Impact of Social Media Interaction on Customer’s Brand Engagement, Emotions, Word of Mouth, and Brand Relationship Quality in Luxury Hotel Brands

Based on stimuli-organism-response (S-O-R) theory, the present study tests a theoretical framework that examines the interface among social media interaction (SMI), customer brand engagement (CBE), emotional brand attachment (EBA), word of mouth (WOM), and brand relationship quality (BRQ) in luxury hotel brand setting. This chapter recruits data from a sample of 305 hotel customers utilizing partial least-squares structural equation modeling. The findings revealed that SMI has positive effects on CBE, EBA, and BRQ. Second, results exposed that CBE generates a positive influence on EBA, WOM, and BRQ. Finally, results identified that the association between SMI and EBA, SMI and WOM, and SMI and BRQ is mediated by CBE with hotel brands. This chapter contributes to hospitality/marketing literature on social media, CBE, and consumer behavior. This chapter informs practical recommendations for hotel social media marketers on how to stimulate CBE through the proper adoption of social media interactions.