{"id":45877,"date":"2020-11-16T21:41:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T21:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essays.homeworkacetutors.com\/2020\/11\/influence-of-social-media-on-brand-equity\/"},"modified":"2020-11-16T21:41:00","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T21:41:00","slug":"influence-of-social-media-on-brand-equity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/influence-of-social-media-on-brand-equity\/","title":{"rendered":"Influence of Social Media on Brand Equity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I. Abstract:<\/h2>\n

Although
\nhuman have started using the internet to interact with others since the 1970s through instant messaging
\napplications (Greiffenstern, 2010); however, it has only really exploded in the
\nlast 15 years with the development of social network \u2013 especially Facebook. Accordingly,
\nsocial network permits a user to create a personal profile, homepage and
\nconnect with each other to interact (Baruah, 2012, p.4). Moreover, the social network also increases awareness of
\nthe movements of social relationships (Baruah, 2012). Therefore, many brands
\nhave deployed social networks as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc to promote their
\nbrand images. After connections are established between consumers and firms, social network will create two-way interaction;
\nfrom that, the firms can consider as the effective channel for the brand to
\nreach with their consumers that measures
\nbased on the level of engagement through positive or negative attitudes on the
\nsocial networks. Thus, it is necessary for businesses to know the impact of social network on the building of brand equity.<\/p>\n

Besides
\nthat, brand equity is also mentioned in this report. Brand management is
\nbecoming more important to marketers today (David, 2000; Goodchild and Callow,
\n2001). In the framework of existing competitive environment, the brand is a critical element that concerning
\ngoods purchase, sales as well as earnings generating. Moreover, brand equity is
\na framework which is designed to indicate the natural value that a brand name
\nholds for the goods and services included with.<\/p>\n

Due
\nto the great importance of these two topics, this report set out to determine
\nthe impact of social networks on brand equity.<\/p>\n

Keywords<\/strong> \u2013 Social media, Social networks, Brand equity, Brand awareness, Perceived quality, Brand association, Brand loyalty, Customer engagement.<\/p>\n

II. Introduction:<\/h2>\n

Nowadays, customers\u2019 purchasing decisions are increasingly affected by communication and marketing <\/a>(Alam & Khan, 2015). In 2016, the percentage of online shopping increased by 13.5% over the same period last year (MCMC, 2017). This shows that there are more and more consumers using the internet and spending more time for shopping online. While the use of social networking is a trend as today, companies and governments have also used it as a tool in communications (Kim & Ko, 2012). Alam and Khan (2015) also mentioned that many companies are using social network as an effective tool to attract potential customers and make consumers become loyal to their brands. Thus, how does the social network really affect the brand?<\/p>\n

Furthermore,
\ncustomer engagement in social networks is
\nalso considered as the key to promoting the brand (Patterson and Ruyter, 2012,
\np. 31-34). Therefore, the role of social
\nnetwork is very important that already become to be the vital thing for the
\nprocess of customer engagement and the growth and development of brand equity.
\nHence, this research expands and develops a new incorporated conceptual
\nframework and searching for the role of customer engagement in social networks in forming brand equity.<\/p>\n

III. Literature review:<\/h2>\n

1. Social media:<\/h3>\n

In
\n2009, Safko and Brake defined social media as \u201cactivities, practices, and
\nbehaviours among communities of people who gather online to share information,
\nknowledge, and opinions using conversational media.\u201d (Safko & Brake, 2009).
\nMoreover, social media is considered as a communication tool that works on web
\n2.0 platform \u2013 this means that activities such as participation, exchange and
\nsharing of information will appear among people (Robinson, 2007). Therefore,
\nthe main purpose of using social media is sharing information between
\nbusinesses and consumers. And, one of the noteworthy platforms related to
\ncommunication cannot be ignored is social networking. Accordingly, social
\nnetwork is a platform that allow users share personal information for others to
\nexchange as well as communicate (Palmer & Lewis, 2009, p.162-176). In
\naddition, Ellison (2008) also defined social network in another way as \u201cweb-based
\nservices that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile
\nwithin a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share
\na connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by
\nothers within the system\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nowadays,
\nsocial networks have started to become a potent networking force connecting
\npeople from every area in the world. It reinforces the process of socialization
\nby being instant, cheap, and straightforward to use that having huge reach.
\nAccording to Kemp (2017), there are 2.8 billion global users use social network
\nat least once a month, which approximately amounts to about 37% of the world\u2019s
\nresidential. Moreover, the use of social networks also rose by 20% compared to
\n2016; especially, Facebook is still the most famous framework on the world with
\nstrong growth (Kemp, 2017). According to Davidson (2015), each person spends 1
\nhour 40 minutes on social networks every day, it accounts for 28% of internet
\nusage. Moreover, the number of Facebook users has reached 2 billion in 2017, that
\nturns Facebook into the largest and most influential social network in the
\nworld (Chaykowski, 2017).<\/p>\n

