Consumer Engagement on Social Media

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82 importance of social media as a source of information. However, information shared on social media and information shared on the website is believed to be different in nature which is why it is communicated on different channels. Accordingly, Thaddeus’ starting point of his information search “[…] depends on the information I'm looking for”. Information on the website is described as more generic and with long-term validity. Hence, 9 out of 12 explicitly confirm that they would visit the corporate website if they are looking for a specific piece of information. David reasons this with the structured overview of information on the website, “[…] whereas it's a super tricky way to have the right information in the right way presented on social media”. Information on Instagram is perceived as wrapped in visuals and aesthetics and is thus less clear to detect right away. Consequently, social media is consulted for inspiration and brand discovery purposes when there is no clear focus on which specific information is desired. However, social media is also used for explicit information when the topic is considered as a recent event or short-term issue. Independent of the question asked by the interviewer, 5 out of 12 consumers mention the current Coronavirus crisis and that social media accounts are their first choice when looking for information on how specific brands handle the governmental regulation or other restrictions. For gym chains, 10 out of 12 consumers would consult the website in order to gather information on different memberships, price lists and location. This is because information on the corporate website is generally perceived as more credible than information on social media. Sandra summarizes this notion with: “[…] I feel like that's the more reliable source for this kind of information”.

Nevertheless, 10 out of 12 consumers are consulting social media networks for other information on gym chains apart from information on prices, opening hours and location. For instance, social media serves as a source of inspiration and motivation on fitness and thus represents a mean to create an emotional bond between the consumer and the brand, which a corporate website is not able to.

5.2.3. Parasocial Interaction

As brands are perceived as more approachable on social media compared to corporate websites, 10 of 12 consumers admit perceiving some brands as persons on social media or to at least associate personality traits with them. This happens partly for founders of small companies or startups, where consumers like Annika would “[…] attach that person to the place itself” through its social media presence. For David, a successful corporate Instagram account “[…] feels more like a person telling the story”. However, four consumers point out that perceiving a brand as a person is more difficult for bigger companies, because

83 the branding strategy behind the social media presence is often clearer than the authentic display of personality traits. The collaborations between companies and influencers on social media are evaluated differently among the consumers. According to Ellen, influencers are the main reason why social media pages are “[…] more human interactive than the website”. Per contra, collaborations with influencers lead to inauthenticity of a brand’s personality for David, who argues that it is obvious “[…] they have to have a certain amount of stories and say things a certain amount of times”. Here, particularly fitness brands and their collaborations with fitness influencers are addressed. Next to their general performance on social media, the brand’s visible interaction with other customers on social media has a high impact on the brand’s overall evaluation for 11 out of 12 consumers. Accordingly, being observers of positive interactions or good customer services improves the brand image and overall evaluation, whereas it is perceived as “[…] basically the biggest mistake they can ever make”, when the brand neglects other customers on social media according to Csanád.

5.2.4. Credibility

In the following, the consumers are asked to evaluate what supports a brand’s authenticity and thus credibility on social media. 11 out of 12 consumers affirm the statement that social media in general helps to make a brand more authentic as it increases its transparency. Yet, a brand’s social media presence can deteriorate its credibility when the shared content is not perceived as real. Thus, Lea would rather prefer a company that is open about its “[…] company goals and what it stands for [over] a company that is not mentioning anything of it on social media”. Consumer can easily detect the company’s intention behind a certain type of post, especially as marketing students as Csanád points out. However, as long as these cases of obviously polished branding initiatives are limited, he opinions that “[…] it might not be the most credible thing, but at the same time, you know, this is what they have to do”.

Interestingly, Sandra connects a gym chain’s credibility on Instagram with the type of customers that the brand depicts with their posts. As a result, the entire brand’s credibility is questioned if a gym chain features “[…] only top models that look so amazing” the entire brand’s credibility is questioned. In contrast, showcasing “[…] women or men that look more natural, like actual people” has a high positive impact on a gym chain’s authenticity and thus overall credibility.

84 5.2.5. Social Identity and Community Identification

As the last of Tsai and Men’s (2013) antecedents of consumer engagement on social media, consumers were asked whether they have a feeling of belonging towards an online community that forms their social identity. Although all 12 consumers are aware of online communities on social media, only 2 out of 12 participants describe themselves as an active, long-term member of a community. One of them is Apolline, who follows all content with the hashtag “sustainability”, and hence experiences a lot of exposure of related content which feels like she is “[…] interacting indirectly with everyone who posts something with this hashtag”. The second consumer who finds self-identification in an online community is Ellen, who opinions that most of the influencers she follows “[…] share one mindset”, as they all have the same zodiac sign as her. Both active or inactive members of online communities reason their commitment with their personal interests, as Apolline is interested in any kind of sustainability initiatives and Ellen is interested in the relation between zodiac signs and emotions. However, neither of them states to belong to a fitness community. Apolline explains that her lack of intrinsic passion for fitness is the reason for her not being part of such online community. This is aligned with Charles, who feels the sense of a community during his offline experiences at the gym although he is not part of it. As a result, he imagines that the community feeling he observed offline “[…] translates online” and is thus also present on social media.

