1. SOCIAL
CONSUMER
BONDING
WHITE PAPER

2. © 2011 BeyenMeyer. (downloaded at www.beyenmeyer.nl) 2
DOES SOCIAL
MEDIA AFFECT
YOUR BRAND
VALUE?
“The most successful marketer becomes part of the lives of their followers. They follow
back. They wish happy birthday. They grow their businesses and brands by involving
themselves in their own communities.” - Marsha Collier, speaker and business author -
Many organizations still struggle
with the determination and
justification of strategies and
objectives with regard to social
media. Demonstration of the
added value of the time and
money invested in the technology
remains a challenging assignment.
How can social media
effectively support marketing
communication activities? How
to use it purposefully? What
are the implications of adopting
social websites for brand equity
and consumer relations? How
to measure the success of
social media operations? Just
a handful of critical questions
often discouraging corporations
to consider its commercial
opportunities thoroughly.
BeyenMeyer recognizes this
knowledge deficit and decided to
co-operate with university in order
to conduct scientific research upon
this trending topic. The analyses as
well as its findings offer valuable
insights for those who are looking
for suitable recommendations
concerning their social media
deliberations and development…
Please continue reading and find
out what is in it for you in the
remainder of this white paper...

3. © 2011 BeyenMeyer. (downloaded at www.beyenmeyer.nl) 3
“You can be professional while also ‘keeping it real’ with your customers. By interacting with customers in a less
formal way, you’ll build a strong human connection that helps build brand loyalty.” - David Hauser, Entrepreneur -
MOTIVE
Social obligation
Nowadays, the ways in which
people and organizations become
acquainted, connect and interact is
heavily changing. Technology-based
developments exert a massive impact
on our communication landscape.
It has forced human beings as
well as businesses to hook on to
the current opportunities (1). The
foremost examples of communication-
technology changes are social
media. These interactive platforms
provide the online tools to converse
faster and more closely than ever
before.
Well-known social media websites
such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
and Hyves are said to offer incredible
business opportunities. No other tool
is more effective at putting a human
face on a firm than social media, and
no tool is less expensive (2). Keeping
up with the latest developments in
this jungle of eternal possibilities is
often argued to be the crucial key for
improving business performance. The
rise of social media and online video
is transforming the way marketers think
about online brand building. Two-way
pull media forms will rapidly become
more important and merge with one-
way push media. The new generation
has a different set of expectations
about the kind of content they will
get, where they will get it and who
they will get it from. They want to
control their media, instead of being
controlled by it.
Scientific research
Within many organizations, the
prerequisite for social media seems
to be organizational presence and
progressiveness, though there is
limited understanding of how this may
affect brand equity.
BeyenMeyer permanently searches
for legitimate awareness of the
effective applicability of social
technology. Hence, in cooperation
with the University of Groningen, a
master’s thesis research project was
initiated. Its most important goal was
to provide deep understanding of the
opportunities to enforce consumer-
brand relations. Professionals being
active in manifold industries might
very well have an interest in its
outcomes.

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RESEARCH INCENTIVE AND
OBJECTIVES
The importance of understanding the
opportunities to enforce consumer-
brand relations is in line with a series
of historical trends in marketing
management literature. Firstly,
customer relationships have become
more important than transactions.
Secondly, shifts from managerial
focus on customer attraction towards
customer retention. And thirdly,
products have become secondary to
satisfying customers (3).
In marketing communications theory
many studies can be found which
aim to describe the consequences
of a specific media type choice
on brand equity. For utilization of
print, broadcasting and the earliest
Internet media, research has gathered
significant understanding about the
implications on marketing concepts
such as brand attitude and brand
equity. Brand equity is often broadly
defined as the added value, which a
brand brings to a product (4). As the
literature describes, media specific
characteristics highly influence its
applicability for influencing brand
equity. For social media marketing
communication, however, the affects
on brand equity development lack in-
depth theoretical understanding. This
is mostly due to the relatively young
and emergent new media research
field. Therefore, it was decided
to investigate the effect of social
media marketing communications
employment on the strength of
consumer-brand relationships
empirically.
Study boundaries
The scope of this research encloses
the applicability of so-called marketer-
generated brand communities
(MGBCs) in social networking sites,
such as Facebook, Twitter and Hyves.
Within multiple industries in the
Netherlands the influence of social
media employment for marketing
communications on the strength of
consumer-brand relationships was
empirically researched. Brands
participating in this study belonged to
either one of the following prominent
industries; Telecommunications,
E-commerce, Consumer retail,
Theatre/culture and Holiday/travel.

