چگونگی تأثیر وابستگی و نگرش بر رفتارهای برند در رسانه های اجتماعی
Abstract
Introduction
Theory
Study 1
Study 2
Study 3
Discussion and Conclusions
References
Abstract
As social media marketing becomes more pervasive, questions continue to emerge regarding utilizing the medium strategically to maximize positive brand-related outcomes. Marketers are increasingly seeking guidance for targeting consumers who will interact and behave in ways that are meaningful to the brand on social media. Understanding how individual differences among consumers can influence social media behaviors linked to valuable organizational outcomes is crucial for managers seeking to justify social media marketing expenditures. This research addresses that issue by applying Attachment Theory to social media. In Study 1, we examine the roles of two individual difference factors, attitude toward social media and attachment to social media (ASM), in predicting token and meaningful behaviors on social media. We find that while attitude toward social media and ASM are both related to token behaviors, only ASM predicts meaningful behaviors. In Study 2, we investigate attachment and attitude toward the brand and social media as predictors of offline and social media brand advocacy and demonstrate that individuals who are attached to or have a positive attitude toward the brand are more likely to engage in offline advocacy. Further, ASM adds incremental explanatory power, beyond attitude and attachment to the brand, in predicting advocacy via social media. In Study 3, we examine likelihood of advocating for a brand via social media as a moderator and find that even consumers who are not likely to be offline advocates are more likely to advocate for the brand on social media if they are strongly attached to social media. In sum, the results indicate that ASM is an important predictor of meaningful social media behaviors and is a new means by which marketers can identify consumers who are more likely to perform meaningful behaviors for brands via social media.
Introduction
Extant research supports the notion that many consumers are open to learning about and interacting with brands via social media (e.g., King, Racherla, and Bush 2014; Kumar et al. 2016; Lamberton and Stephen 2016; VanMeter, Grisaffe, and Chonko 2015). For example, a leading digital marketing agency reports that 70% of consumers have read a corporate blog, 67% have watched brand videos on YouTube, 65% have played a branded game online, and over 30% of the world's populations (over 2.2 billion people) have an active social media account (Feed 2009; Kemp 2015; Shively and Hitz 2016). As consumer usage of social media continues to increase, so does the portion of marketing budgets allocated to this medium. Indeed, social media is predicted to grow to 24% of marketing budgets over the next five years, an increase from 10% today (White 2017). Further, the percentage of marketers who seek to actively engage their audiences using social media now stands at 91% (Stelzner 2017). Since the mass proliferation of the Internet, researchers and marketers have been examining electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and numerous antecedents and consequences have been identified (see King, Racherla, and Bush 2014). However, in the emerging realm of social media marketing, much less is known about how to utilize the medium strategically to maximize the positive impacts of this new tool. For example, although it is considered relatively easy to precisely target consumers who are likely to click on paid advertisements on social media (e.g., through micro-targeted ads on Facebook), very little is known about how to strategically target consumers who are likely to “socially” interact with (e.g., “like,” share) branded social media content (Lamberton and Stephen 2016). Even less is known about how to target consumers who are willing to undertake some of the most coveted social media behaviors, such as advocating for their favorite brands by mentioning them to their personal network of connections on social media (i.e., influence impressions; Li and Bernoff 2008).