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. 2021 Oct:135:99-111.
doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.06.030. Epub 2021 Jun 20.

#COVID-19: Forms and drivers of social media users' engagement behavior toward a global crisis

Jaylan Azer  1 , Lorena Blasco-Arcas  2 , Paul Harrigan  3
Affiliations

#COVID-19: Forms and drivers of social media users' engagement behavior toward a global crisis

Jaylan Azer et al. J Bus Res. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Social media constitutes a pervasive communication media that has had a prominent role during global crises. While crisis communication research suggests that individuals use social media differently during a crisis, little is known about what forms of engagement behavior may emerge and what drivers may lead to different forms of social media users' engagement behavior toward a global crisis. This study uses netnography and in-depth interviews to explore social media users' behavioral manifestations toward the COVID-19 crisis; thereby, we identify nine forms and six drivers and develop a framework of relationships between these forms and drivers. Those findings provide a better understanding of social media engagement toward the crisis from individual users' perspectives, which helps commercial and non-commercial marketers to determine the users' sentiments and reactions reflected in their engagement behaviors, hence, communicate more effectively and in a more engaging way during and beyond a global crisis.

Keywords: COVID-19; Crisis communication; Engagement; Facebook; Social media; Twitter.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Forms of social media users’ engagement behavior toward a global crisis.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Relationship between forms and drivers of social media users’ engagement behavior toward a global crisis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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