Universities engaging social media users: an investigation of quantitative relationships between universities' Facebook followers/interactions and university attributes

Social media is an important component of a university's marketing plan. It has become one of the most efficient and cost-effective avenues for reaching a large, targeted population, which makes knowledge of how to attract more followers and interactions important in the competitive world of higher education. This study investigates the quantitative relationships between universities' Facebook pages and interactions (reactions, comments, and shares) and a variety of university attributes (year the university was established, number of students enrolled at university, etc.) using Pearson Correlation and ANOVA tests. Findings indicate several attributes that hold moderate-to-strong correlations with Facebook followers and interactions. This study identifies several areas for further investigation.