The major aims of this research are to explore and analyse the different factors affecting the adoption of Electronic Marketing (E-Marketing) by industrial and trading small business enterprises (SBEs); to explore the different forms, implementation levels and tools of E-Marketing used by these SBE and to investigate the relationship between E-Marketing adoption and industrial and trading SBEs marketing performance. It aims to develop a theoretical model that can help to understand and interpret these relationships and seeks to evaluate the potential of E-Marketing for SBEs in developed countries (UK) and developing countries (Egypt). This work builds on previous research in the fields of E-marketing and SBEs and adds to the relatively limited empirical research that has been conducted on E-Marketing in a small business context. This research develops and validates a conceptual model based on systematic and in-depth analysis of the literature in the field as well as the results of two exploratory studies conducted in Egypt and UK. It utilises a post-positivist research philosophy with a triangulation approach, in which quantitative and qualitative data is collected based on survey strategy through questionnaires, focus group and semi-structured interviews to address different levels of the study. Even though triangulation requires a commitment to greater amounts of effort, time and funds, it has the advantage of removing the bias that is often associated with the use of a single technique. This research finds that E-Marketing adoption by SBEs is significantly affected by their perception of E-Marketing relative advantage (usefulness), ease of use, compatibility as well as the SBE internal factors such as owner skills and support, available resources, organisational culture, type of products, international orientation and SBE size. On the other hand, the SBE internal factors have a positive direct impact on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) related factors such as perceived ease of use, perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility. These findings indicate that Internet Marketing and E-Mail Marketing are the most commonly used E-Marketing tools and that E-Marketing adoption has a strong positive impact on current and future marketing performance of SBEs. In terms of contribution to knowledge, this study provides an insight for entrepreneurs, policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and educators by providing a clearer view and deep understanding of the issues related to E-Marketing adoption and practices by small business enterprises as opposed to large companies. It addresses some research gaps in the field, particularly in terms of the impact of E-Marketing on marketing performance. The research model has been tested by a major survey of UK SBEs with a response rate of 32%, and has been robustly tested for reliability and validity. Moreover, the exploratory survey in Egypt indicated that there is another rich seam for investigation in terms of E-Marketing in developing countries. Overall the theory in the field of E-Marketing is still in its infancy stage and is not yet well established. This study can be considered as a step towards theory building in the field of E-marketing and has brought to light a number of concepts for the practice of E-Marketing by SBEs.

This thesis focuses on design and development of an e-commerce platform with a nonstandard functionality. The theoretical part describes classification of e-commerce and the tools used in electronic business. The thesis continues with customer requests analysis, solution design, e-commerce platform creation and an evaluation of the implemented project. The result of this thesis is a functional application meeting all demands appointed by a sponsoring company.

Magistro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjama efektyviausia elektroninės papuošalų parduotuvės interneto reklama. Pirmame skyriuje aprašoma internetinės reklamos istorija, sąsajos su marketingu, internetinės reklamos tikslai, funkcijos, komunikacijos priemonės bei vartotojų segmentavimas. Antrame skyriuje jau plačiau nagrinėjamos internetinės reklamos formos ir jų taikymo ypatumai. Trečiame skyriuje apžvelgiami ir analizuojami internetinės reklamos tyrimai pasaulyje ir Lietuvoje, autorinių darbų pardavimų internete tyrimai bei apžvelgiamos lankomiausios svetainės internete. Ketvirtajame skyriuje aprašyta ir analizuojama atlikta anketinė apklausa apie patirtį perkant elektroninėje parduotuvėje, pomėgį pirkti ar dovanoti papuošalus bei labiausiai dėmesį atkreipiančius internetinės reklamos būdus. Išnagrinėjus internetinės reklamos būdus, jų paplitimą bei galimybes yra pateikiamos išvados bei siūlymai. / Most efficient internet advertisement of electronic jewellery shop is researched in the final master thesis. The first chapter describes the history of internet advertisement, links to marketing, internet advertisement objectives, functions, communications and consumer segmentation. The second section is further explored in the form of internet advertisement and application features. The third chapter provides an overview and analysis of internet advertisement research in the world and Lithuania, works of authorship sales online surveys and overview most attractive web sites. The fourth chapter describes and analyzes the completed questionnaire on the experience of buying online shop, buy or present jewelry and most attractive ways of internet advertising techniques. After exploring online advertising methods, distribution and access are presented conclusions and suggestions.

