User-generated images and its impact on consumer-based brand equity and on purchase intention

Researchers and brand managers have limited knowledge of the effects that different types of user-generated content (UGC) have on consumers’ perception of brands and behavior. In this study we investigated 301 authors of a specific category of UGC, i.e., user-generated images (UGI) on a social networking site to confirm the relationships of four drivers reported in literature (co-creation, empowerment, community, and self-concept) to the consumers involvement with UGI, and consequently how it impacts consumer-based brand equity and purchase intention. When analyzing the data, we applied the structural equation modeling technique with Mplus software. The results of the empirical study showed that from the four drivers, only the perception of community influenced the consumers’ involvement with the creation of brand-related images. Subsequently, the consumers’ involvement with UGI directly affected both brand equity and brand purchase intention.