Social media use by Dutch supermarket chains: a digital marketing analysis on brand loyalty

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Social media use by Dutch supermarket chains

A digital marketing analysis on brand loyalty

Thomas Dijkman

11026057

August 21

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_{, 2018}

Supervisor: Dick Heinhuis

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_{Examiner: Tom van Engers}

Bachelor thesis Information Science

Faculty of Science

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ABSTRACT

Social media have grown from being entertaining communication platforms into powerful business tools for marketing, promotion and customer service. Consequently, businesses have had to make changes in their marketing strategies to take advantage of the opportunities created by this new social ecosystem. Brand loyalty, which is one of the main goals of marketing efforts, is influenced by social media through different factors like trust and feelings of community. This thesis assesses the efforts made by Dutch supermarket chains on social media to test the effect of social media on their perceived brand loyalty. The factors that stimulate brand loyalty that were found in an extensive literature review were challenged through field research to test their effect on Dutch supermarket brands. The findings of this research show that there is no significant effect of social media efforts on brand loyalty in the case of Dutch supermarket chains. On the contrary, present research confirms that there are unexplored opportunities for Dutch supermarket chains to use social media to increase brand loyalty. From these findings, a general discussion and conclusion are offered, as well as directions for further research.

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INTRODUCTION

In recent years, social media have grown from being entertaining communication platforms into powerful business tools for marketing, promotion and customer service. This disruptive change in the marketing field has brought a new aspect to brand image, brand-customer relationships and brand loyalty. Businesses have had to make changes in their policies and strategies to not only survive this new disruptive trend, but also to leverage its opportunities. Social media have opened up new ways of communication with and between consumers, of a kind which was never before apparent (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Data gathering from these platforms has created opportunities for customized and personalized advertising which is beneficial for both seller and buyer. The seller has a higher chance of successfully reaching the target audience thanks to data categorization, while the consumer is faced with less irrelevant advertisements and therefore gets more value from the ads they are shown. Social media also generate free promotion by shares and likes, also known as ‘electronic word-of-mouth’ (eWOM). According to Blackshaw and Nazzaro (2004, p.3), “web-enabled word-of-mouth behavior … now includes the ability to post and send photos, video clips, audio clips and instant text messages”. Users of platforms like Facebook spread the word without you asking them by sharing your message, picture, video or blog with their friends. This concept is supported by social proof, where we assume that something our friends promote or like is also something we would like ourselves, with possible effects of free distribution of your content. The idea of social proof through word-of-mouth distribution has been known for longer in traditional marketing, but in the case of eWOM, a new dimension or layer should be added. All in all, the rise of social media has created a new ecosystem for marketeers and businesses which is yet to be fully explored and taken advantage of.

Het Grote Content Marketing Onderzoek 2017 [The Big Contentmarketing Research 2017] shows that many marketeers and their businesses are struggling to deal with this new social environment. For example, half of the organizations in this research outsourced their content marketing. Also, only half of the organizations were working on community management, which involves fostering the network around the organization or the brand. Both of these findings show the lack of efficiency in business-use social media, resulting in brands not achieving the aspired brand image creation at adequate levels. The research also shows that many businesses are struggling with the engagement rates of their content and how to measure the effect of their efforts (Nederlands Platform Content, 2017), which has resulted in a critical point of view from the business world on the low return-of-investments (ROI) of their online efforts. A paper by Hanna, Rohm and Crittenden (2011) also explained that businesses are treating each platform as a separate entity, where social media should be seen as a connected ecosystem.

According to marketing agency ANCHOVY (2017), social media should be just as important in marketing strategies as traditional tools such as search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing. This because, on top of general ‘findability’ online, it is important to create an identity that differentiates your company from competitors, a good impression also helps build consumer trust. In this statement, transparency and social media presence are highlighted as key factors towards getting a consumer’s attention and building trust. Edelman (2010) concludes that large proportions of marketing budgets are being spent on the ‘consider’ and ‘buy’ stages of the consumer’s ‘purchase-cycle’, whilst the ‘evaluation’ and ‘after-purchase’ stages showed to allow for more

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influence by social media marketing. Therefore, the efforts of marketeers should focus on the entire cycle, more so than we are used to in traditional marketing like TV advertising which mainly focusses on the persuasion of consumers. Marketing nowadays should be seen as a creative field where marketeers make efforts to capture consumers by getting their attention through advertising, enhancing experiences in stores and fostering online relationships on social media both for promotional use as well as customer support.

1.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

A study by Tont (2014) has analyzed high-street fashion brands Zara, H&M and River Island on how they have been using social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, to develop customer relationships between the brand and its customers. Hudson and Thal acknowledge the impact of social media on consumer decision processes in their 2013 study and highlight the implications for this change on the tourism industry. Knox and Walker (2001) researched the grocery business on ‘offline’ brand loyalty giving guidelines as to how to manage brand loyalty. Although the research by Tont and Hudson and Thal are examples of much needed research in the social media marketing field, little to no research on the combination of social media and brand loyalty has been done in the grocery industry. Therefore, this thesis will focus on the effects of social media use in marketing strategies for Dutch supermarket chains. The ultimate goal of this research is to shine a light on the relationship between a retailer’s social media efforts and the level of brand loyalty their customers express. The results of this study will either acknowledge that heavy emphasis on social media marketing is useful for Dutch supermarket chains, or that this industry is not significantly impacted by social media marketing.

This thesis will begin by elaborating on the concept of brand loyalty, alongside an analysis of research on social media and the current supermarket industry in the Netherlands. To frame the concept of brand loyalty, antecedents of brand loyalty will be extracted from previous research. These factors will then be used to formulate hypotheses followed by research on the relationship between brand loyalty and social media. The presented factors which influence and foster brand loyalty both online and offline will be tested with the goal of framing the effect of social media efforts on brand loyalty in the case of Dutch supermarket chains. Finally, the hypotheses will be tested, which will lead to conclusions and implications.

1.2 RELEVANCE

1.2.1 Academic relevance

This thesis will extend previous research on social media marketing by focusing on a different industry which has not yet been evaluated extensively on this aspect but is utmost important for the Dutch economy. The grocery industry differs from markets like fashion and tourism due to its high level of substitutability, consumers can buy most of their groceries in any of the market players’ stores. The different supermarkets offer a lot of similar products which makes it hard to differentiate from the competition on the product side. Although there are differences in the price and quality of products between the different stores, many basic goods are comparable. Consumers don’t mind buying their cereal from store A or store B if prices are comparable, unlike tourism where few hotels will be offered at the same price on different

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websites. This thesis will also contribute towards the general research on social media and brand loyalty, bringing new and updated perspectives on these concepts to academics.

