Thumbs up: An Empirical Analysis on Employee’s Intention to Interact with Corporate Content
(A2022-107563)

AUTHORS

Jesse Bächler, ZHAW School of Management and Law; Manuel Benz, VZ VermögensZentrum; Nina-Monique Heim, ZHAW School of Management and Law

ABSTRACT

Internal-branding literature holds that an employee’s behavior on the job («brand citizenship behavior», BCB) is directly driven by her commitment to the corporate brand. Survey data (N = 195) parsed by a multiple linear regression suggests «helping behavior», a newly modeled variable, determines even more prominently whether BCB is expressed: A mediation analysis revealed that brand commitment drove intentions to interact (ITI) indirectly by promoting a behavioral objective, so-called «helping behavior». Helping behavior towards the company and customers, respectively, exhibited a positive and significant effect on ITI with corporate content, albeit to a different degree. Our findings provide a deeper understanding of personal goals and motives of social media usage in a professional context. Companies aiming to extend their reach on social media need to create content that supports their employees’ personal goals before educating and intensifying company-staff relationships.