Brands can generate positive word of mouth by showing up in member-initiated online communities such as Reddit, a new study finds. But the impact of their presence depends heavily on how prominent the branding is in their content and whether users perceive it as authentic.
The researchers conducted several experiments manipulating brand prominence in posts to assess its effect on views, click-through rates, and ultimately, word of mouth recommendations. Working with a European skincare startup, they posted two versions of a brand message in skincare and beauty communities on Reddit.
One of the posts had a ‘high brand prominence’, meaning that the brand’s name featured in the title, the visual included a photo of the product with the brand name on the packaging and elsewhere in the image, and the accompanying text mentioned the brand name multiple times.
The ‘low brand-prominence’ post, on the other hand, did not feature the brand’s name in the title. Instead, it appeared only on the packaging in the product’s visual and just once in the accompanying text.
The researchers marked both posts as ‘promoted’ before sharing them and recorded the number of views and clicks generated five days after the posts went live. The high-prominence post generated more views (18,926 vs 11,876) but fewer clicks (29 vs 35), resulting in a click-through rate of 0.15% — half that of the low-prominence post (0.3%).
‘While these CTRs seem low, the CTRs for both posts were higher than the average display ad CTR, which is 0.1%,’ the study authors wrote.
They further explained that ‘while CTRs are not a direct measure of WOM [word of mouth], they provide an important behavioural indicator of consumer engagement with the content’ and that previous research has found that clicks are ‘a necessary precursor to WOM activities’.
In other words, the researchers conclude that low-brand-prominence posts generate more positive word of mouth.
The experiments also found that high-brand-prominence posts were perceived as less authentic because they resembled advertising. This, in turn, activated persuasion knowledge — that is, people’s ability to detect persuasion tactics and evaluate marketing efforts — and negatively impacted word of mouth.
The researchers did, however, find one factor that could moderate this effect: high social capital.
‘Communities whose members exhibit high social capital typically feature strong ties, trust and shared values among their members, which can yield a strong social influence,’ the authors explained.
The research, they added, found that these social dynamics can ‘mitigate scepticism’ and ‘facilitate positive WOM generation’ even when posts appear less authentic.
The impact of social capital can ‘effectively [nullify]’ the activation of persuasion knowledge for members with high social capital, according to the researchers who, as a result, advise brands to target ‘well-connected consumers’ in communities.
A follow-up experiment on Facebook replicated the above findings, suggesting the effect isn’t unique to Reddit. Still, the authors acknowledge that their research had several limitations and that further studies can focus on brand posts in other types of communities.
They also questioned whether their findings would be different if they partnered with well-known brands rather than a startup (or a fictitious brand for the Facebook study).
Featured image: Crystal Jo / Unsplash
