Marketers distinguish between three types of media: paid (e.g., advertising), owned (e.g., company website), and earned (e.g., publicity). The effects of paid media on sales have been extensively covered in the marketing literature. The effects of earned media, however, have received limited...

The popularity of social media has led to many brands using platforms such as Facebook for marketing communications, typically whereby brands post content (text, images, and/or videos) on their social media pages for their consumer “fans” to see and, hopefully, engage with. Despite the...