Consumer emotional brand attachment with social media brands and social media brand equity

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1176-1204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Dwivedi ◽  
Lester W. Johnson ◽  
Dean Charles Wilkie ◽  
Luciana De Araujo-Gil

PurposeThe ever-growing popularity of social media platforms is evidence of consumers engaging emotionally with these brands. Given the prominence of social media in society, the purpose of this paper is to understand social media platforms from a “brand” perspective through examining the effect of consumers’ emotional attachment on social media consumer-based brand equity (CBBE).Design/methodology/approachThis paper develops a model that outlines how emotional brand attachment with social media explains social media CBBE via shaping consumer perceptions of brand credibility and consumer satisfaction. An online survey of 340 Australian social media consumers provided data for empirical testing. The inclusion of multiple context-relevant covariates and use of a method-variance-adjusted data matrix, as well as an examination of an alternative model, adds robustness to the results.FindingsThe findings of this paper support the conceptual model, and the authors identify strong relationships between the focal variables. A phantom model analysis explicates specific indirect effects of emotional brand attachment on CBBE. The authors also find support for a fully mediated effect of emotional brand attachment on social media brand equity. Further, they broaden the nomological network of emotional brand attachment, outlining key outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper offers a conceptual mechanism (a chain-of-effects) of how consumer emotional brand attachment with social media brands translates into social media CBBE. It also finds that a brand’s credibility as well as its ability to perform against consumer expectations (i.e. satisfaction) are equally effective in translating emotional brand attachment into social media CBBE.Practical implicationsSocial media brands are constantly challenged by rapid change and ongoing criticism over such issues as data privacy. The implications from this paper suggest that managers should make investments in creating (reinforcing) emotional connections with social media consumers, as this will favorably impact CBBE by way of a relational mechanism, that is, via enhancing credibility and consumer satisfaction.Social implicationsLately, social media in general has suffered from a crisis of trust in society. The enhanced credibility of social media brands resulting from consumers’ emotional attachments will potentially serve to enhance its acceptance as a credible form of media in society.Originality/valueSocial media platforms are often examined as brand-building platforms. This paper adopts a different perspective, examining social media platforms as brands per se and the effects of emotional attachments that consumers develop towards these. This paper offers valuable insights into how consumers’ emotional attachments drive vital brand judgments such as credibility and satisfaction, ultimately culminating into social media CBBE.

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seonjeong Ally Lee ◽  
Minwoo Lee

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate different types of customer relationships on customers’ interaction with the brand, based on prior social media and relationship marketing research. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional, self-administered online survey was conducted to investigate the role of different types of relationships on customers’ brand-relevant responses in the context of hotel social media platforms. Findings Results identified customers’ relationships with services and brands, and how other customers influenced their parasocial interactions (PSIs). Customers’ PSIs then positively influenced their self-brand connection and their brand usage intention. Originality/value This study was the first attempt to propose a conceptual framework to explain different types of customer relationships on customers’ interactions with the brand in the context of hotel social media platforms.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Civilai Leckie ◽  
Abhishek Dwivedi ◽  
Lester Johnson

PurposeThis study empirically examines a set of drivers (i.e. social media involvement, self-brand congruence, firm image and relationship age) of consumers’ social media brand engagement (SMBE), which subsequently influences consumer outcomes (i.e. consumer satisfaction, brand trust and perceived value).Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a self-administered online survey of 340 social media users. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the conceptual model.FindingsFindings indicate that social media involvement, self-brand congruence and firm image are significant drivers of SMBE, while relationship age is not. SMBE subsequently impacts consumer satisfaction, brand trust and perceived value.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contains some limitations associated with cross-sectional research. It does not investigate consumer engagement with other entities (e.g. other commercial brands) through the use of social media.Practical implicationsThese findings call for marketing managers and social media brand managers to pay attention and invest resources in the significant drivers of SMBE. They also provide insights on enhancing SMBE to strengthen consumer–brand relationships.Originality/valueBased on consumer–brand relationship marketing and consumer psychology of brands, this study investigates brand-related relational drivers and outcomes of SMBE, thereby deepening understanding of consumer engagement in digital environments.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Awadh Bin-Nashwan ◽  
Meshari Al-Daihani

