Brand Tracking on Social Media: The Role of Country of Origin Perceptions

Marketers are now almost a decade into using social media as another outlet in developing brand relationships with consumers. Yet an understanding of how consumers interact with brands online is still in its infancy. This paper compares the social media and brand-tracking habits of consumers in three parts of the world: Asia, the Middle East and the USA. In addition, the study attempts to explain what motivates consumers to follow brands on social media, focusing on the role of products’ country of origin in explaining the relationship. The results show that US consumers spent the most time on social media and tracked the most brands, while Thai respondents did the least of both. Four dimensions of social media brand tracking were identified and ratings compared across groups. Significant differences among groups were found for one of the four factors, ‘brand experience’, with US consumers experiencing significantly more positive ‘brand experiences’ than Thai consumers, and Egyptian consumers falling somewhere in between. The results also indicate that the country of product origin can have some effects on brand tracking

What is the impact of influencer marketing through Instagram, by promoting fitness apparel, on female consumer behaviour?

With the rise of influencer marketing, the fitness industry, especially regarding fitness apparel and fitness influencers due to a scarcity of studies surrounding this topic, more studies are needed. Therefore, this dissertation aims to be the beacon for brands to better understand the pertinence of influencer marketing and how to implement it to aid brand equity. Thus, the research question is “what is the impact of influencer marketing through Instagram, by promoting fitness apparel, on female consumer behaviour?”. My research aims to fill the gap of research surrounding these types of influencers. The study utilized a mixed methods approach which included an online survey and five 30min individual interviews. Findings suggest that most people are using Instagram and for their individual needs. The more people admitted to following influencers the more they had a positive connotation of the latter. Furthermore, fitness influencers reveal to have a big impact on consumer attitude which follows into a behaviour change. For instance, fitness influencers influence consumers to want to work out more, and seeing them as real and honest people, the consumer ends up feeling more close to the influencer which leads to an influence in consumers’decision making and a purchase intention. Not only fitness influencer’s relatability but motivational and inspiring content aids in the creation of a human brand leading more easily to a purchasing intention from consumers. Moreover, they are also decisive in consumers’ decision making process when purchasing fitness apparel by excluding other brands whom consumers’ favourite fitness influencers are not affiliated with. Hence, this study demonstrates that it is more likely that brand-micro-influencer collaboration increases the performance of the brand and thus brand equity compared to noncollaboration.Devido ao crescimento do marketing de influenciadores da indústria do fitness, especialmente no que toca a roupa de fitness e os respetivos influenciadores e à falta de estudos à volta deste assunto, achei pertinente investigar acerca deste tema. Para além de um interesse geral respetivamente ao fitness, existe uma escassez de estudos. Deste modo, esta dissertação tem como objetivo ajudar marcas a compreender a pertinência do marketing de influenciadores e como o implementar de forma a que complemente o valor da marca. A questão de partida permite, então, guiar as respostas perante esta escassez de estudos. A questão é, qual é o impacto do marketing de influenciadores através do Instagram, quando promovem roupa de fitness, no comportamento do consumidor feminino? A minha investigação permite preencher uma lacuna de estudos deste tipo de influenciadores. O meu estudo é composto por métodos mistos que incluem um questionário online e cinco entrevistas, individuais, de 30 minutos. Os resultados demonstram que a maioria das pessoas utiliza o Instagram para as suas necessidades próprias. Além do mais, quanto mais pessoas se registassem seguir influenciadores, mais se observava uma conotação positiva dos mesmos. Para além disto, os influenciadores demonstram ter uma grande influência sob a atitude dos consumidores que se transforma numa mudança de comportamento. Por exemplo, estes influenciadores influenciam consumidores a quererem treinar mais e estes, veem-nos como pessoas reais e honestas, o que por sua vez, fá-los sentirem-se mais próximos do influenciador em questão, o que influencia o processo da tomada de decisão do consumidor e a sua intenção de compra. Adicionalmente, não só a identificação, mas também o conteúdo motivacional e inspiracional ajudam na criação de uma marca humana que como consequência facilita uma intenção de compra nos consumidores. Ademais, os influenciadores de fitness também são decisivos no processo da tomada de decisão dos consumidores antes da compra, ao fazerem o consumidor excluir outras marcas, neste caso, com que a sua influenciadora preferida não se relacione. Como conclusão, este estudo evidencia que é mais provável uma colaboração entre uma marca e uma microinfluenciadora aumentar a performance da marca significativamente e, por isto, o valor da marca, do que uma campanha de marketing sem a colaboração da mesma

