Social media managers' customer orientation, service climate and social media followers' willingness to pay: moderated mediation model with triadic data

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the relationship between the interaction of the social media manager's customer orientation and the service climate perceived by supervisors, on the customer's perception of brand authenticity and, through it, on the willingness to pay a price premium. Design/methodology/approachThis study uses triadic data from 200 social media followers, 20 social media managers and 20 supervisors from a range of industries. FindingsThe findings show that the customer orientation of the brand social media managers interacts with their work context to influence social media followers' perceptions of brand authenticity, and ultimately, their willingness to pay a premium price. Finally, product involvement moderates the relationship between brand authenticity and willingness to pay a premium price. Research limitations/implicationsThis study shows how and when the disposition of brand social media managers affects the attitudes and intentions of the social media followers. Further research should continue this novel line of research and explore in greater depth the impact of social media managers and their environments. Practical implicationsSocial media managers' values should fit those of their organization. This organization-person fit reflects on social media and improves social media followers' perceptions of brand authenticity and, consequently, their willingness to pay a premium price. Originality/valueLeveraging participation in social media is currently a key issue for firms. However, the internal determinants of successful social media usage have received limited attention from researchers. Therefore, this research contributes to the social media literature by suggesting the need to consider the characteristics of social media managers and their context to promote the outcomes of social media usage, specifically brand authenticity and willingness to pay a premium price.