The Effects of Social Networking Sites on Consumer–Brand Relationships

ABSTRACT

In the era of a vastly changing marketing communications environment, social media and social networking sites (SNS) have become an attractive outlet for brand promotions and advertising. As traditional media such as television, radio, and newspapers prove ineffective in establishing a valuable rapport with consumers, it is social networks which are expected to build bonds and engage online users into an amusing dialog, play, and intercourse with brands. This study applies an experimental design to assess the effects of SNS on the relationship between brands and consumers. Customer-based brand equity is adopted in this study as a reflective measure of consumer–brand connection. In order to evaluate hypothesized interactions, the linear mixed effects models are used. The results show very little (if any) impact of SNS on brand equity. Relevant explanations are discussed and further research directions are indicated.

Keywords:

• Brand animism
• brand relationship
• consumer-based brand equity
• social media
• social networking sites