Factors Leading to Increased Online Engagement

Abstract

The presence of the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the need for businesses to reconsider their marketing strategies for survival. This has become necessary due to the shift in consumer habits and demands as a consequence of the crisis. The lockdown and social distancing among other factors have forced more businesses to result to the use of digital platforms in order to continue to meet the needs of their target audiences. Fortunately, consumers across the world have wholeheartedly embraced digital channels in fulfilling their needs and now seem to shop online much more than before. Nonetheless, in the digital platform era, the word engagement and participation are the fundamental non-transactional constructs employed to explain the nature of the participant's unique interactive experiences. In this chapter, the authors set out to look at some factors that could lead to increased online engagement. Among the factors hypothesized are the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, online advertisement, and electronic word of mouth. The chapter recommends further testing of the proposed hypothesis.