Examining B2C Social Media Marketing Strategies of U.S. Consumer Technology Companies Operating in New York City: A Documentary Multiple-Case Study with an Embedded U.S. Consumer Survey and Quantitative Content Analysis Protocol

Social media represents a key discovery and persuasion channel for consumer technology brands, playing an important role in shaping customer discovery, credibility, and purchase intention. Building on an existing MBA dissertation conducted in India, this study aims to adapt this research to the U.S. market, with a focus on consumer technology brands that operate in New York City, namely Etsy (Brooklyn), Squarespace (Manhattan), Peloton (Hudson Yards), and Vimeo (headquartered in NYC). By adopting a documentary multiple case study design, this research aims to synthesize existing information on corporate disclosures, newsroom announcements, and publicly available marketing materials to reveal key B2C social media marketing strategies and governance issues relevant to the U.S. market. Through cross-case analysis, this research finds that there are five strategic dimensions that are common to all four brands, namely platform video storytelling, activation of social media communities and creators, UGC, lifecycle framing, and trust-based governance centered on transparent endorsement and review integrity. To ensure publication-grade replication and empirical testing of this research, this study has been augmented with two quantitative components, namely a quantitative content analysis protocol that establishes a link between observable post features and engagement outcomes, and a U.S. consumer survey that can be utilized to test an engagement-centered model of social media marketing activities and their link to trust, customer engagement, and purchase intention.