ACTIVITY OF THE VIRTUAL BRAND COMMUNITIES MEMBERS ON FANPAGES

Due to globalization, we observe the emergence and rapid development of the social media that have greatly influenced today's communication, both between individuals as well as between individuals and organizations, eliminating the geographic limitations. Virtual brand communities, groups gathered around certain brands and located in social media such as Facebook or Instagram, have become new, extremely important communication channels used for bilateral information exchange between brands and the consumers on the global level. Fanpages, where the virtual brand communities operate, allow brand representatives as well as community members to share content in form of text or graphic posts, comments, use of reaction buttons, etc. Such webpages are accessible regardless of users` location, therefore are useful for global brands, which can communicate with consumers from all around the world. The aim of this article is to present the activity of the consumers on the fanpages, including e.g. reactions to published content ("likes", etc.) or posting positive and negative comments. The author conducted an empirical quantitative research, by indirect data collection with the use of survey technique, carried out among 650 Polish Internet users, of which 277 where members of virtual brand communities. The results show that most consumers are willing to interact with the brand in form of utilizing the reaction buttons, however options demanding more involvement, like publishing comments, are used less frequently. The willingness to use any of the communication possibilities varies among different age groups of respondents.