Factors Affecting Consumer Responses to Brand Advertising on Social Media

Social media users respond to brand advertising on social media platforms differently. Past research has not considered such potential variation in responses across social media platforms, despite their importance in informing marketing strategy. In view of this gap, this study examines specific motivational drivers across two major social media sites (i.e., Facebook and YouTube), and investigates the mechanisms through which these motives drive consumer responses to brand advertising. The results show that exchange and search motives differentially dominate usage across the two social media platforms, and indirectly influence individuals’ advertising responses via perceptions of informativeness and interestingness. The results offer important theoretical and practical insights with regard to brand advertising on social media.