| Pub. Date | : Mar, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Product Name | : The IUP Journal of Brand Management |
| Product Type | : Article |
| Product Code | : IJBRM31903 |
| Author Name | : Mohd. Sarwar Alam and Bilal Mustafa Khan |
| Availability | : YES |
| Subject/Domain | : Marketing Management |
| Download Format | : PDF Format |
| No. of Pages | : 25 |
Social media interactions among consumers have changed the marketing scenario. Businesses are actively present on social media platforms so that they can understand how consumers are responding to anything related to their brands. This is imperative as the consumers’ online interactions and discussions are shaping the brand’s image and purchase intentions. In the light of this environment, this study aims at finding out the influence of social media communications on brand equity with special focus on how the two dimensions of social media communication, i.e., brand or firm-related content and user-generated content influence brand equity and purchase intentions. The study shows that firm-created content over social media significantly influences functional brand image, whereas user-generated content significantly influences brand awareness and hedonic brand image. Further, brand awareness and hedonic brand image lead to brand attitude, which finally impacts purchase intention.
The Internet has brought about a kind of revolution in human lives. It has brought consumers from all corners of the world closer together and has introduced a new online medium of advertising, which is quite different in comparison to other advertising media (Spilker-Attig, 2010). Now, it is not possible for any large firm to maintain its market share just through the traditional method of marketing, i.e., the brick-and-mortar system. It is imperative for firms to have online presence, so that they can keep abreast of the rapidly growing technology and changing customer preferences (Bagga and Bhatt, 2013). Advertisers and brand managers are attracted to the online platforms as a communication medium, because these platforms are more interactive and have the ability to stimulate one-to-one interaction in a better way as compared to traditional advertising (Campbell and Wright, 2008). Additionally, online advertising is considered more informative and trustworthy than traditional advertisements (Tsang et al., 2004). In this new age of technology, with the rising importance of online media platforms, the communication environment which has enough potential to reach and interact with users is the social media ecosystem (Hanna et al., 2011). And hence, social media marketing has emerged as the most popular and effective tool of marketing and communication.