Brand Engagement in Self-Concept in the Relationship between Love, Loyalty and Brand Advocacy (Case Study: Instagram Social Media Users)

Abstract

Today, it is very important to have loyal customers and even fans of a brand that, even at the time of crisis, support the brand and improve the brand image in the minds of other people. Due to the increasing number of social media users who are the potential customers of businesses, and as Instagram is one of the most popular and widely used social networks for businesses, especially in Iran, the present research has investigated the brand engagement in the self-concept of Instagram social media users of beauty service brands. Based on the visual capabilities of Instagram, this industry is one of the fast growing and popular industry on Instagram network.This applied research is a descriptive survey. The statistical population of the study consisted of Instagram social media users amongwhich 280 people were selected using non-probability convenience sampling method. Data analysis performed by structural equation modeling. The results showed that the development of brand engagement in customers' self-concept creates brand support for business owners and leads to the loyalty of that brand. Therefore, it is recommended that business owners develop their brands, especially in the context of widely used and influential social networks such as Instagram, according to the internal and psychological characteristics of consumers, so that they can benefit from the financial and non-financial benefits of these networks.