The relationship between needs, motivations and information sharing behaviors on social media: Focus on the self-connection and social connection

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence the information sharing behavior of individuals on social media. Furthermore, the study analyzes the effect that individuals’ self-connection to social media has on information sharing through self-efficacy and the effect of social-connection on information sharing through empathy. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to social media users from general participants in the Republic of Korea. A total of 824 valid responses were obtained. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and applying SmartPLS 3.0. Findings The result indicated that individuals are motivated to share information through self-connection and social connection. Furthermore, the mediation analysis revealed that the effect of self-connection on information sharing in social media is mediated by self-efficacy. Also, social connection will increase information sharing not only directly but also indirectly through its positive effect on empathy. Originality/value The authors focused on the basic needs of humans and tried to reveal the relationship between human needs and motivational beliefs, which are self-efficacy and empathy, and information sharing behavior on social media. Through the individual's fundamental needs that social media can satisfy, individuals will gain positive psychological benefits through using social media. This study considered what psychological benefits social media can provide

Investigating the antecedents of customer brand engagement and consumer-based brand equity in social media

YesThe current research is concerned with identifying and testing the role of three main predictors: consumer involvement, consumer participation, and self-expressive brand on the customer brand engagement (CBE). The customer brand engagement is treated in the current study as multidimensional constructs comprising three main aspects: cognitive processing (CP), affection (AF), and activation (AC). It was also proposed a direct influence for these three aspects of CBE on consumer-based brand equity (CBBE). Using online surveys, we gathered data from fans/followers of mobile phone service providers, via Facebook fan pages in Jordan. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Based on structural equation modelling analyses (SEM), it was supported that CBE aspects were largely predicted by the role of consumer involvement (INV), consumer participation (COP), and self-expressive brand (SEB). However, we find that activation impact one dimension of the CBBE dimensions, namely, brand loyalty. Further, we find that brand awareness/associations affect perceived quality but not brand loyalty. To validate the CBE scale, future studies could investigate the impact of the scale using other social media platforms for different brands. The limited amount of empirical research on CBE was the motivation behind this research. In particular, there is no study that has investigated the main predictors of CBE and its consequences over developing context by proposing and testing the association between the antecedents of CBE with the dimensions of CBE, which in turn affect the dimensions of CBBE

Brand community integration, participation and commitment: a comparison between consumer-run and company-managed communities

In the past two decades there has been a growth in the rate at which consumers join, companies use, and researchers study brand communities. Given the expansion of brand communities, scholars insistently analyze why individuals join and stay in them. However, no study concurrently examines the links among the members’ integration, participation and commitment to a brand community. Furthermore, research conceive brand communities as homogenous. Whether the feelings and behaviors of members of different kinds of communities, and specifically consumer-run and company-managed brand communities, are comparable is unknown. Using a sample of 2167 consumers of a leading motorcycle brand, this study examines the members’ integration, participation and commitment to consumer-run and company-managed communities. The findings reveal that consumer-run communities stimulate higher levels of integration, participation and commitment than the company-managed communities, but that the mechanisms connecting integration, participation and commitment are invariant across the two types of community

Social Media and Virtual Communities’ Role in the Consumer-Brand Relationship: An Online Investigation into the Development of Consumer Identity

Academia’s research into the influences and consequences of consumer behaviour have led to the emergence of several theories developed within consumer research or adapted from the social sciences. This research project provides a significant contribution to this tradition of consumer research by exploring the evolving role of social media in cooperation with brands to individuals’ lifestyles, identity and consumption decisions. The research approach adopted was exploratory but designed to consider a research problem which had several angles. The research was concerned with discovering the drivers of consumer-brand identification that are influenced by the social media context, which then influence the development of identity and the consumer-brand relationship. This research problem guided the formation of several objectives and questions with the overall aim of understanding the relationship between identity, identification and the consumer-brand relationship due to the interactive environment of social media. This study fills a gap in the research where consumer-brand identification, consumer-brand relationships and social media brand communities interact but are not usually studied for their influence on each other. Consumer research has not fully outlined the composition of the social media brand community and the consequences to identity. The study adopted an interpretive approach consisting of netnography, in-depth interviews and social media monitoring to explore the brand community in this continuously evolving platform. The study consisted of eight interviews, five thousand hashtag posts and five thousand brand posts. The data analysis comprised of thematic analysis and the BASIC IDs framework, which revealed that social media brand communities have a strong influence on the development of consumer identity, by acting as a socialising agent that places the values of the brand and community at the core at the individual’s self-concept. The social media brand community, though virtual, provides a real audience for individuals to express themselves. The process of identifying with the brand and the community, built the identity of the individual with the brand central to the development and accomplishment of his or her identity goals, prestige, distinctiveness and belongingness. As such, the brand and community develops the consumer identity but also support social as well as personal identity and other layers of the individual’s self. The consequences of such being brand loyalty, brand and community commitment as well as passion plus the inclusion of these into the individual’s self-concept. The social media brand community enhances the consumer-brand relationship due to the proactivity of individual interaction within the platform. Additionally, the emerging hierarchy provides structure that outlines the measure of influence members have on each other and the development of a consumer culture within the social media brand community. The findings have implications for consumer research and practice. Modelling a process for the development of identity and the consumer-brand relationship as well as showing the hierarchy of membership within the social media brand communities provides a measure of structure that had previously been missing in academic discussion. The findings also give marketing managers a clearer outline of the environment to share their content and social media strategies. Researchers can build on this research by applying quantitative methodologies or executing similar studies in other types of brand communities