Jacinta Gibson

Social Media, Communities and Networks

Key words: brand influence, emotional contagion, social networks, online customer service, brand communication.

Abstract

In recent history, social media has become a popular communication channel for wine brands. Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram allow wine producers to create content at a fraction of the production cost of traditional media-based content. That said, the investment of time needed to appropriately interact with consumers is much greater than the creation and approval of a traditional print advertisement. The return on social media investment is often a topic of debate, with many believing traditional media channels are still the most influential channels for consumer influence. In this paper, I plan to review some of the potential benefits for wine brands engaging in social network activity, to understand the influence their activity has amongst those whom can already be considered customers and those whom could be potential future customers.

Peer to peer recommendation is a key purchasing influencer within the wine market, so it is vital for wine brands to understand how online networks influence the dynamic of peer to peer recommendations. I will first review the impact Web 2.0 social platforms have had on today’s marketing mix, and this impact this has had on brand content and communication. Following this I will outline the convincing points found in literature that has studied emotional contagion in both physical and virtual environments, before concluding with opinion that wine brands can in fact influence emotional contagion among consumer groups on social networks.

Conceptual Background

The rise of social media networks has developed a new dynamic in marketing; applications such as Facebook and Instagram are now considered one of the more prevalent channels through which consumers can engage with brands in a dynamic, ubiquitous and often real-time way (Carvalho and Fernandes, 2018). Social media as defined by Kaplan and Haenlein (2010, p61) can be considered the “group of internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and it allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content”.  Social internet applications like Facebook have amplified the user-generated content participation rates amongst consumers as well as encouraged direct communication between brand and customers regardless of their physical location differences. This in turn has seen a lot of wine brands build online communities via their social media networks.

The dual content creation phenomenon of social media networks has changed the dynamic of the brand and consumer relationship and although various studies have reviewed the positive implications of brand communities, there has not been a lot of research done in the field of brand expression; the consideration of how the tone and emotion in which a brand expresses itself may or may not influence the behaviour of its online community.

Recent estimates suggest 1.4 billion people actively use Facebook daily, whilst Instagram has close to 800 million users (Statista, 2018). A consumer survey conducted by the Nielsen Company in 2012 found that approximately 1.2 billion people use the Facebook platform to follow brands with their main motivations being the desire to learn more about the brand or hear of othe people’s experiences with brands (Maecker et al 2016). Therefore, social network communities are now considered part of a brand’s audience commodity, viewed in the same light as those consumers whom read print media or watch television, that said; the distinct differences between the audience commodity on social networks at that of those consuming traditional mass media is the ability for user-generated content, direct brand to consumer personalised communication, community-building, and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) (Murugesan 2010).

The Nielsen Group’s 2012 survey also found that of the 28,000 consumer participants, 92% reported trusting word of mouth from friends and family, whilst 70% reported trusting online consumer reviews (Dijkmans et al 2015). These statistics demonstrate the value consumers put on peer to peer recommendations. It also highlights the fact that the majority of online users are willing to trust the opinion of a stranger that has taken the time to review a service or a brand, meaning their network of potential influencers increase well beyond those whom they personally know or are within their current social networks.

The prior point is critically important for wine brands as wine is a subjective consumer good, that is to say; it is often up to the individual’s taste preferences as to whether or not the product is enjoyable. It is also an experiential based product, closely linked to the experience consumers have when visiting wine regions and tasting the product in the producer’s cellar door. Therefore, once customers have purchased a bottle of wine or visited the cellar door, there is an opportunity to share their consumption experience via reviews, likes, rates and comments in a multitude of online applications including; social networks, retailer website and blogs to name a few. Regardless of the experience expressed, this post-purchase involvement helps others within their community to validate their opinions regarding specific wines. In this regard, social media engagement is acting as a platform to express eWOM and influence peer group opinions (Maecker et al 2016). Peer to peer recommendation is a key purchasing influencer within the wine market, so it is vital for wine brands to understand how online networks influence the dynamic of peer to peer recommendations.

Literature Review

Emotional contagion is a well-established field of study that acknowledges peer to peer emotional states can be transferred to one another, leading people to experience the same emotions as others in their network without their awareness (Kramer et al 2014). “Data from large real-world social networks collected over a 20 year period suggests that longer-lasting moods (e.g. depression and happiness) can be transferred through networks.” (Kramer etc al 2014 p. 1) Some commentators challenge the theory of emotional contagion due to the correlational nature of the study environment. They have concern that contextual variables or failure to account for the participants’ shared experiences, like emotional states after face to face social interactions, are not accurately reflected in the experimental results (Kramer et al 2014). To summarise in simplicity the findings of most studies, evidence suggests that both positive and negative moods correlate in networks that share personal interactions both verbal and non-verbal.

