Attracting Comments: Digital Engagement Metrics on Facebook and Financial Performance
Abstract
Many companies are now using social media such as Facebook for advertising and marketing purposes. To understand how using social media affects a company's business performance from a digital engagement perspective, this study examines how user comments on company Facebook posts influence company revenue. S&P 500 companies' revenue information in a five-year time span (from 2010 to 2015) is collected, and this information is matched to more than 24 million user comments directed at these companies' Facebook posts. The hypotheses are tested using static (fixed effects [FE] and random effects [RE]) as well as dynamic (generalized method of moments [GMM]) panel data analyses in econometric methods. The estimation results indicate that digital engagement volume, defined as the total number of Facebook comments a company received, has a significant and positive effect on revenue. In addition, digital engagement valence, defined as the average tone of Facebook comments directed toward a company, also has a significant and positive effect on revenue. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
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Likes and comments are significant predictors of companies' financial and social performance, and they positively influence sales.
“likes and comments are significant predictors of companies' financial and social performance, and they positively influence sales (Lee, Lee, and Oh 2015;Yoon et al. 2018)”
From Influencer Marketing on Instagram: Empirical Research on Social Media Engagement with Sponsored Posts (2022) · cites this paper as Yoon et al. 2018
A comment has a higher value than a like.
“A comment has a higher value than a like.”
From Influencer Marketing on Instagram: Empirical Research on Social Media Engagement with Sponsored Posts (2022) · cites this paper as Yoon et al. (2018)
Writing a comment requires more effort than clicking the Like button.
“Yoon et al. (2018) argued that writing a comment requires more effort than clicking the Like button.”
From Influencer Marketing on Instagram: Empirical Research on Social Media Engagement with Sponsored Posts (2022) · cites this paper as Yoon et al. (2018)
Cites
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“Here we consider that commenting could exert an influence in shaping consumer behavior through this self-perception (Bem 1972).”
BackgroundMethodWhat Makes Online Content Viral?
Berger, J., & Milkman, K. L. (2012) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.1509/jmr.10.0353 · Cited by 3,178 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Such active digital engagement can be an important source of information transmission and social sharing (Berger 2014; Berger and Milkman 2012).”
BackgroundWord of mouth and interpersonal communication: A review and directions for future research
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Does “Liking” Lead to Loving? The Impact of Joining a Brand's Social Network on Marketing Outcomes
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Gross, J., & von Wangenheim, F. (2022) · Journal of Interactive Advertising · doi:10.1080/15252019.2022.2123724 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
“Yoon et al. (2018) argued that writing a comment requires more effort than clicking the Like button.”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Yoon, G., Li, C., Ji, Y. (., North, M., Hong, C., & Liu, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Miami (US)
- Central Connecticut State University (US)
- University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
- Corresponding author
- Yoon, Gunwoo
- Venue
- Journal of Advertising
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-01-02
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 24-37
- ISSN
- 0091-3367 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-7805
- OpenAlex
- W2794383772
- Cited by
- 149
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 27.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Advertising (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Marketing and Advertising Strategies
- Social Sciences › Demography › SMEs Development and Digital Marketing
- Keywords
- Facebook comments, digital engagement, social media marketing, firm revenue, S&P 500 firms, social media advertising, user engagement metrics
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