This study examines the online atmospheric cues of colour and music and their impact upon feeling and purchase intention of consumers in the online environment. The research design was experimental and used data from a questionnaire. A pilot test of the instrument was conducted. The final questionnaire contained 39 items and a demographic section. A total of 200 questionnaires were collected. Participants were exposed to a specific set of online atmospheric elements. Results indicated a difference in regard to purchase intention when exposed to different colour. Results also found a correlation between feeling and internet purchase intention. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed along with future research suggestions.

Adopting the view that a virtual community is an influential social entity, this study provides a theoretical framework that identifies a linkage among the individual values of virtual community members, commercial orientation of virtual communities and attitudes towards the information provided by virtual communities. The present study suggests that individual values (i.e., purposive, self-discovery, social and entertainment) influence the selection of virtual communities. The community's commercial orientation (i.e., commercial or noncommercial), in turn, influences the individual attitudes towards the information provided by the communities. Credibility, relevance and empathy are the proposed attitudes that individuals may form towards the information provided in virtual communities. The proposed model provides valuable implications for marketers and business people who want to source virtual communities as viable marketing channels.

The major aims of this research are to explore and analyse the different factors affecting the adoption of Electronic Marketing (E-Marketing) by industrial and trading small business enterprises (SBEs); to explore the different forms, implementation levels and tools of E-Marketing used by these SBE and to investigate the relationship between E-Marketing adoption and industrial and trading SBEs marketing performance. It aims to develop a theoretical model that can help to understand and interpret these relationships and seeks to evaluate the potential of E-Marketing for SBEs in developed countries (UK) and developing countries (Egypt). This work builds on previous research in the fields of E-marketing and SBEs and adds to the relatively limited empirical research that has been conducted on E-Marketing in a small business context. This research develops and validates a conceptual model based on systematic and in-depth analysis of the literature in the field as well as the results of two exploratory studies conducted in Egypt and UK. It utilises a post-positivist research philosophy with a triangulation approach, in which quantitative and qualitative data is collected based on survey strategy through questionnaires, focus group and semi-structured interviews to address different levels of the study. Even though triangulation requires a commitment to greater amounts of effort, time and funds, it has the advantage of removing the bias that is often associated with the use of a single technique. This research finds that E-Marketing adoption by SBEs is significantly affected by their perception of E-Marketing relative advantage (usefulness), ease of use, compatibility as well as the SBE internal factors such as owner skills and support, available resources, organisational culture, type of products, international orientation and SBE size. On the other hand, the SBE internal factors have a positive direct impact on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) related factors such as perceived ease of use, perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility. These findings indicate that Internet Marketing and E-Mail Marketing are the most commonly used E-Marketing tools and that E-Marketing adoption has a strong positive impact on current and future marketing performance of SBEs. In terms of contribution to knowledge, this study provides an insight for entrepreneurs, policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and educators by providing a clearer view and deep understanding of the issues related to E-Marketing adoption and practices by small business enterprises as opposed to large companies. It addresses some research gaps in the field, particularly in terms of the impact of E-Marketing on marketing performance. The research model has been tested by a major survey of UK SBEs with a response rate of 32%, and has been robustly tested for reliability and validity. Moreover, the exploratory survey in Egypt indicated that there is another rich seam for investigation in terms of E-Marketing in developing countries. Overall the theory in the field of E-Marketing is still in its infancy stage and is not yet well established. This study can be considered as a step towards theory building in the field of E-marketing and has brought to light a number of concepts for the practice of E-Marketing by SBEs.

