What Makes Brand TikTok Videos Engaging? An Elaboration Likelihood Model Perspective

Abstract

Short-form videos in social media are growing in popularity and becoming a promising channel for marketing. This study explores consumer engagement in brand short-form videos by investigating the effect of five non-content characteristics, i.e., screen mode, caption, title length, human voice, and music. Drawing from the Elaboration Likelihood Model, this study examined 4,027 TikTok (Douyin) videos from 54 brands across 13 industries. The findings suggested that screen mode, captions, and video title length significantly affect consumer engagement by influencing the central information processing route, and music and narration positively affect consumer engagement by functioning on the peripheral information processing route. This study contributes to the literature on social media marketing and consumer engagement by unveiling the influencers for consumer engagement in the brand short-form video context. More importantly, this study provides practical tactics for brands to create compelling videos to attract engagement and achieve marketing goals.