5.2.6. Extended Self

The fitness movement on Instagram is perceived as positive because of its motivational influence by 8 out of 12 consumers. All 12 consumers are daily exposed to fitness related content that can be derived from the healthy and fit lifestyle promoted on social media. Consumers state that this exposure has a direct effect on their daily lives, as Csanád points out that […] since this trend started, I noticed that adapting healthy decisions into my life on a daily basis got way easier”. This is mainly because influencers on social media constantly share fitness related information which gives the consumers new knowledge and motivation without search efforts. The consumers know of the advantages of the social media fitness trend for gym chains but also acknowledge their obvious manner of commercializing it.

Andreas thus clearly differentiates real motivation and commercialized posts, since, “it's [the fitness related posts] not because they want to motivate people or help people”. This statement emphasizes a general mistrust in gym chains and whether they have genuine motivational purposes behind their social

85 media presence or only focus on client acquisition and increasing their reach. In contrast to the overall positive attitude of the fitness lifestyle for themselves, 5 out of 12 consumers explicitly mention the dangers of this lifestyle on younger people, as they might be more easily influenced by false recommendations. Since all consumers grew through their adolescence with the increasing importance of social media, it is likely that these warnings are based on own experiences of an age where the consumers were conscious about their weight and physique and impacted by unhealthy body standards which were promoted over social media channels.

12 out of 12 consumers affirm that they have several people in their social networks who often try to present themselves as healthy and fit on Instagram. Consequently, the living out of one’s own personality on social media is influenced by fitness content and a seemingly fit and healthy network every day. This is especially important as “[…] friends have a big influence on my life when it comes to sports”, as Csanád points out. Ellen goes further and declares, since several female friends transitioned into the social media fitness community as active members, that she thinks she “[…] might transition as well at some point”. Despite the positive acknowledgement of friends presenting themselves as fit and active, Charles opinions that it can be perceived as bragging.

Most interestingly, 7 out of 12 consumers state they are sharing content on social media that presents them as especially healthy and fit, but only 4 out of 7 consumers admit that this is done intentionally.

For Thaddeus, this is done because “[…] it connects to my own personal goals, to my routine” and thus has a self-motivating purpose. However, 3 out of 7 consumers explain that they are sharing content of them working out or cooking healthy from time to time, but do not have the intention to present themselves as especially fit on social media. Rather, it is about sharing information on one’s day and hobbies which can include trying out healthy recipes, for instance.

5.2.7. Congruity Theory

The value of “true health” has been mentioned by 5 out of 12 consumers as particularly important regarding their fitness motivation. Here, the term includes not only increasing knowledge about nutrition and mental health, but also knowing of different body types and to work out in a healthy but sustainable way. Therefore, this value changes the essence at fitness’ core, as it is “[…] more about the core of being

86 healthy than being fit”, according to David. This change is necessary because the consumers perceive a lot fitness related content to focus on muscle building, neglecting the individuality of each body and thus its possible achievements. Individuality is linked to inclusiveness, which is mentioned as the most important fitness related value of Sandra. For her, it is important that people of every health and fitness level feel welcome at the gym, since “[…] everyone should have a right to follow this goal of being healthy”. As a result, 7 out of 12 consumers affirm that it would have a major positive impact on their interest if gym chains and fitness influencers would represent their most important fitness values on social media. Nevertheless, it is mentioned that values communicated by gym chains on social media must be consistent with the offline experience in the studios. Otherwise, a lack of consistency between the diverging touchpoint experiences depicts a threat to the authenticity of the gym chain.

The ideal self-image is an important parameter especially in the context of fitness and working out. 11 out of 12 consumers state that they are working towards a specific fitness and body goal of theirs. Further, 9 out of these 11 consumers add that they are either feeling supported by their gym in reaching that goal or that they are following fitness influencers on Instagram because they are supporting them in reaching that goal. Additionally, fitness influencers are often followed because their lifestyle involves features that the consumers’ ideal selves would like to obtain as well. For Lea, it is especially supporting to see other people who have accomplished a body transformation by losing old habits and overweight. She contrasts this to a general fitness influencer, “[…] who was like thin from the beginning on and just got some muscles”. Often, the ideal self-image of consumers is not only linked to their physical appearance but is based on their firm belief that when they are able to achieve their physical goals, they are able to reach other life goals as well. For Thaddeus, achieving a fitness goal has thus more advantages, as he uses the discipline which has been acquired through fitness for pursuing other goals.

It becomes evident that 11 out of 12 consumers have specific ideal images of themselves in their minds, but that they want to be supported to reach these ideals by people who already possess the desired features. However, if the person representing the consumer’s ideal self is perceived out of reach by the consumer, the motivational effect turns into frustration. Consequently, the ideal self-images depicted by gym chains must be in realistic reach, especially regarding fitness goals. This is summarized by Hannah, who states that “[…] if you feel like you could reach that picture, then I think it's positive. But if you're

87 never going to reach it, no matter how much you work out anyways - I think it's not very helpful to promote it to people”.