Thanks to advances in technology, particularly smartphones, consumers now have continuous access to messaging and social media applications. As a result, event-goers generate huge amounts of content about their experiences as they unfold. While popular press articles commonly advise keeping technology away during experiences, using technology to generate content can actually improve experiences. Consumers who generate content feel more immersed, feel as though time is "flying," and ultimately enjoy their experiences more. Marketers can encourage consumers to communicate about their events and experiences, and thus reap the associated benefits. Strategies for increasing consumer content creation include incentivizing consumers to generate content and informing consumers of how common this behavior is through a norm nudge. Even more importantly, consumers who are incentivized or motivated by social norms to generate content reap the same experiential benefits as those who create content organically. Thus, encouraging content creation can mutually benefit both firms and consumers by increasing engagement and enjoyment.

1. Consumer Content Creation
During Experiences
Can Texting and Posting to Social Media
Increase Enjoyment?
From: Tonietto & Barasch (forthcoming)

2. Consumers generate content (e.g. by texting, posting to
social media) about unfolding experiences
• Yet this behavior persists!
• 10 million social media posts are created during
popular events yearly (Grate 2016)
• 5 million tweets were posted during Lady Gaga’s
Super Bowl halftime performance (Berg 2018)
• Popular Press seems to imply this could harm experiences:
(Livers 2016) (Passage 2015)
From: Tonietto & Barasch (forthcoming)

3. Generating Content Increases Enjoyment
• Consumers who generate content about their experiences:
• Feel more immersed and engaged
• Feel as though time is “flying”
• As a result, consumers who create content enjoy the
experience more
• 9 studies tested these effects
across many experiences:
• Super Bowl Halftime show
• Holiday celebrations
• Dance performance
• Horror film
• Virtual safari and city tours
From: Tonietto & Barasch (forthcoming)

4. Super Bowl Halftime Show Study
Group 1: No Content Creation
Instructed to not create content during the halftime show
40
45
50
55
60
65
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Immersion
40
45
50
55
60
65
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Enjoyment
Group 2: Content Creation
Instructed to create content during the show by texting, positing to social
media, etc. about the halftime show and in a manner related to the show
Group 3: Unrelated Technology Use
Instructed to use their technological devices during the show by texting,
positing to social media, etc. in a manner unrelated to the show
• After the show, participants indicated how immersed they felt and
how much they enjoyed the show on 0-100 scales (0 = not at all, 100
= extremely)
From: Tonietto & Barasch (forthcoming)
• Those who generated content reported that they felt more immersed
and enjoyed the halftime show more than those who did not create
content and those who used their technology in an unrelated way

5. Implications for Marketers
• Encourage content creation! For example…
• Offer rewards or incentives
• Use branded hashtags
• Utilize customizable sharing platforms
• Two strategies tested in this research:
1. Incentive to create content
2. Norm nudge (“90% of our consumers create content”)
Participants who were incentivized or motivated by social norms to
generate content reaped the same experiential benefits as those
who created content organically
From: Tonietto & Barasch (forthcoming)