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Our aim was to discover common relationship norms in Facebook communication between a brand and its fans, and to understand how these norms influence consumers' perceived irritation with brand messages. A semantic network analysis revealed that 7 out of 8 brands operated according to exchange relationship norms in communicating with their fans, whereas 1 brand operated according to communal relationship norms. We subsequently examined the effect of trait reactance and communication styles on the perceived level of irritation caused by branded messages received on Facebook with a sample of Korean college students (N = 161 participants). Results showed that those high in trait reactance perceived the exchange communication as more irritating than did those low in trait reactance. There was no difference between high and low reactance individuals in their perceived irritation with communal communication. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed and suggestions for future research provided.
Keywords: Facebook, social media marketing, consumer-brand relationship, brand communication, trait reactance, consumer irritation.
With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies, many social media websites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) have emerged. According to the 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 86% of marketers consider social media as one of the most critical tools for successful businesses. Among various social media websites currently available on the Internet, Facebook has almost half of marketers' votes (49%) for the most important social medium (Stelzner, 2013), and it is utilized by each of the Advertising Age Top 100 Advertisers for their brand marketing purposes (Lipsman, Mudd, Rich, & Bruich, 2012). More specifically, these marketers and advertisers focus on a particular part of the website called "brand fan pages," which are used and maintained for the purpose of connecting and building relationships with their customers.
The effects of brand fan pages can be measured in terms of social media impressions, or units of branded content (Lipsman et al., 2012). In the context of advertising media, an impression is a measure of how often an advertisement is viewed. In the traditional mass media model, advertisers pay the media for advertising impressions to deliver their branded products or services to the consumers. This paid advertising impression option is also available in social media in the form of sponsored stories and running advertisements (Lipsman et al.,...