A brand's transition to social media: effects on brand image

Details

Supervisors

Jeandrain, Anne-Cécile

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion

Abstract

The objective of this research was to explore the effects of a brand’s passage to social media on its brand image. The analysis showed that being interactive and transparent on social media has a positive impact on a brand’s image. Moreover, being interactive but not transparent still has a positive impact on brand image. On the contrary, a brand that is neither interactive nor transparent will suffer from it. In addition, a brand that is transparent but is not interactive with its customers will also experience a negative effect on its brand image. Practically, these conclusions allows us to determine that for a brand that is planning to join social media, it is important that it displays both high levels of transparency and interactivity because this leads to an enhanced brand image. Nonetheless, if a brand cannot achieve transparency, it should at least be interactive because it appears to play a major part in enhancing a brand’s image. This research could thus be beneficial to managers that are unsure about the way they should manage their shift to social media.