Prekių ženklas yra vienas iš svarbiausių įmonių aktyvų. Tačiau jo reikšmė elektroninėje erdvėje vertinama nevienareikšmiškai. Nors yra daug mokslinių darbų apie prekių ženklo svarbą elektroninėje erdvėje, tačiau pasigendama literatūros apie jo kūrimą ir stiprinimą, taip pat ir rinkodaros srities žinovų apie galimybes, būdus ir priemones ššiam procesui įgyvendinti. ŠŠią spragą stengiasi padengti atskirų rinkodaros priemonių efektyvumo vertinimo, prekių ženklo vertės kūrimo moksliniai tyrimai. Magistro darbo tikslas – įvertinti elektroninės rinkodaros priemonių, taikomų prekių ženklo kūrimo ir stiprinimo procese, svarbą prekių ženklo patirčiai ir konversijai į pardavimus Lietuvos elektroninio verslo įmonių atveju. / Brand is one of most important business intangible assets. But its meaning in cyberspace in ambiguous. Although there are many studies on the importance of brand in cyberspace, but there is a lack of literature on its building and enhancement, as well as expertise in the area of marketing opportunities, ways, means and tools to implement this process. Master theses aim is to evaluate electronic marketing tools used in brand building and enhancement importance for the brand experience and conversion in case of Lithuanian electronic business.

Esta tese explora um aspecto social específico da interação entre consumidores e marcas em mídias sociais, que é o nível de intimidade da marca. Este fator é entendido como o grau em que a marca interage como um ator social psicologicamente próximo aos seus consumidores, sendo operacionalizado na forma de um construto latente formado pela autorrevelação, pela expressividade de emoções, pela transmissão de sentimentos positivos e de calor humano e pela informalidade. Embora as mídias sociais já tenham se tornado um componente importante para as estratégias de relacionamento das empresas com seus clientes, ainda há uma falta de construtos específicos de relacionamento social na maior parte dos modelos tradicionalmente empregados em branding e comércio eletrônico. Assim, o objetivo geral desta tese foi o de entender como este nível de intimidade da marca influencia o comportamento dos consumidores nas mídias sociais e quando pode ser mais vantajoso para as marcas buscarem maior ou menor intimidade, dependendo do contexto de consumo em que atuam. Mais especificamente, o efeito da intimidade da marca foi analisado em duas variações de contextos de consumo: no caso de serviços de objetivo hedônico ou utilitário; e no caso de serviços de alto ou baixo envolvimento situacional. Quatro estudos experimentais foram usados, apresentando reproduções de páginas de marca no Facebook para participantes selecionados através do Amazon MTurk. Através do Estudo 1, foram oferecidas evidências de suporte ao efeito positivo da intimidade da marca nas respostas dos consumidores – intenção de compra, intenção de uso da página de marca, aceitação e fornecimento de boca a boca online – em função do aumento do valor hedônico da experiência dos consumidores na mídia social. Os resultados do Estudo 1 também ofereceram suporte à hipótese de moderação deste efeito positivo da intimidade da marca pelo tipo de consumo buscado pelos consumidores. A intimidade da marca teve um efeito maior quando os consumidores buscavam um objetivo hedônico do que um objetivo utilitário. O Estudo 2 foi projetado para testar o efeito moderador da valência geral das postagens sobre a marca na mídia social. Os resultados deste estudo demonstraram que, com o maior número de opiniões negativas sobre a marca na mídia social, o efeito positivo da intimidade da marca deixa de se manifestar em todas as variáveis dependentes. O Estudo 3 analisou a possibilidade de que a intimidade da marca pudesse tornar as respostas dos consumidores menos favoráveis à marca, no caso do aumento do risco percebido. Confirmando esta hipótese, o risco percebido foi verificado como um mediador do efeito negativo da intimidade da marca e o nível de envolvimento situacional como um moderador desta relação. Por fim, o Estudo 4 foi projetado para verificar a possibilidade de influência da valência geral das postagens sobre a marca no efeito da intimidade da marca nas variáveis dependentes. Porém, os resultados deste estudo não indicaram nenhuma interação entre a intimidade da marca e a valência geral das postagens, mas apenas um efeito direto da valência geral das postagens na intenção de compra