‘Streaming wars’ - how major subscription video on demand services use social media to keep us watching more A qualitative content analysis of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video Instagram accounts

The arrival of subscription video on demand (SVOD) services have changed the definition of television. One is no longer attached to a specific device for TV content consumption. SVOD services have taken over the expensive cable television packages, offering unlimited subscriptions with thousands of movies and TV episodes to watch, without any interruption. Hence, the streaming industry is growing, and new players are entering the market, making it harder for the legacy players, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, to maintain the leading positions in the market. To attract more customers and stand out among competitors SVOD services are trying to strengthen their brand identity, which is partly done on social media channels, such as Instagram. Instagram is a popular social media channel among SVOD services, as it focuses on visual content, furthermore, people rely on Instagram as the main source of popular culture and humorous content. Thus, the aim of the study is to understand how major SVOD services, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, use Instagram content to produce their brand identity as well as what types of content they produce to connect with popular culture and humor. To answer the research question and sub-question a qualitative content analysis method using a constructivist grounded theory approach was used to analyze 159 Instagram posts of Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video US accounts. The findings of the study revealed that all three SVOD brands use Instagram to raise the sense of urgency and anticipation about their shows, which presents SVOD services as the leading entertainment producers. Moreover, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video use Instagram to produce gender equality and diversity messages, in order to be a part of the popular culture conversations. Additionally, the findings revealed that SVOD services focus on connecting people through their content by engaging them in brand conversations. Finally, the SVOD brands use lifestyle promotion to emphasize the casualness of the service.