Identifying opinion leaders and their activity on a local apparel business Facebook fan-page

As technology continues to grow, new marketing opportunities arise. Facebook is an online social network that allows companies to understand their consumer base (Shih, 2011). Little research has been conducted to understand how Facebook is used as a marketing tool. Word of mouth advertising is created on Facebook fan-pages, business pages that allow consumers to interact with each other with User-Generated Content (UGC). Identifying opinion leaders on these fan-pages can help businesses understand their customers and help them build relationships with them on Facebook. The current research presents a qualitative approach to profiling users of a Facebook fan-page wall, identifying opinion leaders, and analyzing the documented messages on the wall. The Facebook fan-page used was from Tru Colors Apparel a local apparel business targeting college football fans in the South East region of the United States. The profile identified thirty-three opinion leaders, whose comments were analyzed for themes. Eighteen themes were identified from the fan comments and opinion leader comments. The themes identified were brand/line, styles, excitement, purchase intention, purchase, team spirit, suggestions, pricing, sizing, photos, store/location, website, gratitude, emails, blog referral, recommendations, winners, and articles. The comments were analyzed over a three season period. The three seasons are defined based on the football season from June to February. Each comment from all the fans and from the opinion leaders were compared to identify relationships between themes and to support the identification process of opinion leaders. Purchase intention, Team Spirit, and the Brand/Line were consistently more prevalent when comparing the opinion leader comments to the other fans comments. Implications are presented for small apparel companies with narrow niche markets

Exploring Facebook: impacts of social media on consumer behavior

Online social networks have been growing exponentially and are now one of the most important platforms of communication among users. This study aims to understand the impact of this new place of interaction on consumers’ behavior. To measure this impact, a quantitative study was conducted. The sample was randomly selected with 150 men across different nationalities and age groups, and was made in co-operation with the Consumer Goods Company P&G. The objective of the study was twofold: 1) understand the importance of Social Media as a marketing channel; and 2) based on the results, establish the most efficient Facebook media strategy to then be deployed across BRAUN’s key markets. The results show that tie strength, attitude towards the product and the amount of time spent online affects the perception and purchase intention of a particular product. Although variables like income and product class play a small role, the purchase intention of the consumer is significantly affected by Facebook activity, attitude towards the product and tie strength

What drives me there? The interplay of socio-psychological gratification and consumer values in social media brand engagement

The social behavioral perspective is under-researched in the extant literature. This hinders the holistic understanding of social media brand engagement. This study examines the interplay of socio-psychological gratification variables (perceived homophily, perceived critical mass, and self-status seeking) and consumer values (personal, interpersonal, and fun) on consumer participation in social media brand engagement. The conceptual model in this study is situated on the principles of Uses and Gratifications, Critical Mass, Homophily, and Values theories. Based on an online survey of 713 Facebook users, we examine the model using structural equation modeling (with Amos 23.0). The analysis disclosed insights on the interplay of motivational factors that underlie social media brand engagement. Our findings suggest that socio-psychological gratification variables (perceived homophily, perceived critical mass, and self-status seeking) drive consumers’ engagement with brand pages and brand communities on social media. This relationship is strengthened by the consumer values. These insights serve as an important basis for researchers and practitioners to understand social media brand engagement and its outcomes

Consumers in an online brand community: uses and gratifications, social capital, and brand loyalty

