Do Social Media Affect Museums’ Brand Equity? An Exploratory Qualitative Study

The beneficial role of traditional marketing communication tools on branding performance is a dominant feature of marketing bibliography Moreover, the advent of social media has definitely resurged this research interest following the revolution both within For Profit and Non Profit Organizations communications (NPOs and FPOs) context. Thus, there is a growing trend towards the impact of both e-marketing and social media tools on destination branding procedures. However, due to its infant nature, very little is known on the association between social media and brand equity. No single study so far has empirically explored the role of social media on museums’ branding. Addressing previous calls within FPOs and NPOs’ sector and having recently reviewed and established theoretically the positive link, (1) first, between the social media and museums (2) second, between social media and NPOs’ brand equity, and (3) third, between social media on museum branding equity. The present study examines through a qualitative method the social media impact on museums brand equity. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, that have been held for a month with communication officers of 30 museums. This work contributes to existing knowledge of multidisciplinary research interests such as museum branding, social media marketing and tourism marketing, both by confirming the beneficial contribution of social media on museums’ brand equity, visitors’ satisfaction and visitors’ engagement, and by providing valuable managerial insights.