Be creative, my friend! Engaging users on Instagram by promoting positive emotions

Instagram is emerging as the most influential social network; this phenomenon is especially apparent in the fashion industry. Fashion brands are launching creative campaigns on Instagram to engage their followers. The present study aims to increase the understanding of followers’ engagement by analyzing the consequences of brand publications on Instagram. Taking as a basis the S-O-R framework, brand publications (stimulus) may generate perceptions of creativity and positive emotions in their followers (organism) which, in turn, may influence their affective commitment and interaction intentions (response). Our results, based on data collected from 808 followers of an Instagram fashion brand account, analyzed using structural equation modeling, confirmed that perceived creativity is a crucial aspect of Instagram. In addition, positive emotions and affective commitment act as partial mediators in the relationship between perceived creativity and interaction intentions. These results have interesting implications for both the fashion industry and content generation on Instagram