1.2.2 Managerial relevance

The findings of this research will support more effective and natural implementation of social media by Dutch supermarket chains. If a relationship is found between social media use and brand loyalty, this thesis will be of value to supermarket chains by providing facts about their industry and the effects of their social media efforts. Otherwise, if the two are not related, supermarket chains will have proof to redirect their marketing strategies elsewhere or to revise their social media strategy.

It is important to study this industry because of the stable growth and size of the market. Ever since the last economic crisis in the Netherlands that ended in 2009, the supermarket industry has shown growth in number of stores and sales (Distrifood, 2018). Since then, supermarkets have seen increased consumer trust in the Dutch economy which for them reflected in increased sales. These sales increases are acknowledged in the Retail Fabulous 40 list put together annually by Capitalmind, listing the 40 Dutch retailers with the highest growth in revenue. In the 2016 research, supermarkets accounted for 25% of the companies listed (Capitalmind, 2016). Growth is shown especially in the fresh produce products, also nicknamed ‘aardappel groente fruit’ (or AGF) [Potatoes, greens and fruit] (Distrifood, 2017). This observation is in line with a general increased focus on healthy nourishment in the Netherlands. Many supermarket chains have caught up with this trend and have been focusing promotion on these products. Also, with the introduction of online grocery shopping, stores which offer an in-store experience that is ‘more than just a store’ are performing better than normal stores focused solely on sales (Distrifood, 2017). Here we should think of in-store tastings, store-exclusive products etc. A last point worth noting is that the Dutch consumer is spending more hard cash on groceries, raising the sales-per-customer and making each customer more valuable for the businesses (LevensmiddelenKrant, 2018). According to research by Rabobank, especially stores which are focused on food retail are experiencing this growth in sales-per-customer (van de Hei, 2017). All these factors have become apparent over the last few years, resulting in a general redirection of attention in retail towards the grocery industry. With the great amount of players in the Dutch grocery industry and the immense sales realized by these players, this industry is one of the country’s largest.

Looking at the impact of brand loyalty, several studies (e.g. Knox & Walker, 2001; Reichheld, 1996; Reichheld & Sasser, 1990; van Birgelen et al., 1997) have acknowledged that it is more cost-efficient to retain existing customers than to try and mobilize new consumers to become customers of a business. Therefore, having a loyal customer base is beneficial for every business. Hanna, Rohm and Crittenden (2011) stated that social media have the power to combine brand affinity and sales conversion on one set of platforms, which means that social media should be seen as a business tool. Therefore, the insights offered by this research will shine a light on this important factor in business performance.

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1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION AND SUBQUESTIONS

The main research question answered in this thesis is as follows:

What is the relationship between social media use and brand loyalty in the case of Dutch supermarket chains?

To answer this question, two sub questions are to be answered: - What are the antecedents of brand loyalty?

- What are the factors that can create brand loyalty through social media?

Before these questions can be answered through research, it is important to define the context of the topics at hand. To set the scene for this research thesis, an overview of the Dutch supermarket industry and social media use in the Netherlands is offered. For the sake of readability, online grocery seller Picnic was also named a ‘supermarket chain’ even though the business does not have multiple selling points, nor do they own brick-and-mortar stores.

1.4 THE DUTCH SUPERMARKET INDUSTRY

The Dutch grocery industry is one of the country’s largest markets, with a total market capacity of 35,53 billion euro (Growth from Knowledge, 2017). On a daily basis, supermarkets in the Netherlands amass around four million total visitors (Centraal Bureau Levensmiddelenhandel, n.d.). The industry is also highly competitive, with Albert Heijn and Jumbo currently ruling the national market with market shares of 35,3% and 18,7% respectively (Distrifood, 2018; Distrifood, 2018). Locally, smaller chains like Coop and PLUS, both part of purchasing organization Superunie which holds 29,1% total market share, have a lot of stores in their area of operation which consumers have become familiar with. Discounters Aldi (7%) and Lidl (10,3%) are also big players because of their different pricing levels attracting a different customer base. According to Statistics Netherlands [Dutch: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek or CBS], Dutch consumers have a great amount of options for which supermarket they want to shop at, with a national average of more than ten supermarkets within three kilometers distance from anywhere in the country in 2016 (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, 2017). The average distance to the nearest supermarket was less than a kilometer in 2016. Due to this high density of supermarkets, consumers are often tempted to regularly visit multiple stores in their area. This has raised the importance of brand loyalty for these businesses because sales retention offers stability and growth opportunities to the stores.

1.4.1 THE DUTCH ONLINE GROCERY INDUSTRY

The total Dutch online grocery business surpassed one billion euro in sales for the first time in 2017, with online sales taking up 2,9% of the total 35,53 billion euro grocery market (Growth from Knowledge or GfK, 2017). Recent numbers from GfK show that online sales are now at 3,3% of total grocery sales (Foodmagazine, 2018). Bankers from ABN AMRO expect the online sales to rise to 9% of the market by 2025 due to the convenience that online shopping offers to the consumer, stating that “convenience seems to be the new form of [consumer] loyalty” (ABN AMRO Insights, n.d.). In the United States, this has been shown by Amazon, which has disrupted the retail industry mainly by increasing consumer convenience.

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Recently, the Dutch industry was introduced to Picnic, a fully online supermarket. The Dutch business, which started in 2015, has made use of the lack of emphasis Dutch supermarket chains have put on e-commerce. Albert Heijn and Jumbo are active in e-commerce, with current online market shares of 58% and 22% respectively (Foodpersonality, 2018). These big chains are forced to increasingly focus on online sales due to the rise of businesses like Picnic, in order to maintain market power and not lose customers to the ‘new alternative’ (ABN AMRO Insights, 2016). The Dutch online grocery business has yet to become profitable but is certainly becoming more and more important with expectations of further growth. For physical stores, this puts greater emphasis on providing an experience and services in the store to maintain the perceived value of a customer’s visit (Rabobank, 2018). Consumers more often need to be convinced to go out to a physical store, now that they’re groceries can easily be ordered online.

1.5 SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN THE NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands has Europe’s highest internet penetration rate, with 98% of Dutch households connected to the Internet (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, 2018). Of these 16,5 million people, 64% were active social media users as of January 2018 (Statista, 2018) which ranks the country tenth in Europe. This means that the total online population in the Netherlands is to be estimated around 10,5 million people.

