The Role of In-Store and Online Retailing Factors

As Facebook and Twitter platforms have been turning into effective channels for peer-to-peer content marketing distribution, a growing number of consumers believe they are spammed by social media content and are expected to get into a “content shock” (NYTimes.com 2014). To sustain customer content sharing (virality), managers often use varying word choices of content (e.g., positive emotion words) and arousal (e.g., awesome vs. good), together with interactivity pairs, such as videos and/or pictures. However, research on speech acts indicates that not only word choices but overall message intentions may inherently drive different reactions from customers. By theorizing on speech acts, we suggest that brand posts in social media can be classified as varying marketing intentions, where directive language (e.g., “act quick, last days of discount”) can lead to spreading online content more widely than assertions (e.g., “last days of discount”) or emotional expressions (e.g., “best days of discount”).