The Influence of Storytelling Content Marketing on Customer Engagement on the TikTok Social Media Platform, Mediated by Emotional Response

Abstract

TikTok has become a highly popular social media platform in Indonesia, with 127.5 million users in 2024. Despite its extensive user base, TikTok exhibits a low engagement rate in the travel, hospitality, and recreation sectors, at 0.64% as of January 2024. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of storytelling-based marketing strategies in enhancing customer engagement on TikTok. The study employs a quantitative survey approach with a sample of 102 TikTok users from across Indonesia, and data is analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) with SmartPLS 3.0 software. This study confirms that emotional response can serve as a mediator between storytelling content and customer engagement. The research has academic implications regarding the importance of customers' emotional responses when viewing storytelling content in digital marketing.

Keyword : Storytelling Content Marketing; Customer Engagement; Emotional Response