Brand Advocacy on Instagram: A Research on Instagram Brand Fan Accounts

Öz

With digitalization, there have been many changes in the field of marketing. Especially with the development of the internet, all the positive or negative thoughts of the consumer mass towards the brand have not only affected their own environment with this change, but have also reached large masses. The thoughts they develop positively or negatively towards brands are directly transferred to both other consumers and the brand with the infrastructure provided by social media channels. Some consumers create accounts through digital networks and share visuals and / or verbal shares for the brand or product. Brand advocacy on Instagram: A research on brand fan accounts research was conducted to reveal the motivations of brand fan accounts on Instagram to share as a brand advocate. The main purpose of this research is to reveal the behavioral motivations of account owners who produce and share content for a brand on Instagram, a social media platform. However, when the literature is examined, limited studies have been found on online brand advocates. In addition, some studies have been found in which the concept of brand advocacy is perceived in a similar meaning and content to word-of-mouth communication. Therefore, this research aims to contribute by filling the gap in the literature on the concept of online brand advocacy. In order to access the research data, the “semi-structured interview” technique was used. because the semi-structured interview technique provides the researcher with some flexibility during the interviews and allows the researcher to go deeper into the event. Within the scope of the interviews, an interview form consisting of 11 questions was prepared to be directed to the participants and submitted to the approval of the expert in the field in order to test the level of relationship with the subject. Within the scope of the research, it was planned to be carried out on brand fan accounts in nano and micro influencer groups. As a result of the preliminary interviews; individuals who manage pages on Instagram for clothing, e-commerce and technology brands were not included in the research found to have financial benefits. Within the scope of this research, only brand fan accounts in the automotive and motorcycle sectors were included in the study. There are 11 brand fan account holders in the study group. While creating the study group, it was determined that the individuals should not have any commercial ties with the relevant brand and produce content for the brand without any expectations. These accounts were first examined by the content analysis method and the brand fan account identities were determined to be compatible with the research subject. An interview form was prepared in order to stay connected to the subject and to reach the correct data in the interviews to be carried out within the scope of the research. The interview questions were created using the digital brand advocacy scale in the literature. In order to determine the relevance of the interview questions to the subject, they were submitted to three experts in the field for approval and the necessary arrangements were made. With the necessary arrangements, the interview form consisted of a total of 11 questions, 5 regarding demographics and 6 questions. The data obtained from the interviews with each participant, which lasted approximately 30-45 minutes, were deciphered and read multiple times by the researcher and their themes, categories and codes were separated. Three themes were created: responses regarding repeat purchasing tendency, answers to advocacy activities and consumer loyalty. Responses regarding repeat purchasing tendency was divided into brand-consumer interaction and consumer-consumer Interaction categories. Answers to advocacy activities theme was divided into underlying advocacy activities, reasons that drive advocacy activities, consumer behaviors during the brand’s crisis categories. Last Consumer loyalty theme factors effective in developing consumer brand loyalty characteristics that the consumer identifies between himself and the brand categories. Research data was accessed by creating codes under categories in line with the responses of the individuals in the study group. The results of the research show that brand fan account holders perform repeated purchases and the reasons underlying this action are brand satisfaction, brand trust, brand awareness, in addition to; found that economic utility variables were effective. The underlying causes of advocacy activities; While the social perception of the brand and belonging to the brand communities are revealed, the one that activates it; As a brand fan account owner on Instagram, sharing for the brand, transferring information, transferring the strengths of the brand was reached by analyzing the participant responses...

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Brand Fan Accounts
• Brand Advocacy
• Social Media
• Instagram

INSTAGRAM’DA MARKA SAVUNUCULUĞU: MARKA HAYRAN HESAPLARINA YÖNELİK BİR ARAŞTIRMA

Öz

Bu çalışmada Instagram üzerinde yer alan marka hayran hesaplarının marka savunucusu olarak markaya yönelik içerik üretme ve paylaşım yapma motivasyonlarını ortaya çıkarmak amaç olarak belirlenmiştir. Araştırma kapsamında verilere ulaşabilmek adına yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme tekniğinden yararlanılmıştır. Çalışma grubuna Instagram üzerinden bir marka ya da ürüne yönelik paylaşımlarda bulunan motorlu taşıtlar üzerine 11 marka hayran hesap sahibi dahil edilmiştir. Bu hesaplar içerik analiziyle incelenmiş ve marka hayran hesabı kimliklerinin araştırma konusuyla uyumluluğu saptanmıştır. Çalışma grubunda yer alan bireyler ile gerçekleştirilen 30-45 dakika arasındaki görüşmelerden elde edilen veriler, tema ve kategorilere ayrılmış ve kodlar belirlenmiştir. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre tekrarlı satın alma davranışı sergileyen marka savunucularının bu davranışlarının altında yatan faktörler; marka memnuniyeti, marka güveni, marka bilinirliğine ek olarak ekonomik fayda olarak tespit edilmiştir. Çalışma grubunda yer alan bireylerin savunuculuk faaliyetlerinin altında yatan sebepler ise markanın sosyal algısı ve marka topluluklarına aidiyettir. Instagram üzerinde marka hayran hesabı sahibi olarak marka adına içerik üretme ve paylaşımlarda bulunma motivasyonları çalışma kapsamında elde edilen verilere göre hobi ve kişiselleştirilebilirlik olarak belirlenmiştir. Çalışma grubunda yer alan marka hayranlarının ilgili markalara yönelik sadakat duygusuna sahip olduğu ve marka ile kendisi arasında özdeşleşme olduğu araştırmada elde edilen diğer bir bulgudur.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Marka Hayran Hesapları
• Marka Savunuculuğu
• Sosyal Medya
• Instagram

Kaynakça

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