As consumers take greater control over products and brands they consume, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and user-generated content (UGC) are now being considered as one of the most critical product sources for consumers. Most notable in recent years has been the widespread emergence of eWOM in social media. The proliferation of a variety of social networking sites (SNSs), propelled by the development of mobile technologies (e.g., smartphones), has allowed consumers to share, more quickly and easily than ever before, product information, reviews, and consumption experiences. Perhaps one of the newest and most effective ways to communicate brand information and experiences in digital environments is the ‘brand-selfie.’ Every day, millions of selfies (i.e., a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media) are taken and then posted on a variety of SNSs all over the world, providing people the opportunity to show multiple facets of the self (Bazarova et al., 2013). Further, there are consumers who voluntarily post selfies with brands/products they possess (so called brand-selfies) and brand-related hashtags (e.g., your #brand). Through brand-selfies, consumers not only express themselves by connecting with and extending through brands, but also influence peer consumers’ brand attitudes and purchase decisions by sharing brand information. In order to better understand how the selfie can succeed on SNSs as a new form of eWOM, in the present study, we attempt to identify key predictive variables that may lead consumers to post brand-selfies and engage eWOM in social media. We do so by comparing how such variables differ between those who post brand-selfies and those who do not. Specifically, this study examines whether brand-selfie-posting behavior is influenced by two individual difference factors (i.e., narcissism and materialism), and whether it is associated with consumers’ beliefs that SNSs are brand/product information sources. Using a survey administered by an online panel, a total of 305 participants who had had the experience of taking and posting selfies on SNSs participated. Discriminant analysis identified the characteristics of consumers who post brand-selfies, and those who do not. Findings suggest that narcissism, materialism, and belief that SNSs are a brand/productinformation source are significant factors in stimulating SNS users’ brand-selfie posting behaviors, and that they could be used to differentiate between brand-selfie posters and no-brand-selfie posters. Of these factors, consumers’ perceptions of SNSs as a source of brand/product information best predicted brand-selfie posting behaviors, followed by materialism and narcissism. Areas for future research are discussed.

• Yongjun Sung(Korea University, Republic of Korea)
• Jung-Ah Lee(Korea University, Republic of Korea)
• Sejung Marina Choi(Korea University, Republic of Korea)
• Eunice Kim(University of Florida, USA)