e de boca a boca. De uma forma geral, os resultados desta tese podem contribuir não apenas para a literatura sobre marketing e comércio eletrônico, mas também podem ser úteis para informar os gerentes de marketing sobre como e quando eles deveriam abordar seus clientes de uma forma mais (ou menos) próxima. Em especial, os resultados indicam ser possível obter melhores respostas em termos de intenção de compra, uso da página de marca e boca a boca online, aumentando o nível de intimidade de marca se esta está mais relacionada a produtos/serviços mais hedônicos e de baixo envolvimento situacional, mas diminuindo o nível de intimidade se o produto/serviço está associado a um alto risco e a um elevado envolvimento situacional. / This thesis explores a specific aspect of social interaction between consumers and brands on social media, which is the level of brand intimacy. This factor is defined as the degree to which the brand interacts as a psychologically close social actor to its consumers, and it is operated as a latent construct composed of self-disclosure, emotion expressivity, transmission of positive feelings, human warmth and informality. Although social media have already become an important component in the relationship strategies of companies with their customers, there is still a lack of specific constructs of social relationship in most models traditionally used in online branding and ecommerce. Thus, the general purpose of this thesis was to understand how this level of brand intimacy influences consumer behavior on social media and when it may be more advantageous for brands to seek greater or lesser intimacy, depending on the consumption context in which they operate. More specifically, the effect of brand intimacy was examined under two variations of consumption contexts: in the case of hedonic or utilitarian services; and in the case of services of high or low situational involvement. Four experimental studies were applied to participants selected through Amazon MTurk, with reproductions of Facebook brand pages. The first study provided evidence supporting the positive effect of brand intimacy in consumer responses (purchase intention, intention to use brand page, acceptance and delivery of e-WOM) – due to the increased hedonic value the experience of consumers on social media. The results of Study 1 also offered support to the hypothesis that this positive effect of intimacy brand is moderated by the consumers’ goal type. Brand intimacy had a greater effect when consumers had a hedonic goal than when they had a utilitarian goal. Study 2 was designed to test the moderating effect of the overall valence of posts about the brand on social media. The results confirmed this effect and showed that the positive effect of brand intimacy in all dependent variables ceased to exist due to the number of negative opinions on the brand page. The third study analyzed the possibility that the level of brand intimacy could make consumers’ responses less favorable to the brand in the case of increased perceived risk. Confirming this hypothesis, the perceived risk was observed as a mediator of this negative effect of brand intimacy. Additionally, the study verified that the level of situational involvement was a moderator of this relationship. Finally, the fourth study was designed to test the possibility that the overall valence of the posts about the brand could moderate the effect of brand intimacy on the dependent variables. However, the results of this study indicated no interaction between brand intimacy and the overall valence of the posts, but only a direct effect of the overall valence of posts on purchase intention and e-WOM. In a general way, the results of this thesis can contribute not only to the literature on online marketing and e-commerce, but may also be useful to inform marketing managers on how and when they should address their customers in a more (or less) close way. in order to get better responses in terms of purchase intention, brand page usage and e-WOM. In particular, the results indicate possible best responses in terms of purchase intention, brand page usage intention and e-WOM, by increasing the level of brand intimacy if it is more related to hedonic products/services with low level of situational involvement and risk, or decreasing the level of intimacy for products/services with high levels of situational involvement and risk.