Research agency Newcom has been conducting the largest annual research on social media use in the Netherlands since 2010. Their research looks at the different social media platforms and how much they are used. The 2018 research included almost 6800 participants, the results are summarized in Table 1 and Figure 1.

WhatsApp and Facebook are the biggest platforms in the current Dutch social media environment. Instagram, although significantly smaller in total user amounts than other platforms, has a daily active user rate of over 50%, and is growing rapidly with a 28% growth in Dutch users between 2017 and 2018 (Newcom, 2017; Newcom, 2018). Therefore, Instagram is currently seen as one of the ‘places to be’ as a business on social media. Figure 1 is from the 2018 Newcom report and shows the percentage of participants which use each social platform. This gives an overview of Instagram’s growth and the current dominance by WhatsApp and Facebook.

Platform Total users in the Netherlands (2018) in millions

Total daily users in the Netherlands (2018) in millions WhatsApp 11,5 8,3 Facebook 10,8 7,6 YouTube 8,0 2,2 LinkedIn 4,4 0,5 Instagram 4,1 2,1

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Research from 2017 showed that at the time, 65% of Dutch businesses were using social media for their business. This was much higher than the European average which was estimated around 45% (Eurostat, 2017). Dutch businesses are aware that social media are becoming essential for their marketing strategies and were early in the adaptation of these new channels. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others have developed extensive tools for businesses to use in order to leverage the attention of a widespread population on social media.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

This literature review will define the concepts of social media, marketing, brand and brand loyalty before further elaborating on their relationships. Then, factors that influence brand loyalty will be defined for both natural ‘offline’ relationships as well as relationships on social media. These factors will later be used as a foundation for the hypotheses of present research.

2.1 SOCIAL MEDIA

It is important to understand the definition of ‘social media’ before researching this phenomenon. Kaplan and Haenlein define social media as “a group of applications that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content” (2010, p.3) in their study on the opportunities and challenges of this new ecosystem. Blackshaw and Nazzaro describe their equivalent to the term social media named ‘Consumer-Generated Media’ as “a variety of new sources of online information that are created, initiated, circulated and used by consumers intent on educating each other about products, brands, services, personalities and issues” (Blackshaw & Nazzaro, 2004, p.2). Social media platforms are the home of interactive and online conversations, diaries, photobooks and drawing boards where anyone with an Internet connection can share their thoughts, ideas, creations and opinions with the world. Interaction with companies, consumers, relatives, friends, colleagues etc. allows for endless possibilities where we can learn and discover new perspectives and ideas as well as maintain relationships with people or business entities that bring value to our lives. Social media encompass a highly dynamic field of entertainment and entrepreneurship, unlike anything we’ve seen before. The power lies mainly in the low threshold of entry, just an Internet connection is enough, and the ease of making connections with people of all kinds and from anywhere in the world. With the

Figure 1: Gebruik totaal van social media [Total use of social media]. Reprinted from “Nationaal Social Media Onderzoek 2018” by Newcom, 2018.

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rise of mobile connected devices such as the smartphone and smartwatch and widespread Internet connection, we can now check-in, post, chat and like anywhere at any time.

As Tont stated in her 2014 study, “… social media allow brands and consumers to connect on a more intimate level humanizing the communication and by satisfying the functional and emotional needs of the consumers” (p.2). Her research found that there is a direct relationship between social media marketing and the level of intimacy and trust between the investigated fashion brands and their consumers. On top of that, Internet-based social media have allowed consumers to talk to each other directly to discuss the products they bought and the companies that made these products. It is essentially a magnified form of word-of-mouth. Social media influence consumer behavior because consumers trust each other’s opinion (Blackshaw & Nazzaro, 2004) and should therefore get adequate attention from marketing managers, who often neglect the importance of this new environment (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). In their research, Mangold and Faulds also highlighted the flipside of this development, the lack of control (Mangold & Faulds, 2009; Vollmer & Precourt, 2008). In traditional marketing, companies have more control over the content and timing of conversation about their products and services (Blackshaw & Nazzaro, 2004). Within the social media ecosystem, marketing managers must find a way to shape the conversations online to align with the business’ vision (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).

2.2 MARKETING

In his world renowned book The Wealth of Nations (1776), Adam Smith laid the foundation for what is known as the ‘marketing’ concept, the idea that firms should analyze the needs of consumers and find ways to satisfy them more effectively than their competition (NetMBA, n.d.). Marketing nowadays is a creative field where marketeers make efforts to capture consumers by getting their attention through advertising, enhancing experiences in stores and fostering online relationships on social media both for promotional use and customer support. As it is defined by Divol, Edelman and Sarrazin (2012), “marketing’s primary goal is to reach consumers at the moments … that influence their purchasing behavior”. They go on to state that “[s]ocial media is a unique component of the consumer decision journey: it’s the only form of marketing that can touch consumers at each and every stage, from when they’re pondering brands and products right through the period after a purchase, as their experience influences the brands they prefer and their potential advocacy influences others”.

2.3 BRAND

Closely related to marketing are brand and brand loyalty. Brand is defined as “the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service” by Gallaugher (2011, p.32). Kotler and Armstrong define this phenomenon as “a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors” (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, p.260). These definitions form the general consensus that ‘brand’ by itself is the full picture of a business in the eyes of the consumer, everything the consumer knows about the business. This picture is influenceable by the business itself. It is the way the business presents itself in the field, how it wants to be identified by the public, derived from the decisions made on positioning in the marketing strategy. The consumer can feel attracted to the business by the

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reflection of their own personality in the brand, which can draw their buying initiative to said business, this is how businesses can capture consumers.

