Interaction with brands on social media

With the emergence of social networking sites and their growing popularity, it is time that as a research field, these are more exploited. In this study, the interaction with brands on online social networks is investigated. First, it is studied whether there is a fit between the self-concept of individuals and the perceived brand personalities of brands that they associate themselves with on social media. Results show that brands that are displayed on someone’s social media profile are a reflection of the self-concept of the profile owner. This is an extension of the congruity theory from consumer behaviour. Second, it is also tested if interaction with brands on social media has influence on the purchase intentions of the users. This is done by operationalizing the activities of commenting and sharing on social media sites into variables for involvement. It was not found that these activities or the congruity with brands on social media have any significant effect on purchase intentions of the social network users.