USES AND GRATIFICATIONS OF BRAND FAN PAGES IN SOCIAL NETWORKS - AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON FACEBOOK BRAND FAN PAGES OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE BRANDS

摘要

Due to innovations in technology, numerous social media platforms have been launched in the past decade. They can be characterized as a "group of internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content" (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010). Because of their immense reach, social networks play a significant role amongst social media. Facebook -the biggest social network in the western hemisphere -claimed to have achieved one billion monthly active users worldwide in October 2012 (Facebook 2012). In social networks, brands have the opportunity to create so called brand fan pages. When users "like" a fan page of a brand, they consequently become "fans" and receive regular posts and updates from the brand in their personal newsfeed. They also have the option to read posts, comment, ask questions, participate in discussions or create and share content. An international study conducted by TNS found out that 40% of internet users are connected to brands via social networks (TNS 2011). Hence, the impact on brand management is significant (Muntinga et al. 2011) and requires further attention in research (Smith et al. 2012).To understand what makes brand fan pages attractive to consumers and therefore deduct managerial implications, it is necessary to understand the uses and gratifications (Taylor et al. 2011) of brand fan pages in social networks. Up to now, there is still a lack of research in this field.