A research approach to combine brand alignment with social engagement: an insight into online fashion communities

The purpose of this paper is an attempt to give companies a possible framework to better evaluate the market's response to their marketing actions and to take into account possible adjustments to their brand communications. The analysis of the brands alignment between the brand as it is defined by the company (brand identity) and the brand as it is perceived by consumers (brand image) has been combined with measurement of social engagement. The adopted analytical methodology has been based on two main techniques: netnography and text mining. The former focuses on the identification and collection of digital texts while the latter is based on the quantitative analysis of linguistic data. As regards the assessment of a brand’s level of social engagement, it has been based on the results provided by two social media search engine “Talkwalker” and “Social Mention”. The above analysis has been focused on the fashion industry where theoretical and managerial implications have been discussed.