Multiple identities of a festival. Intended, communicated and perceived brand personality in the social media environment

Purpose – This paper aims to understand how festival brand personality is built and managed in the social media environment by explaining the intended (by the organizers) festival brand personality and how this concept is communicated and perceived by social media users. Design/methodology/approach – A multi-method research design was used. Initially, a qualitative analysis based on the free-listing psychological meaning approach was adopted. Then, a content analysis of 23,717 Facebook posts and tweets was performed through NVivo11. Finally, the resulting data were examined through a non-parametric statistical analysis. Findings – The results show an “internal brand personality gap” (between the intended and communicated brand personality) and an “external brand personality gap” (between the communicated and perceived brand personality). The findings also highlight the existence of an “ultimate brand personality on social media,” which represents a collective and dynamic construct that is co-created by the organization and its customers through interaction and the key role of the customers’ experiences. Research limitations/implications – The findings contribute to a theory of event brand personality and its management on social media by showing a case with multiple identities. Practical implications – Implications for the organizers of festivals and non-sport events are discussed to reduce internal and external gaps and better understand the “fit/unfit problem” when dealing with brand personality on social media. Originality/value – This paper contributes to a research area that is in its infancy because it is one of the first attempts to analyze festival brand personality and its relationship with social media.