Customers' motivations to engage with quick service restaurant (QSR) brands on social media: a uses and gratifications approach

PurposeDrawing upon uses and gratifications (U&G) theory and customers' online brand-related activities framework, the present study aims to examine the influence of customers' motivations to engage with brand-related social media content on different social media engagement behaviors (consumption, contribution and creation) and brand-related outcomes (brand trust and brand loyalty) in the quick service restaurant (QSR) context.Design/methodology/approachBased on a self-administered survey dataset of 500 social media users who are customers of QSR brands, partial least square structural equation modeling is used to verify the hypotheses.FindingsResults showed that interactivity motivation and information motivation drive all the social media engagement behaviors (consumption, contribution and creation). The results also confirmed the mediating effect of brand trust on the relationship between two levels of social media engagement behaviors (consumption and contribution) and brand loyalty.Practical implicationsTo entice customers to engage with QSR brands on social media, social media marketing managers should incorporate elements of interactivity, information, entertainment and incentive into QSR social media brand posts rather than relying solely on delivering social media content in a variety of ways such as photos, videos and status updates.Originality/valueThis study makes a novel contribution to hospitality and social media engagement literature, thus uncovering opportunities for managers to engage their customers on social media.