Yang, Sung-Un, & Kang, Minjeong (2009). Measuring blog engagement: Testing a four-dimensional scale. Public Relations Review, 35(3), 323-324.

This study proposed and validated a measurement scale of blog engagement. The researchers explicated the concept of blog engagement as the likelihood and outcomes of interactive blog communication that encompass cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral attachment. Following this definition, a four-dimensional scale was tested. This study suggests that interactive blogs can enhance self-company connection, positive attitudes toward the company, and supportive word-of-mouth intentions.

Method

An experiment using two blog posts by the Executive VP of Operations of a fictional ice cream producer was used to measure blog engagement. Participants (N=281) were recruited from communication courses at a large, Northeastern university.

Key findings

The proposed scale of blog engagement consists of the following four dimensions: contingency interactivity, self-company connection (the cognitive dimension), company attitude (the attitudinal dimension), and word-of-mouth intentions (the behavioral dimension). This study found that the scale of blog engagement is valid and reliable. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated desirable data-model fits, suggesting that the proposed scale can be retained as a reliable scale. Also, this suggests that the four dimensions are strongly related, while they retain conceptual difference to measure blog engagement.

Implications for Practice

This study suggests that interactive blogs can enhance self-company connection, positive attitudes toward the company and supportive word of mouth intentions. Therefore, this scale is useful for practitioners who would like to measure the extent to which their stakeholders are engaged on their organizational blogs.

Article Location

The full article is available for purchase at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0363811109000721

Heidy Modarelli handles Growth & Marketing for IPR. She has previously written for Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, The Next Web, and VentureBeat.
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