The study, What Motivates Consumers to Re-Tweet Brand Content? The Impact of Information, Emotion, and Traceability on Pass-Along Behaviour, analysed data generated by nearly 20,000 brand-related tweets over the course of three years.

The analysis revealed that Twitter users are particularly interested in messages that are rich in informational content. “Informational cues were predictors of higher levels of retweeting, particularly product details and links to a brand’s website, social network sites, and photos or videos”, the study said.

Emotional cues were also seen to have a significant role, though the study argued that these did not influence retweeting on their own, but “reinforced the effects of informational cues and traceability cues [hashtags] when combined in the same message”.

Messages only about brands, containing brand cues but with no specific product information, were not more likely to be retweeted.