Abstract:
1. Introduction
Today, businesses and marketers are realizing the value of using social
media meme marketing to engage with consumers due to memes’
humorous, shareable, and relatable nature. Despite the global trend
indicating that social media meme marketing generates higher consumer
engagement, especially on platforms like Facebook, the local market
response in Sri Lanka presents a puzzling challenge and fails to elicit
significant consumer engagement. Therefore, this study was conducted to
examine how Facebook meme marketing impacts on Generation Z
consumer engagement of consumers in Western Province, Sri Lanka.
2. Research Methodology
This study employed the survey strategy under the quantitative
methodology. Following a positivist research philosophy and deductive
research approach, a sample of 350 individuals of Generation Z active
Facebook users residing in Western Province, Sri Lanka who engage with
meme-based posts of brands was selected using a purposive sampling
technique to collect data. The IBM SPSS 21 software has been used to
analyze the collected data and multiple linear regression analysis is used to
test the hypotheses.
3. Findings and Discussion
The findings reveal that entertainment, interaction, informativeness, and
electronic word-of-mouth of Facebook meme marketing positively
impacted Generation Z consumer engagement in Western Province, Sri
Lanka, and the trendiness of Facebook meme marketing did not impact.
The entertainment of Facebook meme marketing has been identified as the
most influential factor that impacts Generation Z consumer engagement in
Western Province, Sri Lanka.
4. Conclusion and Implications
The Findings of this study provide valuable insights that can help
marketers identify and effectively use meme marketing to enhance
consumer engagement. Identified factors will enable firms to modify their
marketing strategies to reflect the changing tastes of consumers.
