2.2. Engagement in a company's soci

2.2. Engagement in a company's social media activities

The relationship between consumers' engagement in a company's social media activities and perceived corporate reputation is one of the main focal points of this study. Many different definitionsand conceptualizations of the engagement concept have been

published in scholarly literature. The understanding of this phe-
nomenon has developed significantly, however a general consensus

has not yet been reached. In studies published to date, engagement

is defined in terms of a combination of cognitive aspects (e.g., being

interested in a company's activities), behavioral aspects (partici-
pation in the company's activities), and/or emotional aspects

(feeling positive about a company's activities). The lack of

consensus on the engagement concept is reflected in a literature

review by Brodie, Hollebeek, Juric, and Ilic (2011), where eight

customer engagement definitions from academic marketing liter-
ature, twenty-two from social science/management literature, and

nineteen from business practice literature were categorized on

cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects. Definitions vary

greatly, from broad, overarching definitions (e.g., “the level of a

customer's cognitive, emotional and behavioral investment in

specific brand interactions” (Hollebeek, 2011, p. 565)), to narrow

definitions focusing on only one perspective (e.g., “a behavioral

manifestation toward the brand or firm that goes beyond trans-
actions” (Verhoef, Reinartz, & Krafft, 2010, p. 247)).

In the present study we will focus on the concept of engagement

at its most basic level, and refer to consumer's familiarity with a

company's social media activities (i.e., cognition) and the online

following of these activities (i.e., behavior). That is, our approach of

the concept can be regarded as the principal starting point (i.e., a

precondition e one first needs to be familiar with a company's

online activities, and start to follow them) from which subsequent

expressions of online engagement behavior towards a company

may grow (e.g., experiencing or expressing interest/emotions,

interacting, contributing, participating, etc.).

Achieving a high level of consumer engagement is viewed as

desirable, because it may enhance a company's reputation and

brand loyalty (Doorn van et al., 2010; Hollebeek, 2011) and pur-
chase decisions (Patterson, Yu, & de Ruyter, 2006). The relational

consequences of consumer engagement may include commitment,

trust, consumers' emotional brand attachment and loyalty (Brodie,

Ilic, Juric, & Hollebeek, 2013). This is argued to be of added value for

companies, especially for those in highly competitive markets thatare dominated mainly by price competition, like the tourism and

travel industry (So, King, & Sparks, 2012). Tourism and travel or-
ganizations can use customer engagement as a counterweight to

competition on price only, to attract more (potential) customers

and to develop customer loyalty (Bowden, 2009).

In sum, an online following of consumers, who actively partic-
ipate in a company's online activities, is regarded to be highly

valuable for a company. Yet, to date no empirical studies have

directly tested the relation between engagement in a company's

social media activities and corporate reputation. Most research on

social media focuses on the effects of online reviews on consumers

(e.g., Utz, Kerkhof, & Bos van den, 2012; Vermeulen & Seegers,

2009), and only a few studies focus on the effect of the social me-
dia activities of companies. These latter studies typically do not

focus on corporate reputation but on related concepts like con-
sumer trust, emotional appeal and brand attitude, generally

showing positive effects. For example, webcare interventions to

negative social media complaints tended to enhance consumers'

brand evaluations (Van Noort & Willemsen, 2011). In two recent

studies, company-created social media communication showed to

positively affect brand attitude, brand awareness and brand image

(Bruhn, Schoenmueller, & Schafer, 2012; Schivinski € & Dakabrowski,

2013). Additionally, frequent visitors of a corporate blog perceived

the relational commitment communicated by the organization

behind the weblog as higher, which in turn related to trust and

satisfaction (Kelleher, 2009).

Based on the above, we expect that followers of a company's

social media activities should develop a more positive perceived

corporate reputation. Earlier research on traditional offline media

shows that exposure to news with a positive tone of voice about a

company is associated with a more positive perception of corporate

reputation (Meijer & Kleinnijenhuis, 2006; Wartick, 1992).

Assuming that companies will mainly share positive and enter-
taining company news through social media, and that the com-
pany's webcare team is conducive and helpful to customers,

followers of these activities will witness positive activity more

frequently than non-followers. Therefore, we expect: