Social media interactions and brand luxuriousness: the role of materialism

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Colella ◽  
Cesare Amatulli ◽  
María Pilar Martínez-Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Effect Study ◽  
Luxury Brands ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Media Platform

Purpose This study aims at investigating how the level of brand–consumer interaction between luxury brands and consumers on social media may affect the perception of brands’ luxuriousness. In particular, this study is focused on the moderating role of consumers’ materialism. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a quantitative approach. Data were collected with two online experiments. Study 1 was run to test whether a luxury brand’s product description was perceived as more luxurious when published on a social media platform versus the brand’s website, and if consumers’ materialism influences this effect. Study 2 explains the underlying psychological mechanism by underlining the mediating role of psychological distance. Findings The results show that branded luxury products are perceived as more luxurious when these are communicated on a social media platform (vs on the brand’s Web page), and consumers are high (vs low) in materialism, due to high psychological distance. Originality/value Previous literature has neglected the relationship between materialism and social media communication, as well as the potential differential effect that a high versus low level of brand–consumer interaction may have, for luxury brands, in the online context. This study fills this gap by investigating the role of a consumer-related characteristic (i.e. the level of materialism) that represents an important dimension in luxury consumption. Moreover, this study sheds light on the mediating role of psychological distance in the context of luxury brands’ online communication.

The influencing role of social media in the consumer’s hotel decision-making process

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikas Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the role of social media on the hotel decision-making process of consumers during the evaluation stage of searching, identifying the alternatives and selecting a hotel in India. It will help the stakeholders in the hotel industry of India to make the social media platform more efficient for consumers by providing inputs on the factors consumers consider while making online hotel purchase. Design/methodology/approach This study involves an exploratory qualitative approach which includes 32 face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews with the social media platform users. The selection of interviewees for this study has been done on the basis of a non-random purposive sampling approach. Findings The findings reveal that social media plays an important role in affecting the way consumers search, decide and book hotels. It also suggests that social media helps consumers in collecting information about products and services, assessing alternatives and making their choices. It confirms that while negative facets exist, the positive benefits outweigh the negative aspects of using social media when selecting a hotel. The results also reveal the impact of circumstantial influence related to social media on hotel selection, on the basis of content source and the level of trust and accuracy in the content. Practical implications This study has some strategic implications for hospitality marketing and management related to a better understanding of the influence of social media on the hotel customer decision-making process. The study shows that a variety of social media with associated content sources and levels add to the complexity of hotel-related information search and decision behaviour. Originality/value The study makes a contribution by addressing the existing gaps and bridging the arena of consumer behaviour and social media literature in a hotel context and sheds light on how consumer decisions while selecting a hotel are influenced through social media. The core contribution is the generation of factors through in-depth interviews which are based on real-life scenarios relating to the influence of social media on hotel decision-making.

The role of perceived firm social media interactivity in facilitating customer engagement behaviors

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
SIDDIK BOZKURT ◽  
David Marius Gligor ◽  
Barry J. Babin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Customer Engagement ◽  
Online Surveys ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Customer Purchases ◽  
Moderating Role

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how customers’ perceptions of brands’ social media interactivity impact customer engagement behaviors (CEBs) (e.g. customer purchases, referrals, influence and knowledge) while accounting for the moderating role of brand type and social media platform. Design/methodology/approach Two separate online surveys (Study 1 (N1) = 341, Study 2 (N2) = 183) were conducted to measure the constructs of interest. Regression analyzes tests research hypotheses; PROCESS Model 1 was used to test the moderating roles of brand type and platform. Further, the pick-a-point approach (i.e. spotlight analysis) was used to probe the interaction terms. Findings The results indicate that when customers perceive a brand to be highly interactive on social media (vs inactive), they are more willing to buy brand offerings, refer the brand in exchange for monetary incentives, inform their family and friends about the brand on social media and provide feedback and suggestions for improving the brand. Furthermore, the positive impact of perceived social media interactivity on customer purchases, referrals, influence and knowledge varies across brand and social media platform types. Research limitations/implications Online surveys using convenience samples were conducted to assess the constructs of interest. Archival data may provide an avenue for further insight. Future research may be able to track actual online customer behavior using such data. Further, researchers are encouraged to corroborate the results found here over time as the winds of social media shift to new platforms. Practical implications The results suggest that interacting on social media encourages customers to contribute to brand value directly (through purchasing) and/or indirectly (through referring, influencing and suggesting). While all brands may leverage social media activity for success, the positive impact of perceived social media interactivity on CEBs is particularly impactful for non-global 500 brands. The results also indicate that customers are more willing to add value to the brand through purchases and suggestions when they perceive the brand to be highly interactive on both social media networking sites and the brand’s website. However, they are more willing to promote this brand and influence their social networks about it only when they perceive the brand to be highly (vs less) interactive on its own website. Originality/value This study examines the novel issue of the impact of perceived social media interactivity on different CEBs while accounting for the moderating role of the brand and platform used by customers. The results provide value in better understanding the levers through which social media affects performance.

