Summary Marketing Communication
Understanding and Knowledge
assignment part D
All book chapters and articles
Master track Persuasive Communication
Course Marketing Communication
Year 2020-2021
Ivo Martens
, Ivo Martens
Inhoud
Muntinga, Moorman & Smit, 2011 ......................................................................................................... 3
Eigenraam et al., 2018 ............................................................................................................................. 9
Van Noort et al., 2012 ........................................................................................................................... 11
Van Noort & Willemsen, 2012............................................................................................................... 21
Henning-Thurau et al., 2015 .................................................................................................................. 25
Boerman & van reijmersdal, 2020......................................................................................................... 29
Boerman, Kruikemeier & Borgesius, 2017 ............................................................................................ 34
Zarouali et al., 2017 ............................................................................................................................... 38
2
Uva, Persuasive Communication, Marketing Communication
, Ivo Martens
Week 12
Muntinga, Moorman & Smit, 2011
Introducing COBRAs – Exploring Motivations for Brand-related Social Media Use
What does it research?
Consumers’ motivations for brand-related use of social media
Which method does it uses?
Literature review & Instant messaging based interviews
What is the main conclusion?
See table 1 and 2
Introduction
Depending more and more on each other than on companies for information, consumers are
becoming increasingly influential with respect to the brand they are interacting about. Moreover,
their interactions with and about brands have a much stronger impact on consumer behavior than
traditional forms of marketing and advertising.
COBRA -> Consumer’ online related activities
We use this COBRA concept as a behavioral construct that provides a unifying framework to think
about consumer activity pertaining to brand-related content on social media platforms. Under its
sign, a wide range of consumer-to-consumer and consumer-to-brand behaviors are clustered. As
such, it conjoins concepts that describe idiosyncratic online behavioral phenomena.
Moreover, the COBRA concept also encompasses early typologies of consumer behavior in
computer-mediated environments. The COBRA concept allows us to collectively investigate and
compare behaviours that were previously investigated only separately.
The aim of our study was to provide a first,
comprehensive understanding of consumers’
motivations for brand-related use of social media.
We first present our COBRAs typology. We then
move on to the results of instant messaging (IM)
based interviews we carried out in order to
classify COBRA motivations.
A COBRA typology
COBRAs were categorised into three dimension
that correspond to a path of gradual involvement
with brand-related content on social media,
namely consuming, contributing and creating.
These dimension form the basic units of analysis
in our study.
3
Uva, Persuasive Communication, Marketing Communication
, Ivo Martens
Consuming brand-related content
The consumer COBRA type represents a minimum level of online brand-related activeness. It denotes
participating without actively contributing to or creating content.
Contributing to brand-related content
The contributing COBRA type is the middle level of online brand-related activeness. It denotes both
user-to-content and user-to-user interactions about brands.
Creating brand-related content
The creating COBRA type represents the ultimate level of online brand-related activeness. It denotes
actively producing and publishing the brand-related content that other consumer and contribute to.
Uses, gratifications and motivations
In our endeavour to understand the appeal of COBRAs for consumers, we took a user-centric
functionalist perspective on social media: uses and gratification (U&G). The U&G approach to
communication research examines media effects form the viewpoint of the individual user. UG& has
been employed to examine how and why people use media.
U&G research usually speak of motivations when describing why people consumer certain media and
what satisfactions they eventually receive thereof.
Widely recognised as the key driving forces behind behaviour, motivations here are understood as
gratifications sought: if media behavior is a means to attain a goal, then motivation is the activation
of that goal-directed behaviour.
Social media use motivations
U&G is particularly appropriate for examining people’s use of new types of media and content.
Today, the most cited and widely recognised U&G categorisation is that of McQuail et al (1972), who
distinguish four gratification categories; diversion, personal relationship, personal identify, and
surveillance. Mcquail’s 1983 is an updated version that takes precedent literature into account.
Although the category labels have undergone slight changes no great changes have been made to
content: entertainment, integration and social interaction, personal identify and information. These
motivations usually cover several second-order motivations. Entertainment, for instance, covers
motivations such as enjoyment and relaxation. These are called sub-motivations.
Mcqual’s four-category classification of motivations for general media use has been found relevant
and applicable to modern-day media use, including the internet. They are discussed below, together
with two extra motivations that emerged from general social media motivations literature and that
do not correspond with any of the entertainment, integration and social interaction, personal
identify or information motivations; Remuneration and empowerment.
Entertainment
The entertainment motivation covers several media gratifications that are related to escaping or
being diverted form problems or routine; emotional release or relief; relaxation; cultural or aesthetic
enjoyment; passing time; and sexual arousal.
Integration and social interaction
The integration and social interaction motivation covers various media gratifications that are related
to other people. Example of sub-motivations are gaining a sense of belonging; connecting with
friends, family and society; seeking support/emotional support; and substituting real-life
companionship.
4
Uva, Persuasive Communication, Marketing Communication
Understanding and Knowledge
assignment part D
All book chapters and articles
Master track Persuasive Communication
Course Marketing Communication
Year 2020-2021
Ivo Martens
, Ivo Martens
Inhoud
Muntinga, Moorman & Smit, 2011 ......................................................................................................... 3
Eigenraam et al., 2018 ............................................................................................................................. 9
Van Noort et al., 2012 ........................................................................................................................... 11
Van Noort & Willemsen, 2012............................................................................................................... 21
Henning-Thurau et al., 2015 .................................................................................................................. 25
Boerman & van reijmersdal, 2020......................................................................................................... 29
Boerman, Kruikemeier & Borgesius, 2017 ............................................................................................ 34
Zarouali et al., 2017 ............................................................................................................................... 38
2
Uva, Persuasive Communication, Marketing Communication
, Ivo Martens
Week 12
Muntinga, Moorman & Smit, 2011
Introducing COBRAs – Exploring Motivations for Brand-related Social Media Use
What does it research?
Consumers’ motivations for brand-related use of social media
Which method does it uses?
Literature review & Instant messaging based interviews
What is the main conclusion?
See table 1 and 2
Introduction
Depending more and more on each other than on companies for information, consumers are
becoming increasingly influential with respect to the brand they are interacting about. Moreover,
their interactions with and about brands have a much stronger impact on consumer behavior than
traditional forms of marketing and advertising.
COBRA -> Consumer’ online related activities
We use this COBRA concept as a behavioral construct that provides a unifying framework to think
about consumer activity pertaining to brand-related content on social media platforms. Under its
sign, a wide range of consumer-to-consumer and consumer-to-brand behaviors are clustered. As
such, it conjoins concepts that describe idiosyncratic online behavioral phenomena.
Moreover, the COBRA concept also encompasses early typologies of consumer behavior in
computer-mediated environments. The COBRA concept allows us to collectively investigate and
compare behaviours that were previously investigated only separately.
The aim of our study was to provide a first,
comprehensive understanding of consumers’
motivations for brand-related use of social media.
We first present our COBRAs typology. We then
move on to the results of instant messaging (IM)
based interviews we carried out in order to
classify COBRA motivations.
A COBRA typology
COBRAs were categorised into three dimension
that correspond to a path of gradual involvement
with brand-related content on social media,
namely consuming, contributing and creating.
These dimension form the basic units of analysis
in our study.
3
Uva, Persuasive Communication, Marketing Communication
, Ivo Martens
Consuming brand-related content
The consumer COBRA type represents a minimum level of online brand-related activeness. It denotes
participating without actively contributing to or creating content.
Contributing to brand-related content
The contributing COBRA type is the middle level of online brand-related activeness. It denotes both
user-to-content and user-to-user interactions about brands.
Creating brand-related content
The creating COBRA type represents the ultimate level of online brand-related activeness. It denotes
actively producing and publishing the brand-related content that other consumer and contribute to.
Uses, gratifications and motivations
In our endeavour to understand the appeal of COBRAs for consumers, we took a user-centric
functionalist perspective on social media: uses and gratification (U&G). The U&G approach to
communication research examines media effects form the viewpoint of the individual user. UG& has
been employed to examine how and why people use media.
U&G research usually speak of motivations when describing why people consumer certain media and
what satisfactions they eventually receive thereof.
Widely recognised as the key driving forces behind behaviour, motivations here are understood as
gratifications sought: if media behavior is a means to attain a goal, then motivation is the activation
of that goal-directed behaviour.
Social media use motivations
U&G is particularly appropriate for examining people’s use of new types of media and content.
Today, the most cited and widely recognised U&G categorisation is that of McQuail et al (1972), who
distinguish four gratification categories; diversion, personal relationship, personal identify, and
surveillance. Mcquail’s 1983 is an updated version that takes precedent literature into account.
Although the category labels have undergone slight changes no great changes have been made to
content: entertainment, integration and social interaction, personal identify and information. These
motivations usually cover several second-order motivations. Entertainment, for instance, covers
motivations such as enjoyment and relaxation. These are called sub-motivations.
Mcqual’s four-category classification of motivations for general media use has been found relevant
and applicable to modern-day media use, including the internet. They are discussed below, together
with two extra motivations that emerged from general social media motivations literature and that
do not correspond with any of the entertainment, integration and social interaction, personal
identify or information motivations; Remuneration and empowerment.
Entertainment
The entertainment motivation covers several media gratifications that are related to escaping or
being diverted form problems or routine; emotional release or relief; relaxation; cultural or aesthetic
enjoyment; passing time; and sexual arousal.
Integration and social interaction
The integration and social interaction motivation covers various media gratifications that are related
to other people. Example of sub-motivations are gaining a sense of belonging; connecting with
friends, family and society; seeking support/emotional support; and substituting real-life
companionship.
4
Uva, Persuasive Communication, Marketing Communication
