Athwal, N.K., Istanbulluoglu, D. and McCormack, S. (2019) The allure of luxury brands’ social media activities: a uses and gratifications perspective. Information Technology & People, 32 (3). pp. 603-626. ISSN 0959-3845
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the social media marketing activities of luxury brands, guided by uses and gratifications theory (UGT). It examines the gratifications sought by millennials, a new core luxury consumer group, and the gratifications obtained when following and connecting with luxury brands.
Design/methodology/approach Online data are gathered from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts of five top luxury brands. In addition, 30 in-depth interviews with millennials, the new generation of luxury consumers, were conducted. Thematic analysis strategy was followed to analyze the data and present the findings.
Findings Luxury brands remain distant and aloof, which helps them to maintain a sense of exclusivity. User activity, ranging from observations to commenting on and liking luxury brand content, leads to the gratification of two types of need: affective and cognitive. Two affective needs that are satisfied by luxury brands’ social media marketing activities are aesthetic appreciation and entertainment. Cognitive needs are satisfied through the functional use of social media as an information source.
Originality/value Several studies have investigated social media from the perspective of UGT, but this study is the first to investigate the implications of luxury brands’ social media usage with the lenses of UGT.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 Emerald Publishing Limited. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Information Technology and People. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Qualitative method; Social media; Consumer behaviour; E-marketing |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Management School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 26 Oct 2018 13:09 |
Last Modified: | 25 Apr 2024 11:07 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Emerald |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1108/ITP-01-2018-0017 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:137831 |
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