A qualitative investigation of entrepreneurial marketing dimensions and their effect on brand image on the Instagram platform

Abstract

Although entrepreneurial marketing (EM) and its dimensions are not an unknown concept, there is a lack of definite consensus among researchers, especially on the utility of social media platforms. The widespread use of social media platforms such as Instagram has led companies to take advantage of them in their brand management with an entrepreneurial approach; therefore, social media is considered a necessary factor in modern entrepreneurship. In this study, we identified the EM dimensions of the Instagram platform and examined their effect on brand image (BI) enhancement. To do so, a qualitative content analysis was performed using Instagram posts related to new products of dairy companies, and seven dimensions were obtained, which are proactiveness, innovativeness, opportunity focus, resource leveraging, customer intensity, emotional connections, and entrepreneurial promotion on social media. The results of sentiment analysis of comments indicate that among the mentioned dimensions, “emotional connections” have the most effect and “opportunity focus” has the least effect on BI enhancement.