"You can't help but Like it": An Investigation of Mandatory Endorsement Solicitation and Gating Practices in Online Social Networks

Companies operating in social network platforms continue to improve and expand their marketing techniques. This study examines the practice of "gating", which involves virtual barriers between social network users and company content. Gates demand mandatory user endorsements, in the form of a Facebook "Likes", Twitter "retweets" etc., to gain access to company content, such as coupons and rewards,. Gating practices demand a mandatory endorsement before any content consumption takes place. Thus, while user endorsements are assumed to arise voluntarily from trusted known sources, gating practices would appear to violate this assumption. However, whether this violation lessens the effectiveness of gating practices still requires empirical validation. We investigate this question through the use of a unique panel data set that includes data on "like" endorsements obtained from a number of real-world Facebook business pages. Results of the study show that gating practices are effective for endorsement solicitation; however, gates may interfere with more traditional marketing activities.