Figurative language effect on consumer engagement: an empirical investigation for Turkish airline industry

Abstract

Increasing consumer engagement (CE) on social networks is one of marketing problems that brands face in today’s competitive environment. Although prior studies on this concept suggested that content strategies have essential role in improving CE, little is known about figurative language effect. Thus, a novel model and research design to examine how the use of figurative language influence CE behavior on Facebook were proposed. Drawing on Encoding/Decoding Model and brand-consumer communication studies, the 1687 brand posts of Turkish airline Facebook pages with Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) models were analyzed. The findings indicate that several types of figurative languages (idioms, personifications, and similes) are related to the various CE levels (likes, shares, and comments). The findings of this study give tips for understanding the role of figurative language, reshaping engagement level, and redesigning branded content in marketing communication practices on social networks. The experimental model that provides some clues to reconsider online communication strategies across CE based on figurative language is presented.