Generation Z's Motivations for Following Brands on Facebook Brand Fan Pages: A Focus Group Study

The Generation Z, who use Facebook in order to get in touch with their friends, is a target audience for brands aiming to promote their products and services through Facebook marketing. But, Facebook marketing is a challenge for brands as it intervenes in this social domain. Therefore, whether Facebook marketing targeting these young people is an effective method or it is a waste of time for brands is a good question to ask. In order to find that the motivations of young people to interact with brands by liking brands’ Facebook corporate brand fan pages were investigated in this research. With this aim, three qualitative focus group interviews were conducted with young students born after 1995, representing the Generation Z in Eskişehir, Turkey. Within the scope of the research, the number of brands that the participants like on Facebook and the reasons why they like Facebook corporate brand fan pages were primarily looked at. Then, the participants’ interactions with brand generated content, brand representatives and other customers on Facebook brand fan pages were interrogated. Following that, the influence of Facebook marketing on purchasing products and services was examined. The research revealed that most of the young students are influenced by brand generated content on Facebook corporate brand fan pages and tend to shop as a result. The results gained in this study can be helpful to marketers in determining their communication strategies on Facebook brand fan pages.