With the popularity of online brand communities, consumers interact and build social relations with other consumers to share information about products and services. The purposes of this study were to investigate: (1) what needs bring consumers to participate in and what social resources are generated in an online brand community, (2) the process of how needs to use an online brand community are gratified through achieving social resources in an online brand community, and (3) what outcomes of social interaction in an online brand community influence loyalty toward brands which communities endorsed. A conceptual model was developed combining two theories -- uses and gratification theory and social capital and network theory -- to test causal linkages among consumer needs to participate in an online brand community, social capital accumulations, knowledge sharing, community commitment, and brand loyalty. Data were collected using a web-based survey through Amazon Mechanical Turk. A total of 499 respondents were U.S. consumers who had been members or visitors of an apparel, shoes, or accessory online brand community. Confirmatory factor analysis identified five needs to participate in an online brand community -- socialization, entertainment seeking, self-status seeking, information seeking, and convenience seeking -- and three social capital accumulations in the online brand community context -- structural, cognitive, and relational capital. Structural equation modeling indicated that consumers\u27 needs to use an online brand community did not directly influence the outputs of social capital accumulations such as knowledge sharing and community commitment. However, needs influenced social capital accumulation, and these accumulations influenced social capital outcomes (i.e., knowledge sharing, community commitment). Consumers\u27 socialization need in an online brand community positively influenced all dimensions of social capital (structural, cognitive and relational capital). Self-status seeking positively influenced structural capital formation. Information seeking positively influenced cognitive and relational capital. Convenience seeking positively influenced relational capital. Structural capital positively influenced knowledge sharing, and cognitive capital positively influenced community commitment. Relational capital positively influenced both social capital outcomes of knowledge sharing and community commitment. These findings provide an understanding that consumers\u27 needs to use online brand community are gratified by interacting with other consumers through social resources generated within a network of an online brand community. In addition, to obtain more social capital, consumers engaged in social interaction (i.e., knowledge sharing) and felt cohesion toward community. In addition, relational capital and community commitment positively influenced brand loyalty. Thus, this study provides an understanding that emotions and feelings toward relationships within an online brand community are important factors related to attitudinal and behavioral loyalty toward the brand endorsed within the community. The findings have managerial implications for apparel marketers and retailers in operating online brand communities and in understanding what needs consumers have in regard to their participation in an online brand community. Finally, the findings show how interaction and participation in an online brand community satisfies and reinforces consumers\u27 brand loyalty

The Role of Social Network Websites in Consumer-Brand Relationship

This research explored the phenomenon of online social network in the context of consumer-brand relationship. The specific research objectives were: (a) to examine whether perceived benefits of a Brand’s Social Network Website (BSN) predict BSN relationship quality; (b) to investigate whether perceived benefits of BSN predict perceived relationship investment; (c) to examine if online social connection strengthens the relationship between perceived benefits of BSN and BSN relationship quality; (d) to examine if experience with BSN strengthens the relationship between perceived benefits of BSN and BSN relationship quality; (e) to investigate whether BSN relationship quality predicts brand relationship quality; (f) to examine whether BSN relationship quality predicts customer loyalty toward BSN; (g) to investigate whether perceived relationship investment predicts brand relationship quality; (h) to investigate whether brand relationship quality predicts customer loyalty toward BSN; (i) to examine whether brand relationship quality predicts customer loyalty toward the brand; and (j) to investigate whether customer loyalty toward BSN predicts customer loyalty toward the brand. This research employed a mixed-method approach to overcome the weaknesses in a single method approach and to provide stronger evidence for a conclusion. First, qualitative analyses explored the unique context of BSN, which was not much investigated in prior research. Specifically, Brand Pages of 22 apparel brands and 10 restaurant/coffeehouse brands, chosen as research settings, were investigated to validate the proposed research constructs. Second, quantitative analyses utilized an online self-administered cross-sectional survey method. A total of 501 complete responses collected from consumer panels of marketing research firm were used. The results suggested that BSN benefits are important drivers of relationship mediators (i.e., BSN relationship quality, perceived relationship investment), which in turn positively influence BRQ. However, functional benefits did not influence BSN relationship quality. In addition, while customer loyalty toward BSN was predicted by both BSN relationship quality and BRQ, it did not positively influence the loyalty toward the brand. Specifically, BSN loyalty did not influence behavioral loyalty and negatively influenced willingness to pay price premium. Further discussion about the results, implications, and suggestions for future research were provided

