Effects of Brand Experiences on Rapport, Reuse Intention, and Word of Mouth Intention in SNS Brand Context

Purpose: Under the premise that ‘consumers make decisions by combining cognitive, sensory, emotional, behavioral, and relational characteristics’, the purpose of this study is to reveal the mechanisms that can form an intimate and harmonious human bond in the SNS brand context. In addition, this study tried to investigate whether this mechanism can improve marketing performance in SNS context where interpersonal interaction is limited. To this end, the influence of brand experience on rapport, reuse intention, and word of mouth intention in SNS context was investigated, focusing on the rapport theory, which is considered to be a mechanism for forming bonds in human interaction studies. Research design, data, and methodology: In order to achieve the research purpose, a hypothesis and a research model were developed by reviewing previous studies. The survey was conducted using questionnaires by selecting 332 respondents using South Korea’s Big 3 SNSs (Naver Band, Instagram, Kakao Story) in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Jeju by a convenient sampling method. The collected data were analyzed using AMOS, a structural equation model analysis technique. Results: The empirical results are summarized as follows. First, SNS brand experiences showed multidimensional characteristics divided into sense, emotion, cognition, relationship, and behavior. Second, consumers’ cognitive and relational SNS brand experiences had a positive (+) effect on consumers’ perceived pleasant interactions, and consumers’ cognitive, relational, and behavioral SNS brand experiences had a positive (+) effect on consumers’ perceived personal connection. Third, the perceived personal bond of consumers had a positive (+) effect on SNS reuse intention. Fourth, consumers’ personal connection and SNS reuse intention had a positive (+) effect on word of mouth intention. Conclusions: This suggests that rapport, which is regarded as a bond formation mechanism in human interaction studies, can be formed even in non-face-to-face SNS brand context. This suggests that marketing managers should focus on cognitive, relational, and behavioral experiences in order to form consumer rapport and improve marketing performance in SNS brand context.