Far fewer studies have investigated emotional contagion via online social networks; however there have been three noteworthy, large sample size experiments conducted in recent years which have found some compelling evidence (Kramer et al 2014). The most noteworthy experiment was done in 2014 by Kramer, Guillory and Hancock, reviewing Facebook, the largest online social network in the world. They wanted to demonstrated the degree to which people (N= 689,003) that were exposed to manipulated emotional vocabularies in their news feed started to change their own posting behaviours, in particular whether exposure to emotional content led to people posting content that was consistent to that which they were exposed to (Kramer et al 2014). The outcomes of the research demonstrated three key findings that affirm the presence of emotional contagion through social networks:

The first significant finding was that emotional contagion does occur via text-based computer facilitated communication. This is significant for brands because it means that text written by marketing teams has the ability to impact emotional contagion, a human being in the flesh is not required for such effect.

The second substantial finding was that psychological and physiological qualities via contagion have been suggested, based on correlational data form social networks. This second finding needs to be considered by content marketeers as the tone and imagery used to create brand content is now demonstrated to have emotional implications for their audience. It also means that regular user generated content could have the ability to influence psychological and physiological change in the posters’ social network.  Also linked to this point and found to be the third critical finding was that; people’s emotional expression via posting online predicts their friend’s emotional expressions, with some of these behaviours still being articulated days later.

An interesting point from the Kramer study for wine brands to consider is that the manipulated news feed content was not directed towards any single individual, therefore, it could not just be the result of some specific interaction with a happy or sad friend but rather a result of the general tone of the samples’ news feed (Kramer et al 2014).

Whilst the results of the Kramer study are very compelling due to the sample size and conclusive findings, other research conducted (Chou & Edge 2012; Haferkamp & Kramer 2011; Saugioglou & Greitemeyer 2014) suggests positive posts by others have negative effects on mood due to envy and the feeling that others have a better life. A study conducted by Dian de Vries et al (2017) focused specifically on Instagram and found that whilst the viewing of strangers’ positive posts did have some degree of negative effect on the participants of the study, there was also a noteworthy link between their reaction to strangers’ posts and that individual’s tendency to participate in social comparison orientation regularly regardless of the environment. The study also found that individuals who do not tend to compare themselves to others had positive emotional responses to viewing strangers’ positive content (de Vries et al 2017). Whilst these results do not provide a definitive answer to the impact of either positive or negative emotional effect, they do support the theory that individuals do adopt emotions expressed by others and support the theory that emotional contagion can occurs through viewing others’ social media posts.

Social media platforms now play a substantial role in the communication channel mix for wine brands. Facebook and Instagram allow wine producers to create content at a fraction of the production cost of traditional media based content, however; the investment of time needed to appropriately interact with consumers is much greater.  These communities require continuous monitoring and engagement to ensure brands meet the expectation of their customers who choose to engage with them in the social media context. Online brand communities have a different dynamic to online friendship communities, although there is little literature available to clearly differentiate the two. De Valck et al (2009 p.185) defines online brand communities as “a specialised, non-geographical bound, online community, based on social communications and relationships among a brand’s consumers.”

Consumer engagement or the degree to which an audience engages with a brand’s content is often central to the discussion surrounding these online brand communities (Brodie et al 2013). These terms refer to a participants’ interactions or interactive experiences with the brand via its’ online communities and are considered to be value creating. As Brodie explains, “consumer engagement is seen both as a strategic imperative for establishing and sustaining a competitive advantage, and as a valuable predictor of future business performance.” (p105) The quality of engagement can also be reviewed by analysis the cognitive and behaviour aspects of consumers. Wine brands can analyse to what extent consumers are aware of, interested in and participate in particular brands’ activities. Within the virtual brand community environment, consumers’ become active participants in an interactive process of multiple feedback loops as well as provide almost immediate communication directly to the brand owner or amongst their other online networks (Roderick et al 2013). A study completed in 2015 by Dijkmans, Beukeboom and Kerkhof found “that engagement in company’s social media activities positively related to corporate reputation, especially among non-consumers.” (p64) Significantly, it was found that some of this reputation building was the result of emotional contagion. A survey conducted by Insites Consulting in 2012 found that 55% of participants were connected to brands via their social networks with the majority of eWOM content being positive commentary and less than 10% negative (InSites Consulting 2012). Insites Consulting also found that 8/10 consumers that were driven to interact with a particular brand did so as they wanted to co-create with the company they admired. Brodie et al (2013) also found this to be a key consumer motivator along with 7 other specific situations that motivate consumers to make contributions: (1) venting negative feelings, (2) concern for other consumers, (3) self-enhancement, (4) advice seeking, (5) social benefits, (6) economic benefits (cost saving), (7) platform assistance (8) helping the company (making co-contribution to better the offering). Gwinner et al 2004 also found similar motivators, stating that:

“our review of the literature has led us to suggest 11 distinct motivations consumers may have in engaging in eWOM communication on Web-based opinion platforms: concerns for other consumers, desire to help the company, social benefits received, exertion of power over companies, post purchase advice seeking, self-enhancement, economic rewards, convenience, seeking redress, hope that the platform operator will serve as a moderator, expression of positive emotion, and venting of negative feelings.” (p 44)

Often content posted by a brand will have a positive tone of voice and encourage a positive consumer response. In contrast to this, often content that is initially posted by consumers can be negatively directed towards a brand due a bad customer experience. In the Dijkmans et al 2015 study the results indicated that the net effect is actually positive regardless of the initial emotion if the company responds to the consumer’s complaint via the social network. Dijkmans work found that prompt customer service responses that solved problems, regardless of the initial complaint, helped to strengthen the perception of the brand more so than no activity at all. This result correlates with other studies (Van Noort and Willemsen 2011) that also found responding to customer complaints on social media help other potential customer evaluate the brands’ credibility.

Literature Findings

The literature read unanimously concludes that emotional contagion via virtual social communities does exist, yet the influence of these emotions (either positive or negative) is still a topic of much debate. Despite this, wine brands should be vigilant towards online networks as content relating to their brand will be posted regardless of the brand’s online presence; and whilst the content may or may not have positive intent, there is a window of opportunity for a wine brand to engage with the customers and influence the tone of voice that is present within the online community.

Customer service management is paramount when it comes to building positive emotion behind a brand as regardless of the brands’ page interactions or the ability to proactively resolve questions and concerns, the fact customers have chosen to engage in “real” dialogue with the brand helps to lower the customers inhibition threshold to contact the company via other channels, strengthening the engagement opportunity outside of the virtual realm (Maecker et al 2016). In addition to this, the post purchase behaviour of consumers online helps other potential customers to validate their opinions  (Maecker et al 2016) in this regard, social media interactions become a great tool for improving a wine brands’ reputation via word of mouth, which prospective customers receive product information from trusted sources in their social network.

It is evident that building dual content via online networks should be encouraged by marketing teams in order to achieve greater consumer engagement. Achieving high levels of consumer engagement is desirable for wine brands as it enhances the brand’s reputation, increases customer loyalty and influences future purchase decisions of current customers and potential customers (Dijkmans et al 2015).

The literature indicates that the time invested in social media interaction amongst online brand communities does indeed strengthen a brand’s credibility, reduces the risk of churn, builds reputation amongst potential customers and in turn, generates more profitable consumer relationships. It also indicates that there is opportunity for wine brands to influence emotional contagion amongst consumer groups on Facebook, but the literature and research to date does not support this for Instagram. The effect of emotional contagion on the Instagram platform requires additional research before brands can make truly informed decisions around investment of marketing resources.

 

References

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Carvalho, Ameliz. & Fernandes, Teresa. (2018) Understanding customer brand engagement with virtual social communities: a comprehensive model of drivers, outcomes and moderators, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 26: 1-2, 23-37.

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De Vries, D.,  Möller, A., Wieringa, M., Eigenraam, A. & Hamelink, K. (2018) Social Comparison as the theft of joy: emotion consequences of viewing strangers’ instagram posts,  Media Psychology, 21:2, 222-245.

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Kramer, A., Guillory, J. and Hancock, J.  (2014) Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks, Journal of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, 111 (24): 8788-8790.

Maecker, O.,  Barrot, C. & Becker, J. (2016) The effect of social media interactions on customer relationship management, Journal of Business Research 9: 133-155.

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