Examining the Factors Affecting Corporate Image from Social Networking Fan Page Usage Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model

As an intangible asset, corporate image is both key to earning profits and an important indicator of business' success. Several studies have examined the factors affecting corporate image, suggesting both emotional (e.g., feelings or impression) and functional (e.g., quality of products) components. While this body of research has examined corporate image, the present study measures corporate image from a communications perspective by employing social networking sites (SNS) and its fan page subscribers. Testing this study's hypotheses using an elaboration likelihood model (ELM) as a theoretical lens and using structural equation modeling (SEM) method, the authors invited Facebook users who subscribe to fan pages to answer survey questions. Research findings reveal that page subscribers rely on less cognitive routes of information processing to perceive an informative posting, thereby impacting corporate image. We also discuss the implications and limitations of this research.