Understanding Brand Equity and Trust in the Luxury Market: The Role of User-Generated Content and Brand Selfies on Instagram

The emergence of Web 2.0 technologies has revolutionised online interactions, with social media platforms becoming crucial venues for digital engagement and brand communication. Luxury brands face a unique challenge balancing the integrity of their exclusive image with the benefits of engaging their audience in content creation. This dilemma is particularly evident on image-centric platforms, like Instagram, where user-generated content can significantly affect brand perception. Hence, this study examines to what extent the different forms of brand communication and brand selfies influence brand equity and trust of luxury fashion brands. This is done with an online experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to four different experimental conditions with one of four Instagram posts of a Dior bag, to isolate the effects of user-generated versus brand-generated content and consumer versus brand selfies on brand equity and trust. Data was collected online via social media, targeting fashion and luxury enthusiasts. Over five weeks, 155 valid responses were obtained. Despite existing literature suggesting that user-generated content positively influences brand equity and trust, our findings indicate no significant differences between user-generated content and brand-generated content in the luxury sector. This suggests a potential blurring of boundaries between user and brand-generated content, making it harder for consumers to distinguish the two. Additionally, neither consumer selfies nor brand selfies significantly impacted brand equity or trust, contrary to previous research highlighting their effectiveness in enhancing brand engagement and credibility. The results imply that for luxury brands, the content of a single Instagram post may not be sufficient to influence brand equity or trust. Luxury brands may need to adopt more integrated and engaging social media strategies, focusing on the overall quality and authenticity of content rather than strictly categorising content.