Credibility, audacity and joy: Brand personalities that connect users to social media

The main purpose of this article is to evaluate the influence brand personality has on customer loyalty in the context of social networks as brands. We conducted a survey of 268 social networks users in Brazil and analyzed data through Structural Equation Modeling. As a result, brand personality dimensions Credibility, Audacity and Joy were found to be predictors of loyalty, the main aspect governing customer relationship perception. Credibility is the main predictor of customer loyalty, shedding light on network trustworthiness, user privacy and personal information safety, while Audacity indicates the power of innovation, and Joy points out the relevance of social networks’ entertainment atmospheres. Together, these dimensions are strategic aspects to be considered in the development of relationships with users in the digital world. Our finding contributes to the body of knowledge interested in relationship marketing and its relation with strategy and sustainable competitive advantage. We also investigated social networks as brands, a topic of major impact in the development of a literature on the digital world. Lastly, the results serve as a source of information about social network user behavior, helping companies enhance their communication strategies and achieve customer loyalty.