Empirical Analysis of Social Media Interaction Metrics and Their Impact on Startup Engagement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47738/ijiis.v8i3.272Keywords:
Social Media, Startup Engagement, Digital Marketing, Random Forest, Regression AnalysisAbstract
In the digital economy, social media serves as a crucial platform for startups to build relationships with audiences and strengthen brand presence. However, the specific effects of different types of user interactions—likes, comments, and shares—on startup engagement remain insufficiently quantified. This study provides an empirical analysis of how social media interaction metrics influence engagement using secondary data from the publicly available Social Media Engagement Metrics dataset on Kaggle. Employing a quantitative design, the study integrates descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, Random Forest, and multiple linear regression to examine both linear and non-linear relationships. Results show that likes, comments, and shares collectively affect engagement rates, with Random Forest identifying likes as the most influential feature. However, regression results indicate that shares exert a statistically significant but negative effect on engagement, suggesting complex behavioral patterns behind user interactions. Visual analyses—including histograms, boxplots, and heatmaps—support data normality and highlight variation in post performance. The findings emphasize the importance of visually engaging content and interactive captions to enhance user engagement. This study contributes to digital marketing research by combining methodological rigor with actionable insights, offering data-driven recommendations for startups aiming to optimize their social media strategies.References
Gupta, A., & Jain, M. (2021). The Impact of Paid Advertising on Social Media Engagement. Journal of Digital Marketing, 9(1), 45–59.
Kim, H., & Lee, J. (2023). Micro-Influencer Effectiveness in Startup Marketing Campaigns. International Journal of Online Media, 15(2), 88–102.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2020). Marketing Management (15th ed.). Pearson Education.
Li, C., & Bernoff, J. (2019). Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. Harvard Business Press.
Sharma, R., Gupta, P., & Mehta, S. (2022). Creative Content Strategies and User Engagement on Instagram. Journal of Social Media Studies, 14(3), 121–137.
Alalwan, A. A. (2018). Investigating the impact of social media advertising features on customer purchase intention. International Journal of Information Management, 42, 65–77.
Ashley, C. & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15–27.
Lee, J. & Hong, I. B. (2016). Predicting positive user responses to social media advertising: emotional appeal, informativeness, and creativity. International Journal of Information Management, 36(3), 360–373.
Martins, J., Costa, C., Oliveira, T., Gonçalves, R., & Branco, F. (2019). How smartphone advertising influences consumers’ purchase intention. Journal of Business Research, 94, 378–387.
Ahn, T., Ryu, S. & Han, I. (2005). The impact of online–offline features on user acceptance of Internet shopping malls. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 3(4), 405–421.
Alalwan, A. A., Rana, N. P., Dwivedi, Y. K., & Algharabat, R. (2017). Social media in marketing: A review and analysis of the existing literature. Telematics and Informatics, 34(7), 1177–1190.
Barhemmati, N. & Ahmad, A. (2015). Effects of social network marketing on consumer purchase behavior through engagement. Journal of Advanced Management Science, 3(4).
Aguirre, E., Mahr, D., Grewal, D., de Ruyter, K., & Wetzels, M. (2015). Unraveling the personalization paradox: Information collection and trust strategies in online ad effectiveness. Journal of Retailing, 91(1), 34–49.
Celebi, S. I. (2015). How motives affect attitudes toward internet and Facebook advertising. Computers in Human Behavior, 51, 312–324.
Raza, M. A., Ahad, M. A., Shafqat, M. A., Aurangzaib, M., & Rizwan, M. (2014). Determinants of purchase intention toward counterfeit mobile phones in Pakistan. African Journal of Business Management, 5(21), 8446–8457.
Onofrei, G., et al. (2022). Social media marketing efforts and brand equity in luxury. Journal of Business Research, 142, 100–112.
Sabate, F., Berbegal-Mirabent, J., Cañabate, A., & Lebherz, P. R. (2014). Factors influencing popularity of branded content on Facebook. European Management Journal, 32(6), 1001–1011.
Voorveld, H. A. M., van Noort, G., Muntinga, D. G., & Bronner, F. (2018). Engagement with social media advertising: Role of platform type. Journal of Advertising, 47(1), 38–54.
Hudson, S., Huang, L., Roth, M. S., & Madden, T. J. (2016). Social media interactions on consumer–brand relationships. Journal of Business Research, 69(8), 3140–3148.
Kumar, A., Bezawada, R., Rishika, R., Janakiraman, R., & Kannan, P. K. (2016). From social to sale: Effects of firm-generated content on social media. Journal of Marketing, 80(1), 7–25.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with IJIIS : International Journal on Informatics and Information Systems agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the IJIIS : International Journal on Informatics and Information Systems right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) the work for any purpose, even commercially with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in IJIIS : International Journal on Informatics and Information Systems. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in IJIIS : International Journal on Informatics and Information Systems. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
