The Effect of Social Media on Trust and Brand Loyalty Formation in the Brand Community (Case Study: The Social Network of Instagram)

The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of social media on formation of brand trust and brand loyalty in the brand community. Statistical poplation of the reserach consists of 400 student groups, made up of masters and doctoral students of the University of Mazandaran Instagram members. This research is descriptive-survey in terms of data collection. Also data were collected using questionnaire. Data analysis has been conducted in two parts including descriptive and inferential statistics. Moreover, hypothesis testing was done using structural equation modeling. The results indicated a significant and positive impact of individual identity and social identity on brand communities in social networks and also brand communities in social networks have a significant and positive impact on their community participation. Concerning the combined impact of social interaction on brand community and using brand, only the relationship between social engagement and social interaction was not significant. Social interaction and using brand effect on brand trust as well. Finally, the positive and significant impact of brand trust on brand loyalty was confirmed.