Social media has become the forefront of digital communications; something which is understandable given that 67% of all internet users are using social media (Hudson et al, 2015). However, despite social media’s heavy use as a marketing tool, it is unclear whether social media influences emotions and attachments to brands, and whether social media based relationships lead to the desired outcomes, such as positive word of mouth (WOM). This aim of this piece is to investigate whether social media does influence the above, by using the article written by Hudson et al (2015) who’s research relates it to the music tourism industry, and music festivals in particular.

Music Tourism

Music tourism is big business in the UK; generating around $2 billion in spending and provides the equivalent of 19,700 full time jobs.  In 2013 there were 800+ music festivals in 57 countries and that figure is always growing. One of the most important channels for music festivals is social media. Most festivals use social media as a prime delivery channel from the organisers to attendees, due to the volume and different types of information that can be provided through social media.

But a more interesting point is how music festivals are using social media whilst the event is actually happening. For example Bonnaroo festival in the US used radio frequency identification (RFID) to create an interactive experience throughout the festival, and that reached 1.5 million impressions over the 3 day festival. Furthermore, by using geo-location based applications, Foursquare in particular, attendees were able to be given a unique festival experience simply by sharing the location of their tent. The most recent application of social media usage at a festival has been with Coachella in the last couple of weeks. This year, through Snapchat, they were able to livestream the event using attendees’ Snapchat’s. This allowed for the viewing around the globe to not only see the music acts, but also the vast number of activities that are going on throughout the site. By combining the positive festival experience and proactive social media usage, music festival brands could potentially build long-term relationships with music fans.

Social Media

“Through social media, marketers can gain rich, unmediated consumer insights, faster than ever before, and can foster loyalty through networking” (Hudson et al, 2015).

This quote can be backed up further by research undertaken by comScore which found that when people hear about a product or service from a friend on Facebook they 15% more likely to become a customer than through other means. Tie this in with the fact that Facebook reaches 90% of the American population and 85% of the European population the potential of this channel is immense; and that is just for one social network. Throw in the likes of Instagram and Twitter, with 150 million and 200 million users respectively, the pool of potential customers becomes even greater.

With a clearly defined social strategy, brands will be able to take full advantage of social media; and when it has been suggested that a positive experience from direct brand engagement on social media will lead to repeat purchases and recommendations, it should be an important part of every firm’s marketing activities.

Emotion

Emotion has a key part to play in terms of a brand’s marketing communications, as emotion has a large influence on human behaviour not just reason. Using social media to appeal to people’s emotions, ahead of reason, could lead to to more engagement and thus increased revenue. This is particularly important in the music tourism. The die hard music fans that wait around for hours outside their favourite band’s hotel to get a 30 second glimpse is not motivated by reason, it is motivated by emotion. The emotion that music can provide people from all walks of life is powerful, and being able to encapsulate this emotion into social media activity will most certainly help to drive these music festival brands’ growth.

Research in the UK of 2000 consumers aimed to explore their emotional relationship with brands. Brands which scored most highly were technology brands, such as Google and Sony, alongside brands with heritage and longevity (Heinz, Kellogs and M&S). Again this can be related to how the products make people feel. Some people often feel lost when they leave the house without their phone, as if a piece of them is missing, and with Heinz the idea of comfort food, in particular baked beans, is something that people can become emotionally attached to.

Brand Relationship Quality

Consumers project their own personalities on to brands when describing them. Customers who projects their self onto brands display a stronger attachment with that brands. Furthermore, brand relationship quality has been described as being a key indicator of the strength and depth of the person-brand relationship.

From social media interactions with a brand, consumers will draw conclusions about the characteristics of a brand and establish a relationship. When such a strong relationship is established, consumers will often look on that brand as irreplaceable and an inseparable part of their lives – something which can be clearly seen with brands such as Apple.

Conclusion

It can be said online communications and social media has made marketing efforts that influence consumers to spread positive WOM and recommend brands they choose can be as important as building awareness and driving purchases. This is further backed up by research that suggests that consumers respond much more positively to content shared through social media than they do to paid placements such as advertising.

Interacting with the brand using social media had a direct effect on emotional attachment to the festival, and emotional attachment has a direct effect of WOM. This supports recent contentions that social media interaction can lead to high levels of emotional engagement, and that the emotional responses triggered by marketing communications, play a dominant role in explaining behavioural outcomes.

The worldwide growth of music tourism as a niche market will ensure that music festivals will flourish, in particular as the key generating markets of Europe and the US continue to improve.

So to remain competitive in this marketplace, marketers will have to aggressively pursue social media marketing strategies in order to increase and maintain loyalty amongst fans.

Hudson, S., Roth, MS., Madden, TJ., & Hudson, R. (2015) The effects of social media on emotions, brand relationship quality, and word of mouth: an empirical study of music festival attendees, Journal of Tourism Management. Vol.45, pp.68-76.