Does One Size Fit All? The Role of Extraversion in Generating Electronic Word‐of‐Mouth Through Social Media Brand Page Engagement

ABSTRACT Brands are increasingly investing in fostering consumer engagement with their social media pages to strengthen consumer–brand relationships, ultimately aiming to generate positive electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM). Brands' social media marketing budgets could be used more effectively if they were to tailor their engagement strategies to their consumers' characteristics, including their relevant personality traits, such as their extraversion. However, the role of consumers' extraversion in driving eWOM through social media brand page engagement remains underexplored. Drawing on social identity theory, cultivation theory, and trait theory of personality, this paper integrates findings from two studies—a cross‐sectional survey and an experiment—conducted among users of the world's most popular social networking site (i.e., Facebook). The results show that passive and active social media brand page engagement have distinct impacts on eWOM, thereby highlighting the mediating role of self‐brand connection (i.e., the extent to which consumers incorporate a brand into their self‐concept), and extraversion's dual role as both an antecedent and a moderator. Our results provide social media managers with valuable guidance by highlighting the differing impact of engagement activities on introverts versus extraverts.