Why are people interacting with brands on Facebook: unraveling consumers' motivations for lurking and posting on Facebook brand pages

Facebook brand communities allow consumers to interact with brands in various ways differing in level of activeness and public visibility, ranging from rather passive and less publicly visible (or lurking) to active and highly visible (or posting) behaviors. For brands, posting behavior is particularly desirable as consumers’ publicly visible interactions may strengthen the brand’s online visibility and thus brand awareness. The current paper investigates individuals’ motivations that may drive lurking and posting behavior on Facebook brand pages by a survey study (N = 187). Results show that while both behaviors are driven by social interaction motives, the former is also driven by a need for entertainment, and the latter is additionally driven by a need for empowerment. Since results also show that individuals engage far more in lurking than in posting behaviors, this study implies that companies should invest in strategies that appeal to consumers’ empowerment motives