Brand Selfies: Consumer Experiences and Marketplace Conversations

Event Date: 15 March 2017

Speaker: Dr Natalia Maehle

Time:  2pm

Location: Strathclyde Business School, Cathedral Wing CW507b. Tea, coffee and cakes will be provided from 1.30pm.

Please confirm your attendance with Christina MacLean (christina.maclean@strath.ac.uk).

Biography: Dr Natalia Maehle is an Associate Professor at the Mohn Centre for Innovation and Regional Development, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (Bergen, Norway). She has a PhD in Marketing from the Norwegian School of Economics. Natalia’s research interests include innovation, brand management, consumer behavior and social media. Recent work has focused on a range of marketing and innovation topics, including eco-food consumption and development of firms’ innovation capability. Natalia has been involved in a number of large research projects founded by the Research Council of Norway. She is a regular presenter at international conferences and has widely published in international journals including Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Journal of Marketing Communications and International Journal of Market Research.

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand selfie phenomenon on two different levels. On the level of consumer brand experiences, the focus is on how brand selfie practices add new features to brand experiences and consumer–brand relationships. On the level of marketplace brand image, the authors explore how consumers contribute to marketplace conversations by posting brand selfies in social media and how this practice shapes and changes brand image.

Design/methodology/approach – The researchers conducted an extensive search on different social media platforms to collect various types of brand selfies. The authors approach brand selfies as rich visual texts and their analysis comprises four key steps: descriptive analysis, response analysis, formal analysis and polytextual thematic analysis.

Findings – On the level of consumer brand experiences, the findings illuminate how different types of brand selfies extend the brand experience in space and time and transfer it into the hybrid space of the consumer-defined social networks. On the level of marketplace brand image, it is illustrated how brand selfies contribute to the process of co-creating brand meaning in the social media.

Originality/value – The study proposes a typology of brand selfie assemblages showing how consumers contribute to the visual production and consumption of brand meanings. The brand selfie is a unique material and expressive reality enabling us to theorise new perspectives on how consumers consume brands and how aggregates of brand selfie production and dissemination affect marketplace dynamics.

Published: 20 March 2018