Exploring Consumer Cognitive and Behavioral Engagement on a Sport Team’s Twitter Pages

Abstract

This study examines fan cognitive and behavioral engagement on social media platforms, with a particular focus on professional team’s Twitter pages. By employing eye-tracking technology, we investigate the influence of content types and topics on visual attention, as well as the impact of team identification on engagement behaviors. Our findings indicate that visually compelling content, especially images of athletes, captures more attention compared to other topics and post types. Furthermore, team identification significantly moderates engagement patterns, with fans exhibiting strong identification showing stronger interaction with team-related content. This research addresses a critical gap in the literature regarding real-time fan engagement, emphasizing the need for sport organizations to tailor their social media strategies according to platform-specific characteristics. The insights derived from this study assist sport teams in optimizing their social media content to foster deeper connections with fans, enhance brand loyalty, and adapt to the rapidly changing digital landscape. Future research should explore emotional engagement and conduct cross-platform comparisons to further enrich our understanding of fan interactions in social media contexts.