Consumers’ Brand Ownership and Engagement with Brand-related Social Media Content

Abstract

Online social networks have become an important element of consumers’ daily communication patterns. As a result of online social networks’ immense popularity, marketing communication scholars have started focusing on brand-related activities on social media to provide insights and future directors for marketers about the existing and potential trends. As consumers spend more time on social media, engagement with brand-related social media contents intensifies. The current study aims to explore how brand ownership impacts on content consumption, contribution and creation patterns of Instagram users. The study also explores how these patterns influences uses and gratifications Instagram users derive from involving in content-related practices. Findings revealed brand ownership determined content consumption, content contribution and content creation on Instagram. The ß coefficients indicate the highest relationship between brand ownership and content creation (ß= ,462, t=5.569, p=,000), followed by the relation between brand ownership and content contribution (ß= ,444, t=8.081, p=,000) and content consumption (ß= ,296, t=4.504, p=,000). Contributions and implications of the research and findings are discussed at the last part of the study.