Paper Title
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL APPROVAL ON E-BUSINESS

Abstract
Our research to be presented offers a conceptual framework in which social approval or social disapproval influences how individuals process different types of social media marketing messages involving social approval as reflected in online likes, comments, following, etc.To date, the relationship between them has not been established and empirically tested in marketing. This research offers valuable managerial implications to the domains of e-business, advertising, and marketing in general. Little work has been done linking social approval or social disapproval to how consumers’ process information and make corresponding evaluations involving consumers on social media. Research in social media has focused on driving engagement which is defined by Hoffman, Novak, and Kang as consumers’ tendency towards liking a social media advertisement and visiting a brand’s social media page. Prior literature has provided us insights into what drives brand engagement to generate shares, likes, pins, re-tweets. For instance, Voorveld et al. study the differentiating role of platform type on engagement with social media advertising. Pentina, Guilloux, and Micu examine 11 social media engagement behaviors such as following or liking brands and commenting on brands’ posts in the context of luxury brands. Lamberton and Stephen suggest using more visuals to engage online audiences. Ansari and Mela find that customized digital messages aid customer decisions, reduce information overload, and generate higher levels of engagement, customer satisfaction and loyalty. The current research builds upon and extends the previous research on engagement with social media by focusing more on how consumers’ engagement with social media content varies with social approval indicator such as likes, following and comments.