Purpose The rapid outbreak of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has triggered unprecedented restrictions on not only human movement but also a wide sphere of economic activities, disrupting livelihood, welfare and business worldwide. In response, some Muslim communities have launched fundraising campaigns to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of the virus on the front-liners and the most affected segments of vulnerable populations. The purpose of this study is to explore the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of donors to these campaigns who contribute via social media platforms (SMPs). Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a cross-sectional research design using an online survey conducted in a typical Muslim community such as Kuwait. A total of 565 samples of data (356 women, 209 men) were used for analysis. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was used to estimate the research model and extract meaningful conclusions. Findings The results show that charitable projects, internet technology features, SMP features and religiosity are significant motivations that influence attitudes toward online donations related to COVID-19 response. All these relationships are indirectly related to intentions to donate via SMP through a significant mediating effect of attitude. Practical implications The outcome of this study could support the efforts of governments, non-profit organizations and communities to focus attention on suitable proactive strategies to boost online fundraising campaigns for those affected by epidemic diseases. Originality/value This study enriches the literature by integrating both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of online donations into a new and unique related context such as SMP, especially amid the COVID-19 crisis.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sriparna Guha ◽  
Anirban Mandal ◽  
Fedric Kujur

Purpose First, this study aims to focus on the promotional part of the Indian handicraft products through various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Second, the study measures the effectiveness of social media marketing activities (SMMA) relating to handicraft products on brand awareness, brand image and brand equity. Third, this study also measures the impact of brand awareness and brand image on brand equity and consumers’ purchase intention and further brand equity on consumers’ purchase intention of handicraft products. Design/methodology/approach This study used an offline questionnaire to conduct empirical research and collected and analyzed data of 609 samples by using the structural equation modeling approach. Findings The findings of this study showed that SMMA relating to handicraft products had a very strong impact on creating both brand awareness and brand image in the social media environment. Additionally, this study also exhibited a positive and significant impact of brand awareness and brand image on brand equity and consumers’ purchase intention and further brand equity on consumers’ purchase intention of handicraft products in the social media environment. Practical implications The outcome of this research will definitely motivate the handicraft industry to have a strong social media presence on various platforms for promoting their products across India and outside. Further, the promotional activities in various social media platforms will help in creating awareness about the handicraft products and give brand recognition among other industrial competitive brands which will consequently lead to an increase in the demand for these products. Originality/value The novelty of this study is that it has made an initial attempt to study the marketability of handicraft products using various social media platforms and also has measured the probable impact of SMMA relating to handicraft products on brand awareness and brand image and their impact on brand equity and purchase intention.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Belanche ◽  
Isabel Cenjor ◽  
Alfredo Pérez-Rueda

Purpose This paper aims to investigate advertising effectiveness in Instagram and Facebook, the two most important social media platforms. It helps to understand which should be chosen depending on the target audience of the campaign. Design/methodology/approach The study examines advertising effectiveness in these social media in terms of ad attitude, ad intrusiveness and loyalty intentions. An online survey was conducted with 303 social media users. Age and gender are proposed as moderators. Findings The results indicate that Instagram Stories not only enhances consumer attitude toward ads but also increases perceived intrusiveness, compared to Facebook Wall. Millennials are more disturbed by Facebook Wall ads than non-millennial users. A triple interaction effect reveals that non-millennial men are more loyal toward Facebook Wall ads, whereas millennials of both genders and non-millennial women are more loyal to ads on Instagram Stories. Practical implications Advertisers should be aware of the differential features and segmentation possibilities in social media to better address their target audiences. More precisely, the research findings suggest that professionals should focus on Instagram Stories when targeting millennials and non-millennial women, and on Facebook Wall when targeting non-millennial men. Originality/value This study is one of the first to contribute to the literature on Instagram Stories as an advertising platform and compare its differential features with those of more established social media, such as Facebook Wall.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 927-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeen-Su Lim ◽  
Phuoc Pham ◽  
John H. Heinrichs

Purpose Firms are increasingly using social media platforms to engage with individuals, as it is recognized that a firm’s social media activity outcomes, such as number of user comments, followers or likes, impact brand equity. This study aims to evaluate both the extent that these social media activity outcomes relate to brand equity and the classification of firms which benefit from the various types of social media activity outcomes. Design/methodology/approach This study identifies various components of social media activity and then captures specific social media activity outcomes for Fortune 500 firms. This study then performs a hierarchical regression analysis to assess the impact of the various social media activity outcomes on brand equity. Findings The results show significant relationships of social media activity outcomes with brand equity. The activity outcome measures of social networking and content communities platform are significantly related to a firm’s brand equity. This study also found that the social media activity outcome levels of various types of social media platforms are contingent upon a firm’s brand country of origin and industry classification type. Practical implications The results help firms gain a clearer view of potential applications of social media platforms, thus improving their understanding of the impact of social media. This study can enhance social media strategy and design tactics to improve brand equity. The findings can also guide firms in evaluating which social media activity outcomes enhance brand equity. Originality/value The results highlight that activity outcomes in a firm’s selected content communities platform and social networking platform are related to brand equity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 971-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeunjae Lee

