My Brand and I – Facebook Brand Pages and Self-Completion

Companies engage in various brand activities in Social Media, e.g. establishing Facebook brand Pages. Concurrently, many Facebook users actively link themselves to one or more brands. But why do people link themselves to brand Pages and how does this contribute to the brand’s success? Self-completion theory may explain processes such as linking oneself to brand Pages as identity formation and self-verification. Using the method of Cognitive Mapping, we visualise the self as a constituent of the cognitive map of the brand and the brand as a constituent of the cognitive map of the self. A three-sample online survey (N = 327) regarding an exemplary brand from the hair cosmetics sector was conducted. Consistent with hypotheses, for those respondents linked to the brand on Facebook, the self was closer to the core of the brand’s map, and the brand was closer to the core of the self’s map. Accordingly, the majority of Facebook users linked to brand Pages are “true fans”, who make the brand’s Facebook activities be worthwhile.