The effect of social media communication on consumer perceptions of brands

Abstract

Researchers and brand managers have limited understanding of the effects social media communication has on how consumers perceive brands. We investigated 504 Facebook users in order to observe the impact of firm-created and user-generated (UG) social media communication on brand equity (BE), brand attitude (BA) and purchase intention (PI) by using a standardized online survey throughout Poland. To test the conceptual model, we analyzed 60 brands across three different industries: non-alcoholic beverages, clothing and mobile network operators. When analyzing the data, we applied the structural equation modeling technique to both investigate the interplay of firm-created and user-generated social media communication and examine industry-specific differences. The results of the empirical studies showed that user-generated social media communication had a positive influence on both brand equity and brand attitude, whereas firm-created social media communication affected only brand attitude. Both brand equity and brand attitude were shown to have a positive influence on purchase intention. In addition, we assessed measurement invariance using a multi-group structural modeling equation. The findings revealed that the proposed measurement model was invariant across the researched industries. However, structural path differences were detected across the models.

Keywords::

• social media
• brand equity
• brand attitude
• purchase intention
• Facebook
• user-generated content

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Faculty of Management and Economics and the Department of Marketing at Gdańsk University of Technology (DS 020352).

We would like to thank James Gaskin from Brigham Young University and Jacek Buczny from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities for their detailed and insightful comments concerning the SEM procedures used in this article. We would also like to thank Maria Szpakowska, Julita Wasilczuk and Krzysztof Leja for their support, which made it possible for us to achieve our research objectives. Special thanks to Lara Kalenik for the language edition. Finally, the authors would like to thank Philip Kitchen, Gayle Kerr and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback throughout the review process which influenced the final version of the article.

Notes

^1. Email: [email protected]

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bruno Schivinski

Bruno Schivinski is a sociologist and a teaching assistant of marketing research at the Gdańsk University of Technology. He graduated from Maria Curie-Skłodowska University with a BS in management and marketing. He also has a master's degree in sociology with a concentration in marketing research. He is an Internet professional with more than 12 years of experience. He has attracted funding from prestigious external organizations, including the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW) and the National Science Centre (NCN) in Poland. His research has been published in leading Polish marketing journals and various conference proceedings.

Dariusz Dabrowski

Dariusz Dabrowski is a marketing and research professor. He is the chair of the Marketing Department at the Faculty of Management and Economics at the Gdańsk University of Technology. His research focuses on consumer behavior, marketing relations, and the development of new products. Professor Dabrowski is the author of published books, he regularly presents research at conferences, and he has published more than 60 articles and other publications. He has received awards for his research and has worked on research funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW) and the National Science Centre (NCN) in Poland. His work has appeared in leading Polish management and marketing journals and other scholarly venues.