#COVID-19: Forms and drivers of social media users’ engagement behavior toward a global crisis

Social media constitutes a pervasive communication media that has had a prominent role during global crises. While crisis communication research suggests that individuals use social media differently during a crisis, little is known about what forms of engagement behavior may emerge and what drivers may lead to different forms of social media users’ engagement behavior toward a global crisis. This study uses netnography and in-depth interviews to explore social media users’ behavioral manifestations toward the COVID-19 crisis; thereby, we identify nine forms and six drivers and develop a framework of relationships between these forms and drivers. Those findings provide a better understanding of social media engagement toward the crisis from individual users’ perspectives, which helps commercial and non-commercial marketers to determine the users’ sentiments and reactions reflected in their engagement behaviors, hence, communicate more effectively and in a more engaging way during and beyond a global crisis.