2.4 BRAND LOYALTY

Brand loyalty has everything to do with the incentivized repetition of sales by one consumer of the same brand of products or services. First introduced by Jacoby and Chestnut (1978), it is now recognized by the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) as “the situation in which a consumer generally buys the same manufacturer-originated product or service repeatedly over time rather than buying from multiple suppliers within the category” (AMA, n.d.). This definition around the rebuying of products from the same seller is in line with generally accepted work by Oliver (1999). Kim, Morris and Swait (2008) describe brand loyalty as the comfort to buy a brand’s products or services caused by credibility achieved through past experiences. Keller gives a more psychological definition stating that brand loyalty is the symbolization of “the consumer’s ultimate relationship and level of identification with a brand” (2008, p.121). It gives a sense of a customer’s commitment to maintain their relationship with a brand over an extensive time period (Theng So, Grant Parsons, & Yap, 2013). These definitions create the concept of loyalty that each brand pursues, the preference of their products or services over comparable suppliers. It is to be seen as the key to success in the highly competitive field of grocery sales. If you can capture a consumer’s devotion to your brand, they will be more likely to visit your stores than other chains. This loyalty, the general belief that you offer good quality products and services at a reasonable price, is what makes them walk the extra block to visit your store. Kotler and Armstrong point out that it is customer delight which business should seek for, which is a state of perfect brand loyalty. A single negative experience can have big impact on the level of brand loyalty and erase this delight (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). Knox and Walker (2001) add to this notion by saying that simple things as out-of-stock occurrences can cause loyal customers to switch brands. Adequate business performance and trustworthiness are therefore vital for a brand to gain loyal customers.

According to Gounaris and Stathakopoulos (2004), brands can gain competitive advantage through brand loyalty because it offers stability and increases return-of-investment per customer through sales repetition. Strong brand loyalty gives business the freedom to expand because they have a consistent customer base.

Court et al. (2009) distinguish two different types of loyalists, active loyalists and passive loyalists, of which the latter only buy a brand repeatedly because they are used to buying it. They are not committed to a brand and might therefore be open for impulses from competitors. In the grocery industry, where most products are Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and are generally comparable and offered in almost all stores, capturing the attention of these passive loyalists could play a big role. More importantly, marketeers should make efforts to turn them into active loyalists, who not only buy repetitively from their brand but also spread their positive experiences.

A paper by Knox and Walker (2001) on the grocery industry refers to other studies (e.g. DeBruicker, 1979; Kassarjian and Kassarjian, 1979) by proposing that “consumer devotion to a particular brand will be fragile and short-lived …” (Knox & Walker, 2001, p.1) in the FMCG market because of the comparability and substitutability of the products between the different

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brands. Their message is that brand loyalty is hard to achieve in this business. However, accepting this belief would be a mistake, since this statement was made before the rise and without the consideration of social media as a communication and brand relationship channel. The paper lists unavailability of customer data as one of the difficulties. Contrary to the paper, collecting useful data from grocery shoppers is not expensive and difficult anymore with the introduction of for instance Point-of-Sales (POS) systems, let alone the tools on social media that track consumer behavior online.

2.4.1 FACTORS FOR BRAND LOYALTY

To frame the concept of brand loyalty in a way fit for this research, the antecedents of brand loyalty have to be assessed and formulated. It is important to know what exactly it is that increases loyalty from consumers towards a brand, what factors play a role in this phenomenon.

Gounaris and Stathakopoulos (2003) researched the antecedents and consequences of brand loyalty in the Greek whiskey market. Their findings suggest that brand loyalty formation is influenced by the consumer’s social environment, brand image and, at a lower level of loyalty, by pure buying habit. The influence of social environment can be linked to the notion of social proof where we assess the behavior of others, especially ‘similar’ others and relatives, to determine appropriate behavior for ourselves (Cialdini et al., 1999).

Kim, Morris and Swait (2008) define five antecedents of brand loyalty: brand credibility, affective brand conviction, cognitive brand conviction, attitude strength and brand commitment. Brand commitment is seen as behavioral intention build up by affective and cognitive conviction. This intention is a direct antecedent of brand loyalty (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) and has been described as an essential condition of brand loyalty (Knox & Walker, 2001; Bloemer & Kasper, 1995). The research also confirmed that the higher the level of attitude strength, which encompasses the intensity and extremity of someone’s attitude towards a brand, the stronger the brand commitment. Then again, this commitment leads to increased feelings of brand loyalty. Furthermore, Kim, Morris and Swait refer to Bower and Forgas (2001) to explain that cognitive and affective conviction influence brand loyalty, writing that “[t]he mood and social memory literature further implies a critical role of emotion in brand loyalty formation …” (Kim, Morris, & Swait, 2008, p.102).

Several studies have concluded that trust is another big factor in relationship commitment and therefore in brand loyalty formation (Garbarino & Johnson, 1999; Morgan & Hunt, 1994; Berry, 1995; Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001), in which trust is defined as “confidence in the partner’s reliability and integrity” (Morgan & Hunt, 1994, p.23). Garbarino and Johnson see trust as “customer confidence in the quality and reliability of the services offered by the organization” (1999, p.5). These definitions of trust are also applicable in business-consumer relationships in the grocery industry, where consumers rely on the business to deliver good quality products which are safe for consumption. Over time, consumers will use their past experiences with the business to decide if they trust the business enough to buy their products again. Closely related to the concept of trust is brand credibility, which is also concerned with the trustworthiness and perceived quality of a brand (Erdem & Swait, 1998). In short, the concepts of trust and credibility in the case of brand commitment have to do with the believe that a brand will deliver as promised and play an essential role in the formation of brand loyalty.

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The results of the Kim, Morris and Swait research confirm the interconnectivity of the five proposed antecedents as well as the importance of each in the formation of true brand loyalty. They conclude that brand credibility often leads to affective and cognitive conviction, which may influence attitude strength. As described, attitude strength has effect on brand commitment, which leads to true brand loyalty.

In their research on a play theatre in New York City, Garbarino and Johnson (1999) differentiate between strong and weak business-consumer relationships. They conclude that future buying intention in weak relationships is mainly influenced by overall satisfaction, whereas strong relationships see buying intention grow through trust and commitment to the brand to deliver quality plays in the future.

According to Smith and Swinyard (1982), effective advertising can strengthen brand loyalty by establishing source credibility and setting up a predisposition for a favorable usage experience. Deighton (1984) concluded from research on advertising efforts by Ford that advertising should be seen as a frame for the products’ usage experience, which is directly related to the formation of brand loyalty. Erdem and Swait (1998) state that “[if] the usage experience is consistent with the firm’s product claims, the credibility of the brand … increases” (Erdem & Swait, 1998, p.23). This aspect of brand-consumer relationship is reflected in transparency and honesty from the brand about their products or services.

