An Exploration of Satirical Internet Memes Effect on Brand Image

Abstract: The owner(s) of a brand decide the attributes of the brand, such as name, color, shape, logotype and values. They have the power and control on what they are communicating to the consumers.  However, consumers can freely interpret any information that is being communicated towards them and shape their own perception of the brand. Internet memes can be categorised as a type of satirical communication method that can be used by consumers. The purpose is to explore how satire through the medium of internet memes affect brand image. This research used a qualitative research approach with a cross sectional research design, in the form of semi-structured interviews. The sample consisted of people from the age 20-30 that had knowledge about memes to some degree. A total of 15 interviews were implemented and took approximately 30 minutes each to execute. The conducted research gave insight to how satirical memes can potentially affect consumers perception of brand image. What was discovered was that satirical memes had the potential to possibly affect certain aspects of both the cognitive and emotional components of brand image. When the participants had a neutral or negative pre-determined brand image it was possible to see a negative shift in their perception of this brand image through negative reinforcement. While on the other side, when participants had a strong and positive pre-determined brand image, the satirical memes affected them differently, as they did not make them negative towards the brand but became critical instead. These alterations showed that there was the potential to affect the participants purchase & usage situations and through the satirical memes effect on the different cognitive and emotional components, could possibly change the perception of a brand image as a whole.