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RESEARCH DESIGN
Based on a critical review of
theoretical concepts rendering
the strength of consumer-brand
relationships it was decided to
investigate the influence of social
media employment on the level of
brand attachment. Attachment theory
examines humans’ tendency to form,
maintain and dissolve affectionate ties
with particular others. In a marketing
context, brand attachment refers to
the strength of the bond connecting
the brand with the self. Prominent
scientists have proven that brand
attachment offers value over similar
concepts such as brand attitude (5).
Predicting, for example, consumer
intentions, actual purchase behaviour
and brand purchase share will be
more accurate based on brand
attachment measurements than
comparable brand equity indicators.
Strong brand attachments are
considered the pinnacle of brand
building and are the foundation of a
company’s brand equity (6) .
Brand utilities
Previous academic studies
investigated consumer motivations to
engage with brands through marketer-
generated brand communities in
social networking sites (7).
Four potential drivers of brand
attachment within a social media
marketing communications context
were derived from their findings.
These motivations are conceptualized
as interpersonal-, information-,
entertainment- and incentive- utility.
Interpersonal utility refers to the value
consumers receive from initiating
and developing social relationships
with peer brand users and brand
representatives. Information utility
defines consumer perceived value of
opportunities with regard to getting
and sharing brand-related information.
Entertainment utility encloses the
extent to which consumers perceive
the brand to be amusing and value
brand-related entertainment such as
games, downloads and contests.
Incentive utility represents consumer
perception of brand value with regard
to rewards and incentives. Increased
incentive utility arises, for example,
from larger possibilities to receive
brand-related discounts, promotions
and samples.
The research model displayed the
proposed positive relations between
an increase in the levels of these
brand utility concepts and brand
attachment.
“The most successful marketer becomes part of the lives of their followers. They follow back.
They wish happy birthday. They handle problems their customers have with products or service.
They grow their businesses and brands by involving themselves in their own communities.”
- Marsha Collier, speaker and business author -

6. © 2011 BeyenMeyer. (downloaded at www.beyenmeyer.nl) 6
CONSUMER SURVEY
In order to investigate if engaging
with brands over social media
influences the levels of the
aforementioned brand utilities and
brand attachment accordingly, a
quantitative empirical analysis was
conducted.
Three different consumer types,
participating in the research, were
defined. The first group referred
to consumers who are engaged
with a brand through a marketer-
generated brand community in a
social networking site. Put differently,
these consumers are connected to a
brand through ‘liking’ or ‘following’ a
brand via social media. The second
group consisted of consumers who
use social media but who are not
engaged with the brand through
any social website. The third group
represented those consumers who
are not (yet) using social media
technology.
Through an online consumer survey, a
large amount of data was gathered,
with regard to the different consumer
types. It included input concerning
various brands belonging to the
industries of interest.
Using SPSS statistics several tests were
conducted in order to measure the
utility scores for the different consumer
types as well as to examine the
hypothesized interrelations.
“New marketing is about the relationships, not the medium.” - Ben Grossman, oprichter van BiGMarK -
1: CONSUMERS WHO LIKE/FOLLOW THE BRAND VIA SOCIAL MEDIA
2: CONSUMERS WHO USE SOCIAL MEDIA BUT DO NOT LIKE/FOLLOW THE BRAND
3: CONSUMERS WHO DO NOT USE SOCIAL MEDIA
WCK

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RESEARCH FINDINGS AND
IMPLICATIONS
The results of this master thesis project
reveal interesting insights upon how
social media influences relationships
between consumers and brands. It
is among the first scientific studies to
provide conclusive evidence about
the effective applicability of social
media for marketing communications
purposes.
The findings are translated into
clear and practically useful
recommendations for brands
belonging to different branches.
It adds to a solid foundation for
advising professionals guessing the
added value of social media for their
organization. It shows very interesting
insights for those willing to build
and strengthen consumer relations.
Whatever your product or service,
the more you can build (personal)
connections between consumers and
the brand, the more invested your
customers will be and the longer
they will stay with you. Based on the
results of this project, social media
can definitely be worthwhile.
INTERNET
ADVERTISING
BRANDING
RESEARCH
PRODUCT
STRATEGY +
MARKETING

