Is the Data Breach News Dissemination on the Company's Social Media Always Bad? Perspective from User Engagement

While data breach disclosures are legally mandated, sharing such information on social media remains a voluntary choice for firms. Prior research indicates that disclosing data breaches through social media often results in negative stock price reactions, reputational damage, and adverse customer sentiment. However, companies are increasingly disseminating breach information through their social channels because of customer expectations. This study explores how such dissemination influences future user engagement on corporate social media, emphasizing the moderating roles of disclosure tone and company engagement. Using a negative binomial regression model on data from 2011 to 2018, our research contributes to the crisis management and data breach literature by highlighting strategic approaches to transforming crises into opportunities for building customer trust and engagement.