PurposeGiven that an increasing number of social media platforms allow employees to share company-related information, the present study seeks to understand their complicated motivations for social media behaviors. Specifically, this study explores the antecedents of employees' positive and negative company-related information-sharing intentions on two distinctive social media platforms, personal (e.g. Facebook) and anonymous social networking sites (e.g. Glassdoor).Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted with 419 full-time employees in the United States from various industry sectors.FindingsIndividual (enjoyment, venting negative feelings, and self-enhancement), interpersonal (bonding and bridging ties), and organizational (organization–employee relationship and perceived external prestige) factors are considerably and distinctly associated with employees' behavioral intentions on different social media platforms.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to understand employees' communicative behaviors on social media (sECB) by linking diverse levels of motivational factors: individual, interpersonal, and organizational using a theoretical framework of socioecological model (SEM). This study also provides significant practical guidelines for organizational leaders and platform operators by explicating the dynamics of employee motives in engaging in a variety of social media platforms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1381-1401
Author(s):  
Zhenya Tang ◽  
Leida Chen

PurposeMany companies have now built brand fan pages (BFPs) on social media platforms to connect with their existing and potential customers. Nevertheless, the inability to retain existing followers would severely threaten the survival of BFPs and the effectiveness of a company's social media strategies. Drawing upon Furneaux and Wade's discontinuance framework, our study develops a research model to understand the BFP user's intention to discontinue following a BFP.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was conducted through an online survey of Chinese social media users. The proposed model was tested by analyzing the collected data using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach.FindingsThe results reveal that dissatisfaction with information quality, unfollowing costs, trust and alternative attractiveness affect the individual's intention to unfollow a BFP. Notably, unfollowing costs is the most powerful factor to predict followers' propensity to discontinue.Originality/valueOur study contributes to the understanding of the discontinuance of information systems. Theoretical implications for future social commerce research as well as practical suggestions for BFP operators are also discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1459-1467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherese Y. Duncan ◽  
Raeesah Chohan ◽  
João José Ferreira

Purpose This paper aims to explore, using the employee lens of business-to-business firms, word use through brand engagement and social media interaction to understand the difference between employees who rate their employer brands highly on social media and those who don't. Design/methodology/approach We conducted a textual content analysis of posts published on the social media job evaluation site glassdoor.com. LIWC software package was used to analyze 30 of the top 200 business-to-business brands listed on Brandwatch using four variables, namely, analytical thinking, clout, authenticity and emotional tone. Findings The results show that employees who rate their employer’s brand low use significantly more words, are significantly less analytic and write with significantly more clout because they focus more on others than themselves. Employees who rate their employer’s brand highly, write with significantly more authenticity, exhibit a significantly higher tone and display far more positive emotions in their reviews. Practical implications Brand managers should treat social media data disseminated by individual stakeholders, like the variables used in this study (tone, word count, frequency), as a valuable tool for brand insight on their industry, competition and their own brand equity, now and especially over time. Originality/value This study provides acknowledgement that social media is a significant source of marketing intelligence that may improve brand equity by better understanding and managing brand engagement.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110118
Author(s):  
Dominik Neumann ◽  
Patricia T Huddleston ◽  
Bridget K Behe

Marketing on social media has become ubiquitous. Consequently, social media platforms are increasing the level of advertising content that users may later encounter when navigating online shopping websites. It is unclear how this amplification of exposure to marketing messages through social media affects consumers’ attitudes to products online. Furthermore, the roles of social media participation and proneness to experience Fear of Missing Out on product attitude remain largely unexplored. In this research ( N = 1002), we employed an online survey of US Instagram users. These data were submitted to three-way moderation regression analyses with attitude toward the product as the dependent variable. Consumers who are more active on social media and had high (vs low) Fear of Missing Out expressed more favorable attitudes toward online products after being exposed to Instagram content (vs not exposed). The theoretical and practical implications for cognitive processing research and advertising strategy and study limitations are discussed.


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