Concrete vs. abstract

Abstract

Purpose: Posting content on social media by companies, especially smaller ones, is a reality; however, entrepreneurs still need to discover commercial returns from this content. Therefore, our study aimed to evaluate the prediction of visual content manipulation in social media posts on a small company's commercial business results. Design/Methodology/Approach: Our research was conducted via a quasi-experiment in a natural environment over 144 days in a business social media profile that sells its products in a physical store and via an app. Two types of publication content were manipulated: concrete and abstract. Findings:  The content of social media posts affected sales differently, depending on whether they were concrete or abstract. Concrete posts increased sales (in-store and via app) on the same day, while abstract posts increased sales the day after the post, especially considering the period. Originality/value: Our study contributes to the discussion of how the typology of the posts can influence a company's commercial result, going beyond the metrics assessment of social media platforms to the company's cash flow.