Abstract:
User-Generated Content (UGC) has become a strategic driver of brand-consumer interaction in the digital era, particularly on visually dominant platforms like Instagram (Goh et al., 2023). The conceptual foundations of UGC lie in the shift from passive media consumption to active content creation, as highlighted by Jenkins (1992) through participatory culture and Bruns (2008), who introduced the idea of “produsage.” These works, along with Marti-Parreño et al. (2015), who established a marketing-focused typology of UGC, laid the groundwork for understanding UGC’s impact in digital branding.
Despite UGC's growing significance, limited empirical research has assessed how the quality of UGC, defined by content, design, and technical dimensions, affects brand engagement, particularly in the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sector within emerging economies like Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the mediating role of perceived value, comprising emotional and functional dimensions, remains underexplored in this context (Mohammad et al., 2024; Zhou & Xue, 2022).
This study adopted a deductive approach underpinned by positivism, collecting data from 390 active Instagram users in Colombo through a judgmental purposive sampling method. Analysis was conducted using SPSS v29, employing correlation, regression, and Sobel mediation testing.
The findings reveal that UGC quality significantly and positively influences both perceived value and brand engagement within Instagram’s QSR context. Well-crafted UGC, featuring high content clarity, aesthetic design, and technical usability, not only boosts brand visibility but also enhances consumer trust and participation.
Perceived value was found to significantly mediate the relationship, aligning with the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework and Uses and Gratifications Theory. These findings suggest that consumers are more likely to engage with QSR brands when they derive both emotional enjoyment and functional utility from UGC (Godey et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2018). Thus, perceived value is not just an outcome of UGC but a mechanism through which engagement is triggered.
The study’s limitations include its cross-sectional design and its exclusive focus on Instagram. Future research could adopt longitudinal approaches, explore platforms like TikTok, or assess additional mediators such as brand trust or user-brand identification.
