User Generated Content and Brand Engagement: Exploring the role of electronic semiotics and symbolic interactionism on Instagram
Ozuem, Wilson and Naeem, Muhammad and Ranfagni, Silvia and Howell, Kerry E. (2025) User Generated Content and Brand Engagement: Exploring the role of electronic semiotics and symbolic interactionism on Instagram. Computers in human behavior, 168. ISSN 0747-5632
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This study investigates the complex interplay of semiotics and symbolic interactionism in shaping customer perceptions and buying behaviours on luxury fashion brands’ pages on Instagram. Existing research predominantly focuses on the quantitative aspects of social media influence, which leaves a research gap in understanding the qualitative nuances of these social interactions. This study addresses this gap by exploring how consumers interpret and attribute meanings to luxury fashion brands' symbols and signs, which are influenced by their social and cultural contexts. A total of 718 reviews were garnered from the Instagram pages of 10 eminent luxury fashion brands. Concurrently, 21 in-depth interviews were conducted with users engaged with luxury fashion brands on Instagram, which focused on semiotics and purchasing tendencies within the Instagram milieu. Grounded in symbolic interactionism theory and semiotic theory, the study identified six primary factors influencing consumer behaviour on Instagram: aesthetic excitation, symbolic discourse, emblematic valuation, digital resonance, semiotic faith, and semiotic compliance. Each factor represents specific ways consumers interpret and respond to brand messages. The research revealed that consumers' engagement with luxury fashion brands on Instagram extends beyond mere visual appeal to involve a dynamic, symbiotic process of meaning-making and interpretation. The study contributes novel insights into customer–brand interactions on Instagram and offers practical implications for fashion marketers. However, it is limited in its scope to Instagram and luxury fashion brands, which suggests that future research could explore other social media platforms and different brand categories.
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