My Brand, My Self(ie): Examining Consumers’ Motivations to Post Brand-Selfies
(A2021-92867)

AUTHORS

Anne Mareike Flaswinkel, Bielefeld University; Markus Rump, Bielefeld University; Reinhold Decker, Bielefeld University

ABSTRACT

By presenting themselves in self-portraits with brands, consumers can demonstrate their attachment to brands in social networks. Large numbers of images are shared online daily, and the ease of sharing and networking has increased the prominence of so-called brand- selfies. By revealing a lot about the consumer and because they increase electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) volume, brand-selfies can be a true marketing asset. Within two studies, data from online surveys were analyzed to identify motivations for engaging in selfie-marketing. Building on the uses-and-gratifications approach, as well as different literature streams, we investigated this new type of eWOM and discovered six gratifications for posting brand-selfies, namely coolness and belonging, information and opinion sharing, reward, documentation, entertainment, and brand identification. Among these, coolness and belonging turned out to be the gratification with the greatest influence on intention to post brand-selfies.

REFERENCES

We thank Florian Poppen and Jan Klostermann for their comments.