International Journal of Marketing and Business Communication

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

What do Consumers Tweet about? The Role of Product Type and Brand Belief Type on User-Generated Content


Affiliations
1 Fairfield University, United States
2 Quinnipiac University,, United States
3 Sacred Heart University,, United States
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


The present study examines brand-related user-generated content (UGC) by focusing on a specific social networking site, that is, Twitter. In two studies focusing on services (Study 1) and respectively goods (Study 2), we show, based on content analysis of tweets, that there are significant differences between utilitarian and hedonic products with regard to the type of brand beliefs included in the tweets. Specifically, for hedonic products, the discussion is dominated by experiential beliefs, whereas for utilitarian products, it is dominated by functional beliefs. Symbolic beliefs play an important role in UGC neither for utilitarian products, nor for hedonic products. The paper concludes with discussions, managerial implications, and directions for future research.


Keywords

Twitter, Utilitarian and Hedonic Products, Functional, Experiential, Symbolic Beliefs.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Babin, B. J., Darden, W. R., & Griffin, M. (1994). Work and/or fun: Measuring hedonic and utilitarian shopping value. Journal of Consumer Research, 20, 644-656.

  • Berger, J., & Iyengar, R. (2013). Communication channels and word of mouth: How the medium shapes the message. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(3), 567-579.

  • Burmann C., & Ulrike, A. (2008). User generated branding: State of the art of research. Münster: Lit.

  • Carroll, B. A., & Ahuvia, A. (2006). Some antecedents and outcomes of brand love. Marketing Letter, 17, 79-89.

  • Chaudhuri, A., & Ligas, M. (2006). The role of emotion and reason in brand attitude formation. AMA Winter Educators’ Conference Proceedings, 17, 195-201.

  • Christodoulides, G., Jevons, C., & Bonhomme, J. (2012) Memo to marketers: Quantitative evidence for change: How user-generated content really affects brands. Journal of Advertising Research, 52(1), 53-64.

  • Crowley, A. E., Spangenberg, E. R., & Hughes, K. R. (1992). Measuring the hedonic and utilitarian dimensions of attitudes toward product categories. Marketing Letters, 3(3), 239-249.

  • Dhar, R., & Wertenbroch, K. (2000) Consumer choice between hedonic and utilitarian goods. Journal of Marketing Research, 37(1), 60-71.

  • Engel J. F, Blackwell, R. D., & Miniard, P. W. (1993). Consumer behaviour. The Dryden Press, Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch College Publishers.

  • Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

  • Hirschman, E. C.. & Holbrook. M. B. (1982). Hedonic consumption: Emerging concepts, methods, and propositions. Journal of Marketing, 46(Summer), 92-101.

  • Holt, D. (1997). Poststructuralist lifestyle analysis: Conceptualizing the social patterning of consumption. Journal of Consumer Research 23 (March), 326-350.

  • Holt, D. (1998). Does cultural capital structure American consumption? Journal of Consumer Research, 25(June), 1-26.

  • Hur, W., Park, J., & Kim, M. (2011). The Role of commitment on the customer benefit-loyalty relationship in mobile service industry. Service Industries Journal. 30(14), 2293-2309.

  • Jevons, C., & Gabbott, M. (2000). Trust, brand equity and brand reality in internet business relationships: An interdisciplinary approach. Journal of Marketing Management, 16(6), 619-634.

  • Kassarjian, H. H. (1977). Content analysis in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 4(June), 8-18.

  • Keller, K. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1-22.

  • Kempf, D. S., & Laczniak, R. N. (2001). Advertising’s influence on subsequent product trial processing. Journal of Advertising, 30(3), 27-35.

  • Kolbe, R. H., & Burnett, M. S. (1991) Content-analysis research: An examination of applications with directives for improving research reliability and objectivity. Journal of Consumer Research, 18, 243-250.

  • Malhotra, A., Malhotra, C. K., & See, A. (2012). How to get your messages retweeted. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53(2), 61-66.

  • Micu, C., & Coulter, R. A. (2012). The impact of pre-trial advertising on post-trial product evaluations: Assessing the effects of attribute information for hedonic and utilitarian products. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 20(2), 189-202.

  • O’Curry, S., & Strahilevitz, M. (2001). Probability and mode of acquisition effects on choices between hedonic and utilitarian options. Marketing Letters, 12(1), 37-49.

  • Okada, E. M. (2005). Justifying the hedonic and the effects on fun versus practical consumption. Journal of Marketing Research, 42(1), 43-53.

  • Park, C. W., Jaworski, B. J., & MacInnis, D. J. (1986). Strategic brand concept-image management. Journal of Marketing, 50(October), 135-145.

  • Perreault, W. D., & Leigh, L. E. (1989). Reliability of nominal data based on qualitative judgments. Journal of Marketing Research, 26, 135-148.

  • Riegner, C. (2007). Word of mouth on the web: The impact of Web 2.0 on consumer purchase decisions. Journal of Advertising Research, 47(4), 436-447.

  • Shenkan, A. G., & Sichel, B. (2007). Marketing with user-generated content. McKinsey Quarterly, 4, 22-23.

  • Stewart, D. W., & Pavlou, P. A. (2002). From consumer response to active consumer: Measuring the effectiveness of interactive media. Journal Academy of Marketing Science, 30(4), 376-396

  • Voss, K. E., Spangenberg, E. R., & Grohmann, B. (2003). Measuring the hedonic and utilitarian dimensions of consumer attitude. Journal of Marketing Research, 40(August), 310-320.

  • Wright, A. A., & Lynch, J. G. (1995). Communication effects of advertising versus direct experience when both search and experience attributes are present. Journal of Consumer Research, 21(March), 708-718.

  • Yun, G., Park, S., & Ha, L. (2008). Influence of cultural dimensions on online interactive review feature implementations: A comparison of Korean and U.S. retail web sites. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 22(3), 40-50.


Abstract Views: 329

PDF Views: 2




  • What do Consumers Tweet about? The Role of Product Type and Brand Belief Type on User-Generated Content

Abstract Views: 329  |  PDF Views: 2

Authors

Camelia C. Micu
Fairfield University, United States
Tilottama Chowdhury
Quinnipiac University,, United States
Anca Micu
Sacred Heart University,, United States
Arjun Chaudhuri
Fairfield University, United States

Abstract


The present study examines brand-related user-generated content (UGC) by focusing on a specific social networking site, that is, Twitter. In two studies focusing on services (Study 1) and respectively goods (Study 2), we show, based on content analysis of tweets, that there are significant differences between utilitarian and hedonic products with regard to the type of brand beliefs included in the tweets. Specifically, for hedonic products, the discussion is dominated by experiential beliefs, whereas for utilitarian products, it is dominated by functional beliefs. Symbolic beliefs play an important role in UGC neither for utilitarian products, nor for hedonic products. The paper concludes with discussions, managerial implications, and directions for future research.


Keywords


Twitter, Utilitarian and Hedonic Products, Functional, Experiential, Symbolic Beliefs.

References