Outdoor sports brands’ strategies for building Instagram brand community

Over 56% of the world’s population now live with social media (“Digital in 2019,” n.d.). Most direct-to-consumer brands are now using social media as a market tool to communicate with consumers, and the outdoor industry is no exception. Instagram, as the second most popular social networking medium globally, is a popular place to share photos and videos within the online brand community. Most outdoor brands maintain Instagram accounts as a part of their online brand community to interact with followers. This research examines 957 Instagram posts from three leading outdoor sports brands, namely, Arc’teryx, Patagonia, and Salomon via content analysis. The purpose of this study is to investigate post orientations and sports types across the three target brands, and gain insights into their Instagram practices by examining visual elements, textual attributes, and technical factors. Results suggest that outdoor brands with different followers took diverse strategies to build either a transactional or relationship Instagram brand community. Findings from this study offer important implications for researchers as well as practitioners in the domain of social media brand management.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Advertising

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2020

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Jennifer Shiyue

Contributors dc:contributor

• Su, Leona Yi-Fan

• Online Brand Community
• Engagement
• Outdoor Sports Brands
• Instagram
• Content Analysis

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2020 Jennifer Shiyue Zhang

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/108485

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/108485