Conceptualizing Interactivity on Social Media and Exploring the Effects of Interactivity on Consumers’ Engagement with Online Social-Interactions

With the rapid acceptance of using social media to achieve interactive engagement come varied opportunities for businesses to communicate with their customers and clients. Through an analysis of McDonald’s “Our Food, Your Questions” campaign on social media platforms, our aim for the present study is two-fold. First, we conceptualize interactivity on the content-community level of social media on a continuum from low- to middle- to high-order, and we distinguish between medium-based interactivity, conversation-based interactivity, and process-based interactivity. Second, we examine the effects of these interactive strategies on users. The results show that conversation-based interactivity generates greater participation as well as emotional and social-engagement than does medium-based interactivity. Additionally, process-based interactivity produces more positive, emotional-social engagement than do either conversation-based interactivity or medium-based interactivity. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications for advancing our knowledge of interactivity on social media and marketing practices.