Factors Driving Social Media Engagement on Instagram: Evidence from an Emerging Market

Abstract This study aims to investigate the effects of nonverbal information, verbal information, and content characteristics on social media engagement (i.e., likes and comments). The dataset comprised 486 posts, 373,235 likes, and 6,933 comments from 19 universities’ Instagram accounts in Indonesia. The results confirm that publishing content in carousel formats or sharing achievement can improve likes. Also, embedding questions in posts or sharing informational content can enhance likes and comments. The findings further show that transactional posts (i.e., competition and promotion) reduce likes. Moreover, rational content (i.e., coverage and holiday) decreases both likes and comments. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.