What Drives Advertising Success on Facebook? An Advertising-Effectiveness Model: Measuring the Effects on Sales of "Likes" and Other Social-Network Stimuli

Online social networks have challenged the current knowledge of advertising effectiveness. Using 12 months of aggregate-level, daily data from a major German e-commerce retailer, the authors of the current study analyzed four types of advertising stimuli on Facebook—'stream' (news feed) impressions, page views, 'Likes,' and user contributions—to determine their short-term and long-term impact on sales.

What Drives Advertising Success on Facebook? An Advertising-Effectiveness Model: Measuring the Effects on Sales of "Likes" and Other Social-Network Stimuli

Malte Brettel

RWTH Aachen University

Jens-Christian Reich and Jose Gavilanes

RWTH Aachen University/The Boston Consulting Group

Tessa Flatten

TU Dortmund

MANAGEMENT SLANT

  • On Facebook, a user’s click on “Like” is a strong long-term sales driver due to high carryover effects.
  • Visits to a company”s Facebook page are strong short-term sales drivers.
  • “Likes” and contributions to a Facebook page create substantial, positive synergy effects.
  • “Stream” (news feed) impressions have a significantly negative sales impact.
  • Further research is needed to...

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