Understanding destination evangelism: a social media viewpoint

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Purvendu Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviors ◽  
Role Of Information

PurposeThe present research aims to introduce and understand the promising nature of destination evangelism in the context of social media-based tourism communities (SMTCs). Further, factors that influence evangelism and information-seeking behaviors on SMTCs are examined.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model is developed that features an interplay of destination distinctiveness, destination evangelism, travel commitment and information-seeking engagement. Data were collected from 215 active users of SMTCs and analyzed using structural equation models.FindingsThe research findings indicate that destination distinctiveness and information-seeking positively lead to destination evangelism. Information-seeking is found to mediate the relationship between (1) destination evangelism and travel commitment and (2) destination evangelism and distinctiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe research offers meaningful insights into exploring constituents of destination evangelism. The research also understands and highlights the critical role of information-seeking engagement about distinct destinations.Practical implicationsThis research highlights key areas to build, improve and inspire destination evangelism on SMTCs.Originality/valueThis study offers a fresh contribution to tourism literature by investigating destination evangelism and its drivers. This is explained by closely uniting vital research streams of evangelism, tourism and engagement. It further highlights the dual mediating role of information seeking, suggesting that these engagements are critical to evangelizing destinations.

Getting acquainted with social networks and apps: talking about TikTok

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Elson Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Information Professionals

Purpose This paper aims to provide information and promote discussion around the social media platform TikTok. Design/methodology/approach Research, literature review. Findings Libraries and library and information professionals should be aware of the potential of TikTok for engagement and information sharing. Originality/value Adds to the research on the social media platform TikTok.

scholarly journals Digital Genealogies: Understanding Social Mobile Media LINE in the Role of Japanese Families

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630511770381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kana Ohashi ◽  
Fumitoshi Kato ◽  
Larissa Hjorth
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Mobile Media ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Media Platform

This article explores the emergence of the dominant mobile social media platform in Japan, LINE. In particular, the article focuses upon its usage to maintain familial ties, especially between matriarchal connections. Drawing upon ethnographic work with 12 families over 3 years, this article seeks to provide a detailed and nuanced sense of how social mobile media is deployed intergenerationally.

scholarly journals Instagram as a Co-Creation Space for Tourist Destination Image-Building: Algarve and Costa del Sol Case Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia P. Iglesias-Sánchez ◽  
Marisol B. Correia ◽  
Carmen Jambrino-Maldonado ◽  
Carlos de las Heras-Pedrosa
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Destination Image ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Destination Branding ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Image Building ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Destination Management Organizations

Instagram is a popular social media platform. Its ability to convey feelings through photographs has become a valuable communication tool for tourism destination branding. The cases of two destinations in Southern Europe provide an understanding of how Instagram can be used to promote a destination’s image by Destination Management Organizations (DMOs). For this purpose, a content analysis is carried out, first of the official Instagram accounts of Algarve (Portugal) and Costa del Sol (Spain), and then of the most popular hashtags related to them, showing User-Generated Content (UGC) from the points of view of both destination managers and tourists. The results show that Instagram is a strategic social media platform for enhancing the brand image by engaging customers. Destinations seize content generated by tourists; therefore, the hermeneutic circle of representation is inverted, as photos taken by tourists aim to reproduce the perceived image of a destination and motivate tourists to capture their experiences with the best picture. Additionally, it is worth highlighting, as a main finding, the role of sustainability as a key factor in UGC for DMOs and for Instagram users. This research provides valuable information about designing promotion strategies for DMOs, in order to understand the potential of Instagram in building a destination’s image and inspiring tourism through images.

