Social media influencers (SMIs) and lifestyle magazines must achieve identification of their audiences with them in order to retain them in the long run. A literature review has shown that identification encourages regular consumption and word of mouth (WOM). Therefore, the focal phenomenon of my thesis is identification with media brands and its reinforcement. To explain the strength of identification, I rely on the self-congruity theory. Based on the latter two antecedents of identification with media brands are proposed – the congruity of media brand image with actual and ideal image of their audience and authenticity. In the empirical part, I examine the influence of proposed antecedents on identification and its role on the regular consumption and WOM for both media brands. Even though the results of quantitative research show that identification with both is extremely low, its strength highly depends on self-congruity and authenticity. However, the importance of the factors of identification with the two media brands differs. In the case of SMIs, it is influenced by the ideal and actual self-image congruity, as well as by authenticity. In the case of lifestyle magazines, it is mainly influenced by the actual self-image congruity. Contrary to SMIs, the influence of authenticity is weak, while the ideal self-congruity has no influence on identification. Identification has a significant impact on of the positive WOM and regular consumption.
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