1. Introduction
In 2018, with the rapid development of short video platforms such as Tiktok in China, they have become an important channel for new media marketing. More brands use short videos for marketing, attracting a large number of consumers with their high communication efficiency, low cost, and strong interactivity. Despite the progress of short video marketing research, there is still a research gap. The researchers do not explore the impact of enterprises’ use of short video marketing on brands. Thus, there is a question: which factors of new media marketing impact the consumer’s purchasing power and brand attitude?
In order to explore this question, this paper uses literature analysis to sort out the previous research results, which mainly focus on the influence of social media and consumers' brand attitudes. New media short video marketing is divided into three dimensions: video content quality, user participation and interaction, and brand loyalty.
This study is of great significance. Theoretically, it enriches the theoretical research in the field of short video marketing and provides new perspectives and methods for the future. Socially, it helps consumers understand and respond to new media marketing strategies and improve media literacy. The purpose of this study is to provide valuable references for academia and industry.
2. Literature Review
New media is the most cutting-edge technology today, derived from the evolution of traditional media. Since the beginning of television and radio, people have evolved into a form of media that can now be realized with only software and platforms. New media not only inherit the advantages of traditional media, but also provide the audience with great convenience and interaction. It elevates information dissemination to a new height, makes access to information more convenient and diversified, and injects new vitality into the communication and dissemination of modern society. Hu Tao and Jing-hui Yang believe that short video is a few seconds of video content that is played on a new media platform and is suitable for watching in a short period of leisure. The playing time ranges from a few seconds to a few minutes [1]. Simeon Edosomwan, Sitalaskshmi Kalangot Prakasan, Doriane Kouame, Jonelle Watson, and Tom Seymour believe that in 2000, many social networking sites emerged to ease interaction with people that shared common interests in music, education, movies, and so on. This also affected how businesses conducted their transactions and advertisements, as well as their products [2]. The reason why short videos are widely concerned is that they have great influence and value in marketing. Short videos can act as a bridge in a short period of time to establish connections for audiences, enterprises, and Internet celebrities, achieve rapid sales and communication, and effectively enhance brand value. Compared with traditional media, short videoes have more interaction with consumers.
Consumer brand attitude is based on consumer behaviors. Petty and Keller believe that the power of attitude is reflected in its cognitive responses, which refer to conscious beliefs or opinions, and affective responses, which are derived from emotions and feelings [3]. Brand perception is the consumer’s overall feeling and cognition of the brand. Through sensory experience, consumers form an impression of brand image and brand value. Cultural factors and brand value jointly shape the image of the brand in the minds of consumers, reflecting the overall impression and cognition of the brand.
Similarly, brand attitudes directly affect consumer attitudes. Consumers’ purchasing power is influenced by brand loyalty and brand belief. Brand loyalty can enhance consumers’ purchase intentions, while brand belief shapes consumers’ cognition and trust in the brand. Therefore, brand image and reputation play a crucial role in attracting and retaining consumers. Grewal D suggested that the more desirable the attitude towards the behavior, the stronger will be the intention to commit that behavior. It was found that consumers develop a strong emotional attachment to brands linked to central attitude [4].
3. Research Model and Hypothesis
Based on past reviews and studies, the author proposes a research model on the dimensions of social media short video marketing and brand attitudes (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The Research model
In the author’s research model, three different forms of social media short videos are used as influencing factors to study their impact on brand perception and consumer brand attitudes. This is a one-way influence relationship in which the form of short videos directly affects brand perception, and brand perception in turn affects consumer brand attitudes. Through an in-depth analysis of short video content quality, user participation, and brand loyalty, the author discusses how to enhance brand perception by optimizing short video strategy so as to enhance consumer brand attitude.
Figure 1 shows that high-quality video content can increase brand awareness by demonstrating brand values and creativity. Active user participation and interaction enhances brand awareness by demonstrating social identity and community engagement. Brand loyalty positively affects brand perception because loyal customers are more likely to have a favorable impression of the brand. The improvement of brand awareness directly affects consumer brand attitude.
Also, there is a feedback loop in the research model where consumer brand attitude can influence social media short video marketing. It means that the positive attitude can lead to increase brand loyalty and interaction, which creates a cycle of reinforcement.
According to the influence of different short video factors on consumer brand attitudes, the author give three hypothesis, discusses and analyzes them in the fourth part of this paper.
H1: High-quality short video content positively affects consumer brand attitude.
H2: User participation and interaction in short videoes have a significant positive effect on brand attitude.
H3: Brand loyalty in the short video positively affects consumer brand attitude.
4. Close Analysis of the Relationship between Short-Video Marketing and Brand Attitude
4.1. Video Content Quality and Brand Attitude
Gaofu, Yuchun, Pengchao, and Zhuoping state that the essence of short video marketing is content marketing [5]. High-quality videoes can make consumers want to watch them more and more. Similarly, the fun of the content is also a manifestation of high-quality video, which promotes a positive image of the brand in the minds of consumers. This can improve consumer brand attitudes and purchasing power.
On China’s Tiktok platform, an influencer named Liangtian has won wide attention for his excellent photography skills, helping “people who are afraid to take pictures” take beautiful photos. Among his many videos, one in particular stands out: a 20-year-old girl who has been the subject of vicious online abuse because of her natural facial red spots. By taking pictures, Liangtian helped the girl show her beauty and succeeded in giving her back her confidence. In addition, Liangtian cleverly interspersed many of the videos with cosmetic advertisements. Due to the high quality of his video content, many consumers expressed their willingness to buy the recommended products in the comments section and supported his creation, praising him for being “willing to buy” and “making him money.” All of this demonstrates not only the impact of Liangtian’s high-quality video content but also his success in improving brand perception and consumer brand attitudes.
