Who creates brand-related content, and why? The interplay of consumer characteristics and motivations

Social media platforms such as weblogs, social networking sites, video sharing sites, and online communities facilitate a wide variety of ways for consumers to create brand-related content. Such content is central to the social media phenomenon. This chapter begins by explaining the study's theoretical lens, the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) approach, followed by the introduction of personality characteristics that are relevant for understanding the dynamics of social media. It focuses on consumers' motivations for creating brand-related content, and poses a research question about the interplay of characteristics, motivations, and brand-related content creation. U&G states that media use is the consequence of various factors working in concert. For U&G scholars, motivation is a central factor, as they assume that people purposely select and use media according to goals they actively aim to achieve. Social media are "hyper-social" enabling users to connect with others online more than they can ever do offline. Some consumers are more connected than other consumers.