How Content Characteristics Foster Audience Engagement on Instagram

How Content Characteristics Foster Audience Engagement on Instagram | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article How Content Characteristics Foster Audience Engagement on Instagram Noora Al Siyabi, Jamie Marsden This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8997893/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Social media has transformed place branding from a predominantly institutional communication strategy into a participatory and networked process in which multiple stakeholders actively shape place identity. While existing research emphasises authenticity, user-generated content, and co-creation, there is limited empirical research on how specific content characteristics influence engagement on social platforms. This study examines how content authorship, visual aesthetics, and audio elements affect engagement on Instagram within the context of Oman’s nation branding. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative analysis of engagement metrics with qualitative thematic analysis to assess how distinct content features shape audience interaction. The findings demonstrate that self-created content generates significantly higher engagement than collaborative, reposted, or unattributed posts, highlighting the importance of authenticity and relational proximity. Visually refined content, characterised by strong composition, vivid colour, and creative perspectives, enhances interaction, underscoring the role of aesthetics in digital place communication. Audio elements like ambient sound and narrative voiceovers emerge as powerful drivers of immersive engagement and emotional resonance. By empirically linking stakeholder authorship to measurable engagement outcomes and highlighting audio as a critical dimension of multimodal engagement, this study advances understanding of digital co-creation in place branding, offering theoretical insights and practical guidance for place-brand marketers. Place branding Co-creation branding Place brand identity Brand communications Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8997893","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":619824664,"identity":"bd38b01f-67d6-4a05-b8f0-3a3303caf7dd","order_by":0,"name":"Noora Al Siyabi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAyUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFCCBAZmBgYbGSDLACLAQ5yWNB6StRwmQYt8e+7hzwU153n42Zs3f2CosWMwOHMAvxaDM+/SpGccu80j2XOsTILhWDKDwdkGAlokcsyYedhu8xjcyDFjYGA7wGBwnpDDZuQYf+b5d47H/v4b4w8M/4jQwnAjx0Cat+0Aj4EEEDG2HSDCYWfemEnz9iXzSJxJK5NIBDIkCXlfvh3ksG92cvzthzd/+ABk8J1JIOQyZJBATESOglEwCkbBKCAMABisPlp7dfo1AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"University of Leeds","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Noora","middleName":"Al","lastName":"Siyabi","suffix":""},{"id":619824675,"identity":"c8b16a2c-1efc-4e5e-b917-1533014ef90b","order_by":1,"name":"Jamie Marsden","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Leeds","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jamie","middleName":"","lastName":"Marsden","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-28 21:08:04","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8997893/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8997893/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106727391,"identity":"9b3c2504-be80-4c62-98a4-edc95ae2ed37","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-12 18:38:52","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":679373,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"IPBANASSpecialCollectionSubmission.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8997893/v1_covered_87a934bb-bb12-4772-a31b-bdfec0e10a25.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"How Content Characteristics Foster Audience Engagement on Instagram","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Place branding, Co-creation branding, Place brand identity, Brand communications","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8997893/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8997893/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSocial media has transformed place branding from a predominantly institutional communication strategy into a participatory and networked process in which multiple stakeholders actively shape place identity. 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