Online to Offline: The Impact of Social Media on Offline Sales in the Automobile Industry

This study examines the dynamic relationships between firm-generated content (FGC), user-generated content (UGC), traditional media, and offline light vehicle sales. Data were collected from the official Facebook and Twitter pages of 30 U.S. car brands from 2009 to 2015. Our results suggest that Facebook and Twitter are heterogeneous in terms of their effect on offline vehicle sales; FGC is more effective than UGC for influencing offline light vehicle sales; viral impressions from Facebook and Twitter are essential, although effects vary for the various social media platforms, FGC, and UGC; and a firm’s marketing efforts and UGC both have a long-term effect on sales, with the long-term effect of a firm’s marketing efforts outlasting that of UGC. We also documented the within-Twitter synergistic effect between FGC and UGC for offline car sales and cross-channel substitution relationships between FGC and both Facebook and traditional media and Twitter and traditional media. Our study implies that managers who attempt to maximize multichannel marketing for offline sales of durable goods should consider (1) the nature of each platform, (2) the number of potential audiences each platform can reach, and (3) the user basis of each platform.