6. A Self-Concept Interactionist Model of Social Media Reputation

This chapter articulates the theories of self-concept and symbolic interactionism within the domains of social media and corporate reputation and introduces the self-concept interactionist model to capture the relationship. The chapter fuses the theoretical underpinnings of diverse viewpoints within existing models of social media and corporate reputation, thus paving the way for the emergence of ‘customer engagement’ as a dominant concept permeating these models. The concept of ‘interaction’ was found as the main theme in the influential definitions of customer engagement, leading to the development of the self-concept interactionist model of social media-reputation. The authors expand the framework of the self-concept theory by adding the notion of 'experience' - as experience is pivotal to customer engagement. Although this is a conceptual chapter, nevertheless, it expounds on how corporate communication activities, through repeated interactions, crystallise the relationship between social media and reputation. We expect that the newly introduced model will help social media managers, particularly in the African continent, to understand how a combination of society, self-concept, and the formulation of social media policies impacts the management and development of corporate reputation.