Kotler and Armstrong (2010) use the example of web seller Zappos, a company which has held on to their belief in great customer experience and customer service which might be one of the reasons Amazon decided to acquire the company in 2009. By providing these qualities to the consumer, Zappos has created brand loyalty which has resulted in notable sales increases. Furthermore, Kotler and Armstrong propose that high customer satisfaction through past experiences with the business leads to increased customer loyalty. This positive relationship has been confirmed by several other researchers (e.g. Bloemer & Kasper, 1995; Garbarino & Johnson, 1999; Kraft, Granbois, & Summers, 1973; Newman & Werbel, 1973; LaBarbera & Mazursky, 1983; Garfein, 1987; Kasper, 1988; Burmann, 1991; Bloemer & Lemmink, 1992). Kotler and Armstrong’s book Principles of Marketing (2010) also points out that the current ‘price wars’ in retail will not be beneficial in the future. By dropping prices, short-term sales increases may occur but sales margins will go down. Therefore, less money will be available to invest in the quality of goods and services, eventually lowering the added value for the consumer. Dropping prices is therefore not creating loyalty and should be reconsidered in any brand’s growth strategy. The flipside of this is seen in reward programs, where benefits are offered to customers to increase sales retention. To add to this idea, the researchers propose intelligent customer-data use for personalization to increase the personal added value for the customer, which can lead to higher customer loyalty.

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Study / studies Findings Factor / factors

Gounaris and Stathakopoulos (2003) Brand loyalty formation is influenced by social environments (social proof), brand image and habit

Social environment; Brand image; Habit Kim, Morris and Swait (2008) Brand loyalty is explained by five

antecedents: brand credibility, affective brand conviction, cognitive brand conviction, attitude strength, brand commitment

Credibility; Conviction; Affection; Attitude; Commitment Fishbein and Ajzen (1975);

Knox and Walker (2001); Bloemer and Kasper (1995)

Brand commitment is a direct and necessary antecedent of brand loyalty

Commitment

Bloemer and Kasper (1995); Garbarino and Johnson (1999) Kraft, Granbois and Summers (1973); Newman and Werbel (1973);

LaBarbera and Mazursky (1983); Garfein (1987);

Kasper (1988); Burmann (1991);

Bloemer and Lemmink (1992); Kotler and Armstrong (2010)

Brand loyalty is formed based on consumer satisfaction

Brand loyalty is positively influenced by consumer satisfaction

Satisfaction

Garbarino and Johnson (1999); Morgan and Hunt (1994); Berry (1995);

Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001)

Trust plays a big (or even essential) role in relationship and brand loyalty formation

Trust

Smith and Swinyard (1982); Deighton (1984);

Erdem and Swait (1998)

Advertising can strengthen brand loyalty by establishing source credibility and setting up a predisposition for a favorable usage experience

If the usage experience is as promised, brand credibility rises

Usage experience has direct influence on brand loyalty

Advertising; Credibility; Usage experience

Kotler and Armstrong (2010) Great customer experience and customer service lead to increased brand loyalty

Customer experience; Customer service Intelligent customer-data use in

personalization can lead to higher customer loyalty

Personalization

Table 2: Overview of previous studies, findings and factors which influence brand loyalty

Figure 2 shows the brand loyalty factors and their interconnectivity. Trust, consumer satisfaction, brand credibility and brand commitment are shown to be the most important antecedents, based on the findings of previous research. Usage experience has a direct positive relationship with brand loyalty, as well as a positive relationship with brand credibility.

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2.5 SOCIAL MEDIA AND BRAND LOYALTY

In his 1995 study, Berry gave the opening of lines of communication as a tip as to how businesses can demonstrate their trustworthiness (Berry, 1995). His explanation is that open communication gives the consumer a sense of familiarity which reflects in their trust in the company’s products or services. This idea is exactly what we see nowadays on social media platforms, where businesses are engaging with the consumer to build or foster relationships with their (potential) customer base. In line with the comments on honesty and transparency we can derive from Erdem and Swait (1998), social media are also used by businesses to stay close to the consumer through honesty and transparency. Consumers expect companies to be transparent and honest about their products and services, brands that don’t deliver as promised are often called out for their actions on social media with consequences on their brand credibility.

Talking about consumer-consumer relationships, social media have become important hosts for online communities. A brand community, “[a] specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relations among admirers of a brand” (Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001, p.1), was originally based on geographical location. With the general acceptance and increase of use of social media, this dynamic has changed into the creation of social media based brand communities (Laroche, Habibi, & Richard, 2013). Building communities around your products or services can incentivize buyers to talk to each other. As noted before, users of products and services value each other’s opinion highly and trust the help offered by experienced users (Divol, Edelman, & Sarrazin, 2012). Having a page, forum or even a hashtag (in the case of Twitter and Instagram) for your brand can create an ecosystem where consumers form part of your customer service. Monitoring and listening to the content in these communities can be of great value to the business, the way people talk to each other about your product or service is one of the purest forms of feedback a brand can wish for. According to Staal (2018), some of the benefits and potential strengths of online communities – in this case Facebook’s Groups platform – are the overview of the target audience, co-creation between consumers of different uses of your products or services, word-of-mouth advertising

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and ultimately higher customer retention, loyalty and sales. These outcomes, which are valuable for businesses, are caused by the network of interaction that the community facilitates. The network increases the perceived brand value for the members, which is why they stick around and why businesses should, according to Staal, facilitate these communities.

2.5.1 FACTORS FOR BRAND LOYALTY CREATED BY SOCIAL MEDIA

To research the effect of social media on brand loyalty, it is important to define the antecedents of brand loyalty caused by social media efforts. The most important factors that come forward are brand trust and feelings of community.

Multiple studies have proposed or confirmed that consumer trust gained through social media increases brand loyalty (e.g. Kim & Ko, 2010; Cheung, Lee, & Jin, 2011; Chiu, Huang, & Yen, 2010; Harris & Goode, 2004; Kim, Chung, & Lee, 2011; Laroche, Habibi, & Richard, 2013). Laroche, Habibi and Richard (2013) found that brand trust “has a fully mediating role in converting the effects of enhanced relationships in [the online] brand community to brand loyalty” (Laroche, Habibi, & Richard, 2013, p.1). In their 2013 research on online brand communities, they argue that “… online communities, as a social structure, have positive effects on trust and loyalty” (p.3). They conclude that “social media can enhance brand trust and loyalty by improving customer relationship with the brand, other consumers, the company and the products” (p.5). They end their observations by noting that the consumer-consumer relationship has the most significant impact on brand trust, which emphasizes the importance of user-generated content in a brand’s online community. Furthermore, Balakrishnan, Dahnil and Yi stated that “[online] [c]ommunity commitment is confirmed to have a … positive effect on brand loyalty” (p.3) in their 2014 research on social media marketing. Research outlines from Cheung, Lee and Jin (2011) suggests that when consumers trust your products, services and your ability to deliver as promised, they will be more likely to stick with your brand. This also creates a mental form of ‘switching costs’ (Gallaugher, 2011), where consumers stick with one service or product provider because they’ve built up advantages or preference over time. Apart from loyalty programs, which boost sales retention, this mental sign of security gives a brand advantage over the competition.

