Social Media Characteristics and Consumers’ Online Brand-Related Activities (COBRAs): The Mediating Role of Time Spent and Emotional Connectedness

Abstract

This paper explores the influence of different social media platforms’ characteristics for use intensity (i.e., time spent and emotional connectedness), which in turn partially affects the development of consumers’ online brand-related activities (COBRAs). Using a U.S.-based sample of 939 adult social media users, we tested three serial mediation models using partial least squares structural equation modeling. We find that different social media characteristics lead to different levels of time spent, emotional connectedness, and, ultimately, COBRAs. We show the superiority of using profile-based (vs. content-based) platforms in fostering COBRAs, despite its negative effect on use intensity. Also, using customized (vs. broadcast) messages boosts users’ time spent on social media, thus enhancing emotional connectedness to the platform. Notably, the time spent on a platform significantly affects COBRAs via the mediation effect of emotional connectedness. We contribute by exploring the role of platforms’ characteristics in developing COBRAs while unraveling how the two dimensions of use intensity influence brand-related activities on social media.