What leads to consumer engagement towards short-form videos on Douyin? The moderating role of brand type

As short-form videos continue to gain popularity, more marketing and branding activities are being conducted on these platforms to engage consumers. This study aims to exaime the effects of short-form video content features and executional elements on consumer engagement behaviors, as well as the moderating effect of brand type (domestic vs. international, macro vs. micro). Based in the Chinese context, this research collected a dataset of 6,606 Douyin short videos through web scraping and manual coding and employed Negative Binomial regression for analysis. The research findings show that content features (informativeness, emotional intensity, interactivity) have different effects on likes, comments and shares. Subtitles negatively affect comments and shares, while vocal background music positively influences all three engagement behaviors. These effects vary by brand type. This study broadens the application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model from the standpoint of firm-generated content, and it provides practical guidance for designing attractive branded short-form videos.