The effects of live comments and advertisements on social media engagement: application to short-form online video
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the moment-to-moment (MTM) effects of in-consumption dynamic comments on consumers' responses to digital engagement and the underlying mechanisms involved, as well as the interactive role of advertisements embedded in short-form online video.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses data extracted from 2,081 videos posted on the prominent Chinese online live platform, Bilibili. The hypotheses are tested using regression models and natural language processing.
Findings
The results indicate that the intensity of live comments at the beginning negatively affects users' digital engagement, while a corresponding increase in live comments at the end elicits a positive effect. A linear trend and peak difference in live comments intensity positively affect digital engagement, while the variability of live comment intensity exerts a negative effect. These MTM effects were driven by sentiments of live comments. Furthermore, in-video advertisements are likely to amplify the negative beginning effect on users' digital engagement and mitigate the negative variability of live comments.
Originality/value
This study is the first to examine the direct effects of MTM comments from the online temporal sequence perspective, differentiating the process- and performance-based engagement. The mechanism and interactive role of in-video advertisements were identified. These findings contribute to literature on interactive marketing and provide valuable guidance for influencer marketing.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Junjie Chen for valuable work on data collection.
Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 71902003 and 72102086), China Ministry of Education Foundation for Humanities and Social Science (grant no. 19YJC630219), Research Institute on Brand Innovation and Development of Guangzhou (grant nos. 12622973 and 12621976) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant no. FRF-TP-20-078A1).
Research data: All data are available through the OSF (https://osf.io/xm4ys/?view_only=6136f0b5acf44080a4bca5c376efe474).
Citation
Zhang, X., Zhao, Z. and Wang, K. (2023), "The effects of live comments and advertisements on social media engagement: application to short-form online video", Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-02-2023-0069
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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