Interactivity within social media advertising and its influence on consumer experience, perceived value, and omnichannel outcomes

Abstract

In the omnichannel retailing era, businesses communicate with their customers through multiple channels such as websites, pop-up stores, and social media, with the aim to deliver seamless experiences. Among these channels, social media has become a primary digital communication channel that delivers advertising messages to consumers (Sreejesh et al., 2020). Particularly, interactivity within social media ads, which is distinct from television, radio, or print ads, provides an immersive experience by allowing consumers to navigate and interact with the ad content. Among social media ad formats, Instagram Stories are recognized by their highly interactive characteristics. Instagram Stories offer various interactive features that inspire viewers to perform actions while viewing the ads. For example, by adding quiz or poll stickers, ad creators can ask questions with customized answer choices and allow users to vote and see real-time results. Previous studies have shown that interactive advertising enhances ad interest and ad experience (e.g., Belanche et al., 2017; Huang et al., 2009; Raney et al., 2003). However, despite the wide use of interactive social media advertising, there is scant research on the impact of interactivity on consumer experience and subsequent responses toward a given brand. Therefore, to address that gap, the current research investigated the associations among interactivity within Instagram ads, ad experience, perceived value associated with a brand, and subsequent omnichannel behavioral intentions. Mehrabian and Russell’s (1974) Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model was adopted as the overarching theoretical framework of the dissertation to examine the effect of varying levels of interactivity within two Instagram ad formats (i.e., Stories vs. traditional ads) on forming a consumer’s perception (i.e., ad experience and perceived value associated with a brand) and subsequent outcomes (i.e., omnichannel behavioral intentions). Consumer experience derived from social media advertising was examined, adapting Pine and Gilmore’s 4Es (i.e., entertainment, esthetic, educational, and escapist experiences) to empirically test the experience economy perspective in a social media context. A 2 x 2 experimental research design was employed using researcher-developed mockup Instagram ads as stimuli. Four ad treatments were developed through two pretests, which confirmed significant differences in high vs. low ad interactivity for two brands, representing the fashion category, low consumer awareness, and moderately high likability of the products presented in the sponsored images and videos. Data were collected through an online survey distributed via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The targeted audience of the study was U.S. female Instagram users between 18 and 34 years old. A total of 807 usable responses was used for analyzing data using structural equation modeling (SEM). Data analysis involved testing a measurement model through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a structural model testing the hypotheses, respectively. Results indicate that highly interactive social media advertising such as Instagram Stories helps create entertainment and esthetic experiences. These two experiences together were found to contribute to utilitarian, hedonic, and social aspects of perceived value associated with a brand. Moreover, interactivity within social media ads directly enhanced utilitarian and hedonic aspects of perceived value associated with a brand. Moreover, behavioral intentions were significantly associated with hedonic and social aspects of perceived value derived from a brand. The present study contributes to a large body of literature on interactive advertising (e.g., Campbell et al., 2010; Steuer, 1992; Wang & Chen, 2020; Yoon & Youn, 2016) by demonstrating the contributory role of interactivity within social media ads in enhancing the experience and brand perception. Findings of the study offer practical insights for fashion marketing practitioners to develop interactive social media advertising strategies that help enhance shopping value. The present study highlights the need for independent fashion brands to better understand young U.S. female consumers’ preferences in their Instagram ad experience, which may increase desired shopping outcomes through multiple channels.