Branding and image are usually something that those with something to sell are obsessed with. If you’re marketing a product or service or even just touting your celebrity to gain traction, new opportunities, and lucrative endorsement contracts it is a given, you have to create a brand. So, why are so many consumers also obsessed with this idea of branding, of creating a personal brand, even when they have nothing to sell. Indeed, it is usually the opposite, they are following the marketers and the salespeople with a view to buying.
Writing in the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, a team from Germany has considered the notion of “My brand. My selfie”
Anne Mareike Flaswinkel, Markus Rump, and Reinhold Decker of the Department of Business Administration and Economics at Bielefeld University discuss how consumers often take brand-selfies. Photos of themselves with a brand for which they have a liking in close proximity, adorning their bodies, or otherwise prominently on display in the image. Given the modern wont for sharing anything and everything with all and sundry via the ubiquitous world of social media, brand-selfies and opinions can spread quickly. Indeed, it is this kind of activity that underpins something “going viral”. Moreover, some consumers even position themselves as brand ambassadors and influencers with a view to gaining benefits associated with a given brand.
The team has carried out a cross-sectional study to identify brand identification as a strong predictor of consumer intention to portray themselves with a brand in a brand-selfie. They suggest that feelings of belonging and reward have a significant impact on such posts. The team has found a distinction between consumer motivations for posting brand-selfies and general selfies. They conclude that this kind of free marketing and advertising, for that is essentially what it is, has implications for marketers looking to incorporate selfie marketing into their marketing strategy.
“In an age when smartphones are an integral part of our daily lives, consumers are more reliant on information technology than ever before,” the team writes. “Every day, an increasing number of people use social media and move around in the digital world. For many of us, the idea of life without technology is unfathomable.” They add that their work could pave the way to a deeper understanding of the complexity of consumer motivations and offer suggestions on how marketers can benefit from brand-selfies and indeed encourage loyal consumers to increase their loyalty and activity in this context.
“Selfies [and brand-selfies] are a cultural phenomenon and a prevalent component of social media, and it remains relevant to understand why consumers display themselves with brands in such personal images,” the team concludes.
Flaswinkel, A.M., Rump, M. and Decker, R. (2023) ‘My brand, my self(ie) – why consumers portray themselves in brand-selfies’, Int. J. Internet Marketing and Advertising, Vol. 18, Nos. 2/3, pp.310–334.