Esta tese explora um aspecto social específico da interação entre consumidores e marcas em mídias sociais, que é o nível de intimidade da marca. Este fator é entendido como o grau em que a marca interage como um ator social psicologicamente próximo aos seus consumidores, sendo operacionalizado na forma de um construto latente formado pela autorrevelação, pela expressividade de emoções, pela transmissão de sentimentos positivos e de calor humano e pela informalidade. Embora as mídias sociais já tenham se tornado um componente importante para as estratégias de relacionamento das empresas com seus clientes, ainda há uma falta de construtos específicos de relacionamento social na maior parte dos modelos tradicionalmente empregados em branding e comércio eletrônico. Assim, o objetivo geral desta tese foi o de entender como este nível de intimidade da marca influencia o comportamento dos consumidores nas mídias sociais e quando pode ser mais vantajoso para as marcas buscarem maior ou menor intimidade, dependendo do contexto de consumo em que atuam. Mais especificamente, o efeito da intimidade da marca foi analisado em duas variações de contextos de consumo: no caso de serviços de objetivo hedônico ou utilitário; e no caso de serviços de alto ou baixo envolvimento situacional. Quatro estudos experimentais foram usados, apresentando reproduções de páginas de marca no Facebook para participantes selecionados através do Amazon MTurk. Através do Estudo 1, foram oferecidas evidências de suporte ao efeito positivo da intimidade da marca nas respostas dos consumidores – intenção de compra, intenção de uso da página de marca, aceitação e fornecimento de boca a boca online – em função do aumento do valor hedônico da experiência dos consumidores na mídia social. Os resultados do Estudo 1 também ofereceram suporte à hipótese de moderação deste efeito positivo da intimidade da marca pelo tipo de consumo buscado pelos consumidores. A intimidade da marca teve um efeito maior quando os consumidores buscavam um objetivo hedônico do que um objetivo utilitário. O Estudo 2 foi projetado para testar o efeito moderador da valência geral das postagens sobre a marca na mídia social. Os resultados deste estudo demonstraram que, com o maior número de opiniões negativas sobre a marca na mídia social, o efeito positivo da intimidade da marca deixa de se manifestar em todas as variáveis dependentes. O Estudo 3 analisou a possibilidade de que a intimidade da marca pudesse tornar as respostas dos consumidores menos favoráveis à marca, no caso do aumento do risco percebido. Confirmando esta hipótese, o risco percebido foi verificado como um mediador do efeito negativo da intimidade da marca e o nível de envolvimento situacional como um moderador desta relação. Por fim, o Estudo 4 foi projetado para verificar a possibilidade de influência da valência geral das postagens sobre a marca no efeito da intimidade da marca nas variáveis dependentes. Porém, os resultados deste estudo não indicaram nenhuma interação entre a intimidade da marca e a valência geral das postagens, mas apenas um efeito direto da valência geral das postagens na intenção de compra e de boca a boca. De uma forma geral, os resultados desta tese podem contribuir não apenas para a literatura sobre marketing e comércio eletrônico, mas também podem ser úteis para informar os gerentes de marketing sobre como e quando eles deveriam abordar seus clientes de uma forma mais (ou menos) próxima. Em especial, os resultados indicam ser possível obter melhores respostas em termos de intenção de compra, uso da página de marca e boca a boca online, aumentando o nível de intimidade de marca se esta está mais relacionada a produtos/serviços mais hedônicos e de baixo envolvimento situacional, mas diminuindo o nível de intimidade se o produto/serviço está associado a um alto risco e a um elevado envolvimento situacional. / This thesis explores a specific aspect of social interaction between consumers and brands on social media, which is the level of brand intimacy. This factor is defined as the degree to which the brand interacts as a psychologically close social actor to its consumers, and it is operated as a latent construct composed of self-disclosure, emotion expressivity, transmission of positive feelings, human warmth and informality. Although social media have already become an important component in the relationship strategies of companies with their customers, there is still a lack of specific constructs of social relationship in most models traditionally used in online branding and ecommerce. Thus, the general purpose of this thesis was to understand how this level of brand intimacy influences consumer behavior on social media and when it may be more advantageous for brands to seek greater or lesser intimacy, depending on the consumption context in which they operate. More specifically, the effect of brand intimacy was examined under two variations of consumption contexts: in the case of hedonic or utilitarian services; and in the case of services of high or