Beyond Social Media Engagement: Holistic Digital Engagement and a Social Identity Perspective

Abstract The study aims to provide the concept of “holistic digital engagement” (HDE) in marketing and establish its psychological antecedents through brand identity, brand personality, and brand affect from the lens of social identity theory. Guided by the cross-sectional research design, the study conducts PLS-SEM analysis of 303 responses collected through a survey questionnaire. The respondents were selected through judgmental sampling design. The findings of the study indicate that brand personality, brand identity, and brand affect are the critical factors to form HDE. The mediating role of brand affect between brand identity and HDE also emerged significant in path modeling. The study advances a scholarly debate about HDE, its psychological antecedents, and how HDE differs from social media engagement (CBE). This research contributes to the emerging literature of engagement in marketing by filling a vacuum of empirical investigations on HDE from the social identity perspective. It is the first study that has established the psychological antecedents of HDE.