Furthermore,
\nbased on the post of Barker (2017), there are 74% of shoppers have made a
\ndecision to buy based on information that they have retrieved from the social
\nnetworks sites. Accordingly, it is very necessary to create intensive
\nconnections and participation between the consumer and the brand. However,
\nseveral enterprises are not comfortable about how exactly to improve the
\ncustomer engagement to enhance their brand equity through the use of social
\nnetworks for internal or external purposes. Social networks are nevertheless
\nimmense among private persons (Wigmo & Wikstr\u00f6m, 2012).<\/p>\n

The
\nappearance of social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. also
\nre-structured the marketing landscape. It is seen as a platform to for marketer
\nframework (Qualman, 2010, p.28). Initially, social network is only a platform
\nthat help people can communicate with others, but today it also considered as a
\nsearch engine for people to find out about the company as well as the products
\nthey love. Recently, social media is a channel to distribute and transmit news
\nthat cannot be ignored (Mitchell, 2014, p. 2-8). Based on a research of
\nInfographic, at least 50% of social networking users have knowledge of the
\ncompany\u2019s products after they follow the company through social networks
\n(Jackson, 2011). Furthermore, social media also allows people to share their
\nexperiences of branding products or services with friends (Stileman, 2009;
\nMangold & Foulds, 2009). Accordingly, social network is a new paradigm in
\nmarketing that has provided ample space for business organizations to maintain
\na successful, long lasting and value-added relationship with their customers. It
\nmeans social networks has helped to transform business organizations from
\ntransactional relationship to a social relationship. The upper level of use and
\ninteraction of social networks significantly impacts on the commercial
\nenvironment which is consequently exposed to the paradigm transformation, where
\nhierarchies break down and the communication and interaction create larger and
\nlarger networks for all the stakeholders of the organizations. Therefore, in a
\nwell \u2013 designed social networks campaign, consumers will spread viral videos,
\ncreate additional brand related content, tweet about the brand and post about
\ntheir experiences. Moreover, by tapping into or rather establishing their own
\nonline social networks, firms can have an impact on a brand community and potentially
\ninfluence consumer behaviour and consumer perception for the organizations.<\/p>\n

2. Customer engagement in social network:<\/h3>\n

In
\nbusiness, the term \u201cengagement\u201d was initially presented by Appelbaum in the
\nyear 2001. In the most recent two decades, the idea of
\n\u201c\u201dengagement\u201d\u201d has been utilized in various fields
\nincluding marketing, psychology, sociology, political science, and
\norganizational behaviour (Hoffman, 2010). Shen (2014) used the term \u201ccustomer
\nengagement\u201d and defined it as \u201cthe level of an individual customer\u2019s
\nmotivational, brand-related and context-dependent state of mind characterized
\nby specific levels of cognitive, emotional and behavioural activity in direct
\nbrand interactions\u201d.\u00a0 Hence, Duffyagency
\n(2012) emphasized that companies are now recognizing that \u201ccustomer engagement\u201d
\nis also a more strategic way of looking at customer and stakeholder
\nrelationships. In addition, customer engagement is also considered as a
\npositive interaction of a customer with a firm, with prospects and with other
\ncustomers, whether they are transactional or non-transactional in nature, from
\nthat, customer engagement considered a critical thing that involve in the
\nprocess of forming brand equity, particularly effect on all dimensions of brand
\nequity (Clark & Melancon, 2013, p.12-13). Furthermore, customer engagement
\nconcentrates on customers and their needs with the main purpose is to provide
\noutstanding value relative to competitors by creating, disseminating messages
\nregarding customer needs and aims to build trust and commitment in
\nrelationships with customers.<\/p>\n

As
\nexpressed before, with the appearance of internet, IT services and social
\nnetworks, customers are moving from traditional sources of communication and
\ndeciding on online product reviews posted by users on social networks as basis
\nof their purchase decision making. Therefore, one of the factors that make the
\nsuccess of social networks is customer engagement, which is particularly
\nrelevant in social networks communication. It means customer engagement is
\nviewed as a dynamic interaction of a customer with a brand, product, service,
\nor organization which is expressed, for instance, by the creation of contents
\non social networks. According to (Dessart et al., 2015), customer
\nengagement includes all consumer-to-firm interactions and consumer-to-consumer
\ncommunications about the brand. Even the smallest of gestures, like putting a
\ncomment or \u201clike\u201d on a social networks page can also be interpreted as a form
\nof engagement (Constantinides, 2014).<\/p>\n

On
\nthe other hands, levels of customer engagement based on the types of consumers\u2019
\nonline brand-related activities (COBRA) identified by (Drury, 2008). Customer
\nengagement with brand social networks pages could be analysed by implementing
\nthree continuous levels that corresponding to a steady involvement with a brand
\non social networks, particularly consuming, contributing and creating (Golder
\net al., 2012) as follow:<\/p>\n