eWOM ́s variance, which is considered a significant contribution, based on the significance value of below 0.05 (0.013) (Pallant, 2010). Although the majority of the predictors make significant contributions to the dependent variables, the presented R Square Values for the models are relatively low, where for example Engagement only explains 0.4% of the variance in eWOM. Low R Square values should not, however, be considered as problematic (Grace-Martin, 2016), since it depends on context and number of predictors. Each theoretical relationship only includes one predictor and the low variance explained thus to certain degree depend on the low number of predictors. Adding predictors would increase RSquare, however, at the same time also reduce the preciseness of the model.


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9.2 APPENDIX 2 - Experimental in-depth study (Full-Length)


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9.3 APPENDIX 3 - Experimental In-depth Study (Summary of Content Features)


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