The impact of social media campaigns on the success of new product introductions

Social media platforms can be a promising tool for retailers’ marketing campaigns. Especially for the purpose of new product introductions, social media may facilitate social interaction and online word-of-mouth and therefore, may broaden the reach and accelerate the diffusion of information about the new product. The impact of online word-of-mouth communication and social interaction on consumer behavior has been extensively analyzed in previous research. However, little knowledge exists so far on the influence of social media campaigns on new product introductions. Therefore, the goal of this study is to analyze the impact of a social media campaign on the success of a new product introduction by using survey as well as behavioral data. The data stems from an online community related to a social media tryvertising campaign implemented to promote the introduction of new high-end binoculars. The results of a mediation analysis show that campaign-related factors positively influence consumers’ attitude toward the new product, which in turn mediates the positive influence on purchase intention and recommendation behavior. Furthermore, a post-hoc analysis shows the importance of community members’ activity on the success of the new product introduction.