The construct of brand trust through online efforts has been explained in different ways. Kim and Ko focused on entertainment as a mediating factor, concluding that “entertainment has a significant positive effect on … trust” (2010). They go on to state that brands should focus on providing entertainment for their customers which adds value to the relationship they have with the brand. Their research on the luxury fashion industry connected trust to purchase intention, showing a positive relationship. Thus, through building entertaining relationships online, sales intention should increase.

Brodie et al. (2011) found that true engagement from the consumer leads to increased trust and commitment. Engagement here is defined as “specific interactive experiences between consumer and the brand …” (Brodie et al., 2011, p.1). From a business use perspective, this engagement can be initiated on social media. The conversations, replies and likes on social media platforms are a form of engagement which make the consumer feel more personally attached to the brand. According to the researchers, “[e]ngaged consumers exhibit enhanced consumer loyalty, … trust and commitment” (Brodie et al., 2011, p.1). Moreover, according to research by Divol, Edelman and Sarrazin (2012), brands can use social media to increase

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engagement and foster loyalty after the purchase is made. In their vision, the post-buy stage is where brands can and should try to turn buyers into brand advocates, giving customers extra attention to stimulate them to talk positively about the brand.

Kim, Chung and Lee (2011) researched the online tourism industry and noted that customer satisfaction also positively influenced trust, which proved to be one of the key antecedents of customer loyalty in this market. They match this effect with increased purchase intention, leading to increased business performance.

Research by Erdoğmuş and Çiçek (2012) on the effects of social media marketing on brand loyalty proved that brand loyalty is positively affected by social media efforts when the brand offers discounts, distributes relevant content for the consumer, applies viral trends in their content and when the brand is active on multiple platforms. They go on by stating that brand loyalty can be built through social media by “networking, conversation and community building” (p.4) in refence to research by McKee (2010). Dobele, Toleman and Beverland (2005) also noted that viral marketing can only be successful if it creates value for the consumer, making it worth sharing the content with their friends and connections. Brands should therefore be cautious with jumping on new trends if it is not relevant to their brand image or their following.

Study / studies Findings Factor / factors

Kim and Ko (2010);

Cheung, Lee and Jin (2011); Chiu, Huang and Yen (2010); Harris and Goode (2004); Kim, Chung and Lee (2011); Laroche, Habibi and Richard (2013)

Increased brand trust leads to increased brand loyalty

Trust

Kim and Ko (2010) Entertainment has positive effects on trust Entertainment Brodie et al. (2011) Engagement leads to increased trust,

commitment and loyalty

Engagement

Kim, Chung and Lee (2011) Customer satisfaction positively influences brand trust

Customer satisfaction Laroche, Habibi and Richard (2013);

Balakrishnan, Dahnil and Yi (2014); McKee (2010)

Online communities have positive effects on brand trust and brand loyalty

Community

Laroche, Habibi and Richard (2013) Trust has a mediating role in converting relationships in the online community into brand loyalty

Trust

Erdoğmuş and Çiçek (2012);

Dobele, Toleman and Beverland (2005)

Brand loyalty is positively affected by discounts, relevant content, viral trends and multi-platform presence

Discounts; Relevancy; Virality; Multi-platform

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Figure 3 shows the antecedents of brand loyalty as found in previous social media research. Trust was found to be the most supported factor in literature, followed by feelings of

community and community leverage.

2.6 COMPARISON

When comparing the factors for brand loyalty found in ‘offline’ research to the derived ‘online’ factors, similarities are found. One factor that comes forward as crucial is trust, which in both cases leads to brand relationship commitment and therefore both directly and indirectly to increased brand loyalty. It plays an essential role in brand-consumer relationship formation and is seen as helpful in the conversion of online communities into loyalty. The satisfaction consumers experience from past transactions or interactions with the brand is also noted as a positive influence of loyalty. Both sides also acknowledge the importance of the engagement and commitment that has to be present from both parties in the brand-consumer relationship for value to be created. The ‘offline’ factors also encompass the importance of social environments and brand image in the creation of brand credibility. In the online world, these factors could be compared to the community aspect of social media. In online communities, trust is gained through the experience of others and the connections that community members take part in.

The ‘online’ factors extend the factor set by adding entertainment and virality. These factors, which have to do with the level of amusement social media users experience from following the business, are to be considered in social media marketing strategies because consumers generally seek for entertainment when using social media. In the new ecosystem of personalized advertising, relevancy is also crucial. Instead of talking to the masses all at the same time, marketeers now have to consider every ‘follower’ as individuals with different preferences and sales opportunities. Therefore, the comments made about data use for personalization by Kotler and Armstrong (2010) can also be applied to the digital space, where personal data can be gathered to create consumer ‘identities’ which allow for customized advertising to take place.

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Figure 4 shows a final overview containing the factors derived from both the classic ‘offline’ literature and ‘online’ research on brand loyalty.

Figure 4: Overview of brand loyalty factors

2.7 HYPOTHESES

Based on findings from previous research and the abovementioned factors for brand loyalty, both ‘offline’ and ‘online’, the following hypotheses are outlined:

H1: Social media efforts by Dutch supermarket chains significantly increase consumer engagement

H2: Social media efforts by Dutch supermarket chains significantly increase brand trust H3: Increased feelings of community experienced by consumers significantly increase brand trust

H4: Increased trust in Dutch supermarket chains significantly stimulates feelings of brand commitment

3. METHODOLOGY

3.1 SUPERMARKET CHAINS

The supermarket chains that were explored in this research are Albert Heijn, Jumbo, PLUS, DEEN, Lidl and Picnic. Albert Heijn and Jumbo are the biggest players in the market, as described before. PLUS and DEEN are middle sized brands that operate more locally and Lidl is a popular and growing discounter. Therefore, these brands together create a representative set of the brick-and-mortar grocery businesses which are currently players in the Dutch market. Additionally, Picnic was part of the research to broaden the scope of the grocery industry by also including the fast-growing online business. A detailed description of each company is offered in appendix 1. All these businesses offer a broad range of nutrition products

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that Dutch consumers use regularly, the FCMG. Most of them also have non-food selections like personal care and cleaning products.