8. © 2011 BeyenMeyer. (downloaded at www.beyenmeyer.nl) 8
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you became interested in the
outcomes of this research project
or started wondering about the
opportunities it might offer you or
your organization, do not hesitate
to contact us without commitment.
BeyenMeyer gladly elaborates on
company specific consequences of
the research findings.
Besides this specific research project
BeyenMeyer has developed strong
competencies in online and social
media marketing through experience
in various projects.
BeyenMeyer gladly meets you in
person on location, to elaborate on
the research findings and to become
acquainted with the way in which
your organization deals with social
media. Based on instruments used
in the research project BeyenMeyer
can execute a quick-scan in order
to analyse current effectiveness of
social media operations and uncover
potential opportunities.
For getting in touch with BeyenMeyer
please use the contact details below.
BEYENMEYER
Robert Voogel
E: robert@beyenmeyer.nl
Peter Hoitinga
E: peter@beyenmeyer.nl
T: +31 (0)20 707 3225
Weteringschans 98
1017 XS Amsterdam
www.beyenmeyer.nl

9. © 2011 BeyenMeyer. (downloaded at www.beyenmeyer.nl) 9
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
During his internship at BeyenMeyer,
Tom Kelder accomplished this
research project. The thesis
assignment was the final part of
the Master’s degree programme
Small Business & Entrepreneurship
at the University of Groningen,
from which he recently graduated.
This thesis was awarded with an
excellent assessment (grade A), by
the University of Groningen, which
emphasized its theoretical as well as
managerial value.
ABOUT BEYENMEYER
BeyenMeyer is a creative advertising
company, situated in Amsterdam.
BeyenMeyer has been instigated
in 2005 and grew to a full-service
office, currently employing twenty
men and woman. BeyenMeyer is
often recognized for its remarkable
expressions. At all times, the
operations are result-driven.
Through research and experience
BeyenMeyer has developed itself
as a very competent and credible
partner within the online and social
media marketing communications
industry.

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REFERENCES
1. Users of the world, unite! The
challenges and opportunities of
Social Media. Kaplan, Andreas
M. and Haenlein, Micheal. 2010,
Business Horizons (53), pp. 59-68.
2. Building a brand on budget.
Ankeny, Jason. Entrepreneur. 2010
may, pp. 48-51.
3. A company’s current customers
provide the most reliale source of
future revenues and profits. Lemon,
Katherine M., Rust, Roland T. and
Zeithaml, Valeria A. 2001, Marketing
Management, pp. 20-25.
4. Conceptualizing, measuring
and managing customer-based
brand equity. Keller, K.L. Journal of
Marketing : s.n., 1993, Journal of
Marketing (57) 1, pp. 1-22.
5. Brand Attachment and Brand
Attitude Strength: Conceptual and
Empirical Differentiation of Two
Critical Brand Equity Drivers. Park,
C. Whan, et al. 2010, Journal of
Marketing (74), pp. 1-17.
6. The Role of Service Quality in
Influencing Brand Attachments at
Winery Visitor Centers. Thach,
Elizabeth Z. and Olsen, Janeen.
2006, Journal of Quality Assurance
in Hospitality & Tourism (7) 3, pp.
55-77.
7. An Explorative Study of Korean
Consumer Participation in Virtual
Brand Communities in Social
Network Sites. Sung, Yongyun, et al.
2010, Journal of Global Marketing
(23), pp. 430-445.
DEFINITIONS
Brand attachment - The strength of the
bond connecting the brand with the
self.
Brand-self connection -
The cognitive and emotional
connection between the brand and
the self.
Brand prominence - The extent to
which the brand is part of one’s
memory and to which it evokes
frequent and consistent thoughts and
feelings.
Marketing Communications -
Organizational messages or media
used to communicate with a market.
Marketer-Generated Brand
Community - Brand communities in
social networking sites which are
initiated and funded by marketers
in order to build relationships with
current and potential consumers
Brand equity - Customers’ subjective
and intangible assessment of the
brand, above and beyond its
objectively perceived value. Three key
drivers of brand equity are customer
brand awareness, customer brand
attitudes, and customer perception of
brand ethics.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported License.
© 2011 BeyenMeyer Amsterdam
The Netherlands