The effect of social media communication on consumer perceptions of brands

Abstract

Researchers and brand managers have limited understanding of the effects social media communication has on how consumers perceive brands. We investigated 504 Facebook users in order to observe the impact of firm-created and user-generated social media communication on brand equity, brand attitude and purchase intention by using a standardized online survey throughout Poland. To test the conceptual model, we analyzed 60 brands across three different industries: non-alcoholic beverages, clothing and mobile network operators. When analyzing the data, we applied the structural equation modeling technique to both investigate the interplay of firm-created and user-generated social media communication and examine industry-specific differences. The results of the empirical studies showed that usergenerated social media communication had a positive influence on both brand equity and brand attitude, whereas firm-created social media communication affected only brand attitude. Both brand equity and brand attitude were shown to have a positive influence on purchase intention. In addition, we assessed measurement invariance using a multi-group structural modeling equation. The findings revealed that the proposed measurement model was invariant across the researched industries. However, structural path differences were detected across the models.

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“…This means that if the bank's brand has high equity, it can enhance take advantage of consumers' intention to their facilities and will eventually lead to use of facilities and services. The results of this tested is in line with the results of the research of Chang andLiu (2009), Irshad (2012) and Schivinski and Dabrowski (2013). As the results in figure 2 shows, among the dimensions of brand equity effect on the purchase intention, brand loyalty is reported the most important component of brand equity, that intimate the majority of customers are loyal to the Mellat bank brand than other rands, and likely they will choose this particular rand when needed to anking services, But what distinguishes this study from other research, consideration of brand equity as a mediating variable in the relationship between brand personality and customers purchase intention.…”

The Impact of Social Media on Consumer Buying Intention

“…Socialization around specific brand expectations and knowledge can influence decision-making and shape the way consumers assess brand-based information. In the same light, peer communications and social mechanisms can also influence how consumers perceive firm-created content (Wang, Yu & Wei, 2012). Frequently, brand value and purchasing decisions are linked more to the strength of peer communications and social mechanisms supporting brand image, rather than the firm-created content available in advertising segments.…”

“…For example, content about a particular brand may appear on Facebook, linked to an individual's Web search for a specific product. The consumer is then asked to "Like" (show approval) or "Share" the content (showing approval by publically sharing the information with others) (Wallace, Buil, de Chernatony, & Hogan, 2014). These simple tasks engage the participants in an interaction that helps them make decisions around products and provides feedback for advertisers.…”

“…Most researchers recognize that these elements fall into two different categories: elements created the company (firm-created), and elements created by users (user-generated) (Schivinski & Dabroswki, 2014). Frequently, social media platforms like Facebook support a high degree of user-generated content that can be used to support social behaviours around products and enhance brand recognition (Wang, Yu, & Wei, 2012).…”

Information Warfare on Social Media: A Brand Management Perspective

“…74 Social media is an ideal environment in which to 'mobilize, intimidate or terrorize a targeted population'. 75 Hence, there is potential to rally a significant amount of people ready to act for a particular cause which they 68 Ibid. either herd the target population into information ghettos or to infiltrate pre-existing ghettos and hijack their narrative production.…”