The aim of the paper is to present an analytical approach that combines netnography with text-mining to build consumer brand knowledge in terms of brand associations deriving from social media contents. More specifically, it is based on the multi-vocal nature (Gensler et al., 2013) of the brand related to the participatory, collaborative and socially-linked behaviors by consumers that serve as creators of brand stories thus determining brand associations. It identifies and explores user-generated contents (UGC) as expression of brand associations emerging from different categories of actors in social media (consumers, influencers and other online prescribers), and measures their alignment with the company-defined brand associations. The rise of social media and the associated possibilities of large-scale consumer-to-consumer interaction and easy user generation of content shed light on the importance of the consumer-generated brand stories through social media, which have a high impact due to their characteristics of being digital, visible, ubiquitous, available in real-time, and dynamic (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010). Methodologically, the paper proposes a two-pronged methodological approach integrating qualitative market research techniques with the quantitative ones, respectively netnography, used to explore consumer interactions in virtual communities through computer-mediated discourses, and text mining, used to extrapolate information from relatively large amounts of electronically stored textual data by means of computer applications. More specifically, the paper proposes an analysis of the 10 top luxury fashion brands in terms of brand associations emerging from UGC in social media through the voices of consumers, bloggers and other online prescribers, in line with the multi-vocal nature of the brand. Such associations are then compared to those generated by the company, in order to identify a possible alignment. The paper provides an analytical tool that allow managers to actively understand how different “online market brand players” interact with their brands, and eventually redefine their branding strategies together with their brand communication.

This paper aims to monitor brand image of two important fashion cities on social media (Instagram). Through a content analysis of pictures and texts authors attempt to identify the main associations that various actors have of London and Florence, both traditionally strictly related to the fashion system. As recent literature has argued for brands or products, even for places and cities (Gilboa et al. 2015), it is important to monitor the perceived city brand image resulting from the overall online experience (Choi et al. 2007), especially on social media. Indeed, it is demonstrated that word of mouth on social media is able to strongly affect users’ perceptions (Gretzel, Yuan, and Fosenmaier, 2000), thus contributing at the construction of the city brand image. This paper is one of the first one that applies content analysis on Instagram in city/place branding, where the core of communication is based on images. Therefore, differently from previous studies (Andéhn et al. 2014; De Moya and Jain, 2013), this work principally focuses on visual communication, as form of textual paralanguage communication (Luangrath, Peck, and Barger, 2016), for the construction of city image of London and Florence.

Sports Sponsorship is considered to be one of the most effective tools in marketing. However, in order to assess the effectiveness of sponsoring activities in customer’s mind, science and business practice often refer to explicit measures such as self-reports or focus interviews. Such aligned conventional measurement approach is missing mental processes which run without awareness, so-called implicit processes, taking place and activity hidden in the unconscious mind. Against that background, the goal of the current work is to shed further light on the impact of athlete sponsorship on dual processes underlying customer’s associations toward a brand.

This study uses the moderating model to explore the relationships between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) associations, brand awareness and consumer purchase intention. Besides investigating the direct effects of CSR associations on brand awareness and consumer purchase intention, this study also focuses on discovering the moderating role of CSR associations on the relationship between brand awareness and consumer purchase intention among Vietnamese students. Adapting scales from previous research, the authors distribute questionnaires to consumers across the country. Then, the validity and reliability are tested via Cronbach’s alpha, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Moreover, by employing a meta-analytical path analysis with a sample of 686 consumers, the authors show that CSR associations play an important role in shaping purchase intention among Vietnamese consumers regarding the consumption of organic milk products. Also, CSR associations have a strong effect on brand awareness. However, our study shows that purchase intention is not directly affected by brand awareness. In other words, brand awareness does not mediate the relationship between CSR associations and purchase intention. Interestingly, authors show that CSR associations moderate the link between brand awareness and consumer purchase intention. Based on the research, some recommendations are made to companies that produce organic milk products.