Outcomes for self-expressive brands followed on social media: Identifying different paths for inner self-expressive and social self-expressive brands
研究了消费者在社交媒体上追随品牌时，品牌的内在自我表达（真实自我）和社会自我表达（他人眼中的我）如何通过在线品牌参与和品牌信任，影响消费者共创价值的意愿和支付溢价的意愿。
Brands provide a means for consumers to present the self, expressing their inner selves (the ‘real me’), or their social selves (how others see me). With the rise in social media use, academics and practitioners seek to understand how consumers’ self-expression through following brands online leads to brand outcomes. This study investigates the inner and social self-expressiveness of brands as separate antecedents of two outcomes: intention to co-create value and willingness to pay a premium price. Insights from 332 followers of brands on social media reveal that the inner and social self-expressiveness of brands drive these outcomes differently, as online brand engagement and brand trust mediate the relationship between self-expressive brands and brand outcomes, but only when the brand has an ability to express the inner self. The findings have implications for the study of self-expressive brands and their influence on brand outcomes.