The Conceptualization and Measurement of Perceived Value in Social Media: The Case of Facebook Brand Pages

Abstract

The paper focuses on online consumer–brand relationships and explores how perceived value can be conceptualized and measured in social media brand pages, by identifying the benefits and costs consumers–members of Facebook brand pages perceive. Data were collected from consumers who follow popular brands on Facebook, with the use of a questionnaire that was uploaded on the Facebook fan pages of two leading companies in Greece. The results indicated that the perceived value in social media brand pages can be conceptualized as a second-order construct consisting of seven relational benefits, i.e., social, special treatment, self-enhancement, enjoyment, functional and advice benefits, and three relational costs, i.e., privacy concern, information overload, and ad irritation. Further, this value had a significant impact on fan page relationship quality. The study proposes social media practices toward the enhancement of perceived value, through a balanced delivery of relational benefits and costs.