3.2 SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Although WhatsApp is the most used platform, the most valuable platforms for this thesis are Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram because they are not ‘messaging’ platforms, which do not accommodate extensive business use, but instead allow for more branded content and potential consumer engagement. A pure communication platform like WhatsApp is harder to use for business purposes because there are no options to for instance create business pages. Facebook and YouTube are at the top of the lists of most used platforms. As noted before, Instagram has shown incredible growth over the past years, making this platform interesting as well. Twitter, although not as popular anymore as it was years ago, hosts a different sort of communication where it is more common to post a lot of content in a short time period. The platform has also been known to be suited for customer service. On top of the sheer size of the platforms, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have adapted their user-interface design in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish branded content from non-branded content, users are shown branded posts directly on their ‘News Feed’ or ‘Timeline’. This is beneficial for advertisers because it lowers the burden to reach the consumer’s attention. By spending money on post promotion, they can make their content visible for users that do not ‘like’ or ‘follow’ them yet. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram also allow businesses to create business profiles and have introduced extensive business tools for targeted advertising. All three of these platforms use user data such as age, location and interests to show the right ads to the right target audiences. In the case of YouTube, different implementations have been designed. YouTube videos that contain products from or are made by a business are hard to distinguish from ‘regular’ videos at first sight.

The number of followers, likes or subscriptions per platform and supermarket chain are summarized in appendix 2.

3.3 RESEARCH PROCEDURES

This thesis consists of two kinds of research. First, as presented in section 2 of this work, extensive literature research was conducted on the topics and concepts at hand. These efforts were mainly focused on building a foundational background for the field research. This further research consisted of two questionnaires, one before and one after a test period in which the proposed concepts and factors from the literature review where challenged. Both questionnaires consisted mainly of Likert-scaled statements (Likert, 1932), in which the participants could express their opinion in a ‘1’ or ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘5’ or ‘strongly agree’ range.

3.3.1 OPENING QUESTIONNAIRE

To collect data on the public opinion on the current situation, a survey was conducted. This survey started with questions on the participants’ background and their knowledge of technology, social media and the Dutch grocery business. Furthermore, in-depth questions were asked on the topics of social media, consumer engagement, trust and consumer-brand

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relationships. These questions were partly based on the study by Tont (2014) on high-street fashion brands, a study which included comparable research. In Tont’s research, many questions were formed from the literature research outlined in the ‘Literature review’ section of this thesis. The survey was conducted in Dutch, to increase the potential reach of the questionnaire. The fact that the topic concerned Dutch supermarkets made Dutch people the target group, with a Dutch survey they would be more likely to participate. The questionnaire was shared through Facebook and e-mail. An overview of all the questions can be found in appendix 3. To avoid response biases, the word loyalty was not used in the questionnaire. The survey was split into 17 sections so that participants were only asked the questions relevant to their social media activity.

3.3.2 TEST GROUPS

For a more sophisticated look into the impact of social media use on the Dutch consumer, test groups were formed. Participants of the first survey were asked to sign up for this testing phase. In each test group, users of social media were asked to follow a randomly assigned supermarket chain on social media. They were incentivized to keep an eye on the business’ presence and efforts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and/or YouTube. After seven days, the participants were asked their opinion on the business’ social media efforts and social media and marketing in general through a second questionnaire. The data gathered from this test was of high value for this research, as it gave an insight in the way that social media can or can not change someone’s perception of a brand. The different factors defined before were used when formulating the questions for this survey to test their effect in the case of Dutch consumers and Dutch supermarket chains. Again, the words brand loyalty were not used in questions related to the business at hand to prevent response biases. The survey was distributed via e-mail. The complete survey can be found in appendix 4. The survey was split into 63 sections to make sure that the participants were only asked questions about the supermarket and the platforms they researched.

3.3.3 DATA PROCESSING

The gathered data from both the first and the second survey were processed independently using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.

4. RESULTS

4.1 OPENING QUESTIONNAIRE

The survey was completed by 141 voluntary participants of which two thirds were female. The majority of the respondents was in the age group 20 to 25 years old with 53,9%, which can possibly be ascribed to the age distribution within the reach of the author’s social media. An overview of

the complete demographic

distribution is offered in Table 4.

Variable Frequency Percentage Age 15 to 20 years old 20 to 25 years old 25 to 30 years old 30 to 40 years old 40 to 50 years old 50+ years old Total 141 23 76 11 6 6 19 Total 100 % 16,3 % 53,9 % 7,8 % 4,3 % 4,3% 13,5% Gender Male Female Total 141 47 94 Total 100 % 33,3 % 66,7 %

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Every participant used a smartphone on a daily basis, while computers (both desktop and laptop) were used daily by 87,9%, tablets by 14,2% and smartwatches by 5%. The distribution of the social media platforms used multiple times a week was in line with the research by Newcom (2018). WhatsApp was regularly used by all the participants, followed by Facebook with 96,5%. Instagram and YouTube both had 97 frequent users, which is 68,8% of the total respondents. Another big platform was Snapchat with 59,6%, although this result should be considered carefully because of the age distribution of the participants mainly being within Snapchat’s target user base. Twitter had 25 frequent users (17,7%). Messaging applications Facebook Messenger and Telegram hosted 41 (29,1%) and 5 (3,5%) of the participants respectively. Pinterest had 17 frequent users, which is around 12%.

When questioned on frequently visited supermarkets, 80,1% admitted to be a frequent shopper at Albert Heijn (113 respondents), followed by Jumbo and Lidl with 35,5% and 17% respectively. DEEN was listed by 10,6% of participants, PLUS by 5%. Looking at Picnic’s popularity, 37% admitted that they have never heard of the business, while 59% did know of Picnic but had never used the service. The other 4% noted that they had used Picnic to order groceries once or do so on a frequent basis.

Out of the 141 respondents, 32 followed Albert Heijn on Facebook, Instagram and/or YouTube (22,7%). This is the highest percentage, none of the other chains had more than 5% of the respondents in their social media following. Almost all of the 32 respondents followed Albert Heijn on Facebook (87,5%), 6 of them followed the brand on Instagram. Twitter and LinkedIn both had 1 follower. 25% said they like, comment or share content posted by Albert Heijn if they find it relevant or appealing, answering with a 4 or 5 on the five-point Likert scale. More than half said they might recommend Albert Heijn to their surroundings, whereas another 12,5% was sure they would.

