European Management Journal 32 (2014) 1001–1011

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European Management Journal j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / e m j

Factors influencing popularity of branded content in Facebook fan pages
Ferran Sabate a,*, Jasmina Berbegal-Mirabent b, Antonio Cañabate c, Philipp R. Lebherz d a b c d

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya • BarcelonaTech, Department of Management. C. Jordi Girona, 1-3, Edifici C5. 08034, Barcelona, Spain
Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Department of Economy and Business Organization. C. Inmaculada, 22, 08017, Barcelona, Spain
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya • BarcelonaTech, Department of Management. C. Jordi Girona, 1-3, Edifici C5. 08034, Barcelona, Spain
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Kaiserstraße 12. 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

A R T I C L E

I N F O

Article history:
Received 22 October 2013
Accepted 11 May 2014
Available online 27 May 2014
Keywords:
Content marketing
Social networking site
Consumer engagement
Social media optimization
Facebook brand page

A B S T R A C T

Social media is achieving an increasing importance as a channel for gathering information about products and services. Brands are developing its presence in social networking sites to meet brand awareness, engagement and word of mouth. In this context, the analysis of the factors that are conditioning consumer interaction with branded content becomes a matter of interest. This paper aims to shed light on those factors that are expected to impact on Facebook branded post popularity. A conceptual model is developed to reflect the influence of the content’s richness and time frame on the number of comments and likes. An empirical analysis using multiple linear regressions is conducted based on 164 Facebook posts gathered from the fan pages of 5 Spanish travel agencies. Results suggest that the richness of the content (inclusions of images and videos) raises the impact of the post in terms of likes. On the other hand, using images and a proper publication time are significantly influencing the number of comments, whereas the use of links may decrease this metric.
This study empirically contributes to the existing literature on the management of marketing strategies for consumer engagement in social networking sites.
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1 Introduction
Social networking sites (henceforth, SNS) have become very popular and have been increasingly attracting the interest of marketers. They account about 6% of all website visits done and 19% of all time spent online (Radwanick, Lipsman, & Aquino, 2011; Tuten,
2008). Social media is achieving more and more importance as a channel for gathering information about products and services and to take profit of new opportunities (Verhoef & Lemon, 2013).
SNS have stimulated new ways of interacting, shaping new forms in which people communicate, make decisions, socialize, collaborate, learn, entertain themselves, interact with each other or even do their shopping (Constantinides & Fountain, 2008; Hanna, Rohm,
& Crittenden, 2011; Hansen, Schneiderman, & Smith, 2011; Mangold
& Faulds, 2009). Consequently, the study of social media and its effects on consumers and organizations is increasingly attracting academic attention while it opens new research avenues for strategists and marketers (Bughin & Manyika, 2009; Constantinides &
Fountain, 2008; Fischer & Reuber, 2011; Urban, 2003).

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 93 401 56 31.
E-mail address: ferran.sabate@upc.edu (F. Sabate). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2014.05.001 0263-2373/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Among others, benefits arising from a well-designed social media marketing strategy may materialize in a better grasp of consumers’ behaviors and preferences, making consumers share the brand’s message as word of mouth to their peers, connecting to consumer for improvement and R&D processes, increasing brand