“Engage and attract me, then I’ll share you”: an analysis of the impact of post category on viral marketing in a social networking site

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of different types of content of viral marketing in a popular social networking site. Our research is founded on recent studies which categorize posts on Facebook. Design/methodology/approach: Data for 2583 posts in eight profiles of Brazilian beer brands were coded and analyzed. We used a regression model and Analysis of Variance to establish relationships among independent variables and a dependent variable. Findings: Two hypotheses were supported. There was a positive relationship between posts of the categories Fan and Promotion and Publicity and viral marketing. Posts of the categories Information and Pool did not have any significant effects, and confirmed previous studies which analyzed likes and comments as dependent variables. Originality/value: Previous studies using the platform did not categorize posts created by brand fans/followers. Our typology is a quantitative improvement in relation to studies with similar objectives. Hence, marketers involved with brand management on Facebook should publish posts which promote the brand and reproduce content generated by people engaged with it if they seek to increase the viralization capacity of such posts.