Followers of Jumbo, Picnic and PLUS showed to strongest feelings of engagement, two thirds said they feel more connected to the brand due to their social media efforts. Albert Heijn and DEEN are less successful, their followers mainly answered with a 3 or 4 out of 5. Lidl followers do not feel this connection, when asked if their feelings of connection to the brand have increased through social media, 75% disagreed.

Trust has been noted as one of the most important factors for brand loyalty. Therefore, the survey included a question regarding the trustworthiness of the products and services offered by each brand. Jumbo and PLUS were trusted the most, with an average score of 4,33 out of 5. Albert Heijn, DEEN and Lidl followed with around a 4,0 out of 5. Picnic scored a 3,67 which might be a hint towards the general habituation of online grocery shopping that is happening today. The public is often still sceptic about online grocery shopping, with ongoing concerns on the quality of the delivered products.

One of the key statements from the survey was: ‘By following Brand X on social media I’m more convinced to buy my groceries there’. Participants did not agree, with the mean of all responses at 2,82 out of 5. As for Albert Heijn, 15,6% of the respondents showed that they might be more convinced to shop at Albert Heijn now that they follow the brand on social media, 21,9% was indifferent and 62,5% somewhat or strongly disagreed with this assumption. For Jumbo, two thirds disagreed. PLUS, DEEN and Lidl got no positive responses.

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4.2 TEST GROUPS

Based on the number of respondents that signed up to participate in the test, 22 volunteers were randomly assigned to a supermarket chain. There were four participants for Albert Heijn, Jumbo, DEEN and Lidl. Three participants were assigned to PLUS and Picnic. Which business got three or four participants was decided through an online random picker on the Internet (www.miniwebtool.com/random-picker). Using this same tool, the e-mail addresses were randomly distributed over the six brands.

After the test period, 15 valid responses were recorded. This included all four participants for Albert Heijn, three responses for Jumbo and two for PLUS, DEEN, Lidl and Picnic. Most respondents were above 50 years old (40%), followed by the 20 to 25 years old category (33,3%). Eleven out the fifteen respondents were female (73,3%). A full overview of the demographics of the respondents is offered in Table 5.

The majority of the respondents saw themselves as an active user of social media, with two thirds responding to this statement with a 4 or 5 out of 5. Almost half (46,7%) of the respondents noted that they like to follow brands on social media or check brand pages regularly. 60% of the participants disagreed with the statements “I like, comment and/or share content by businesses on social media if it is relevant or appeals to me” and “I like it when businesses seek for interaction with me on social media”, responding with a 1 or 2 out of 5. Strong disagreement was also shown with the assumption that consumers mainly follow businesses on social media to keep up with sales, discounts and giveaways, 53,3% answered with a 1 out of 5. Four other respondents disagreed or had a neutral opinion. Furthermore, 6 respondents showed to be equally susceptible to online marketing as they are to TV, newspaper and street advertising, 5 lean strongly towards the traditional advertising techniques. Around 20% said they are more attracted to online marketing.

4.3 FINDINGS PER BRAND

In this section, the responses for each supermarket chain are further explored. To discuss the effects of the social media efforts by the supermarket chains, the questions from the second survey were categorized on their related brand loyalty factor based on previous research. Appendix 5 shows the different factors with the questions related to them.

4.3.1 ALBERT HEIJN

None of the respondents followed Albert Heijn on Twitter or YouTube. The majority of Albert Heijn respondents which followed the business on Facebook disagreed with statements regarding increased engagement with the business on the platform by answering with a 2 or 3 out of 5. This might be because, according to the respondents, Albert Heijn barely posted any

Variable Frequency Percentage Age 15 to 20 years old 20 to 25 years old 25 to 30 years old 30 to 40 years old 40 to 50 years old 50+ years old Total 15 1 5 1 0 2 6 Total 100 % 6,7 % 33,3 % 6,7 % 0 % 13,3 % 40% Gender Male Female Total 15 4 11 Total 100 % 26,7 % 73,3 %

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content on their Facebook page over the course of the research. One respondent did find the posted content to be relevant. In the case of Instagram, Albert Heijn posted more content but did not seek interaction with followers. According to two respondents, the content that was posted was not inspiring to them. The results also show that none of the respondents shared the content posted by Albert Heijn and they did not feel as if they were part of the Albert Heijn community. None of the respondents were convinced to shop at Albert Heijn after following their social media, nor did they feel like they trust the brand more than before.

4.3.2 JUMBO

One of the Jumbo respondents noted that his or her engagement with the brand had improved over the test period and that the posted content on Twitter was inspiring and entertaining. On the other hand, no interaction with the consumer was established on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Jumbo’s Facebook and Instagram posts did not increase involvement with the respondents, with three neutral answers and one strong disagreement recorded. Respondents were not impressed by the content Jumbo distributes on YouTube, all of them show a strong disagreement with the assumptions that the content was interesting, relevant, inspiring or entertaining. Consequently, no increased feelings of engagement were found on this platform either.

Jumbo’s social media efforts do not increase trust in the company, with a mean response of 2,33 out of 5 regarding this assumption. Also, disagreement was shown with the statement that respondents would be more tempted to shop at Jumbo after the test period. Respondents additionally noted that they were surprised by the low level of entertainment and relevancy of the content on Jumbo’s social media pages, stating that most posts had nothing to do with the product offering in that only product-callbacks were shared instead of for instance the ‘discounts of the week’. The low level of relevancy might be the reason no one shared Jumbo’s content. One participant did feel part of the Jumbo community, the others did not. Ultimately, all respondents said they would stop following Jumbo on social media after the test period, which summarizes their general opinion on the added value of Jumbo’s social media efforts.

4.3.3 PLUS

In the case of PLUS, mixed results were shown. One of the respondents was positive, noting that the content on all platforms was interesting, entertaining and relevant. The content gave him or her a better look at PLUS as a company and also increased buying intention and trust, ultimately making this person a new ‘fan’ of the brand. Although no interaction was established with the brand, engagement did increase as the respondent felt part of the PLUS community. The other respondent had opposite feelings, expressing that the content was of no value to him or her. In this case, none of the factors were positively influenced by following PLUS.

4.3.4 DEEN

Twitter and Instagram posts by DEEN did not stimulate feelings in relation to the brand loyalty factors. Respondents noted that the content on Facebook was interesting and that it enriched their vision of DEEN, but again no influence on shopping intention or engagement was noted. DEEN did not post content on YouTube during the test period, previous material also did not impress the respondents. Neither of the respondents had interaction with the brand on social

Social media use by Dutch supermarket chains: a digital marketing analysis on brand loyalty