Response strategies to maintain emotional resonant brand reputations when targeted by user-generated brand parodies
Mostly satirising top-of-mind brands, user-generated parody accounts are a phenomenon mostly associated with Twitter. As an emerging trend in South Africa, parody accounts using cleverlywritten satire attract a large and loyal following as social media communities enjoy the shared pleasure of shari...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Johannesburg
2022-10-01
|
| Series: | Communicare |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1575 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832593747148275712 |
|---|---|
| author | Maritha Pritchard De la Rey Van der Waldt David Pieter Conradie |
| author_facet | Maritha Pritchard De la Rey Van der Waldt David Pieter Conradie |
| author_sort | Maritha Pritchard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Mostly satirising top-of-mind brands, user-generated parody accounts are a phenomenon mostly
associated with Twitter. As an emerging trend in South Africa, parody accounts using cleverlywritten
satire attract a large and loyal following as social media communities enjoy the shared
pleasure of sharing funny content and the intense positive emotions felt when making fun of
brands that they care about. Of particular concern is when audiences find parody accounts more
honest, entertaining and authentic compared to the official social media brand account. Moreover,
user-generated parody accounts often misappropriate brand identities, thereby not only confusing
unsuspecting social media communities but also satirising brand meanings. Correspondingly,
social media management teams are faced with a reputational risk or paracrisis, since the
emotional resonance of brand reputations are being hijacked. Too often, official responses to
parody accounts are knee-jerk responses to take back control, such as aggressive threats and
litigation, easily escalating into angry viral social media backlashes. The purpose of the study was
to establish suitable paracrisis response strategies for parodied brands to maintain emotionally
resonant reputations. Using a synergistic approach to mixed methods in a triangulation design,
this study collected and analysed data from a purposive and snowball sample of 207 social media
experts. Findings suggested that humorous, tongue-in-cheek banter with user-generated parody
accounts intended for harmless fun optimise emotionally resonant brand reputations in the age
of parody.
|
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-012b7976ed1a4790895d1319749c3aa7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0259-0069 2957-7950 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | University of Johannesburg |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communicare |
| spelling | doaj-art-012b7976ed1a4790895d1319749c3aa72025-01-20T08:55:50ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502022-10-0136110.36615/jcsa.v36i1.1575Response strategies to maintain emotional resonant brand reputations when targeted by user-generated brand parodiesMaritha Pritchard0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8221-4904De la Rey Van der Waldt1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7607-6296David Pieter Conradie2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6212-5931University of JohannesburgNorth-West UniversityTshwane University of Technology Mostly satirising top-of-mind brands, user-generated parody accounts are a phenomenon mostly associated with Twitter. As an emerging trend in South Africa, parody accounts using cleverlywritten satire attract a large and loyal following as social media communities enjoy the shared pleasure of sharing funny content and the intense positive emotions felt when making fun of brands that they care about. Of particular concern is when audiences find parody accounts more honest, entertaining and authentic compared to the official social media brand account. Moreover, user-generated parody accounts often misappropriate brand identities, thereby not only confusing unsuspecting social media communities but also satirising brand meanings. Correspondingly, social media management teams are faced with a reputational risk or paracrisis, since the emotional resonance of brand reputations are being hijacked. Too often, official responses to parody accounts are knee-jerk responses to take back control, such as aggressive threats and litigation, easily escalating into angry viral social media backlashes. The purpose of the study was to establish suitable paracrisis response strategies for parodied brands to maintain emotionally resonant reputations. Using a synergistic approach to mixed methods in a triangulation design, this study collected and analysed data from a purposive and snowball sample of 207 social media experts. Findings suggested that humorous, tongue-in-cheek banter with user-generated parody accounts intended for harmless fun optimise emotionally resonant brand reputations in the age of parody. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1575emotional resonant brand reputationsuser-generated brand parodiestrendsocial mediasocial media backlashesresponse strategies |
| spellingShingle | Maritha Pritchard De la Rey Van der Waldt David Pieter Conradie Response strategies to maintain emotional resonant brand reputations when targeted by user-generated brand parodies Communicare emotional resonant brand reputations user-generated brand parodies trend social media social media backlashes response strategies |
| title | Response strategies to maintain emotional resonant brand reputations when targeted by user-generated brand parodies |
| title_full | Response strategies to maintain emotional resonant brand reputations when targeted by user-generated brand parodies |
| title_fullStr | Response strategies to maintain emotional resonant brand reputations when targeted by user-generated brand parodies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Response strategies to maintain emotional resonant brand reputations when targeted by user-generated brand parodies |
| title_short | Response strategies to maintain emotional resonant brand reputations when targeted by user-generated brand parodies |
| title_sort | response strategies to maintain emotional resonant brand reputations when targeted by user generated brand parodies |
| topic | emotional resonant brand reputations user-generated brand parodies trend social media social media backlashes response strategies |
| url | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1575 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marithapritchard responsestrategiestomaintainemotionalresonantbrandreputationswhentargetedbyusergeneratedbrandparodies AT delareyvanderwaldt responsestrategiestomaintainemotionalresonantbrandreputationswhentargetedbyusergeneratedbrandparodies AT davidpieterconradie responsestrategiestomaintainemotionalresonantbrandreputationswhentargetedbyusergeneratedbrandparodies |