EXPRESS: From Trends to Tweets: The Impact of Trendjacking on Consumer Engagement on Social Media

Brands increasingly insert themselves into trending online cultural moments, a practice known as trendjacking, yet evidence on its effectiveness is mixed. Combining over 660,000 posts from 356 Fortune-listed companies (2018–2022) with trending topic data from X, we find that trendjacking increases social media engagement by 120.8%. We further find that trendjacking’s effectiveness varies by timing, trend type, and brand personality. Engagement is highest when brands post on the day following and on the day a trend first enters X’s top five trends. Effectiveness also varies by trend type, with pop culture trends generating the most engagement. Brand personality further shapes these effects, as exciting brands do best with pop culture trends, whereas rugged brands perform better with political trends. We further conduct two controlled experiments across different product categories, controlling for post and topic characteristics, and find consistent evidence that trendjacking increases engagement. These findings offer important implications for managers seeking to leverage trending topics in their social media strategy.