low situational involvement. Four experimental studies were applied to participants selected through Amazon MTurk, with reproductions of Facebook brand pages. The first study provided evidence supporting the positive effect of brand intimacy in consumer responses (purchase intention, intention to use brand page, acceptance and delivery of e-WOM) – due to the increased hedonic value the experience of consumers on social media. The results of Study 1 also offered support to the hypothesis that this positive effect of intimacy brand is moderated by the consumers’ goal type. Brand intimacy had a greater effect when consumers had a hedonic goal than when they had a utilitarian goal. Study 2 was designed to test the moderating effect of the overall valence of posts about the brand on social media. The results confirmed this effect and showed that the positive effect of brand intimacy in all dependent variables ceased to exist due to the number of negative opinions on the brand page. The third study analyzed the possibility that the level of brand intimacy could make consumers’ responses less favorable to the brand in the case of increased perceived risk. Confirming this hypothesis, the perceived risk was observed as a mediator of this negative effect of brand intimacy. Additionally, the study verified that the level of situational involvement was a moderator of this relationship. Finally, the fourth study was designed to test the possibility that the overall valence of the posts about the brand could moderate the effect of brand intimacy on the dependent variables. However, the results of this study indicated no interaction between brand intimacy and the overall valence of the posts, but only a direct effect of the overall valence of posts on purchase intention and e-WOM. In a general way, the results of this thesis can contribute not only to the literature on online marketing and e-commerce, but may also be useful to inform marketing managers on how and when they should address their customers in a more (or less) close way. in order to get better responses in terms of purchase intention, brand page usage and e-WOM. In particular, the results indicate possible best responses in terms of purchase intention, brand page usage intention and e-WOM, by increasing the level of brand intimacy if it is more related to hedonic products/services with low level of situational involvement and risk, or decreasing the level of intimacy for products/services with high levels of situational involvement and risk.

Esta tese explora um aspecto social específico da interação entre consumidores e marcas em mídias sociais, que é o nível de intimidade da marca. Este fator é entendido como o grau em que a marca interage como um ator social psicologicamente próximo aos seus consumidores, sendo operacionalizado na forma de um construto latente formado pela autorrevelação, pela expressividade de emoções, pela transmissão de sentimentos positivos e de calor humano e pela informalidade. Embora as mídias sociais já tenham se tornado um componente importante para as estratégias de relacionamento das empresas com seus clientes, ainda há uma falta de construtos específicos de relacionamento social na maior parte dos modelos tradicionalmente empregados em branding e comércio eletrônico. Assim, o objetivo geral desta tese foi o de entender como este nível de intimidade da marca influencia o comportamento dos consumidores nas mídias sociais e quando pode ser mais vantajoso para as marcas buscarem maior ou menor intimidade, dependendo do contexto de consumo em que atuam. Mais especificamente, o efeito da intimidade da marca foi analisado em duas variações de contextos de consumo: no caso de serviços de objetivo hedônico ou utilitário; e no caso de serviços de alto ou baixo envolvimento situacional. Quatro estudos experimentais foram usados, apresentando reproduções de páginas de marca no Facebook para participantes selecionados através do Amazon MTurk. Através do Estudo 1, foram oferecidas evidências de suporte ao efeito positivo da intimidade da marca nas respostas dos consumidores – intenção de compra, intenção de uso da página de marca, aceitação e fornecimento de boca a boca online – em função do aumento do valor hedônico da experiência dos consumidores na mídia social. Os resultados do Estudo 1 também ofereceram suporte à hipótese de moderação deste efeito positivo da intimidade da marca pelo tipo de consumo buscado pelos consumidores. A intimidade da marca teve um efeito maior quando os consumidores buscavam um objetivo hedônico do que um objetivo utilitário. O Estudo 2 foi projetado para testar o efeito moderador da valência geral das postagens sobre a marca na mídia social. Os resultados deste estudo demonstraram que, com o maior número de opiniões negativas sobre a marca na mídia social, o efeito positivo da intimidade da marca deixa de se manifestar em todas as variáveis dependentes. O Estudo 3 analisou a possibilidade de que a intimidade da marca pudesse tornar as respostas dos consumidores menos favoráveis