Brand-Generated Content (BGC) and Consumer-Generated Advertising (CGA) on Instagram: The Influence of Perceptions on Purchase Intention

Generation Y individuals start to use social media as their primary tools to obtain information about product and brand. One of the most active social media in Indonesia is Instagram. Broadcasting Brand-Generated Content can be the most common marketing strategy that local fashion brands will use on Instagram. However, the previous study shows that online consumers more likely rely on information generated by other consumers (Consumer-Generated Advertising) than generated directly by marketers (Brand-Generated Content) to assist their purchase decision because they perceive consumers will provide more factual information than the advertiser. Hence, this study objective is to know how does Indonesia consumer perceive Brand-Generated Content and Consumer-Generated Advertising that has been used by a fashion brand on Instagram and which one is the most significant to influence consumer purchase intention. The sample consisted of 165 Instagram active users from Jakarta and Bandung whom voluntary agreed to participate in the online survey of this research. Finding confirmed that consumer perception of BGC and CGA has a positive influence on purchase intention on Instagram. The consumer needed BGC because it consists of important factors that could influence them to have the intention to buy: expertise, relevance, reduce risk, positive valence, usefulness, and credibility. Furthermore, the consumer also needed CGA to support the information of product because CGA has homophily and originality factor. Keywords: Consumer Perception, Brand-Generated Content, Consumer-Generated Advertising, Purchase Intention, Fashion Brand, Social Medi

Investigating Social Media Influences on Consumer’s Behaviors Purchasing Sports Apparel

Social media is the most prevalent means of communication among young people today; consequently, social media provides an ideal platform for promoting brands of products and services, influencing consumers’ purchasing decisions, and increasing the desire to use products offered.  Companies selling sports apparel (like Puma and Adidas) have approached marketing through social media, investigating social media’s effect on consumer behavior and choice of sports apparel in Saudi Arabia. To achieve the objectives of this research, and to answer the questions posed a descriptive analytical approach was used, and a survey (questionnaire and interview) tools were distributed to a sample of consumers and e-consumers of sportswear (comparative between Puma and Adidas). To test the effects of age, gender, living area, and the respondents’ educational level on customers’ preference for Puma and Adidas (t-shirts and shoes), the researcher investigated whether preferences for Puma and Adidas sportswear brands (t-shirts and shoes) are affected by the age, genders, living area and educational level of the respondents. Keywords: consumers, behavior, influenced, social media, sports apparel, sportswear. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-26-07 Publication date:September 30th 201

Using eCommerce to Improve Product Marketing and Profitability in Nigeria

Small and medium enterprises in Nigeria rarely use eCommerce, which has led to lagging market shares and profitability compared to firms in other countries that use eCommerce. Approximately 90% of boutique fashion businesses shut down their businesses due to the inability to operate outside their business location. The social exchange theory was used in this multiple case study to explore how some small business owners in the boutique fashion industry use eCommerce to improve product marketing and profitability in Nigeria. The target population for this study was 5 fashion boutique owners based in Lagos State, Nigeria with a significant record of profitability by using eCommerce in product marketing. The data collection was through semistructured face-to-face interviews with 5 business leaders; each from different fashion boutiques in Lagos. Data collected was first coded to maintain confidentiality of participants, the digital recordings was transcribed into a Microsoft word document, and Nvivo 10 software was used to analyze and generate emerging themes. The data analysis was supported by methodological triangulation and member checking to enhance the credibility and trustworthiness of the interpretations. Two of the themes that emerged from the study were generating sales to improve profitability and strategic store locations. Use of eCommerce may contribute to social change through an increase in successful startups, increased employment, and the positive impact such companies have in the societies and communities they operate. Leveraging eCommerce may enable small- and medium-sized enterprise leaders to operate sustainable businesses