Self Association in Social Media PDF

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Self Association in Social Media Thursday, October 3, 2019

11:01 AM

Self-association Applied to Brands or Products • There are 3 elements for self association ○ The self ○ The other construct ○ Affect (positive or negative feeling) • The "self" is a construct from psychology ○ A person's experience as a single, unitary, autonomous being that is separate from others ○ You have filled your social media account with information about yourself • "Association" is any linkage, whether the individual is aware of it or not, between constructs • When the self gets associated with other things, including products and brands, the things are regarded positively Perkins and Forehand (2012) • Self-association in social media can happen without consumers' awareness ○ Experiment § Researchers added an ad for a fake car to the top of subjects' FB page § A control group was shown the same ad at the top of the newsfeed § Brand attitude was more positive among people who saw the ad on their wall vs those who saw the ad on the newsfeed ○ Implicit measure of self-brand connection Self-brand Connection • This brand embodies what I believe in, this brand is an important indication of who I am, I feel a strong sense of belonging to this brand • This is not an implicit measure - we can measure this construct with survey questions, which makes it easier to do for managers

How Can Self-association Happen? • Branded filters link the brand or product image with a picture of the consumer • Consumer influences ○ Pairs the self with the brand (implicitly or non-consciously) ○ Encourages play and engagement with brand (consciously) Bitmoji and Self-association • Consumers create self-representations (avatars) • Consumers can distill self into an avatar ○ The self can be recreated online for purposes of communicating with others or navigating digital spaces ○ People behave their avatars very similarly in virtual worlds as in the real world ○ Can involve branded content that links brand with the self Product Personalization • Putting your name or initials on things is definitely a way of linking the self to the thing • It can be done on physical products or just by digitally altering a product image...