Relationships skew how consumers judge brands. Consumers form connections with brands in ways that mirror social relationships. How consumers evaluate a brand depends heavily on whether the brand adheres to—or violates—the implicit relationship agreement. The results of one experiment depended heavily on whether the consumer was in an exchange relationship with the brand—for example, a relationship based primarily on economic factors,  or in a communal relationship based on caring, trust, and partnership (State Farm, for example, sells itself as a “Good Neighbor.”) When the brand made a mistake, good treatment didn’t improve a negative evaluation by “transactional” consumers. But when these same consumers got what they paid for, respectful treatment raised their estimation of the brand — as though adding to the vale of the deal. The reverse held for consumers in a more social, or communal, relationship. Via Futurity.org 

Relationships skew how consumers judge brands. Consumers form connections with brands in ways that mirror social relationships. How consumers evaluate a brand depends heavily on whether the brand adheres to—or violates—the implicit relationship agreement.

The results of one experiment depended heavily on whether the consumer was in an exchange relationship with the brand—for example, a relationship based primarily on economic factors,  or in a communal relationship based on caring, trust, and partnership (State Farm, for example, sells itself as a “Good Neighbor.”) When the brand made a mistake, good treatment didn’t improve a negative evaluation by “transactional” consumers. But when these same consumers got what they paid for, respectful treatment raised their estimation of the brand — as though adding to the vale of the deal. The reverse held for consumers in a more social, or communal, relationship. Via Futurity.org 

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The mom effect. Apparently, women who follow brands on social media are more vocal and interactive when they become moms. Is this because they are grappling with a lot of buying criteria they never had to think about before? Safety and health issues predominate, I would guess. Carriers, car seats, furniture — all present significant new issues regarding form factors, ease of use, and of course value. This survey doesn’t say, but I’m guessing these are first-time moms. Who has time after the second… or third? via The Ripple Effect of Following a Brand on Social Media - eMarketer

The mom effect. Apparently, women who follow brands on social media are more vocal and interactive when they become moms. Is this because they are grappling with a lot of buying criteria they never had to think about before? Safety and health issues predominate, I would guess. Carriers, car seats, furniture — all present significant new issues regarding form factors, ease of use, and of course value. This survey doesn’t say, but I’m guessing these are first-time moms. Who has time after the second… or third? via The Ripple Effect of Following a Brand on Social Media - eMarketer

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Research: Millennials rarely interact with brands on Facebook

Research: Millennials rarely interact with brands on Facebook

Millennials rarely visit brand pages on Facebook even after they become their “fan.”

That’s what research by Marcia DiStaso, an assistant professor of public relations in the College of Communications at Penn State, Tina McCorkindale, an assistant professor of communications at Appalachian State University, and Hillary Fussell Sisco, an assistant professor of public relations in the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University found. The results of their work were presented during the International Public Relations Research Conference.

The three researchers surveyed 18- to 29-year-old participants on the three university campuses and found 86 percent of the millennials access Facebook every day and 75 percent have “liked” an organization.

However, while millennials might initially connect with an organization, 69 percent percent of respondents reported they rarely or never visit those pages again.

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“Humanizing brands is a popular topic, but people mean different things when they use this phrase, both in terms of what it means and why you should care. Brands get created in the customers’ minds based on interactions in the marketplace. These interactions could be a good or bad recommendation from a friend or colleague, an experience with the vendor’s customer service department, an encounter with one of the company’s ads, or an exchange with one of its salespeople.”

3 Ways Your Brand Can Be More Human | CMO.com

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Brands, Social Media and Analytics: It's All About Customers' Relationships With Each Other

Last year Douglas Rushkoff took on the conventional wisdom of brand marketers at the Pivot conference. Earlier this year we posted his talk and it caused a good bit of debate about the nature of so-called “brand conversations” in social media, and the future of branding itself. This is an important topic as social CRM solutions begin to proliferate. According to Gartner, 4/10 of the businesses it polled are planning to roll-out social CRM initiatives within the next five years.

A presentation by branding agency Face takes a different view and advocates a synthesis of data-driven social media analytics and qualitative methods such as ethnography to make branding relevant in the social media age. The presentation quotes Mark Earls saying “Consumers’ most valuable relationships are not with brands but with other consumers.”

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