Beyond Likes and Shares: How Humours’ brand engagement strategies in comment sections strengthen consumer-brand relationships

Abstract

Social media channels have evolved into powerful marketing tools, driving success for both business and non-profit organizations. As social media has evolved, it's empowered consumers in digital spaces to have a strong and active voice when interacting with various brands and organizations. This research delves into how brands that use humour, playfulness, and positivity in social media comment sections affect consumer perception, loyalty, and purchasing intentions. The data collection was gathered through a quantitative survey from 105 respondents. The respondents were social media users across various social media platforms. The findings show that casual and humorous brand communication has a significant impact on consumer responses, accounting for 36.4% of the variance in how consumers perceive brands. Entertainment and humorous content were the main drivers of engagement, outperforming educational content and sales promotions. The study showed that brands that interact playfully can greatly improve how consumers see them and how likely they are to buy, with responsive brands seen as part of consumers' social circle, not just a commercial entity.