According to H1, Dabbous and Baraket proposed that as a company provides increasingly high-quality web content on social media, the interaction between consumers and this company and its brand is enhanced, which attracts more consumers and establishes consumer brand awareness and purchasing power.
4.2. User Participation and Interaction and Brand Attitude
Gaofu, Yuchun, Pengchao, and Zhuoping state that in the era of the Internet of everything, people are no longer satisfied with passive acceptance of information [5]. Yu Dong pointed out that the degree of interaction between brands and consumers significantly affects consumers’ cognitive and emotional attitudes towards specific brands, and the higher the degree of interaction, the easier it is to form a positive brand attitude [6].
In the era of new media, short videos of different types and contents have different positioning for the audience. It needs to ensure that the subject being presented is relevant to the interests of the target group, and it should also be unique and innovative to enhance its appeal and communication. In order to increase user participation in short videos, the operations team needs to utilize data analysis. Jiuying and Lijun should understand the needs and preferences of the target audience precisely and design social activities and interactive forms according to the characteristics of the target audience, such as online discussion, theme challenges, and interactive Q&A. In order to enhance the connection between members and the activity and cohesion of the community [7]. Jiuying and Lijun proposed that the optimization of the release time should be based on data analysis to deeply understand the online behavior pattern of the target audience, including its activity in different time periods, preferred content types, interaction frequency, and other information. Based on the analysis results, the optimal release time is identified to ensure that the content release can match the online peak of the audience, thereby improving the viewing rate and interaction rate of the content [7]. The establishment of brand attitude is inseparable from user participation and interaction. When users get substantial benefits and cognitive boosts on short video platforms, their desire to buy increases. Through positive user interactions and valuable content, brands are able to effectively shape consumers' positive attitudes towards them, thereby inspiring stronger purchase incentives. This interaction not only enhances the credibility and influence of the brand, but also promotes a deep connection between consumers and the brand, which ultimately drives brand loyalty. Daniela points out that brand attitude also substantially benefits from user participation, but this relationship is mediated by brand awareness [8].
Thus, user participation and interaction in short videoes have a significant positive effect on brand attitude. H3 can be accepted.
4.3. Brand Loyalty and Brand Attitude
Mendon and smitha state that the concept of brand loyalty is termed as the phenomenon undergoing continuous revisions and improvements that strives to gain theoretical and practical insights into the marketing literature [9]. Faridah suggests that brand loyalty is associated with lower marketing communication costs and favourable consumers [10]. Also, Neelam claims that brand loyalty depicts the repeat purchase of products and services based on the level of satisfaction that a consumer gets from its patronage [11].
Short videoes have the characteristics of penetration and visualization. The short video platform is also a social networking platform where consumers can communicate with others to understand the consumer experience of buyers, improve the trust of products, and increase their strong desire to buy, especially peers or people with good reputations who also use this product, which will increase their desire to buy.
Brand loyalty is based on image and status in the minds of consumers. If brand loyalty is positive, more consumers will consume it, which also increases their purchasing power. Neelam states that positive attitudes vary on the continuum, ranging from weak to strong, depending on the consumer’s perceptual evaluation of that specific brand [11]. Neelam said that an attitude that is ranked as weak but favorable on the basis of differentiation is translated into a strong relative brand attitude and hence leads to brand loyalty [11].
Brand loyalty plays a crucial role in short-video marketing. High-quality short video content and effective user interaction can not only enhance brand loyalty but also positively affect consumers’ brand attitudes and ultimately enhance consumers’ purchasing power and brand loyalty. By utilizing the advantages of short video platforms, brands can better connect with consumers and enhance their market competitiveness and influence. Thus, H3 can be accepted.
5. Conclusion
To sum up, this paper studies the influence of short video marketing on consumer brand attitude in the new media environment. By analyzing the factors of video content quality, user participation, and brand loyalty, the author analyzes how short video marketing changes consumer brand attitude. The research in this paper enriches the theoretical research in the field of short video marketing and provides a new perspective for future new media sales. Similarly, this paper optimizes short video marketing strategies to enhance brand influence and analyzes the impact of brand loyalty on consumers' purchasing power.
However, there are some shortcomings in this paper that should be improved in future research. First of all, this study is mainly carried out through literature analysis, and lacks actual survey and questionnaire research, without the support of first-hand data. This means the conclusions of the study may be limited in practical application. Therefore, future research can adopt mixed research methods, combining qualitative and quantitative research, to collect more first-hand data, so as to improve the reliability and validity of research conclusions.
Secondly, there are some limitations in the selection of research samples. Since it mainly relies on existing literature, the sample may be underrepresentative. Future studies should consider the use of larger and more representative samples through random sampling and other methods to ensure the universality of research results. In addition, consumers with different cultural backgrounds may have different responses to short video marketing. Future studies can explore the influence of different cultural backgrounds on brand attitudes and brand loyalty through cross-cultural comparative studies.
Future research can also focus on the following aspects. First of all, we can deeply study the different effects of different types of short video content (such as funny, educational, and lifestyle) on consumer brand attitudes, so that brands can be more targeted when formulating short video marketing strategies. Secondly, with the development of technology, the application of artificial intelligence and big data analysis in short video marketing is also worth further research. Improve the effect of short video marketing through an intelligent recommendation system and precision marketing.
In general, this paper has made a preliminary contribution to exploring the impact of short video marketing on consumer brand attitude in the new media environment, but there are still some shortcomings and room for improvement. Future research should be combined with actual data and experimental research to further verify the theoretical conclusions and explore new research directions, so as to provide more support and guidance for the optimization of short video marketing strategies. Through continuous research and practice, short video marketing will certainly play an increasingly important role in brand building and consumer behavior research.