Social Marketing Through Social Media : The Effects of User-Generated Content

Purpose: To investigate the effect that interactions between social media user-generated images (UGIs) involving alcohol use, and social media safe-drinking advertising, have on young people’s intention to consume alcohol. Design/methodology/approach: Two empirical studies were conducted adopting experimental design. Study 1 collected questionnaire data from 495 young adults who participated in a 2 x 3 between-subjects experimental design, while Study 2 collected eye-tracking data and self-reports from 36 university students who participated in a 2 x 2 between-subjects experimental design. Findings: Intention to consume alcohol is positively associated with seeing UGIs of young people socialising with alcohol, and negatively associated with seeing a safe-drinking advertisement that has been judged to be effective. The presence of a safe-drinking advertisement moderates the effect of UGIs involving alcohol. The visual attention paid to the safe-drinking advertisement is negatively correlated with the intention to drink when alcohol-related UGIs are also present. Research limitations/implications: Gathering eye-tracking data can enrich a conventional survey-based approach when studying a phenomenon with high visual content, such as social media and advertising. Practical implications: The interaction between user-generated content and advertising content must be considered when planning social marketing campaigns conducted through social media. Originality/value (mandatory): User-generated content is an important influence on risky consumption behaviour. Social marketing communications to deter risky behaviour act as a moderator in the relationship between user-generated content and risky consumption behaviour. This helps to understand how priming works in a social media context