Research On The Persuasion Effectiveness Of User-generated Brand Content On Weibo

Until September 2017,the MAU of Weibo has reached 376 million,which make it becoming one of the most representative social media platforms in China.People often create brand related content on Weibo.According to the statistics of Weibo,people can generate 1.41 million blogs about cosmetics per day.Those contents related to brand/product can be called as user-generated brand content,and it has become a tool which develops rapidly for expressing opinion about brand,building brand connotation and achieving co-creation of brand meaning.At the same time,suffered from advertising overload symptoms,traditional advertising isn't as effective as before.Under such circumstances,brands have realized the great value of user-generated brand contents.On Weibo,opinion leaders often create brand/product related contents according to the needs of brand.However,there are few studies which explore how the identity and purpose of creator influence consumers.Based on research gap,this study explores the effectiveness of persuasion about user-generated brand content on Weibo.People who create user-generated brand content on Weibo are different in identity and motivation.Based on these differences,this study divides user-generated brand content into three categories: brand related contents created by normal users,brand related contents created by opinion leaders without economic motivations,and brand related contents created by opinion leaders with economic motivations.On the perspective of trust and engagement,this study uses questionnaire survey on 372 Weibo users to explores the impact of different identity and motivation of creator on the persuasion effectiveness of user-generated brand content.This study also compares the persuasion effectiveness of different kinds of user-generated brand content with brand-generated content.The results show that:(1)the identity and motivation of creator has a significant impact on the persuasion effectiveness of user-generated brand content;(2)within user-generated brand content and brand-generated content,brand related contents created by opinion leaders without economic motivations can get best persuasion effectiveness,which followed by brand-generated content and content created by normal users,and the persuasion effectiveness of brand related contents created by opinion leaders with economic motivations is worst.User-generated brand content provides opportunities for the mental association of consumer and brand,and it also leads to the co-creation and personalization of brand significance and the common ownership of brands.Research on the persuasion effectiveness of user-generated can help brand a lot in having better understanding of consumers and building brand value.