Korean consumer perspectives on social media advertising and intention to join brand pages

Abstract

This study examines the exogenous factors that affect South Korean consumers' intentions to join brand pages. The findings suggest that utilitarian and hedonic values of social media advertising enhance users' positive attitudes toward social media advertising, but attitudes toward social media are not related to intention to join brand pages. However, utilitarian value is directly related to intention to join brand pages. Affiliation construct has a positive effect on social influence, which is a significant predictor of consumers' intentions to join brand pages. Also, social influence is a stronger indicator than utilitarian value as an exogenous variable of intention to join brand pages. The conceptual framework of this study provides a theoretical basis for explaining Korean consumers' intentions to become fans of brand pages. This is a new research domain in brand communication that offers a new direction for Asian consumer research.