à marca, no caso do aumento do risco percebido. Confirmando esta hipótese, o risco percebido foi verificado como um mediador do efeito negativo da intimidade da marca e o nível de envolvimento situacional como um moderador desta relação. Por fim, o Estudo 4 foi projetado para verificar a possibilidade de influência da valência geral das postagens sobre a marca no efeito da intimidade da marca nas variáveis dependentes. Porém, os resultados deste estudo não indicaram nenhuma interação entre a intimidade da marca e a valência geral das postagens, mas apenas um efeito direto da valência geral das postagens na intenção de compra e de boca a boca. De uma forma geral, os resultados desta tese podem contribuir não apenas para a literatura sobre marketing e comércio eletrônico, mas também podem ser úteis para informar os gerentes de marketing sobre como e quando eles deveriam abordar seus clientes de uma forma mais (ou menos) próxima. Em especial, os resultados indicam ser possível obter melhores respostas em termos de intenção de compra, uso da página de marca e boca a boca online, aumentando o nível de intimidade de marca se esta está mais relacionada a produtos/serviços mais hedônicos e de baixo envolvimento situacional, mas diminuindo o nível de intimidade se o produto/serviço está associado a um alto risco e a um elevado envolvimento situacional. / This thesis explores a specific aspect of social interaction between consumers and brands on social media, which is the level of brand intimacy. This factor is defined as the degree to which the brand interacts as a psychologically close social actor to its consumers, and it is operated as a latent construct composed of self-disclosure, emotion expressivity, transmission of positive feelings, human warmth and informality. Although social media have already become an important component in the relationship strategies of companies with their customers, there is still a lack of specific constructs of social relationship in most models traditionally used in online branding and ecommerce. Thus, the general purpose of this thesis was to understand how this level of brand intimacy influences consumer behavior on social media and when it may be more advantageous for brands to seek greater or lesser intimacy, depending on the consumption context in which they operate. More specifically, the effect of brand intimacy was examined under two variations of consumption contexts: in the case of hedonic or utilitarian services; and in the case of services of high or low situational involvement. Four experimental studies were applied to participants selected through Amazon MTurk, with reproductions of Facebook brand pages. The first study provided evidence supporting the positive effect of brand intimacy in consumer responses (purchase intention, intention to use brand page, acceptance and delivery of e-WOM) – due to the increased hedonic value the experience of consumers on social media. The results of Study 1 also offered support to the hypothesis that this positive effect of intimacy brand is moderated by the consumers’ goal type. Brand intimacy had a greater effect when consumers had a hedonic goal than when they had a utilitarian goal. Study 2 was designed to test the moderating effect of the overall valence of posts about the brand on social media. The results confirmed this effect and showed that the positive effect of brand intimacy in all dependent variables ceased to exist due to the number of negative opinions on the brand page. The third study analyzed the possibility that the level of brand intimacy could make consumers’ responses less favorable to the brand in the case of increased perceived risk. Confirming this hypothesis, the perceived risk was observed as a mediator of this negative effect of brand intimacy. Additionally, the study verified that the level of situational involvement was a moderator of this relationship. Finally, the fourth study was designed to test the possibility that the overall valence of the posts about the brand could moderate the effect of brand intimacy on the dependent variables. However, the results of this study indicated no interaction between brand intimacy and the overall valence of the posts, but only a direct effect of the overall valence of posts on purchase intention and e-WOM. In a general way, the results of this thesis can contribute not only to the literature on online marketing and e-commerce, but may also be useful to inform marketing managers on how and when they should address their customers in a more (or less) close way. in order to get better responses in terms of purchase intention, brand page usage and e-WOM. In particular, the results indicate possible best responses in terms of purchase intention, brand page usage intention and e-WOM, by increasing the level of brand intimacy if it is more related to hedonic products/services with low level of situational involvement and risk, or decreasing the level of intimacy for products/services with high levels of situational involvement and risk.