Let Users Generate Your Video Ads? The Impact of Video Source and Quality on Consumers’ Perceptions and Intended Behaviors

The advent of social media has challenged companies as sole creators of marketing messages. Whether intentionally branded or subconsciously promoted, users become ambassadors for products and brands by producing and disseminating user-generated content (UGC). Whereas previous studies on UGC have mainly considered verbal peer recommendations or written reviews, our research focuses on user-generated videos (UGVs). In our 2 (source: user vs. agency) × 2 (technical quality: low vs. high) experimental study, we explore the impact of user-generated videos (UGVs) vs. agency-generated videos (AGVs) on spectators’ perceived source credibility and their intention to visit the tourist destination Tyrol in Austria, as promoted in the video. In addition, we explore the moderating role of video quality. In contrast to conventional wisdom, our results indicate that there is no general superiority of UGVs over AGVs. Rather, the influence of different video generators (user vs. agency) on spectators’ perception and intended behavior depends on the technical quality of the video. In the case of low technical quality, users as generators have a significantly stronger positive effect on source trustworthiness and expertise – and thereby on consumers’ intended behaviors – than AGVs. However, no impact from the generating source on trustworthiness has been found under the condition of highly technical quality. Concerning source expertise, videos generated by users are rated more highly than agency-generated videos under both low and high technical qualities, but the advantage is significantly lower under high technical quality. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of user-generated content overall and relativize the widely assumed general superiority of user-generated content over commercial, firm-generated content, at least in the case of videos.