This thing of social media! Going business or socialisation? Solving the great dilemma

foresight ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-350
Author(s):  
Akwesi Assensoh-Kodua
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Continuance Intention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Actual Usage ◽  
The Future ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Near Future

Purpose Social media has become a “thing” not just for its historical purpose of socialisation, but a multi-faceted platform of unpredictable possibilities. With the current high levels of actual usage, business on the platform has assumed different styles and has become one of the competing activities on this platform, creating a dilemma for the future. However, as social beings, we can manage such capricious adventure by means of research, to predict the possible destination before we are taken by surprise. One of such medium of studies is through the philosophies of the continuance intention theories. To this end, the purpose of this paper was to investigated some antecedents of social media that are capable of predicting the direction of this platform to test this theory of continuance intention, and the results from the predictive Smart PLS3 shows that the continuance intention for business on this platform will overtake socialisation to offer the biggest market among the elitist class in the near future, and not China, Nigeria or the NYSE. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses Predictive Smart PLS3 to analyse the continuance intention of social media platforms. Findings Predictive Smart PLS3 shows that the continuance intention for business on social media platform will overtake socialisation to offer the biggest market. Research limitations/implications The questions asked in this study focussed on buyers and not platform managers. As the continuance intention depends on the latter as well, it would have been better if their opinions were also sought to determine what will make them continue to provide social media. Originality/value This paper is among the first to do such a study.

scholarly journals Go local or go global: how local brands promote buying impulsivity

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eline L.E. De Vries ◽  
Bob M. Fennis
Keyword(s):  
Local Food ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Brand Positioning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Brands ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Global Brand ◽  
Positioning Strategy

Purpose Using food brands as a case in point, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between a local vs global brand positioning strategy and buying impulsivity, as well as the mediating role of construal level. The findings add a psychological argument to the array of reasons for firms to opt for a local instead of a global brand positioning strategy: local food brands promote higher levels of buying impulsivity than global brands by lowering consumers’ level of construal. Design/methodology/approach Five experiments use student and nonstudent samples, different construal level indices and generic and brand-specific buying impulsivity measures to test the hypotheses. Findings Local food brands promote higher levels of buying impulsivity than global brands by lowering consumers’ level of construal. Because local brands are proximal to consumers’ lifestyles, values, preferences and behaviors, they decrease the psychological distance between the brand and the consumer, compared with global brands. The smaller psychological distance lowers consumers’ construal level and renders the immediate, concrete, appetitive attributes of the product more salient, thus making consumers more prone to impulsively buy a local brand than a global one. Practical implications For the choice between a global or local brand positioning strategy, this paper argues in favor of the latter. Local (food) branding is a concrete brand positioning mechanism that can influence and benefit from consumers’ buying impulsivity. Originality/value The research reveals heretofore unknown but important implications of local vs global brand positioning strategies for consumers’ construal level and buying impulsivity.

A taxonomy of value co-creation on Weibo – a communication perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 2075-2092 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Ge ◽  
Ulrike Gretzel
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Marketing Organization ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Comprehensive Classification ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to develop a taxonomy of value co-creation types occurring in firm-customer interactions on social media. Design/methodology/approach In total, 570 destination marketing organization (DMO)-initiated posts on Weibo and 3,137 responses were collected to develop a taxonomy by conducting qualitative empirical-to-conceptual analysis. To apply the taxonomy through conceptual-to-empirical analysis, 100 DMO-initiated posts and 823 responses were collected. Findings The communication-focused value co-creation taxonomy shows a variety of co-creators, verbal and non-verbal communicative co-creation actions facilitated by social media, and different co-created value types. Research limitations/implications This study used a single social media platform and selected three DMOs’ Weibo accounts. Future research should focus on other types of firms and different social media platforms. Practical implications This study used a single social media platform and selected three DMOs’ Weibo accounts. Future research should focus on other types of firms and different social media platforms. Originality/value This study enriches the tourism literature and the general marketing literature by examining value co-creation from a communication perspective and provides a comprehensive classification of value co-creation opportunities on social media.

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