دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی اثرات شدت استفاده از رسانه های اجتماعی بر ارزش برند - امرالد 2018

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive research of the effects of the intensity of use of social media on destination brand equity. The authors use the schema theory and a multidimensional approach of brand equity to analyse how social media communication affects brand awareness, brand image, customer value, brand quality and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – The authors carried out a quantitative study through a personal survey with structured questionnaire. The study population were international tourists, over 18 years of age, who were visiting the city of Valencia, Spain. Respondents were asked to take the questionnaire upon arrival in Valencia, that is, before they had any direct experience of the tourist destination and when their knowledge of the city came only from the sources of social media information they have used. The final sample size was 249 interviewees. Findings – Findings confirm a positive effect of the intensity of social media use on brand awareness. Results also suggest that brand awareness influences other dimensions of brand equity and highlight the influence of the destination affective image on the intention to make WOM communication. Originality/value – Its originality lies in a unique approach for data collecting and using the schema theory of cognitive psychology to understand the phenomenon of social media influence on tourist perception of destination brands. The findings contribute to the development of better social media marketing in order to manage destination brands online.

Conclusions and practical implications

The present research analyses the effect of the intensity of use of different social media on destination brand equity; specifically, in the dimensions of brand awareness, image, quality, value and the intention to make WOM and eWOM communication. The results show that intensity of social media use significantly influences brand awareness. In turn, awareness has a positive relationship with cognitive and affective image of the brand, brand quality, customer value and the intention to make eWOM. As for the relationship between the two dimensions of the image, the results show that the affective image derives from the cognitive image. The analysis of the relationship between brand awareness and the image components shows that the information that tourists find on social networks changes the cognitive image of the destination brand, but does not lead to a recommendation to visit the destination. The tourist recommends the tourist destination only if the information received provokes a positive emotion. Consequently, the affective image becomes the most important driver of prediction of consumer behaviour.